General Information

Personalized guide service is suited to you if

• you're a beginning birder who wants to work at a relaxed pace. You'll be able to experience and enjoy new places and birds and learn about everything that you see and hear, without the distractions of a large group.

• you're a more experienced birder wanting to improve your birding skills. You can take all the time you need to work on any aspect of your birding skills, including birding by ear, birding by habitat, understanding behavior and much more.

• you want to do some general target birding for a whole laundry list of birds, or some serious target birding for just a few hard to find species. Target birding is "my thing" and you can be sure that I'll do my utmost to help you find whatever it is you're looking for. The impossible usually takes a little longer.

• you're a photographer and want to spend time photographing birds, not finding them.

• you're in Tucson or Phoenix on business and want to maximize your birding opportunities in a short time.

Everybody is welcome, beginner to expert. Regardless of your situation, I'll do my best to make sure your birding experience with me is both successful and enjoyable. Your guarantee lies in the knowledge that your satisfaction is the only way for me to enjoy continued success as a guide. The birding community is a relatively small world and bad news usually (always?) travels faster than good news. But if that's not good enough for you, here's a million dollar guarantee. You give me a million dollars and I'll show you whatever birds you want to see. Seriously, just ask for references.

Where do I go?
In short, wherever the birds that you want to see are located - have binoculars, will travel. Since I live in Arizona, the majority of my guiding work is within the state. I cover all the birding areas of Southeast Arizona; the White Mountains of east central Arizona; and the Phoenix area. However, I'm willing to go anywhere to get that special bird. I also do personal guiding in any of the western states, particularly California and Texas. My rates are the same no matter where we go, but of course there are expenses if I have to travel to meet you and for nights away from my home base of Sierra Vista. I would be happy to provide a quote for personal guiding outside of Arizona.

Scheduling my time
For a good part of the year I will probably be able to accommodate you at short notice. However, the periods from late December through January and April through August are when most birders plan their trips and my schedule for those months fills early. Nevertheless, there are usually some gaps and cancellations do occur, so don't despair. Throughout the year I usually do several custom tours as well as leading tours for others, all of which take good sized chunks of my time. If you intend to use my services, it would behoove you to check with me as early as you can to insure my availability during your optimum dates. To secure my services in advance I require a deposit (see rates).

Practical matters

• I only work with non smoking clients.

• When I'm engaged as a personal guide, I never work with separate parties. Consequently, please don't ask to join me on a day that I am already booked. Since everyone has a different agenda,  I decided long ago that this is a recipe for disaster.

• I am sometimes asked to work "by the bird". I have never done this and never will, so don't even think about asking. If you doubt my ability and commitment to produce on an hourly rate -- please ask for references.

• Please don't ask if you can bring along a pet dog, the answer is emphatically no.

• As you will note from my rates, my minimum daily charge covers up to 8 hours. Generally, I prefer to begin early (with a start time appropriate to the season or specific target bird location) and stay in the field continuously for 8 hours. However, I will work any number of hours to meet your requirements (note the rate for hours above eight). Please be aware that in late spring and summer the day warms quickly and it is essential to start early - bird activity is minimal in the afternoons.

• Tell me out about any limitations that you have, such as restricted walking ability on flat terrain, steep canyons etc.; the need to stop for regular meals; any inability to function in hot or cold weather. Also, tell me about your birding style, especially if you plan to do some hard target birding. Are you happy with brief but diagnostic views or do you want to stay with a bird for a while? Do you want to spend time taking photographs? In short, tell me anything and everything that may impact field activities.

• For clients intending to stay at Bed & Breakfast places (such as Ramsey Canyon Inn or Casa de San Pedro), please note that in the warmer months (from mid April to mid October) it is not practical to start late in the morning. Therefore, please do not hire me unless you are willing to forfeit that gourmet breakfast and start early. No point in starting after the birds quit. Of course, experienced birders already know this very well. If anyone tells you that you'll have a pleasant time and see just as many birds in the heat of the day, they are blowing smoke up your ventral region. Start time is not an issue in the cooler months.

• Children: It's been my experience that children tire and/or lose interest fairly quickly. I recommend against bringing children but only you know your children well enough to determine if they can handle a day in the field. If you decide to bring your children along, please set realistic goals -- casual birding is appropriate, hard target birding is not appropriate.

• Photographers: Please set reasonable expectations in terms of what can be achieved in the allocated time. Obviously, I have no control over how long you spend photographing a bird. I don't mind how long you spend, but this will clearly cut into the time available for locating any other species you may be targeting. I can discuss these issues in detail when I know the species that you want to photograph.

• I am happy to answer questions about birding in Arizona on matters not covered by published information. However, please do not ask where and how to find specific birds. Since I am a guide and finding birds is my living, this is obviously outside the scope of what I should be expected to do. Thank you. Note: I cannot answer questions about bird feeding, ridding your property of birds and what to do with an injured bird -- I do not have any expertise in these matters.