Born and raised in Oxford, Mike has lived most of his life in East Anglia, with a short stint in West Sussex and a spell in the USA. He has been a birdwatcher ‘since birth’ (so he says!) and initially took up a career in horticulture, which kick-started an interest in plants. Over time, Mike has evolved into an all-round naturalist with interests in all branches of natural history, working a short time for the British Trust for Ornithology and as an environmental consultant before taking up wildlife tour guiding in 1996. Indeed, he first led walks for local wildlife trusts and bird groups as long ago as 1982 and has continued as a professional guide since the late 1990s, except for six years in the USA, where he worked as Program Director for the famous Cape May Bird Observatory in New Jersey.
Now settled back on the Norfolk coast, he lives with his wife, who is also a professional birdwatching guide. He has served as a committee member on the Suffolk Birds Records Committee, edited various natural history newsletters and bird reports and recently authored two identification guides on the flora of Breckland. Most recently, he has taken on a role as Assistant Editor forBritish Birdsmagazine and serves as the Norfolk tutor for the national ‘Identiplant’ training scheme. Somehow, he also manages to find time to maintain two identification websites on the flora of East Anglia and the wildlife of Cape May County, New Jersey!
