Tucson Audubon Society

Moez Ali

Moez grew up in Nairobi and was hooked on birds and wildlife since the toddler years on safaris exploring Kenya's world-famous national parks with his naturalist dad. His early years were spent in the African wild - climbing trees with monkeys, finding bird nests, caressing reptiles and learning about all the wildlife he came across while also leading fieldtrips for the the East Africa Natural History Society.

He finished high school in South Africa and traveled all over Africa in search of akalats, boubous, crombecs, drongos and eremomelas before coming to the U.S. in 1999 for college tennis and birding the New World. He completed his biology studies in AL and TN while birding and leading fieldtrips in the southeastern U.S. and also worked on several bird research projects before setting his sights on the desert southwest.

His relocation to Tucson in May 2003 was all about the great birding here and studying nesting red-faced warblers in the Santa Catalina Mountains. He now birds nonstop while coordinating research on the birds of SE Arizona's sky island mountains and riparian areas for the University of Arizona.

Bob Bates

Bob learned in New Jersey in the 1940s through Boy Scouts' Bird Study Merit Badge, for which you had to identify 40 species, the thrill of seeing a bird species you hadn't seen before. His merit badge counselor each spring took scouts on some of the first big day trips. Bob's first trip-leading experience was taking his sons on car trips from Canada to Mexico after arriving in Tucson in 1963. For years, they helped on the Tucson, Catalina Mts, and Nogales Xmas Counts. One son is now an ornithologist and Zoology Department Head at the Field Museum in Chicago and the other has seen over half the world's birds. Bob co-led a birding trip to the Grand Canyon at the first Tucson National Audubon Society Meeting around 1970. For 37 years, Bob has compiled the Catalina Mts Xmas Count and most of those years led a TAS spring trip up Mt Lemmon. He was a Field Trip Coordinator for TAS in the 1990s. Trips to 125 countries with bird tour companies have increased his bird list from 40 to 7840 species.

Alison Beringer

A native of Canada, Alison lives in Tucson and in Vancouver with her husband, Rick Wright. Assistant Professor German at UBC, she holds graduate degrees from the Universities of Victoria and Illinois and from Princeton University. Alison has traveled widely in Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas, and has led field trips for Tucson Audubon and the American Birding Association.

Gavin Bieber

Gavin Bieber was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He developed a very early interest in birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles and has steadily pursued these interests while growing up. One of his earliest birding memories occurred at age 8 when he spotted a male Painted Bunting from a speeding car while on a family vacation in Texas. Gavin graduated from the University of Victoria with a degree in Biology and a minor in Environmental Studies. He studied for one year at the University of Southern Mississippi where he collaborated with their Migratory Bird Study Group. While still in university he taught waterfowl, shorebird and passerine identification workshops for the Victoria Natural History Society and led fieldtrips for the university's ornithology classes. Since graduating, Gavin has worked as a field assistant on a variety of ornithological research projects. In addition he conducted point counts for the National Park Service in Arizona and New Mexico and assisted in setting up a riparian bird survey for the University of Arizona. He also serves as the director and lead guide for St. Paul Island Tours (in the Pribilof Islands, Alaska) and has enjoyed working on that island from 2002-2007. Gavin enjoys sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm of the natural world with others, and welcomes the chance to meet new people and travel throughout the New World. Gavin is currently a senior leader for WINGS: http://wingsbirds.com/

Molly Bradshaw

First of all, I can not claim to be an expert birder. I enjoy birding very much and have been actively doing so since the early 1980s after a 40 year hiatus since college. I've birded on my own in West Michigan in the Grand Rapids area and with the Grand Rapids Audubon (and yes, I have see Kirtland's Warblers!). Here in SE Arizona I've birded since 1995, on my own, with friends and with Tucson Audubon. I am very familiar with Catalina State Park. On top of that, I know where the restrooms are (!) and can engage not to lose anyone. More I can not promise.

Matt Brooks

Matt didn't discover birding until right after college, but that hasn't stopped him from turning it into a life-long hobby and obsession. He came into his own as a birder in Alaska while working for the Forest Service and Fish & Wildlife Service in various bird-related capacities over the years. His jobs have included working as a natural history interpreter on the Alaska Marine Highway System, a ranger at the Mendenhall Glacier National Rec. Area, a biological technician in Southeast Alaska, and as a seabird surveyor on the Bering Sea. Birds have also been at the root of all his recent world travel, including to 15 countries in Central and South America.

Though he is a New Mexico native, he is proud to currently call Arizona home. He works for Tucson Audubon Society as their Environmental Education Specialist and runs a variety of programs, including the Institute of Desert Ecology . He also leads birding field trips for Tucson Audubon and Pima Co, Parks and Rec. As far as Matt is concerned, life is pretty sweet: he gets to bird for work and for play!

Richard Carlson

Richard started birding as a child in Minnesota 60 years ago. After a brief interlude at Harvard, where he majored in caving, mountain climbing, winter mountaineering and economics, he began birding again in Washington DC with the Maryland Ornithological Society. He was one of Chan Robbin's volunteers in establishing the first Breeding Bird Surveys. Bribed by the Nixon administration to leave town with a fellowship to Stanford, he moved West in 1969. He worked at Stanford Research Institute, where he co-authored "Solar Energy in America's Future" and led field trips for the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society. He became President of the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory and expanded his birding to Latin America. He has birded throughout the Neotropics and in India, China and Europe. He hopes to ultimately see at least half the birds of the world.

He and his wife Pat now migrate among homes in Tucson, Lake Tahoe and Seattle depending on where the birds are.

Clifford A. Cathers

Cliff grew up birding among the fields, farms and forests of southwest Ohio. He learned birding and census work while still a teenager under the watchful eye of Paul E. Knoop, Jr. director of the Aullwood Audubon Center. He graduated from college in 1985 with a B. S. Degree in Electrical Engineering from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. This degree landed him in the power industry and a job opportunity eventually led west to Tucson, Arizona in late 1992. Now in his 35th year of birding, half here and half in the east, Cliff enjoys leading TAS field trips, playing with his young son and stalking rarities with a digital camera. His greatest thrill in life is to help others find birds and this passion led him to recently create a new guiding company here in the desert southwest, Economy Birding Services, Inc. (www.economybirding.com) to pursue a completely different and more relaxing way of life. Cliff hopes that you'll join him on a TAS field trip soon!

Dave Dunford

Dave was born in New Jersey and grew up in Connecticut. For over 50 years he pointedly ignored the enthusiasm of the rest of his family for birds. Only after moving to Tucson following 29 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, including posts in Ecuador, Finland, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Oman, did he discover that birding was great fun. It gets him out in the fresh air and allows him to focus on the detail of the natural world around him. He has been birding for about ten years and leading trips for Tucson Audubon since 2005. Teaching and consulting on Middle East issues takes him all over the United States and occasionally elsewhere in the world and he always packs his binoculars. His favorite place to bird, however, continues to be southeastern Arizona and one of his favorite things to do is to help someone see a bird like a Vermillion Flycatcher or a Rose-throated Becard for the first time.

Mary Ellen Flynn

Mary Ellen belongs to the species “homo sapiens migratorious”. Since 2005, she has been lucky enough to divide her time between the Sonoran desert of Tucson and the rocky coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. After joining TAS, she started volunteering at the University Ave. Nature Shop where you can still find her on many Wednesday afternoons from December to May. Having caught the birding bug about 15 years ago, she has suffered increasingly strong symptoms in recent years. She led her first TAS field trip last winter and confesses to enjoying not only birds but birders of any species. She also leads birding programs for Catalina State Park and Pima County.

Born and raised north of Boston, Mary Ellen earned a B.A. from Cornell University and a J.D. from Boston University. She spent her legal career in San Francisco and Boston and is now retired. She is a member of the Massachusetts Audubon Society and the Brookline Bird Club. She volunteers at Mass Audubon's Joppa Flats Education Center and at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (aka “ Plum Island”), both located in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Richard Fray

Richard grew up in Leicester, England, and encouraged by a father who ran the local youth birding club and an older brother who was twice named Britain's Young Ornithologist of the Year, he was birding as soon as he was big enough to lift a pair of binoculars. As well as birds, he is interested in all aspects of the natural world, especially butterflies, dragonflies and reptiles. He was the youngest ever member of the Leicestershire & Rutland Ornithological Society's committee and founded the Leicestershire & Rutland Dragonfly Group before moving to SE Arizona in 2002. He now can't imagine living anywhere else!

Richard's birding has taken him around Europe and Asia as well as North, Central and South America, and he started a new company, Fun Birding Tours (www.funbirdingtours.com) in 2010. He is a current member of the board of directors of Tucson Audubon Society, serving on the development and membership committees.

Homer Hansen

Homer is the chairman of the annual Wings Over Willcox Birding and Nature festival and also leads the Sparrow Seeks for the event. He is a native of Willcox and, while growing up, had the pleasure of seeing and hearing the Sandhill Cranes in winter and the Cassin's Sparrow in summer. Homer earned his B.S. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from the University of Arizona and now works as an environmental scientist with Aplomado Environmental assessing contaminants in soil and groundwater. Homer has presented many workshops on sparrows, raptors, flycatchers, and bird ecology over the past 13 years and has lead many birding tours in southeastern Arizona. For the past two years, he has also instructed the Moving to Mastery courses offered by the Tucson Audubon Society. He especially enjoys the challenges of complex identifications and loves to learn about the nature of birds.

Jim Hays

Jim has been leading Tucson Audubon field trips for ten years and helped to coordinate the Tuesday trips for five years. The Huachuca Mountain area is a special favorite of his. He has also been a Board member of TAS. A former professor of geology at Harvard University , Jim enjoys sharing his love of the outdoors with others.

Before moving to Tucson he led birding trips for the Brookline Bird Club in Massachusetts and the Northern Virginia Bird Club and Fauquier Bird Club in Virginia . He has birded in most of the United States as well as in Europe, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, and South America, but especially enjoys the birds of Mexico and the American Southwest.

John Higgins

John Higgins thinks wandering outside all morning looking at birds with some other sociable people is a great way to spend his time. He has been lucky enough to have birded from the Amazon to Alaska to Austria. He has been taking out field trips for TAS for twenty years. John especilly likes easy-going trips with beginner birders looking for easy-to-see birds, such as driving around looking at thousands of big Sandhill Cranes or sitting on a shady bench looking at close-up humminbird feeders. John's trips almost always end with eating apple pie or ice cream.

Doug Jenness

From the time he received his first bird book at age six, Doug has been interested in birds and natural history. During his high school years he was a nature counselor at a summer camp in Wisconsin. For many years professional work restricted his birding activity to brief excursions while visiting large cities in other countries and the United States. As a “big city” birder his favorite is New York City where he lived for more than 25 years. In the 1990s he joined the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union and contributed to its journal, the Loon. He helped establish a new Christmas Bird Count in an underbirded area. In 2002 he moved to Tucson where he has been actively birding and has led Tucson Audubon Society field trips, especially to locations in Pinal County. He is currently the treasurer of the Arizona Field Ornithologists.

Frank Kee

Frank has always loved nature and the outdoors since childhood. Born and raised in California his first introduction to birding was when he heard two co-workers talk about going to view waterfowl at a NWR in central California and he asked to tag along. The optics he had at his disposal at that time were one of those kid 27" white astronomical refractor telescopes and an pair of off brand low quality porro prism binoculars. Fortunately his co-workers had better optics. Not only was this trip a lesson in optics but it was memorable enough birding trip that turned into a lifelong passion. Frank has extensively travelled to 60 international countries and has enjoyed birding worldwide whenever the opportunity arises.

Frank and his wife Josée are currently full time volunteers for The Nature Conservancy living on site at the Patagonia Sonoita Creek Preserve (PSCP) in Patagonia. In addition to leading bird walks at PSCP Frank also leads birds walk at Patagonia State Park. Both he and his wife also volunteer with The Hummingbird Monitoring at the Patagonia Sonoita Creek State Natural Area.

Philip Kline

Philip grew up in England and was introduced to birding at an early age by his grandfather, who took him out birding nearly every Sunday morning to a local wood, saltmarsh, or gravel pit (and, yes, occasionally the local sewage treatment plant, much to his mother's chagrin). His grandfather's taste for a morning pint also introduced him to a wide selection of local pubs instilling a taste for a good English pint. His childhood interests expanded beyond birds to pretty much anything that moves and some of his favorite memories are biking the local countryside in pursuit of birds and butterflies.

He moved to the U.S. in 1987 and lived in Tucson until 1998. The birding bug waxed and waned until it came back for good while attending law school in Portland, Oregon (seeing shearwaters and albatrosses for the first time on a Newport pelagic trip time didn't hurt). After law school, he lived for a short time in Washington, DC where he experienced the joys of a couple of East coast spring migrations before returning to Tucson in 2003.

Philip currently works as an attorney for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is married with two girls, but still finds the time to lead birding trips for the Tucson Audubon Society. He enjoys leading trips a great deal and prefers to visit less-explored areas or places that require a good hike and offer a variety of wildlife.

Kendall Kroesen

Kendall grew up in Southern California where his mother identified common backyard birds. He was introduced to the need for conservation by observing vast losses of habitat as Orange County developed in the 1960s and 1970s. He took up birding in earnest when he participated in a sea turtle conservation project in Mexico after graduating from college in 1982. He gradually improved his skills during archaeological field projects in California, graduate school in San Diego, anthropological field work in central Mexico, and post-doctoral work in Los Angeles. Kendall moved to Tucson in 1998 and has been birding southeast Arizona since then. He started volunteering for Tucson Audubon in 2000 and joined the staff in early 2002. Kendall is currently the Restoration Program Manager for Tucson Audubon. In that capacity, most of his birding field trips go to Tucson Audubon conservation sites including the North Simpson Farm northwest of Marana and the Esperanza Ranch conservation easement north of Tubac. Kendall's favorite birding is for songbirds in desert and forest environments. He enjoys the overall aesthetics of discovering and identifying birds in beautiful outdoor places. He looks forward to expanding his trip repertoire to other locations in the future. Kendall has a BA in Anthropology from the University of California, Riverside and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California, San Diego.

Larry Liese

Larry came by his love for the outdoors at an early age. Raised in Vermont, he spent much of this youth backpacking and hiking along the Appalachian, Long and other trails. After migrating to Arizona, Larry fell under the spell of birding and now makes regular forays into Mexico to discover birding hotspots there.

Retiring early from an engineering career in power electronics, for some time Larry was very active in the Tucson Audubon chapter, serving as a member of their Board and Chairman of both the Education and International Trips Committees. Besides leading close to one hundred of their field trips, Larry currently writes the What's In A Name column for the Vermilion Flycatcher. He also wrote a long-standing monthly column on the challenges of bird identification (Dastardly Duos), followed by another series on habitat. All of this led naturally to a second career leading birdwatching and natural history trips to Mexico and other Central American countries, which keeps him quite busy much of the year (though he still likes birding here in Southeast Arizona!).

Larry's excitement and enthusiasm are contagious. He loves sharing his passion for birds with people of all levels, and particularly likes how in birding there are always new avenues of interest to explore.

Vivian MacKinnon

Vivian was raised in the black water swamps of North Florida, graduated with a degree in Anthropology and Environmental Sciences from Florida State University and headed west the next day! While serving in AmeriCorps at Saguaro National Park she was required to attend a birding tour. One look at a Black-throated Sparrow through a cheap pair of binoculars was all it took to get her hooked. She promptly began studying the birds of southeast Arizona and began leading natural history and birding tours both professionally and as a volunteer for area environmental organizations. She has been guiding natural history and birding tours in southeast Arizona for the past twelve years and especially enjoys introducing beginning birders to the spectacular natural wonders of the Sonoran Desert.

Michael Marsden

Michael is principal guide with Anza Birders, a touring company based in Green Valley. Birding has been a passion for as long as he can remember and has largely influenced where he has lived – Norfolk and Cornwall in England, where he worked as a government lawyer; the Caribbean, where he was Crown Counsel and then Solicitor General to the Cayman Islands (and where he met his wife, Donna – birding of course); Rockport in Texas, where Donna and he established Cayman House and Coastal Bend Birders; and Arizona, where for five years they ran the San Pedro River Inn before moving to Green Valley.

Michael has travelled widely overseas and led birding tours to Belize, Panama, Cuba and the U.K. He has guided for the ABA and other birding clubs and festivals, including two favorites - the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival and Wings over Willcox. His special interests include bird identification and migration, classical music, history and conservation, and he recently drafted new, comprehensive conservation legislation for the Cayman Islands.

Pinau Merlin

Pinau is a naturalist and author of several books and numerous articles about the natural history of the Sonoran Desert region. Her works include The Field Guide to Desert Holes, A Guide to Southern Arizona Bird Nests and Eggs, Hummingbirds of the West, Raptors and Soaring Birds of the West, and she is a contributing author to The Natural History of the Sonoran Desert.

Pinau speaks throughout the U.S., helping others re-connect to nature by teaching about ecology, birds, wildlife, plants, tracking, and outdoor awareness skills. She has presented natural history programs for Smithsonian, National Wildlife Federation and American Birding Association, among many others. Pinau leads birding and natural history "ed-venture" trips in the Southwest, Mexico and Central America. She is especially interested in the natural history, behavior and adaptive strategies of birds, as well as birding by ear and bird language.

Pinau has taught natural history at the University of Arizona and has also designed natural history centers, interpretive exhibits, nature trails and wildlife habitats. Pinau's insights and observations about the natural history of the Sonoran Desert have been featured on PBS' Arizona Illustrated, on National Public Radio and in Smithsonian and National Wildlife magazines, among others.

Liz Payne

Maybe it was the cheesecloth, milkweed, milk cartons and caterpillars that birthed a lasting interest in science and natural history. Not sure, but soon after, Red tailed hawks, 4-H events and getting lost in Northern Calif's epic, oak-studded hills solidified Liz's curiosity of themes al fresco. A Biology degree followed, and quite by ‘accident' the ornithology class, taken solely to meet a requirement, created a birding fiend. Her trail includes (wet!) Oregon Breeding Bird Atlas surveys, camping all over the West, and long hours in Portland Audubon's cramped and cluttered wildlife rehab trailer.

Now birding is Liz's primary way of connecting with a natural world that equally enchants and humbles. She prefers observing to listing and enjoys sharing the Sonoran Desert's gentle - and rugged – beauty with others. Nicaragua proved a recent birding buzz; she's also birded extensively throughout New Zealand and parts of Australia. Necessary read: High Country News, local hike of choice: Blackett's Ridge.

Sara Pike

Sara has been leading bird walks for Tucson Audubon for just over two years. She started out as a Volunteer Naturalist at the Mason Audubon Center and helped with the beginning bird walks there. Now, she's taking small groups out to other local areas. She enjoys working with beginning bird watchers because, according to her, "It's so exciting to see someone open up to a whole new world and get excited about it!" She has been birding for about 15 years. She picked up the interest from her cousin, who is one of those crazy "Eat, Sleep, Bird" types - but he forgets to eat and sleep. She thought it would be a great thing to do for the rest of her life. Her thoughts were that she can do it anywhere, and all she needs is a field guide and a pair of binoculars.

Sara currently manages the nature store for Tucson Audubon. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona in Communication with a focus on Marketing. But...for Sara, birds are much more fun to look at than a marketing analysis spreadsheet. Most of the time, she's a casual birder, and watches birds for fun. But, occasionally she'll get that crazy bug and go searching for a rarity. She keeps lists, and uses eBird on a regular basis to keep track of sightings. Why birding? Sara loves being outdoors. She loves being reminded and humbled that she's not the only thing on this earth. In her words, "Birds humble me - they remind me that there is more to this life than material things, and they remind me that we all need to care for something other than ourselves. They are a constant reminder of the importance of diversity and the greatness of being unique." One final thought from Sara, " Let me just say, when I see a kid getting excited about the red on a House Finch, it makes me as teary-eyed as it does when I'm watching someone see a life bird."

Dick Sauer

I began birding as a backyard birder in Wisconsin about 25 years ago. After counting 128 different species in and from my yard in the 23 years I lived in Wisconsin, I began to expand my horizons and after becoming a snow bird in Arizona several years ago, I joined the Sun City Vistoso bird club and now go birding as often as I can. Two of my favorite spots are Catalina State Park and Honeybee Canyon. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and spent most of my career in Northeastern Indiana where I still reside for 6 months every year. While in Indiana I try to get up to the south shore of Lake Erie in mid-May for the very spectacular warbler migration.

Mike Smith

Mike is an amateur astronomer who spent so much time looking up, he decided to try birding. He has an occasional star party to introduce people to the night sky. Stars don't disappear just as you get them in focus, are easy to learn and predictable. An avid canoeist, Mike volunteers at Rowe Sanctuary on the Platte during the Sandhill Crane migration. He has seen ten total solar eclipses on or above six continents and both poles and is on an odyssey to visit all 56 national parks. Mike is also a volunteer math tutor in two local high schools and with Literacy Volunteers of Tucson.

Darlene Smyth

Although she enjoyed birds at feeders when she was a child, the world of birding was not introduced to Darlene until she chanced to stop at the Tucson Audubon Nature Shop a little over 20 years ago. A volunteer asked her if she would like to join TAS. She did, was very fortunate to begin birding under the guidance of an extraordinary TAS leader, Karen Nickey, and started her journey into the joy of birding. Since that time, she has birded extensively over North America and has birded in several countries in Central and South America.

Darlene served as Field Trip Coordinator for Tucson Audubon for many years, stepping down in 2010. She also has a particular interest in organizing information about birding locations which are friendly to birders with physical limitations, thus her web site www.comfortablebirdingforall.com.

Janine Spencer

Bill Wieboldt

I became interested in birding through a Grandfather around age 12. Birding was his primary hobby. There was a huge purple martin house on the property, located along Lake Michigan outside Chicago. By keeping careful records, he would sometimes predict to the day when the Martins would arrive. I instantly took to it after being supplied with binoculars and a Peterson guide. Strong west winds can sometimes have migrating birds back up along the lake front. You can spot twenty + warbler species in a day. Later on, raising a family et al, I would take binoculars and Peterson on trips with family. That was pretty much it. Then ten years ago I had the good fortune to get to know Vivian MacKinnon (currently a TAS trip leader). She, unknowingly, had me become an avid birder again. Now retired.

Rick Wright

Rick lives in Tucson and in Vancouver, Bc, with his wife, Alison Beringer. Rick grew up birding in southeast Nebraska and attended the University of Nebraska and Harvard Law School before taking the M.A. and Ph.D. at Princeton University. Following a dozen years as an academic, he moved to Tucson in 2003, where he founded Aimophila Adventures, a guide service for birders in southeast Arizona. Rick is now the publications editor and a Senior Leader at WINGS, and a widely published writer, a frequent lecturer at birding events, and a popular tour leader in Europe and North America.

John Yerger

John graduated from Penn State with a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science in 2005. He then promptly moved to Tucson to work in and enjoy the Sonoran Desert and its Sky Islands - and all of the birds they have to offer. While John enjoys every bird from the drabbest common resident to the most dazzingly plumaged rarity, he is equally engaged by many aspects of conservation and natural history. He has led trips from Ontario to Arizona, and has researched breeding birds throughout Pennsylvania, Arizona, and the Lower Rio Grande Valley of south Texas.

John currently serves as the Field Expedition Chair for the Arizona Field Ornithologists and is a Senior Guide for the Adventure Birding Company. As a volunteer Field Trip Leader for the Tucson Audubon Society, John has thoroughly enjoyed leading trips to the Chiricahua Mountains (where he has studied Painted Redstarts and currently lives), the Sulphur Springs Valley, and the lower Santa Cruz River.