Stuart is a lifelong resident of Cambridgeshire, England and he has no plans to move away just yet! He has been interested in Birds & Wildlife since a very early age. He started birdwatching at the age of 8 and by the mid 1980’s he had become a regular face on the British birding scene.

Stuart rapidly built up a collection of photographs from the great rarity photographers of the era including, amongst others, Tim Loseby, David Tipling and Steve Young as he began to travel further afield in search of rare birds. This quest continues and although more laid back these days, by August 2007, he had seen 527 species in Britain & Ireland, according to the arbiter of British Listing, the UK400 Club. He is also very keen on his county list and to date has seen 277 species in his home county of Cambridgeshire.

His love of photography started in the early 1980’s when he accompanied his good friend and local wildlife artist David Hyde on many bird, butterfly and wildlife watching trips. Destinations included Bass Rock, The Farne Islands, The Lake District and most of the key butterfly and insect sites throughout the UK. Around this time Stuart was also actively involved in undertaking census work on the Large Copper butterfly for The British Butterfly Conservation Society (BBCS) at a site in his home county. Stuart is a member of the Amateur Entomologists Society (AES), and even today, he still has a great passion for insects.

Since the early 1990’s Stuart has played a major role in local conservation. He was Chairman of St. Neots Bird & Wildlife Club, an Executive Council Member of Cambridgeshire Bird Club and he also served on the editorial board of the Cambridgeshire Bird Report. Currently, Stuart is a member of the Huntingdonshire Environment Forum where he brings a wealth of knowledge from his experience working in Environmental Project Management. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management (CMI) and also a member of the Chartered Institution of Waste Management (CIWM).

Stuart leads tours for Sunbird and his specialist knowledge is the birds and wildlife of Eastern Poland, an area he knows well, and having spent over three months in the field there he almost considers it his second home; Stuart has made no less than 11 visits to Poland including a winter tour in 2004, which he planned and designed himself. He has also planned and designed Sunbird Tours to Texas and to Trinidad & Tobago. His love of travel has also taken him throughout Europe, North Africa, North America, South America and South Africa. He has a very keen ear and is particularly interested in bird vocalisations and recordings, and in particular new technology and sound guides. Stuart regularly contributes to several birding publications including Birdwatching Magazine, Birdwatch, Birding World and British Birds.

If you’ve enjoyed visiting Stuart’s website and fancy joining him on a tour, please e-mail him or visit the Sunbird website using the links page. He also runs trips to order and is quite happy to organise private birding or photographic tours.