Originally from the Halton region, Alessandra is an avid birder who has been banding for the past 9 years. Having been guided by experts at observatories such as Haldimand, Pelee Island, Long Point, and Hilliardton Marsh, her main goal is to continue to help conserve wildlife and educate others to do the same. She is a BSc graduate, having studied at the University of Guelph. Now that she is free, her goal is to continue to travel the world; she supposed the Saugeen Bruce Peninsula is a good place to start. 

Alessandra runs Gyrkite Birding Tours with Kiah Jasper, leading birding outings across the province.

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Arni is a life-long naturalist and conservationist and has recently relocated to the Bruce Peninsula from Orillia where he was the Vice-president of the Orillia Naturalists’ club. He currently volunteers for the Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory, Bruce Peninsula Biosphere Association and Bruce Peninsula National Park. Arni is proud to have had his images published in conservation-themed, international journals including the prestigious Birdlife Australia, Wild Seed Project in Maine, National Audubon Society and Canadian Geographic.

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Ashley started birding at age 12 when her birding Dad (Marshal Byle), took her on the first of their annual trips to Point Pelee.  She learned to drive on Pelee Island, and later continued to go to Point Pelee with her husband and one time with a wee three-week old baby in tow. 

Ashley is an active Bruce County birder, who has attended many years of this Birding Festival. 

Other than birding, she likes to sing, play the piano, loves running and fitness, and enjoys reading and doing puzzles. Her favourite sports team is, of course, the Blue Jays.

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For many years Audrey was a presenter with the Monarch Teacher Network, leading workshops on the monarch butterfly, habitat development and Voices From the Land (engaging children and adults with art through nature, language and drama) throughout Canada and the USA. She taught elementary school with the Bluewater District School Board for 25 years. Prior to teaching, Audrey had a career as a designer/weaver of wearable art and a founding member of Makers gallery in Owen Sound. She now embraces the opportunity to travel, hike, ski, bike, canoe and explore this wonderful world with her husband and share her love and concerns for the natural world and monarch butterflies with the public.

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Barbara Palmer is a former teacher who hails from Grey County. Hiking the Bruce Trail on a school trip as a child opened her eyes to the natural beauty of her own backyard. This in turn, lead her to be curious about the flora encountered, especially wildflowers, and later ferns. She continues to enjoy hiking, and is fortunate to spend time on the Saugeen Bruce Peninsula. She is a long time member of the Owen Sound Field Naturalists (OSFN) and sits on their Publications Committee. Her extensive knowledge of local botany has been an asset during the revision of Orchids Bruce & Grey and the current updating of Ferns Bruce & Grey. 

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Beth Gilhespy has been a conservation professional for over 30 years.  In March 2024 she joined the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy, a growing Ontario-based land trust, as its CEO.  From 2019 to 2024 she was Executive Director of the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy, which secures funds for Toronto Zoo endangered species conservation programs. Between 2004 and 2018 Beth was Chief Executive Officer of the Bruce Trail Conservancy, where she oversaw the preservation of more than 6,500 acres of land along the Niagara Escarpment. Beth also served on the Niagara Escarpment Commission from 2017 to 2019. Prior to her work at the Bruce Trail Conservancy, Beth worked for 15 years as a consultant specializing in the environmental impact of toxic chemicals. She holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in physical geography and geology from the University of Guelph. She is an avid hiker, traveler, fossil collector and self-professed landscape fanatic, and when not out exploring the land, is currently writing her second book on the geology of the Niagara Escarpment along the Bruce Trail.

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Brett Tatton and Frank Williams are two local astronomers. They promote astronomy in our area by participating extensively in public outreach events as well as educating school-aged children at the Outdoor Education Centre near Wiarton. Brett and Frank have pioneered what they call electronically assisted astronomy. That is, they use modern technology to take photos of the night sky, and they combine these images in real time to show people what deep sky objects like galaxies look like in great detail, beyond what you would get by simply looking through an eyepiece on a telescope.

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Bruce is past president fo the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club and is the Co-ordinator for the Grimsby Wetlands - a project of the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club. He is an active naturalist who spends about 3 months a year camping in and exploring the Saugeen Bruce. Bruce is a frequent contributor to the Niagara Escarpment Views magazine and the Wood Duck, the monthly journal of the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club. Bruce and his wife, Laurie, spend their best times exploring
the eastern waters and shore landscapes of Lake Huron.

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Caley Doran's sound comes from Saukiing Anishinaabekiing territory (Saugeen Ojibway Nation) and he lives in Sauble Beach. He is an Anishinaabe Interpretive Guide with the Cape Croker Park Anishinaabe Cultural Experiences program. After a 20+ year career in the hospitality industry, managing restaurants and large teams Caley chose a new path connected to his passion for Mother Earth and he now follows the footsteps of his ancestors. You can find Caley guiding hikes and land-based learning across Saugeen Ojibway Nation.

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Dale is an avid birder and outdoor enthusiast who spends much of his time in outdoor spaces indulging in his passion for birds. Over the past few years, Dale has enjoyed guiding in places such as Point Pelee National Park and Algonquin Provincial Park, as well as The District of Muskoka. 

Dale's goal is to share his passion for birds and all things nature with people. Both to educate and inspire. He believes that birds connect us all. No borders, no fences - anywhere you are, you can watch birds. 

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David Brewer started bird watching when he got his first bicycle, at about age eleven, and got a master bird-banding permit at seventeen. By profession he is an organic chemist, with degrees from Cambridge and Glasgow; he spent much of his spare time in Scotland banding Gannets and has the scars to prove it. After graduation he did a years' fellowship at the University of Arizona, from where he made many forays into Mexico, thereby starting one of his major interests, Neotropical birds. Since retirement from Uniroyal Chemical in Guelph he has spent his time travelling (to all seven continents), guiding on Polar cruises (he's been to Antarctica twenty-five times and the North Pole three) and writing bird books, including a birders' guide to Central America. His main interests are bird conservation, banding and migration.

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David Rankine is an artist, musician, author, storyteller and citizen scientist. He has authored/co-authored a number of books, from fiction, art, sacred geometry and medicine to the most recent books on Inverhuron and the Coyotes of Inverhuron. He lives in rural north Huron County but spends much of his time following his animal friends in Bruce County.

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David has been birding since he was a young lad growing up in the English countryside. His interest continued after his move to Canada in his late teens and was strongly reignited again after time spent in Central America.  Currently, David is a popular leader for the Owen Sound Field Naturalists, and with local birders, with a focus on the Beaver Valley. During the pandemic he started up a ‘Birding Beaver Valley’ Facebook group for ‘a few people who might be interested’ and it has grown into hundreds of members.  He co-established and guides for the ‘Boots, Birds and Breakfast’ birding and nature tour company in the Beaver Valley. 

David is also a lifetime botany enthusiast, professional gardener and plant health care specialist.  

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Since retiring from teaching, Doug has been able to indulge his lifelong passions of nature study, photography and travel. He can often be found wandering the back roads of Bruce and Grey counties in search of flora, fauna and landforms to photograph. Doug is a member of the Bruce Birding Club, the Saugeen Shores Camera Club and a past-president of the Friends of MacGregor Point Park.  A newer passion is spending time teaching his granddaughter all about nature.

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Frank Williams is a retired Engineer. He has been doing astronomy since the 1970's when film was used for astrophotography. He has a small observatory near Allenford Ontario, and teaches astronomy to kids at the Bluewater Outdoor Education centre.

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James is a favourite local bird hike leader at MacGregor Point Provincial Park and the Bruce Birding Club.  He brings his unique enthusiasm to bird hikes and easily imparts his wide knowledge to the group.  He will help you understand the importance of birding by ear and habitat requirements.

James is coordinator of the Kincardine Christmas Bird Count, a primary Atlaser for a number of squares in the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas and sits on the Grey Bruce Bird Records Committee. He has received the Festival's Norah Toth Award for his involvement with the Bruce Birding Club, his support of citizen science and his commitment to and support of the Festival. 

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Jarmo was a keen birder long before he could seriously grow facial hair. His first teenage summer job involved reintroducing endangered Peregrine Falcons to the wilds of Algonquin Park in 1978. Since then, he has devoted his life to advancing the cause of healthy ecosystems with science and creativity, working closely with First Nations, federal and provincial agencies and many NGOs, as well as the private sector.  He currently serves as ecologist/advisor for the Saugeen Ojibway Nation Environment Office and is involved in many other conservation initiatives. Jarmo lives in a 130-year old log home on the beautiful Saugeen Bruce Peninsula, where his backyard visitors include Red-headed Woodpeckers, Eastern Bluebirds, Sandhill Cranes and even the occasional Peregrine Falcon.

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Jean is well known to Ontario birders; she was president of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) from 1995 - 2004 and edited OFO News for 14 years. Her special interests are shorebirds, grassland birds, gulls and bird identification. Jean loves the Hudson Bay Lowlands of northern Ontario and has spent many summers as a volunteer surveying shorebirds and waterfowl around James and Hudson bays for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the Royal Ontario Museum. Jean is a leader for Quest Nature Tours and has visited French Polynesia, Svalbard - Norwegian Arctic, Belize, Guatemala, Galapagos among other exotic locations. 

In 2016 Jean was named a Distinguished Ornithologist by OFO.

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Jenna grew up on the north Bruce Peninsula. She left to get a degree in wildlife biology and scientific illustration and returned to work for Parks Canada in Tobermory in ecological research and nature interpretation. Her passion is learning about, teaching and preserving traditional Metis skills and knowledge. Jenna recognizes that Metis art forms capture her people’s history and nature and that traditional art forms such as beading and moccasin making help keep her culture alive. She likes to use her illustration and communication skills to record knowledge and teach others about nature and history. As an artist, it is her wish to create art that simply inspires others and hopefully, captures the Metis spirit.

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Jeremy is a career birder, visiting from the Point Pelee area, Canada’s premier migration birding hotspot. He loves helping others to find birds and understand the ecology behind the birds we see. 

Jeremy operates a tour company called Pelee Birding, based in his home locality of Point Pelee, and plans on someday expanding with tours abroad. He represents Swarovski Optik as a Field Tech, and has much experience with a wide variety of popular birding optics and bird photography. He has worked birding and ecology contracts with Birds Canada, conservation authorities, and ecological consulting companies for over a decade, and has visited the Bruce region many times. An active community member and volunteer in organizations like Ontario Field Ornithologists, Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club, and Holiday Beach Migration Observatory, Jeremy regularly contributes time and data to citizen science projects like eBird and Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas. He also previously held Ontario’s Big Year record, for the most bird species identified in a single year in Ontario, between 2017-2022! 

Spending time with Jeremy will surely add some highlights and insight to your birding journey. 

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John has an eye for detail and has used it in his hobby of wildlife photography these past 35 years. He started off specializing in bird photography but his interests have broadened and now include the wonders from the world of macrophotography (dragonflies and spiders) to astrophotography (sun and moon to far off nebulas). His photos have graced the covers of a number of magazines and books including Ontario’s second Breeding Bird Atlas. John lives in nearby Grey County and is an active member of the Saugeen Field Naturalists. 

John is a practicing rural physician in the town of Mount Forest.

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Julia Zarankin is a Toronto-based award-winning writer, birder, lecturer, cultural tour guide and Canadian Ambassador for ZEISS Sports Optics. Her memoir, Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder, is a Canadian bestseller and her writing has been featured in Audubon, Sierra, Cottage Life, Canadian Geographic, The Walrus, and The Globe and Mail. When not hanging out with a spotting scope at sewage lagoons in hopes of getting a better handle on shorebirds, Julia lectures to lifelong learners in and around Toronto. 

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Originally from Cayuga, Ontario, Kevin has been working and living in the Bruce-Grey area for the last decade. With almost 25 years of experience in Ontario and Alberta, Kevin has spent a lot of time eating dirt with wet-feet in many different forest types across Canada.

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Kiah is a 23 year old birder who has grown up with the Bruce Peninsula as his backyard. His keen interest in photography sparked his more serious fascination with all things avian. Kiah is the winner of the 2018 Canadian Geographic wildlife  photographer of the year (under 17). He is the Bruce County compiler for the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas, an eBird reviewer for 3 counties and is an active Bruce County birder. Kiah is on the Board of the Ontario Field Ornithologists and the Ontario Bird Records Committee (OBRC) and is an active member of the Bruce Birding Club. He leads hikes around the county for both organizations. 

In 2022 Kiah broke the Ontario Big Year record for most birds spotted in a calendar year, with 359 species seen across the province.  An interview on CBC Radio and with the Owen Sound Sun Times were promotional highlights of his Big Year.

Kiah runs Gyrkite Birding Tours with Alessandra Kite, leading birding outings across the province.

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Lynne started birding as a kid and made up names for birds before she got her first bird book. She has a keen interest in birding for a purpose, so is a citizen scientist project enthusiast. She has participated in Forest Bird and Breeding Bird surveys, the ROM's Nest Records, coordinates a local Christmas Bird Count and sits on the Grey Bruce Records Committee.  

Lynne has a special interest in breeding bird behaviour and nidiology, sparked during the first and second Breeding Bird Atlases (OBBA). She is currently the OBBA-3 Regional Coordinator for Grey County.  

Lynne particularly enjoys serving on the Piping Plover recovery project at Sauble Beach and being a member of the Huron Fringe Birding Festival program committee.  

Lynne worked as an Environmental Planner with the Niagara Escarpment Commission, where she was fortunate to have had many opportunities to explore the beautiful bird and botany-rich Niagara Escarpment throughout Grey Bruce, top to bottom.

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Margaret sees birding as a social affair - a time for sharing and learning from each other. She enjoys birding in her own backyard and throughout the local countryside. Margaret is a member of the Bruce Birding Club and is their official recorder.  

As a member of the Chantry Island Marine Heritage Society, she leads boat tours to the island and uses her keen interest in history in giving guided tours of the lighthouse and the historic keeper's cottage. 

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Mark is one of the original Huron Fringe Birding Festival leaders and has participated every year with the same passion and enthusiasm as he did on his very first hike.....but he does have more gray hair. The early hikes are the best way to find the most birds and it is at this time that Mark is really on his game.....coffee not required, but it helps. Along the way, Mark provides many helpful tips on bird identification through sound, behaviour and habitat. His hikes are always full of information from birds to plant-life to wildlife and everything in between. Whether you're a full fledged birder or just starting out, his hikes will always inspire and entertain....it's all about the sex, baby!

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Marshall Byle received his first field guide to the birds when he was just four years old. Today, with over half a century of experience, he still loves to bird and to share the wonder of birds with others. Marshall is a member of the Huron Fringe Field Naturalists. He writes a birding and nature column in the local magazine, Marketplace.

Marshall is currently on the Board of the Friends of MacGregor Point Park. He has been a leader for the Huron Fringe Birding Festival for many years.  

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Michael’s association with Algonquin spans nearly 50 years and includes working in the Park as an interpretive naturalist for 11 seasons.  Michael hosted the international television series Wild by Nature, authored and illustrated 14 natural history books including Algonquin Wild and, his latest, Wildflowers of Algonquin Provincial Park.  Additionally, Michael provided the images for the award-winning children’s book At Home with the Beaver.  In addition, Michael has written more than 1,100 natural history articles for newspapers and magazines (Nature’s Way was nearing its 30th season when Covid-19 cut it short). Michael teaches Natural History and Ornithology courses at Carleton University where more than 52,000 students have taken his courses. His numerous awards include the Council of Canadian University Biology Chairs Distinguished Public Science Education Award, the Friends of Algonquin Directors Award, and several Carleton University Teaching Achievement Awards. A popular keynote speaker and media guest, Michael was the only Canadian featured in the TVO/NHK Japan’s Superteachers series.  

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Mike was once loaned a pair of binoculars by a former boss and told to look for the birds he could hear. Since then he hasn't looked back, unless it was for a bird. Prior to that, Mike always had his head down, looking for insects, reptiles, amphibians, and fungi. He has sculpted himself into an all-round naturalist and educator in Southwestern Ontario. He has worked as a Park Naturalist at Ontario's Killbear and Algonquin Provincial Parks and as a Tour Manager at the Monteverde Butterfly Gardens in Costa Rica's cloud forests. He is currently an arborist and environmental project coordinator with the City of Sarnia and a Trip Leader for Quest Nature Tours. With Quest, Mike leads hikes during the Festival of Birds every spring at Point Pelee as well as trips to extraordinary international destinations each year.

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Miptoon (Anthony Chegahno) is from Neyaashiinigmiing which is also known as Cape Croker, Chippewas of Nawash (Unceded) First Nation. He has a Master's of Theology degree. Since 2007, he has been the Project Manager for the Nawash Species at Risk Inventory and Capacity-building Project, which works to inventory, monitor, conserve, and raise awareness about the remarkable diversity of Species at Risk and their habitats at Cape Croker, the Saugeen Bruce Peninsula, and the traditional territories of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation. He is an organizer of the Cape Croker Christmas Bird Count.

Miptoon has a deep relationship and vast knowledge of the natural history of Cape Croker and spends as much time as he can enjoying it. 

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Nikki started her avocation as a naturalist in the 1990s, then earned a Master’s degree in Forest Restoration from University of Guelph. While living in Sarnia, she worked for Carolinian Canada for 6 years and was on the boards of Lambton Wildlife Inc. and Tallgrass Ontario. She is a Past-president of Saugeen Nature and is currently a primary Atlaser for the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas in southwest Grey County.

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Paul got started birding at a young age. When his dad was looking for a little more of a connection with his son, he took Paul to a local conservation area with some bird seed. That day, a Black-capped Chickadee landed on Paul’s hand and a birding monster was born. He has continued to watch birds since then.

Paul has become a well-known North American birder, but still only calls himself, “pretty good.” He is a board member of the American Birding Association.  He  starred in the CBC documentary 'Rare Bird Alert'. Everything he does in the birding world is to promote it to a wider audience, change the way people view birding, birders and to promote bird conservation.

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Pete’s interest in nature spawned from summers spent exploring along the Thames River in London, Ontario as a boy. He developed this keen interest in nature in general, and birds in particular, over the years with help from mentors in McIlwraith Field Naturalists. He is self-taught in the identification of birds by sight and sound and has finely tuned his skills since 1969 with annual trips to Point Pelee National Park. He is a life-long educator who loves to work with people of all ages to extol the wonders of avian life, leading many field trips over the years for various nature clubs and organizations. He also takes part in many citizen science projects, predominantly the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas and Christmas Bird Counts. 

After retiring from a long teaching career, he has pursued many interests in natural history. He worked with the Wildlife Preservation Trust Shrike program building and installing loggerhead shrike cages for their captive breeding program.  He also became a consultant and field biologist for a number of environmental companies and agencies, working on wildlife projects in Ontario and Quebec. He leads bird hikes every spring at Point Pelee. Currently he is a guide for Quest Nature Tours which allows him to travel the world learning even more about birds and wildlife and imparting knowledge to those who accompany him. He is very pleased to lead trips for the Huron Fringe.

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Shannon worked for the Saugeen Valley and other Conservation Authorities throughout the province as well as Ministry of Natural Resources/Forestry offices throughout her 34-year career. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Windsor and Trent University as well as Forestry and Fish and Wildlife Technician papers from Sir Sandford College in Lindsay. She has always had a keen interest in natural history and spent many years conducting hikes, presentations, seminars, education programs, etc., as part of educational awareness. Shannon has been on numerous environmental committees and groups and continues to educate the public about natural history. 

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Tim has always loved nature and wildlife. Even when working as an audio engineer in the film and television industry his favourite projects were the many award winning nature documentaries he worked on. Tim has spent countless hours birding in Bruce County. When he first started birding he "discovered" several great birding locations. He has worked for Birds Canada since 2017 and now some of his fieldwork locations are the exact spots he "discovered" years earlier.

In addition to his Birds Canada work, Tim presents to nature clubs about Algonquin Provincial Park, and Nature Photography. He also leads tours for the Point Pelee Festival of Birds, The Huron Fringe Birding Festival, the Ontario Field Ornithologists, as well as some private tours. Tim has recently signed on with Eagle-Eye Tours and looks forward to showing people some amazing wildlife in some stunning locations around the world!

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Tyler has spent the entirety of his life interested in the natural environment; this naturalist's curiosity inspired him to pursue a career in ecology. Over the last decade, Tyler has worked as a field ecologist with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and currently Parks Canada in Tobermory. His passion for studying natural history has recently landed him at Trent University, where he completed an undergraduate degree and thesis focusing on Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula alvar ecology. Tyler’s career and hobbies have shaped him into a well-rounded naturalist with a formidable expertise in field botany. In 2023, Tyler updated and digitized the technical content of the Vascular Plant List Bruce & Grey for the Owen Sound Field Naturalists.

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One of the original Huron Fringe Birding Festival leaders, a self taught photographer, Willy spent 35 years as a full-time photojournalist at The Owen Sound Sun Times. During his tenure as chief photographer, he oversaw the transition from black and white to colour then finally to digital. His newspaper photographs won over 100 provincial and national awards. In 1990, Willy was named Ontario News Photographers’ Association Photographer of the Year. His photography has appeared in national and international magazines, newspapers and books including the Globe and Mail, New York Times and National Geographic. His work is in both public and private collections. Willy’s life long love for the Niagara Escarpment and Bruce & Grey Counties has led to his commitment through his photography, to protect and interpret this special part of Canada for you to enjoy.

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