Meet the Wildstarts team
David's main expertise is in birds, having worked for BirdGuides and Rare Bird Alert, and as Assistant Warden at Dungeness Bird Observatory.
He is the Editor of Birdwatch Magazine and has worked as a Wildlife Trusts ornithologist on a range of restoration projects.
David has served the Sussex Ornithological Society as its Recorder, Swift Champion and a member of its rarities committee.
David holds a bird ringing (banding) license. His other favourite wildlife groups are butterflies, dragonflies, moths and mammals.
DAVID CAMPBELL — manager
Richard has played an important role in Sussex birdwatching, having played a key role in the Shoreham District Ornithological Society and served as newsletter editor for the Sussex Ornithological Society.
He has volunteered for the RSPB and has worked at Loch Garten and Lee Valley Park. Richard has been a trip leader for county and local societies.
Having logged over 100,000 hours in the field, Richard has an encyclopedic knowledge of the best birding sites in Sussex and is known for his keen ear for bird vocalisations. His travels have taken him across the Palearctic, Nearctic and
the tropics. He has also written two books on birds.
RICHARD IVES — Sussex guide
DAVID CALLAHAN — London/South-East guide
East London-based David is a life-long birder who is now a freelance writer about birds, conservation and natural history, after 10 years as Staff Writer on Birdwatch magazine.
He has also written three books including the definitive and most up-to- date works on the region he mostly leads tours in: Where to Watch Birds in East Anglia and Where to Watch Birds in South-East England: Essex, London and Kent.
He has birded and led clients over much of the UK, as well as in the USA, Hawaii, most of Europe, Turkey, The Gambia, Egypt, Madagascar, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.
He also enjoys bird and wildlife photography and has had many of his shots published.
David’s academic background has taken in a degree in Biological Science at Birkbeck (London University) and a Masters in Taxonomy and Biodiversity jointly earned at London Imperial College, the Zoological Society of London and the London Natural History Museum.
Despite all this experience, he also finds time to run a parallel career as a performing and recording musician.
Jay has been a Kent birder since the 1970s. He currently lives within easy reach of some of Kent's best-known birding hotspots, including the Isle of Sheppey, Oare Marshes, and sites in the Weald and North Downs. Jay is on an ongoing quest to see his 300th bird species in Kent.
Before moving into guiding, Jay spent most of his career in education. As well as sharing the delights of Kent as a guide, he has started having more adventures across the world, having visited countries as varied as Spain, Sri Lanka and New Zealand in recent years.
Jay is also keen on butterflies, with an impressive 52 British species seen so far.
JAY BARRON — Kent guide
On Chris's doorstep, where he grew up in North Folkestone, he had the North Downs Way as my playground. This led him to explore the White Cliffs of Dover, the beaches below and much of the countryside beyond in his youth.
After a variety of roles working directly with the public for travel companies, Chris studied amenity horticulture and worked in the landscaping sector for more than three decades. In that stage of his career, he ventured into wildlife gardening.
Chris is an active member of the Kent Ornithological Society (KOS), as well as supporting the county's two bird observatories at Dungeness and Sandwich Bay.
A keen lister and record-keeper, Chris contributes sightings to the KOS database.
CHRIS GILLARD — Kent guide
PETER DENYER — Sussex guide
Peter is an experienced birder with 30+ years of experience. He’s a 30 year volunteer for the RSPB and an A Licensed bird ringer.
Peter has been surveying birds since he was 12 years old and has led bird tours for the RSPB and for Skagen Bird Observatory in Denmark.
His favourite birds are herons and he’s also passionate about dragonflies, butterflies and other insects.
Nick is an experienced birder and knowledgeable about a range of other wildlife found across the South Downs and Sussex, after moving down from Surrey over a decade ago.
Handy with a camera, he put his photographic eye to good use as Photographic Editor of the Sussex Bird Report for several years.
Nick keeps the Worthing Birding blog up to date with local sightings.
NICK BOND — Sussex large-group guide
SUSY DIXON-JONES — London/South-East guide
Susy is a seasoned all-round naturalist based in Surrey, with a professional background in conservation land management and ecological monitoring.
She has managed various nature reserves across southeast England.
Her passion is connecting people from all backgrounds with nature.
An experienced fieldworker, she specialises in ornithological surveying, as well as reptiles. Her other key areas of interest are butterflies and moths, dragonflies, mammals and plants, but she enjoys recording all species.
MATT PHELPS — Sussex guide
Matt lives in Pulborough, in the heart of the South Downs National Park.
He is an eBird data reviewer for Sussex and sits on the Sussex Ornithological Society rarities committee.
With a wide-ranging natural history knowledge alongside extensive birding experience, Matt leads a variety of Wildstarts tours.
Often found at Knepp, he also leads safaris at the famous rewilding site.
Always one for working outdoors, Matt has been a National Trust warden and ecology groundsman.
Marc runs our bird photography workshops and is an accomplished bird photographer, with his work regularly featuring in the pages of Birdwatch magazine.
He is based in Eastbourne and, as an active Sussex birder, Marc spends much of his time birding at sites like Beachy Head.
As well as Sussex, the Isles of Scilly is a favourite destination of Marc's, and he is found there every autumn.