Pete Read
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.