GUIDES ARE FULLY VACINNATED

Rebecca Smith (Scroll down for bio) and Gallus Quigley (Scroll down for bio) each bring unique pieces to our tours. Both share backgrounds in biology, bird banding and monitoring, and a love of nature.

Rebecca Smith is the passionate nature lover with great knowledge of not only birds but butterflies, insects, and more. Her photography skills and patience makes her perfect for those wanting to get that perfect photograph while still adding to their life lists or just enjoying photographing Florida’s natural beauty. Her love of all things nature quickly draws you right into the natural wonders that surrounds us.

Gallus Quigley is the lister and birder, he brings the ability to move through a list of desired species efficiently, which is perfect for the lister or twitcher. Those who have a target list and limited time will enjoy his ability to find those species and move on to the next one maximizing the number seen in a single outing. His detailed eBird checklists saves one the need to spend time writing notes and instead they can focus on more birding.

Rebecca and Gallus together balance each other perfectly, each one strengthens and balances the other. Both enjoy birds, butterflies, photography, and travel. No matter who leads your tour you’ll know the other helped in planning the perfect day for you. Each bring a vast knowledge of Florida, not just the birds and butterflies.

With our home base situated only 45 minutes from the major theme parks and one of the only Birding and Nature Tour company in the Orlando area we are the perfect choice for the person who wants to escape the theme parks and get out into the real Florida. Our prices are competitive and we are more than willing to customize the day to meet your needs.

Check out our ABA and International Tours as well.

Avid Birder for last 16 years with 345 species with photos in Florida. Beck is an avid photographer and has won several photo contests locally.  Since 2000 during her first internship studying Dotted Skippers and Diamondback Terrapins in Cape May County, NJ, her passion for biodiversity spread from entomology and herpetology into birding. Beck is a Certified Master Naturalist and was a bird bander at the Wekiva Basin Banding Station until 2017.

Beck has participated as a volunteer in Jay Watch, NABA butterfly counts and Christmas Bird Counts. She served 2 years as an Oklawaha Valley Audubon Society board member and coordinated the chapter’s field trips. Beck has been a guide for North Shore Birding Festival, Palm Coast’s Birds of a Feather Fest, Festival of Flight & Flowers, Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival, Orlando Wetland Park Festival, and Acadia Birding Festival. She brings a diverse knowledge of all of Florida’s fauna, is an amazing photographer, and loves insects, especially beetles. Beck brings a passion for all things nature and her love of birds, butterflies, and insects is contagious to all those who go out with her.  With her long resume of jobs in biology studying everything from Clapper Rail to Red-cockaded Woodpecker and you won’t find anyone more knowledgeable or passionate about what she does.

Florida Bird List-345 with photos

Florida Butterfly List-103

Bird Life List-1300 with photos

Began birding in 8th grade at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania watching raptors, which began his love of hawks. That soon changed after receiving a Golden’s Field Guide that he paged through till he came across the wood-warblers and saw the Prothonotary Warbler which launched him into the world of birding. Since then he has been the hawk counter at Bake Oven Knob in Pennsylvania, during his time here he was published in American Hawkwatcher for a paper on Migrating Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks in conjunction with Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, and Montclair in New Jersey for New Jersey Audubon Society.

Gallus arrived in Florida in May 2005 to work for Dr. Reed Noss of the University of Central Florida performing Radio Telemetry and banding of the critically endangered Florida Grasshopper Sparrow. This eventually lead to his current job with Lake County Office of Parks & Trails where he performs quarterly bird & butterfly surveys on six conservation properties, gives presentations and leads educational trips in addition to his regular duties as a Recreation Coordinator for Trails. Over his time with with Lake County Gallus was featured on Birding Adventures with James Currie, and Keynote Speaker for 2015 Wings & Wildflowers Festival.

Orlando Sentinel Article

Birding Adventures Episode

Birdwatcher’s Digest Article-An Englishman in Florida

Birdwatching Magazine Article

ABA Blog Article

Birding the Byway

Wings & Wildflowers Festival Interview

Gallus in his spare time is the eBird reviewer for Lake and Sumter Counties, Compiler for Zellwood-Mt. Dora (Lake Apopka) CBC, eBird Hotspot Reviewer for Florida, has assisted with Jay Watch, beta tested eBird and Birdseye apps for Android and iOS, and was Lake County Coordinator for Florida BBA 2011-2016. Gallus has been a trip leader for Wings & Wildflowers Festival, North Shore Birding Festival, Festival of Flight & Flowers, Space Coast Birding & Nature Festival, and Palm Coast’s Birds of a Feather Fest. Gallus also participates in numerous Christmas Bird Counts and often accompanies Beck on NABA Butterfly Surveys. He also leads trips to the Dry Tortugas for Florida Nature Tours

With this background, Gallus brings quality eBird checklists made at every stop and a knowledge of the when and where to find birds. His background also means he has a vast knowledge of local ecosystems.

Florida Bird List-470 (10th Highest in eBird)

Florida Butterfly List-93

Big Year-Florida 359 in 2008, Lake County 243 in 2015 (Record)

Bird Life List-1793

I started birding at a young age with my father and Uncle, helping with Christmas Bird Counts throughout the Northeast. I quickly started going on larger birding trips to California, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and some trips to Africa and Japan. A quick stint at Sterling College in Northern Vermont taking Forestry and Agriculture courses.  Bird behavior became my focal point, and I took a job as curator of birds at Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Bird Park in Scotland Neck, NC. Here I was working with many species of waterfowl from around the world in a captive situation. After 7 years in NC, I moved to Florida working at Disney Animal Kingdom working with birds and hoofstock. Currently I’m a Zoological Manger of the Night Team at Disney Animal Kingdom, where we take care of the animals at night. On the side I started working as an on-call field biologist doing Crested Caracara, Snail Kike, Bald Eagle survey’s, even working with Sand skinks and Gopher Tortoise’s. I even had a chance to do some raptor monitoring in California/Nevada. Traveling and living up and down the East Coast I was birding the whole time. In 2019 I hit 700 species for North America with a Ruddy Ground Dove in AZ with my father. Florida has been my home for 20 years and my wonderful wife and I live in Polk City. I enjoy guiding and seeking out lifers for fellow birders. My Florida eBird list is at 477, with a North American list of 772 and I’m an Ebird reviewer for Osceola and Polk County in FL. What lifer’s are we going to find you !