TOUR LEADERS

  
Gerry Griffiths has always been an avid birdwatcher, and thoroughly enjoys sharing his love of birdwatching with others. As the founder of Avian Adventures, Gerry’s enthusiasm and knowledge have helped to establish the company’s excellent reputation, and he is totally committed to offering the best possible service. A former lecturer in Field Studies for Birmingham University, he has travelled worldwide, organising and leading many tours to Europe, Scandinavia, Israel, North, Central and South America, the Middle and Far East.
 
Sering Bojang has been guiding our tours in The Gambia since 1999. He began birding at the age of 11 in the famous Abuko Reserve, near to his home in the village of Lamin and was trained as a guide by Solomon Jallow. The two of them are now part of the team known as Habitat Africa that we believe provides the best bird guiding service in their country. Both have been regular visitors to the UK for the British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water, where Sering has also made a name for himself playing in the annual football knock-out, being named 'Player of the Tournament' in 2005.
 
Charles Brown ARPS has been an enthusiastic birdwatcher since his school days. A former field studies lecturer for University of Birmingham and a keen photographer, Charles is a long-standing member of the West Midland Bird Club, an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society and past President of the Zoological Photographic Club. He has led and organised trips to many world-wide destinations including Africa and the Falkland Islands.
 
Peter Dedicoat is a freelance tour leader who has now led more than 70 tours for Avian
Adventures in Europe, Africa, North, Central and South America. He also works for us on the design and planning of new tours and increasingly provides photographs for use in our
brochure and other publications. When not tour leading he divides his time between
Staffordshire and the Algarve coast of Portugal. He has been an active member of the West Midland Bird Club for more than 30 years, has lectured on birds for the WEA and for many years was a Regional Representative for the British Trust for Ornithology. Despite his regular absences abroad, he maintains a keen interest in football and continues to watch Birmingham City whenever possible.
 
Nikolay Dilchev is one of the leading authorities on the birds of Bulgaria and an excellent all-round naturalist. A graduate of Sofia University, where he specialised in ornithology, since 1990 he has run his own tour company offering professionally organised birdwatching tours in Bulgaria. He is also an accomplished photographer and writer on the distribution of bird populations, their ecology, migration and conservation.
 
Bernie Forbes is President of the Shoreham & District OS and on the Sussex County Records Committee. During the last 30 years he has led regular field trips in West Sussex and also organised birding trips to many parts of the world including Europe, North America, Africa and Asia. Birding from an early age he has amassed a wealth of bird knowledge having excellent identification skills and being particularly adept at birdcall recognition. He has a natural ability to turn walks into a jovial master class for both the beginner and the more experienced birder. ‘Never too old to learn’ are his guiding bywords when leading a group.
The combination of his excellent fieldcraft and flair for sharing his enthusiasms with others make him a perfect leader for beginners and experts alike.
Neil Glenn lives in Nottinghamshire where he has been a keen birdwatcher since his teens. His childhood holidays were spent in Norfolk engendering a love of that county, culminating in him writing the critically-acclaimed 'Best Birdwatching Sites in Norfolk' many years later. He is a regular contributor to Bird Watching and Birds Illustrated magazines and his birding has taken him to five continents. His other passions/obsessions include football (Notts County!), films and music.
 
Daniel Green is one of Sweden’s most experienced bird guides, with taiga birds as his speciality and the Crane as his favourite species. Daniel has been an ornithologist and bird ringer since his early teens and now very much enjoys sharing his experiences of the natural world. He has a diverse work background, which includes being a chef and a journalist/photographer. He has also been working as a guide at the Nature School in Asköviken and Ottenby Bird Observatory.
 
Martyn Kenefick was born in England where he worked in the insurance industry for 27 years, before taking very early retirement and moving to Trinidad since marriage five years ago. He was an active birder in the UK, especially at his local patch, Beachy Head in Sussex. However, he also gained extensive experience throughout Europe and has made a number of visits to the USA, Asia and Africa. He is now a freelance ornithologist in Trinidad and Tobago and Secretary of the National Rare Birds Committee.
 
Peter Lawson has been leading birdwatching, wildlife and photographic tours for 20 years, and has gained a reputation as one of South Africa’s most experienced and professional guides. In addition to his passion for birds, he is an authority on African mammals and reptiles and also an accomplished photographer.
 
Tim & Irene Loseby, both originally from Kent for many years. Tim is a freelance wildlife photographer who originally made his name taking pictures of rare birds in Britain. Nowadays he specialises in photographing abroad, especially in the Indian Subcontinent, a region of the world where he has travelled extensively. He is well known on the lecture circuit and his photographs regularly appear in all the major birding magazines. A founder member of the Oriental Bird Club, he is also currently serving on the club council. Irene had a career in the Civil Service and has been a birdwatcher for over 25 years. She has accompanied Tim on many trips to the Indian Subcontinent.
 
Shena Maskell has lived in Africa and Asia, but base camp is now in Sussex! She has led expeditions to the Arctic Circle and South America, and spent many springs birding in Extremadura before falling in love with Hungary. As an escaped headmistress she ensures you get friendly personal attention and a value-added holiday with a wide variety of experiences. There is no test afterwards!
 
Colin McShane was a teacher of biology before moving into Educational Management. He is at his best with groups, when participants benefit from his
background and his pleasure in sharing his findings and knowledge with others. He is a highly skilled field ornithologist and has been a BTO Ringer for many years which has taken him on ringing studies overseas to Canada and Russia as well as Lundy and Scotland in the UK. Colin has also led tours for the Field Studies Council.
 
John Miles has been working with wildlife most of his life having started in forestry, moving on to the RSPB and now free lance with his office looking onto a Black Cock Lek over the Gelt valley in Cumbria. John has travelled widely visiting such places as Cuba, Yucatan, North America, Africa and the Middle East especially Egypt where he completed his third book 'Pharaohs' Birds'. He has been running 'Bird watching' magazine 'Readers Breaks' since 1990.
Rebecca Nason is a freelance bird photographer based in Cambridgeshire. A keen birder, bird-ringer, researcher and tour leader, Rebecca has been interested in birds since she was a child and has travelled extensively overseas to all continents in search of birds, wildlife, landscapes and cultures. Her bird images regularly appear in Birdwatch, Birding World and British Birds magazines and she is an established female figure in the UK birding fraternity. Rebecca worked as Assistant Warden/Seabird Monitoring Officer on Fair Isle throughout 2003-4 and now regards Fair Isle as a second home and a place she loves to enjoy and share with others. A good eye in both the field and behind the camera makes Rebecca a skilled, enthusiastic and happy guide to enjoy an avian adventure with!
 
Carl Powell, an enthusiastic birdwatcher for over 30 years, has worked for the Suffolk Wildlife Trust as a Reserve Warden since 1994. He is a keen conservationist with wide interests. His travels have taken him to Europe, the Middle East and the USA. A natural and popular leader, he has a friendly and easy-going style.
Peter Scholes is an excellent field ornithologist. Pleasant and easy-going, he is enthusiastic and keen to share his findings with others. Peter is a member of the Fylde Bird Club’s Rarities Committee, and has travelled worldwide in his pursuit and study of birds. He has been a tour leader for Avian Adventures ever since its conception.
 
Balazs Szigeti and Gabor Orban are our guides and tour leaders in Hungary, Slovakia and Ghana. They are professional, enthusiastic and friendly with a great sense of humour. Their English is a pleasure to hear. It is their aim to share with you the many joys of ecotourism. They are both expert birders and keen photographers. A feature of their tours is the after dinner film show, where highlights of the day can be reviewed. Being both flexible and sensitive to your individual needs, they will make sure you enjoy a truly Avian Adventure!
 
Barrie Taylor FRPS is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society who has travelled widely, leading many tours for Avian Adventures. He has won international photographic exhibitions and judged many major competitions. Barrie is well-known in the Midlands area and his lectures are popular with bird, photographic and natural history societies.
 
June Taylor always seems to be on the move, dividing her time between tour leading for
Avian adventures and providing bird guiding services in Southern Portugal with her partner Peter Dedicoat through Algarve Birders. Although Staffordshire is her UK base, Doxey Marshes no longer holds much appeal as a local patch and she much prefers the salinas and farmland close to her home in Tavira where Stone Curlews, Black-winged Kites and Bee-eaters all feature on her “garden” list. In recent years June’s birding travels have taken her to various parts of Europe and the USA, Costa Rica, Cuba, Taiwan, The Gambia, South Africa and Uganda, the latter probably being her favourite tour.
 
Ray Tipper ARPS is a life-long birdwatcher who left his native Britain in 1973 and spent most of the next 22 years in Hong Kong where he was a trustee of WWF and became intimately involved with its renowned Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve. It was in Hong Kong that he turned to bird photography which quickly became his major interest. He gained his associateship of the Royal Photographic Society in 1990 and his photographs are regularly published in journals and books all over the world. Bird photography remains his passion yet he still retains his love of birdwatching and has led close to 60 tours for Avian Adventures in Europe, North America, Asia, Arabia, Africa and Madagascar. He now resides for much of the year in Tavira, Portugal and is a member of the Portuguese Rarities Committee.