Banquet Speaker/Trip Leaders

Jim Duncan saw his first Great Gray Owl on the island of Montreal, Quebec, where he was born in 1960. Inspired by the diversity of life around him, Jim’s ambition to become a zoologist was evident early on when at three years he declared to his concerned parents that he wanted to be an elephant when he grew up. Failing that life goal, Jim then pursued a more traditional education and obtained his Ph.D.from the University of Manitoba in 1992.

Studying owls has become a lifestyle, passion and career for Jim. A lack of supervision on Bob Nero’s part resulted in Jim courting his field assistant and fellow Zoologist Patsy for five years while they lived year‐round with Great Grays, from the Hudson Bay lowlands in Manitoba and Ontario to the southern peat lands of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Stimulated by vole and owl population eruptions in the late 1980’s, Jim and Patsy married soon thereafter in Bob’s back yard and they have been studying the Great Gray Owl ever since. They have banded over 1,600 Great Gray Owls to date. Jim firmly believes that scientific research without public involvement is “self‐indulgence” and lacks the conservation punch needed today. His book Owls of the World published by Key Porter Books (August 2003) is a further testament to Jim’s desire to engage the world's citizens in conservation by getting them hooked on wild things.

Jim was recently inducted into the “Owl Hall of Fame” as the 2009 recipient of the “Champions of Owls” award associated with the Festival of Owls held annually in Houston, MN. Jim works as the Manager of Biodiversity Conservation for the Manitoba Department of Conservation where he participates in local, national and international species and conservation initiatives including species at risk.

Dave leads field trips for Quest Nature Tours, and Flora & Fauna, in Ontario, North America and internationally. He knows birds as well as butterflies, flowers and mammals. He regularly leads tours at Point Pelee. Dave has been a member of the OFO Board of Directors for the past nine years.

Ron is Banquet MC and a veteran field trip leader in Algonquin Park, where he was park naturalist until recently. Formerly co-editor of Ontario Birds and Chair of the OBRC, he is writing The Birds of Algonquin Park. Ron will be receiving the Distinguished Ornithologist Award this year.

Sarah is a Point Pelee girl at heart, currently working for Parks Canada as the park’s education coordinator. Having spent a good part of her youth birding Point Pelee with her family, she knows the area well.

Blake is a Wallaceburg based birder, with great skill and a lot of experience birding in the Rondeau area in particular. If anyone knows where to find good birds in the Rondeau area, it’s Blake.

Brett resides in the Leamington area and has great experience birding in and around St. Clair National Wildlife Area. Brett has led field trips at previous OFO Conventions.

Steve is an avid birder and bird photographer. He was one of a handful of people chosen to join the highly publicized search for Ivory‐billed Woodpeckers in Florida. He knows the Pelee hotspots very well.

Paul is head naturalist at Windsor’s Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve and is a familiar face leading field trips in Point Pelee National Park at past OFO Conventions.

Bruce is an accomplished Ottawa‐based birder who leads field trips locally and internationally, and who conducts instructional classes for birders and would‐be birders alike. He knows the Pelee area and its birds very well.

Todd has been a keen birder and field trip leader in the Pelee area for more than a decade. As General Manager of the Essex Windsor Solid Waste Authority he has access to some excellent grassland habitats, and he knows the hotspots of Essex County well.

Pete is an educator with an extensive background in birding and natural history. He leads field trips for Quest Nature Tours, can usually be found leading trips at Pelee every spring, and is a past field trip leader for several OFO Annual Conventions at Point Pelee.