|
|
|
|
|
| Tours by Region |
|
|
|
|
| About Wildside |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Trip Reports |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
COPYRIGHT:
All content on this Wildside Nature Tours, Inc. website, including photographs, text, and illustrations, is the property Wildside Nature Tours, Inc. No portion of the material on this Web site (including text, photographs, and artwork) may be copied, reproduced, or reused without the express written permission of Wildside Nature Tours, Inc. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kevin Loughlin was raised to appreciate nature. Many weekends were spent with his mother exploring the Mill Grove Audubon Sanctuary—the first home in America of John James Audubon. At age six, during a family trip through the American West, Kevin became fascinated with photography as well seeing the new and different birds throughout North America. While in college, Kevin began leading student trips throughout North America. With this love for travel, Kevin was always looking for new, exciting places to visit. During a life-changing vacation to Belize in 1993, he felt a need to share his experiences with others, he came home and founded Wildside Tours. Kevin also teaches photography and birding workshops and offers presentations for schools and clubs. Kevin’s photographs and articles have appeared in publications such as WildBird, Audubon and Philadelphia Magazines, and the National Geographic/WWF educational web site. Kevin has a knack for tailoring each trip to the group’s desires to be sure everyone has a fun and memorable experience!
|
|
Glenn Crawford is a naturalist of outstanding abilities. His mastery of bird identification is excelled only by the acuity of his vision and hearing. Curious about birds as a child—he was raised in the remote village of Crooked Tree in northern Belize—Glenn began his “official” birding career as a young teenager. He was so excited about birds, he would spend days at a time in the bush studying their field marks, habits and vocalizations long before he ever owned, or knew about field guides or binoculars. He enjoyed sharing his birding experiences and when tourists began coming to his village Glenn was there to show them his birds. One tourist, so impressed with Glenn’s skills, gave him his first field guide and binoculars! Glenn became an official Belizean licensed guide in 1986, and has since continued his nature studies throughout Central America. He is a born teacher, able to converse equally in English or Spanish. Now with Wildside for over 10 years, you can enjoy Glenn’s ever present smile and energetic leadership on each of our Middle America birding focused tours!
|
|
Paula Mandracchia has been a student of nature her whole life, exploring the trails and creeks of eastern Pennsylvania year round as she grew up. After graduating from Eastern University with a degree in biology, she earned her teaching certificate and began her career teaching Life Science at Radnor Middle School in Wayne, PA. Later she co-taught the Watershed Program, a seventh grade academic program centering on the local environment. Other interesting positions she has held include teaching middle school students at a Navajo boarding school in Arizona and representing Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy as an environmental educator both in the field and in the classroom. Paula is currently teaching the SEASONS Program at the Souderton Charter School Collaborative, providing middle school students the opportunity to experience the cycles of the natural world. Her love of nature and photography shines through a contagious exuberance in the field that is fun and refreshing. Join Paula on a trip to gain a new perspective on the world!
|
|
Lena Samsonenko, born in Russia, came to the USA at age five where she grew up exploring the woods and meadows of New England. A graduate of Cornell University with a degree in Natural Resources, she is a recipient of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and a finalist for both the Marshall and Rhodes Scholarships. She is passionate about every aspect of natural history, including ethnobiology, mycology, wilderness survival skills, and, of course, birding. Her field journals and artwork have won awards from the American Birding Association (ABA), allowing her art to be published nationally. She also love languages, and is fluent in Russian and Spanish. Lena is a keen observer, enthusiastic for every moment in the field, whether studying the native plants or sketching a Chestnut-sided Warbler as it prepares to roost. A natural teacher, she enjoys sharing her knowledge of our natural world.
|
|
Maya Wade was born into a family of teachers and amateur naturalists. Many youthful summers were spent at Ridley Creek State Park in search of frogs and toads, and many mornings spent birding at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. Each fall her family would venture to Hawk Mountain for the annual migration. After graduating from Drexel University with a degree in Education, Maya traveled to the Redwood Forests of California to teach environmental studies at a residential outdoor school. Here, while she sitting alone on a redwood stump the size of a car, that she saw her first Saw-Whet Owl and her life has never been the same. After a summer on tiny St Simons Island off the coast of Georgia, where she taught kids about sea turtles, alligators and fiddler crabs by day, and listened for the call of the Chuck-will’s-widows by night, she returned to the Philadelphia area. Currently teaching environmental science and kayaking adventure programs--to students from pre-K to adult at the Great Valley Nature Center in Phoenixville, PA--her favorite program to teach is Birds of Prey. She enjoys introducing participants to the injured, non-releasable hawks, falcons, and owls at the nature center. She has an incredible enthusiasm for all creatures great and small and loves teaching and learning about nature with kids of all ages!
|
|
Adrian Binns, a naturalist and field ornithologist, grew up in Morocco and England where his birding experiences paved the way for a career in the birding community. A former tennis professional, Adrian has a background as an ecological landscape designer, where he combined his lifetime interest in ornithology and wildlife, with his landscape knowledge and experience to focus on attracting wildlife through native plant communities, in particular wetlands and water gardens.
As an independent tour guide, he has led eco-trips for a variety of organizations and tour companies throughout the United States, Canada, Central America, India, the United Kingdom and Morocco.
As an educator Adrian has written articles and lectured on "Landscaping for Wildlife"; co-authored Big City Birding: Philadelphia in the May 2001 issue of Wild Bird magazine; produced an educational program on "Owls" for the Audubon Society, and given numerous slide presentations on Hummingbirds, Gulls, Owls and Attracting Wildlife to various ornithological groups. He is a regular contributor to Ponds USA and Water Gardens as well as Ponds Magazine and a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD).
Currently vice-president of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC), one of the oldest bird clubs in the country and a member of the four-time winning Nikon/DVOC World Series of Birding Team, Adrian resides in Southeastern Pennsylvania along with his wife and 2 sons. Adrian is also an accomplished avian illustrator and photographer whose images have been published in various magazines and CD-ROM's. He also runs the DelawareValleyBirding.com website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
