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Birding Festival
in the Crane Creek -
Magee Marsh - Ottawa NWR Region
of
Northwest Ohio |
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ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS & FIELD GUIDES |
 About Kenn Kaufman . . .
Kenn Kaufman is recognized as one of the
world’s most renowned bird experts. He
is the author of a very popular nature
field guide series and a highly sought
after public speaker. Kenn’s move to
this area in fall of 2005 generated much
excitement across the country,
resulting in thousands of birders
visiting this region to enjoy the
fabulous birding that this area is now
becoming famous for.
A lifelong naturalist, Kenn Kaufman did
not really focus on birds until the age
of six, but since then he has tried to
make up for lost time, pursuing birds in
all fifty states and on all seven
continents. Now working as a freelance
editor, writer, and book producer, he
and his wife Kim make their home in Oak
Harbor, Ohio.
Kenn is a field editor for Audubon
magazine, and writes regular columns for
both Bird Watcher’s Digest and Birder’s
World magazines. Most of his energy
currently goes into book projects,
including his own field guide series,
Kaufman Field Guides, published by
Houghton Mifflin Company of Boston. This
series now includes volumes on North
American birds, butterflies,
mammals, and insects. In spring 2005,
the series was expanded to include the
first North American bird guide to be
published in Spanish. Kenn’s other books
include Lives of North American Birds
and Kingbird Highway.
A new memoir, Flights Against the
Sunset, was published in spring
2008.
A serious interest in field
identification of birds led to Kenn’s
first book, the Field Guide to
Advanced Birding in the Peterson
series, published in 1990. He has also
written scores of magazine articles and
columns on I.D. topics, and has taught
I.D. workshops all over the U.S. and
Canada.
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 About Iain Campbell . . .
Iain ended his career as a geochemist in West Africa when it dawned
on him that his life list was more valuable than gold. He packed up
his G-pick, said goodbye to fufu, and headed to South America, which
better suits his style. He is very involved in bird conservation,
having created Tandayapa Bird Lodge and Mindo Cloudforest
Foundation, and he now spends a significant amount of his time on
donor cultivation for conservation groups. He used to be a fanatical
lister, but now prefers to target the world's specialties, and uses
his enthusiasm to bring others into the hobby. He is also one of the
founders of Tropical Birding. |
 About Alan Davies and Ruth Miller . . .
Ride an around-the-world rollercoaster with Alan Davies and Ruth
Miller, as they share the story of reaching their dream to see more
birds in a single calendar year than ever before! Jim Clements set
the world record of 3,662 species, a high target that hadn't been
seriously challenged before. Join Alan and Ruth as they tell their
story of the race against the clock and seeing fantastic birds in
amazing places.
Alan said, "The reason to suffer altitude sickness in the Andes to
see an Ecuadorian Hillstar, trek across the Karoo desert in 45C to
glimpse a small grey Eremomela, empty my stomach over the side of a
small boat with engine failure just to see an Isabelline Wheatear -
it has always been birds." And Ruth's excuse? "I'm always looking
for something new, to see what's just around the corner. I walk
along looking at life rather than where I'm putting my feet, and if
it's flying, crawling, growing or flowering, I want to take a closer
look at it, even if I don't know its name." Their passion has fueled
them around the world on the adventure of a lifetime. |
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 About Josh Engel . . .
Josh grew up near Chicago, where
he learned the joys of birding along the Lake Michigan shoreline. He
was soon crisscrossing the U.S. with other young birders before
getting hooked on the Neotropics. Josh has been spending a lot of
time in Africa lately, fueling a fast-growing obsession with
Madagascar’s ground-rollers and asities, the red dunes of Namibia,
and the many endemics of South Africa, where he now lives. Past
trips to Indochina have left him longing to return to southeast Asia
as well. |
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 About
Jeff Bouton . . .
Jeff
Bouton is a product specialist with
Leica Optics and has been
digiscoping birds and wildlife since
before we knew what digiscoping was.
So, dust the cobwebs off your
digiscoping equipment and join us
for one of Jeff's workshops. |
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 About Keith Barnes
. . .
Keith reailzed that he was no longer a
scientist when a significant difference
in the tail lengths of larks didn’t
really make a significant difference in
his life! Turning his back on the Ivory
Towers, Keith helped found Tropical
Birding and now heads the Africa and
Asia operations. Having traveled far and
wide in Africa in search of larks,
turacos, bee-eaters and other beasties,
he has turned his interests towards Asia
and its wren-babblers and pittas. Before
Keith was able to actually see most of
the birds he wanted to, he had to sit in
an office and write about them,
producing The Important Bird Areas of
Southern Africa and The Red Data Book of
Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and
Swaziland in the process. |
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 About
Christian Boix . . .
Christian followed the swallows, and
headed south from Spain in 1990
after developing a lust for African
ornithology. He has an unhealthy
interest in the reproductive biology
of birds, especially those with
bizarre mating and breeding systems,
such as birds-of-paradise and
hornbills. Christian’s effect on
clients is so profound we refer to
them as either BC or AC. Nobody
believes he is a Spaniard as he
speaks English like a South African.
A partner of Tropical Birding,
Christian spends most of his time
leading tours in Africa and Asia,
where his infectious enthusiasm has
ensured a faithful following. |
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 About Nick
Athanas . . .
Nick’s obsession with bird sounds is
legendary. In fact, it is rumored he
can live off the songs of antbirds
without any other sustenance. Nick
gave up a lucrative career in
geophysics to go watch birds in
South America a decade ago and has
never looked back. He is one of the
founders of Tropical Birding, and
when not leading tours, can often be
found in odd corners of the world
adding to his collection of photos
and sound recordings. American by
birth, Nick now lives in Quito,
Ecuador. |
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 About
Michael Retter . . .
Michael spent all of his college
vacations birding in Mexico and
became so hooked that all he could
think about was quesadillas and
leading bird tours after he
graduated. He can be found guiding
anywhere from Canada down to
Ecuador, but a recent trip to
Micronesia whetted his appetite for
birding beyond the Americas. When at
home in the Midwest, Michael puts
his intense interests in taxonomy
and distribution to use both as
“Sightings” Department Editor and
Technical Reviewer for ABA’s Birding
magazine. |
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 About
Sam Woods . . .
Sam obsession for birds began with a
pair of tits in the Royal London
park at age 11. Working for Tropical Birding fits
in perfectly with his plan of
building up a massive world list,
and now he guides on five
continents. Now well known around
the world for his affable English
gentlemanly demeanor and his skilled
guiding, his prodigious output of
trip reports has almost surpassed
those qualities. Sam supposedly
resides in Ecuador, but his schedule
hardly allows any time there. |
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 About Jen
Brumfield . . .
Jen hails from Akron, Ohio, where
she presently gets great kicks
working for Cleveland Metroparks as
a scientific illustrator and
naturalist. Heavily involved in
young birder education, she is the
editorial advisor for the ABA’s
youth birder newsletter, A
Bird’s-Eye View. Jen’s natural
history illustrations have appeared
in throngs of journals, newsletters,
books, and even on greeting cards.
Birding is innate for this gal, who
ventures to say she’s gone way
beyond the “interest.” It’s simply a
way of life.
Here
is Jen's website. |
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 About
Mark Shieldcastle . . .
Mark has a degree in Wildlife
Management from The Ohio State
University. He was on staff at Ohio
State with the Ohio Cooperative
Wildlife Research Unit before
accepting a position with the Ohio
Division of Wildlife where he has
spent thirty-two years as a Wildlife
Biologist specializing in avian
research and recently retired from
his position as Project Leader of
Wetland Wildlife Research. Mr.
Shieldcastle is currently employed
as Director of Research for the
Black Swamp Bird Observatory.
Mark has conducted
research on Bald Eagle, colonial
waders, terns, wetland breeding
birds, woodcock, shorebirds,
colonial passerines, waterfowl,
rails, cranes, migrating raptors,
and migrating passerines. Has
co-authored the Beneficial Use
Impairments for Wildlife and
Wildlife Habitat portion of the
Lake Erie Management Plan
which is part of the Clean Water
Act; The Great Lakes-Upper
Mississippi River Regional Plan of
the National Shorebird Plan; The
Great Lakes-Upper Mississippi River
Regional Plan of the North American
Waterbird Plan; and has
contributed to several of the
regional plans of
Partners-in-Flight. Mark has
authored or co-authored a variety of
papers on passerines, Bald Eagles,
cormorants, and contaminant issues
with birds. He developed recovery
plans for the Bald Eagle, Osprey,
Common Tern, Black-crowned
Night-Heron, and Sandhill Crane in
Ohio.
While with the
Division of Wildlife he was
Representative to the Mississippi
Flyway Council, Mark also Chaired
the Banding Committee of the
Mississippi Flyway Council Technical
Section (MFCTS); Represented the
MFCTS to the International Black
Duck Joint Venture and Adaptive
Harvest Working Group; Is
Past-President of the Inland Bird
Banding Association; serves on the
North American Banding Council (NABC)
and presently is Chair of the
Council; Has 32 years experience in
the capture and banding of birds,
has been responsible for over
750,000 banded birds, and is a
certified trainer for banders under
the NABC. Mark and his wife Julie
live in Oak Harbor, Ohio.
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 About
Doug Brewer . . .
Doug
Brewer has been the Refuge Manager
at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
since September of 2004. From May
2003 to July 2004, he served as
Acting Refuge Manger for the newly
established Detroit River
International Wildlife Refuge. Doug
was the Assistant Refuge Manager at
Ottawa from 1997 to 2004. Prior to
coming to Ottawa, Doug worked for
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
in the Pacific Regional Office in
Portland, Oregon where he was a
Biologist in the Division of
Endangered Species. From 1991-1994,
he worked as a Biologist for the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the
Regulatory Branch at the Toledo
Field Office. An Ohio native, Doug
grew up in Rocky River, OH, on
Cleveland’s west side. Doug has
Master’s degrees from the University
of Toledo (M.S. in Biology, 1991),
and Cleveland State University
(Master of Public Administration,
1984), and a bachelor’s degree from
Bowling Green State University (B.S.
1981). |
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 About
Sharon Cummings . . .
Sharon Cummings has been a
professional freelance
wildlife/nature photographer for
over 30 years and has explored all
corners of the United States.
She also photographs close to home
in Ottawa County, Ohio, where she
photographs for the Ottawa National
Wildlife Refuge as a volunteer.
Sharon’s work has been seen in many
national and international
publications including
Natural History
magazine,
Smithsonian
magazine,
Life
magazine,
USA Today
newspaper,
Audubon
books and calendars,
Sierra Club
cards and calendars,
Ranger Rick/Your Big
Backyard
magazines,
Birder’s World
magazine as well as many textbooks
and field guides. See her work
at
www.sharoncummings.net.
Sharon also leads workshops and
seminars on nature photography and
the digital darkroom. She has
worked in the graphics arts industry
for 30 years and owns The Downtown
Print Shop, in Toledo, Ohio where
she designs private and corporate
logos and produces various products
such as calendars, stationery and
business cards.
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 About
Paul J. Baicich . . .
Paul J. Baicich has been an active
birder since his early teens in New
York City. A former employee of the
American Birding Association, he
edited 14 of their "ABA Birdfinding
Guides," edited Birding, ABA's
bi-monthly magazine, and served as
ABA's Director of Conservation and
Public Policy.
His concerns include an abiding
interest in bird conservation and
studies in the breeding biology of
North American birds. In this last
regard, he has co-authored (with the
late Colin Harrison)
A Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and
Nestlings of North American Birds
(1997). Paul also has co-led a
number of birding tours and
workshops to Alaska. These Alaska
destinations include the Aleutians,
the Pribilofs, the Seward Peninsula,
and St. Lawrence Island.
Among his many other activities, he
has been working for the National
Wildlife Refuge System on a
consultant basis on issues of
popular birding and parallel refuge
receptiveness. In addition, Paul
co-edits (with Wayne Petersen) the
popular monthly
Birding Community
E-bulletin. |
 About Dr.
Andy Jones . . .
Dr. Andy Jones is
Curator of Ornithology at the
Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
He is the first person hired as the
William A. and Nancy R. Klamm
Endowed Chair of Ornithology, thanks
to a major donation from the Klamms
to the museum. Dr. Jones received
his BS in Biological Sciences from
the University of Tennessee at
Knoxville, and his PhD in Ecology,
Evolution, and Behavior from the
University of Minnesota. He
originally hails from east
Tennessee, where his passion for
natural history began at an early
age; his current research involves
the evolutionary history of birds
from the Appalachian mountains as
well as the Andes and the
Philippines.
Dr. Jones is
responsible for the Museum’s
collection of avian specimens, which
consists of approximately 35,000
study skins and 4,000 egg sets from
the Ohio region and western North
America as well as approximately
1,000 osteological specimens from
Ohio. He is also responsible for
specimen acquisition and
preservation, maintenance of
specimen records, and carrying out
original research. His other tasks
include providing various services
to the scientific community, the
media, the Museum’s exhibitions and
education divisions as well as the
public at large.
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 About
John Robinson . . .
John has worked as a wildlife biologist and professional ornithologist
for nearly 30 years, including stints at two federal conservation
agencies: the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. Currently he serves as President of On My
Mountain, Inc., a birding and natural history tour company, and in
that capacity he has led tours all over the world. Robinson is
author of numerous books, including Common Birds of Mount Diablo,
Secret of the Snow Leopard, and his consummate work, the
comprehensive North American Bird Reference Book CD-ROM, for
which he wrote not only the entire text but also all of the computer
program code. An environmental advocate, he works with nonprofit
organizations to increase minority interest in bird watching, in
hopes that involvement will give people a reason to protect the
environment through nature conservation in the future. His latest
book, Birding for Everyone, is a particular reflection of
this interest.
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 About Tom
Bartlett . . .
Tom
is a retired high school biology
teacher from northwest Ohio with 40
years of Ohio birding experience.
He was the BSBO field trip leader
for over 10 years, ran a natural
history tour group in the 1980's and
has lead 100's of successful birding
trips throughout the USA, Canada,
and Costa Rica. In addition, he is a
licensed and certified bird bander
and banding trainer with over 38
years of
banding experience. He runs two bird
banding station; one at Springville
Marsh State Nature Preserve in
Seneca County (26 years) and one on
Kelleys Island in Erie County (14
years). He has banded close to
200 species of birds and is
approaching his 50,000 individually
banded bird. Not bad for a
part-time bander! In addition,
he has conducted the BSBO BIg Sit
each International Migratory Bird
Day for the last 15 years. During that time he has raised over
$28,000 for BSBO educational
programs.
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 About Elliot Tramer . . .
Elliot
is Professor Emeritus of
Environmental Sciences at the
University of Toledo. While at the
University he founded the
Environmental Science Program and
served as its Director until his
retirement in 2007. Elliot has been
an avid birder since the age of 10.
He is a co-author of ‘Birds of the
Toledo Area” (2002), a book familiar
to many Ohio birders, and has served
on the Ohio Bird Records Committee.
Elliot also has made numerous trips
to Central and South America, and
has many publications to his credit,
including papers on patterns of bird
species diversity and the lives of
migrants on their tropical wintering
grounds. |
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 About Ashley Buchanan . . .
After completing a B.S. in Wildlife
and Fisheries Ecology at Oklahoma
State University, Ashley worked
seasonal field biology positions in
Iowa, Georgia, North Carolina,
Kansas, Oklahoma and Ohio. Most of
her work has been with forest and
grassland birds, but she also
studied snakes and small mammals.
She completed an M.S. in Natural
Resources at The Ohio State
University. Her graduate research
focused on habitat use, local
movements, and stopover duration of
migratory songbirds during spring
stopover in the Lake Erie marsh
region of northern Ohio, primarily
Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and
Crane Creek State Park. She grew up
in Oklahoma and enjoys the outdoors,
birding, working in the yard, music,
and spending time with family and
friends. Ashley is currently the
Wildlife Refuge Specialist at Big
Oaks National Wildlife Refuge in
southeastern Indiana. She will
speak about her graduate research in
northern Ohio. |
 About Mike
Bergin . . .
Mike Bergin is a leading authority
on standardized test preparation but
really aspires to be a naturalist.
Mike is the founder of one of the
world's most popular birding blogs,
10,000 Birds, and the creator of the
Nature Blog Network. He is also
editor-in-chief of the birding blog
carnival, I and the Bird.
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 About
David Kriska . . .
David
Kriska is the Biodiversity
Coordinator at the Center for
Conservation & Biodiversity & the
Natural Areas Division of The
Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
The Natural Areas program currently
has 38 nature preserves constituting
approximately 5000 acres that
contain unique natural communities,
such as hemlock northern hardwood
forest, Lake Erie island alvar,
fossil dune ridge, marshes, swamps
and glacial wetlands. These
high-quality habitats- many are
globally rare, together protect 110
endangered, threatened, or rare
plant species and 90 state-listed or
rare fauna and provide critical
habitat for migratory and rare
nesting birds. Together, they
represent the remarkable biological
diversity that was once widespread
throughout the region. In addition
to identifying these species, David
conducts surveys on Museum preserves
and private property to track the
status of our regions rarest
breeding birds.
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 About
Mike Freiberg . . .
Mike Freiberg grew up in
Philadelphia, PA, where his family
introduced him to the world of
birding. Over time the hobby grew
into a career. He attended Iowa
State University where he earned his
B.S. in Animal Ecology. His summers
during college were spent as a
biological technician, monitoring
breeding birds for Point Reyes Bird
Observatory in Eastern Oregon, and
also five seasons in Black Hills,
SD, working for the Rocky Mountain
Bird Observatory. As his passion for
birding grew he decided to travel
Latin America; he has spent time in
Mexico, Guatemala, Panama Venezuela
and a great deal of time in Brazil.
One of his most memorable birding
experiences was the six months spent
in Northeast Brazil performing
research on a new species of bird
called the Araripe Manakin. Mike is
currently the Birding Market
Specialist for Nikon Sport Optics
and loves sharing the intricacies of
optics, to birders. Good optics
always make the experience far more
worth while.
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