Common Paraque

Born and raised in beautiful Barbados, Ryan’s first job on the island took him beneath the waves where he conducted coral reef surveys for the Bellairs Research Institute. Yet it wasn’t long before his passion for birds and wildlife on terra firma saw him employed as Chief Naturalist and Eco-Guide Manager at the largest remaining mangrove wetland on Barbados (the Graeme Hall Nature Reserve), and later travelling further afield to conduct field research on birds and amphibians in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest and Ecuadorian Amazon.

After being swept off his feet by a Yorkshire Lass, he followed her to England where he continued his passion for “all things birds” with employment at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Here he spent three years at the organization’s internationally renowned seabird reserve Bempton Cliffs, where highlights included kittiwake monitoring in gale-force winds and rescuing disoriented gannets by perching both he and the birds precariously on the edge of 300 ft cliffs to better allow them to catch enough updraft to head back out to the North Sea! Subsequent employment in the UK has seen Ryan take on the role of National Parks Officer at the North York Moors National Park.

Ryan has enjoyed all of these wonderful roles across the globe, but his greatest passion remains leading multi-island birding tours through the magical islands of the Lesser Antilles. These tiny island gems will always be his home and he loves nothing better than sharing the unique wildlife, vibrant cultures and untamed wildernesses that each island has to offer with birders from around the world. Oh, and the food, he absolutely loves the island food, and has even been known to also share this…occasionally!

Updated: October 2019

Back to leaders list