Presenters:
Joachim Bertrands, Victoria BC
Ornis Birding Expeditions: https://www.ornis-birding.com/
Joachim is a lifelong naturalist, hailing from urbanized Belgium but having found his life of choice in western Canada. With an obsessive interest in all things birding, he managed to make birds his profession as he currently tries pushing his own limits by leading cutting-edge birding expeditions all over the world. In his own life, he enjoys spending time at his local patch, studying bird migration at his own pace and with his own critical thinking tries to deduct new ID features and facts by observational science.
Tammy Bradford – Creston BC
Creston Museum
Tammy Bradford spends most of her time at the Creston Museum, where she’s been the manager/curator/executive director/janitor for twenty-five years. When she’s not cataloguing artifacts, creating exhibits, or tracking down some detail in the archives, she’s either driving people nuts with her endless stories of local history or taking long walks with her camera and trying to convince the birds to cooperate for a photo. She’s an avid-though-easily-distracted birdwatcher, a champion deleter of bad bird photography, a figure skater and skating coach, and the world’s greatest crazy aunt.
Adrian Leslie, Pass Creek BC
Adrian Leslie, MSc, RPBio is the South Selkirk Program Manager for the Nature Conservancy of Canada and has been working in the Columbia Basin on ecosystem conservation, restoration and research for over 10 years. He is a Registered Professional Biologist with experience working in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems from low elevation floodplains to high elevation forests throughout the Columbia Basin. He has a Master’s degree in Environment and Management and has lead several research and restoration projects, and has extensive experience helping organizations complete environmental projects. Adrian has worked with a variety of environmental stakeholders in the Columbia Basin including non-profit, governmental, educational, industrial, and private organizations..
Angela Prettie – Creston BC
Stargazer
Angela Prettie has been an astronomy enthusiast since she was a teenager. She learned the constellations and star names by looking at a map with a red- cellophane covered flashlight (Very important to keep eye pupils dilated). She can bring her binoculars along, and will teach you how to find the main circumpolar constellations (e.g. Big and Little Dipper, Cassiopeia and Cepheus) as well as the zodiac and seasonal constellations for that night.
Birding Tour Leaders:
Marc-André Beaucher – Creston BC
Marc-André arrived in the Kootenays in 1995 from Sherbrooke, Quebec, where he grew up. He worked as a consulting biologist for a few years before taking on a biologist position at the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area, in 2003. He is now the Head of Conservation Programs. In his free time, Marc-André enjoys watching and photographing birds and wildlife, and spending time in the great outdoors with his family.
Marc-André is a Registered Professional Biologist (B.C. College of Applied Biologists) and holds a B.Sc.
in Applied Zoology from McGill University (1996) and a M.Sc. in Environment and Management from
Royal Roads University (2005).
Seth Benoit – Westbridge, BC
Seth is a young birder located in the Kootenay Boundary BC on a remote property. Since the age of seven, when he started birding, Seth has had the opportunity to travel to many birding destinations in North America, namely Madera Canyon, AZ, and Point Pelee, ON. Although Seth has traveled, most of his birding time is spent at home studying bird trends, sound ID and photography. Hiking is also a big part of his free time, so he combines it with birding on a daily basis. He has also been working on a bird book for the Kootenay Boundary Region for the last couple years. Seth was recipient of the 2024 “Young Birder” award with the British Columbia Field Ornithologist!
Daryl Calder – Cranbrook BC
Daryl became a naturalist at an early age around the outskirts of Victoria. Following his education at UVic, he settled in Cranbrook and became involved with a number of outdoor pursuits for work and recreation. Daryl and Marianne Nahm are involved with Rocky Mountain Naturalists in the East Kootenay. The naturalist club is very active with a wide variety of projects, many of which involve the study of birds. Daryl leads weekly birding trips for naturalists, participating in Christmas Bird Counts and occasionally providing articles to the local newspapers.
Julia Flesaker – Nakusp BC
Julia grew up in the West Kootenay and after getting a Bachelor degree in Natural Resource Sciences from TRU, she went on to teach secondary sciences in Nakusp. She is an avid birder, naturalist and photographer. When not working Julia is out exploring nature by bike, foot or paddle. She began birding in 2017 under the mentorship of Gary Davidson. Since then Julia now tries to bird daily and has taken this curiosity on her travels in Vietnam, Panama, Texas, and recently Costa Rica.
Lyle Grisedale – Kimberley BC
Lyle Grisedale lives in Kimberley, BC and is an Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) Guide who spends his summers leading hikers in the Selkirk, Purcell, and Rocky Mountains He is an enthusiastic birder, an avid photographer, and naturalist who spends as much time as possible exploring the mountains, wetlands and grasslands of the East Kootenays area of British Columbia.
The Creston Valley Bird Fest would like to thank Lyle for samples of his photography throughout this website and in our advertising. For more information, please visit his website
Aiva Noringseth – Victoria BC
BC Nature’s IBA Program
A life- long Vancouver Islander and proud ‘nature nerd’, Aiva (she/they) currently resides on W̱SÁNEĆ territory in Victoria, BC and most recently completed a B.Sc. in Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. A well- rounded generalist with natural history and biodiversity, she is most passionate about vertebrates and spends most of her time birding and collaborating on bird conservation through the BC IBA Program, Rocky Point Bird Observatory and other avian orgs. Having grown up exploring the coastal waters of BC, Aiva is keen to expand into the eastern reaches of the province and will be starting bird banding with Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory in August. She is currently the Field Coordinator with BC Nature’s IBA Program. When not birding, Aiva is often uploading observations to iNaturalist, looking at maps, or playing outside.
Carter Strope – Boise State University
Carter is an early-career nature guide whose childhood in the Rockies fostered a deep respect and admiration for nature. During his time as an undergraduate student studying ecology and evolutionary science at Boise State University he worked as a field ornithologist in such positions as point count technician, songbird bander, hawkwatcher and more. Birds and general naturalizing continue to be a part of his everyday life and he strives to help others find and foster their own passions for nature.
Ulrike Sliworsky – Creston BC
Ulrike is a birder that lives in Creston. She has a science degree from the University of Manitoba with an Ornithology major. In addition to re-introducing endangered species such as Peregrine Falcons and Burrowing Owls, she has also banded waterfowl and songbirds. She has enjoyed participating in Audubon’s Christmas bird counts for over 30 years in various communities and is now the Coordinator/Compiler for the Creston Valley as well as the Kuskanook Christmas Bird Counts. Having been a Park Naturalist, she enjoys sharing her love and knowledge of nature especially with her son and visiting birders!
