 Paul Prior
cannot recall a time
when he was not birding, and his passion has always been for migrant
songbirds. Through the 70s and 80s in Britain he concentrated
on those birds that were heading to and from sub-Saharan Africa; but
since 1991 he has spent literally thousands of hours in the field in
southern Ontario
watching and studying those that make the parallel journey to and from
South and Central America. Throughout the 90s Paul ran the field aspect
of the
Migration Monitoring Project at Long Point Bird Observatory, training
hundreds of volunteers and amassing an unlikely list of species for
the Long Point
area!
Paul’s passion
for birds has taken him to passerine monitoring / banding stations
in Israel, Costa Rica, northern Ontario and northern British Columbia.
In more recent years his attentions have steered more to work with Ontario’s
endangered breeding species, specifically with Bald Eagles, Loggerhead Shrikes
and Prothonotary Warblers. However, he still finds time to indulge in grass-roots
migration monitoring with the Toronto Bird Observatory, where as a certified
banding trainer with the North American Banding Council he continues to pass
on his experience from 15 years of banding on 3 continents.
Having spent so much time in the field studying birds it was inevitable
that other things would likewise catch Paul’s eye. Part of
the daily routine at Long Point in the fall was the Monarch butterfly
census, and earlier in
the season time was spent marking turtles for a long-term study in turtle movements
and longevity. Paul has lead day-trips to local marshes in search of turtles,
and over the course of his ten years with Long Point Bird Observatory has shared
his knowledge and enthusiasm for birds and nature in general with thousands
of
visitors.
“Paul
is the best guide I have ever had, and I have had many. He is considerate,
caring, and
above all a very knowledgeable person, as well as a very keen naturalist.”
New Brunswick, 2005
“Never have I met a leader so absolutely knowledgeable
and willing and able to share that expertise with his group.” - Point
Pelee, 2005
“Paul is a gem! – Cuba,
2002 |
