Tour Leaders
Libby Weir-Breen
Libby set up Island Holidays 19 years ago with Shetland naturalist, the late Bobby Tulloch, MBE. Her own experience in the travel industry goes back to 1977 when she left her job on The Scotsman newspaper to become a resort representative in St Anton in the Austrian Tyrol. Since setting up Island Holidays she has travelled widely both researching and leading tours. A passionate conservationist and campaigner for trade justice, Libby has a love for the natural world and feels herself privileged to be able to express this through her work and to share it with so many like-minded people.
Karon Brock
Karon has been with Island Holidays for 12 years except for a few years' absence to look after young Shane who came into this world in May 2000. Born and raised in Dublin, Karon moved to enjoy the bright city lights in London for a few years before coming to settle in Comrie. Her warmth and efficiency are well known to our clients and she's invaluable to the business.
Mark Brazil
Mark is undoubtedly the leading British ornithologist in Japan where he lives in the country's most northerly island, Hokkaido and works as Professor of Biodiversity and Conservation at Rakuno Gakuen University. Educated at Keele and Stirling universities, he earned his PhD for work on avian ecology and behavior in Iceland. His work, involving ornithological research, natural history consultancy for TV companies guiding naturalists and wildlife photographers has taken him to all continents. A regular contributor to BBC Wildlife, Mark is also author of several books including A Birdwatcher's Guide to Japan.
Steve Cale
Steve is not only an excellent birder and tour leader but also a well-known bird artist. Passionate about birds, the environment and conservation, his travels have taken him all over the world from Australia to the USA, from Africa to the Caribbean and all points in between! His distinctive artwork is inspired by his travels and features in many publications including several books and is much used by conservation organisations such as the RSPB and several wildlife trusts. Apart from all that, Steve has a wicked sense of humour and lots of energy which not only informs but entertains our clients in a unique way!
Pete Clement
Pete is a professional ornithologist with English Nature and author of several books including Thrushes of the World. He has been leading for Island Holidays regularly for many years. A seasoned traveller with over 25 years' experience in the field, Pete has travelled widely in Africa as well as to many other countries and islands.
Fergus Crystal
Fergus has been a birder since the age of 4! Born and brought up in Scotland, he has travelled extensively and worked on numberous orthinlogical studies in Botswana, bolombia, Kazakhstan and Israel. He recently spent four years in southern Kyushu in Japan studying relatively little-known birds such as the Copper Pheasant. Far from being a "bird nut", Fergus is interested in the many aspects of nature, archietecture, literature and film-making of the places he visits. He's a natural tour leader and a welcome addition to our team.
Carol Debney
Carol is deputy editor of Bird Watching magazine. She is a member of the Rutland Water Nature Reserve management Committee and a Trustee of the Italian conservation organisation, LIPU-UK. She has travelled widely in Europe, Africa and the USA but Italy remains her favourite place. "Even very experienced birdwatchers are surprised at how good the birding is and when combined with the fascinating history, food, wine, climate and lovely people, it doesn't get much better."
Colin Dellar
Colin Dellar was, for 29 years, Chief Purser onboard RMS "St Helena", the ship which provides the passenger service to St Helena and Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. Before this he was with the famous Union-Castle line to South and East Africa, the last liner service under the British flag. This maritime connection has meant that he has spent many years travelling extensively in the South Atlantic Islands and Southern Africa.
Steve Duffield
Steve has worked for various conservation organisations around the country, including spells on the Shetland Islands, Skomer in South Wales and Donna Nook in Lincolnshire. He moved to the Outer Hebrides in January 2005 where he has developed a passion for the wildlife of this extensive island chain. His main focus is on birds, although he is also very active in other fields; he is the county moth and butterfly recorder and very interested in the fascinating flora of the islands. Steve lives in South Uist where he runs his own company offering wildlife tours.
Teresa Farino
Teresa first visited the Picos de Europa area of Spain in 1985 when she went out on a university Field Trip. It was to be a life-changing experience - she fell in love with the place! Having returned several times, she could stay away no longer and so gave up her job in nature conservation and moved to the Picos. Teresa is an experienced tour leader and is also author of two leading guide books and many wildlife articles about the area. An all-round naturalist and experienced traveller, her first passions are flowers and butterflies - but she's pretty good on her birds as well!
Chris Gaskin
worked as an artist and illustrator over a period of 25 years and more recently has specialized in designing displays and educational resources for museums and visitor centres in his native New Zealand. He has worked with palaeontologists reconstructing the country's fascinating extinct fauna and with archaeologists on Maori and European sites through the islands. He now spends most of his time leading tours in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific.
John Grieve
John is an Orcadian through and through. Born and brought up in the Orkney Islands, he can trace his family tree back seven generations. We first met John when he was our "designated driver/guide" for a couple of days; his knowledge of Orkney's history and heritage is second to none and he's also an excellent birder and people person. With more than 20 years' experience in the tourist industry, John's previous experience includes work for the RSPB and the Orkney Tourist Board and he has also been skipper of a passenger boat.
Johnnie Kamugisha
Johnnie has been a friend of Island Holidays Plus for many years and we are delighted that our policy to extend our destinations beyond only islands enables us to include his native Uganda in our programme and Johnnie in our team. A passionate nature lover since childhood with an incredible depth of knowledge and natural skill, Johnnie is President of the Uganda Bird Guides Club, he has worked with National Geographic Channel amongst others. Like all our leaders, Johnnie has a strong conservation ethic, a lovely way with people and a brilliant sense of humour!
Eric Meek
Eric moved to Orkney from his native Northumberland over 20 years ago to be the RSPB's Conservation Officer in the islands, a post he still holds. He has been a member of the Scottish Birds Records Committee and was elected to the British Ornithologists Union Records Committee in 1999, taking over the chairmanship of the latter in May 2002. Eric has travelled widely in Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia and is one of Island Holidays' regular leaders.
Neil McCulloch
Neil is a member of the Conservation Science unit at the Northern Ireland Environment and Heritage Service. He has previously worked for RSPB, BTO and BirdLife International and has been involved in several bird conservation projects world-wide over the past 20 years. These have included the Seychelles Magpie Robin recovery programme and long-term research on the St Helena Wirebird. He also has substantial experience of birding in Trinidad and Tobago, Namibia and the Gambia. Neil is the author of a recent field guide to the birds of St Helena and Ascension Island.
Andy Mitchell
Andy has been a member of the Island Holidays team for longer than either of us care to remember and is an experienced ornithologist and tour leader. He moved to Orkney in 1990, working at North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory, then as the RSPB warden on Egilsay for seven years, followed by a couple of years as their Corncrake supremo in the islands. He's now working part-time with Island Holidays from his home on South Ronaldsay - the wonders of technology! He's one of those people with whom it is great fun to travel and he enjoys all aspects of the places he visits - not just the birds.
Adrian Pitches
Adrian is the BBC's Environment Correspondent in North-east England. He graduated from Exeter with a degree in biological sciences but became a journalist instead! Over the past 30 years he has travelled extensively both in the UK and Europe as well as in Africa, Asia, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Madagascar has been his favourite 'island holiday'. He is co-author of Birds New to Britain and writes the monthly News and comment column in British Birds. He lives on Tyneside with his journalist wife, Pauline, and their two daughters.
Roger Riddington
Roger has lived in Shetland for over 10 years, for the first four as warden of the Fair Isle Bird Observatory. Following a period as manager of the Shetland Biological Records Centre, which he set up from scratch, he took on the role of editor of British Birds magazine. He is a co-author of the recently published Rare Plants of Shetland and of the forthcoming Birds of Shetland, a member of the Scottish Birds Rarities Committee and a Trustee of Fair Isle Bird Observatory.
Ken Shaw
Ken worked for the RSPB for 27 years, latterly as senior site manger at Vane Farm Reserve, Loch Leven in Scotland. Since leaving the organisation he was been working on conservation projects in Central and Eastern Europe making him the ideal leader for our new tour to Latvia. A consummate ornithologist, Ken has served on the British Birds Rarities Committee and the British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee and for eight years he was the county recorder for North-east Scotland. He is widely travelled in the Western Palarctic, Asia, Africa and America and is an excellent travelling companion.
Dave Simpson
Dave now lives and works in the Dordogne region of France where he is involved in both local and national conservation initiatives. Previously he worked for over 20 years as a warden on the coastline of northern England, especially sand dunes in the north-west, and then in Mauritius where he was island warden for the Mauritius Wildlife Trust at Ile aux Aigrettes. He has published several articles in British Wildlife.
Malcolm Stott
Malcolm runs a farming and wildlife consultancy involved with landscape scale conservation and sustainable land management. Although a birdwatcher by profession (he worked for the RSPB for 30 years), he has a passion for botany and is a generalist by nature. The remote fells of Cumbria are his home where he is actively involved with conservation issues and was the principle editor of the "Breeding Birds of Cumbria". This will be Malcolm's 41st year in Iceland: he started travelling to this remarkable country at a very young age!
Lawrence Tulloch
Lawrence is a Shetland Islander from the island of Yell. His diverse career has included spells working as a lighthouse keeper at Britain's most northerly light, Muckle Flugga; he has also been a postman, a weaver and a printer. He has long been involved with the tourist industry in Shetland and his talent as a Storyteller takes him as far away as the United States as well as to the Shetland Islands' neighbours - the Faroes - and other Scandinavian countries. His knowledge and understanding of his Norse heritage and his ability to communicate through storytelling makes Lawrence the ideal guide for the Northern Isles.
Will Wagstaff
Will has been leading with Island Holidays for many years, not only on his home islands of Scilly but also to the Falkland Islands and many other destinations world-wide. One time Conservation Officer for Isles of Scilly Environmental Trust, he has lived and worked on the islands for over 25 years. In the summer months he is to be found running Island Wildlife Tours through which he shares his knowledge and love of Scilly with hundreds of visitors each year, while in the winter, when not there, you're almost certain to bump into him in the Falklands and he's liable to pop up almost anywhere!
Richard White
Richard White has been an avid birder from an early age. Born & brought up in Portsmouth, he soon developed an interest in other areas of natural history although birds remain his primary interest. Despite being told that birdwatching was not a 'proper' job, he always wanted to turn his hobby into a career. After graduating from Plymouth he worked in a variety of wildlife research and conservation positions in the Caribbean, Seychelles, Falkland Islands and Ascension, developing a love of small islands and of being at sea. Since 2003, Richard has pursued both these passions by working as a naturalist on expedition cruise ships around the world.
Grace & Paul Yoxon
Grace and Paul both graduated with honours from Keele University in 1979, Paul in Geology and Grace in Biology and Geology. They moved to Skye in 1980 and in 1984 set up the Skye Environmental Centre which works in environmental education and runs a wildlife hospital. They are both particularly interested in otters and in 1993 set up the International Otter Survival Fund. Grace and Island Holidays proprietor, Libby, go back a long way to when Grace was Libby's first full-time secretary and was known as "Amazing Grace".
