Hugh Harrop
Hugh founded Shetland Wildlife in 1992 after spells working for Fair Isle
Bird Observatory, the Shetland Oil Terminal Environmental Advisory Group
and the RSPB. He is regarded one of Shetland's top birders, a regular
contributor to several birdwatching magazines and journals and author
of Where to Watch Birds in Shetland. Although Hugh's main interests are
birds and their identification, he also has a passion for all other aspects
of natural history, especially whales and dolphins and Canadian Polar
Bears! Hugh is also a feature writer for several European natural history
magazines, an award-winning professional
photographer whose work has been widely published in journals and
newspapers throughout Europe and North America, a member of the Shetland
Bird Club rarities and general committee, a former committee member of
Scottish Wildlife Trust and a founder member of both Organisation Cetacea
and the Shetland Sea Mammal Group! When not working at home in Shetland,
Hugh guides on our European overseas tours or travels extensively with
his wife Michelle and daughter Cerys to exciting wildlife-filled and baby-friendly
destinations!
Paul Harvey
Paul is originally from Dorset but moved to Shetland in 1984 to follow
a career as warden of Fair Isle Bird Observatory. He left Fair Isle with
his wife and three children in 1993 to take up the post of Area Officer
for Scottish Natural Heritage, the government's advisory body on nature
conservation in Shetland. His responsibilities included the management
of two of our finest wildlife sites - Hermaness and Keen of Hamar National
Nature Reserves. Paul now manages the Shetland Biological Records Centre
in Lerwick - an ideal position for such an extremely gifted naturalist
with immense knowledge of Shetland's wildlife - especially its birds,
wild flowers, sea mammals and moths! He is also a member of both the British
Ornithologists Union Records Committee and the British Birds Rarities
Committee. His friendly manner makes him a firm favourite among our travellers!
Michelle Harrop
Michelle originates from British Columbia, Canada. After gaining her degree
in Geography at the University of Colorado, she worked in the North American
eco-tourism industry for several years before moving to Shetland in 1999
- after meeting Hugh on a Polar Bear trip in Churchill! Her frequent travels
in search of wildlife have taken her to locations such as Southern and
Northern Europe, Antarctica, Botswana, Ecuador, Galapagos and the high
Arctic regions of Canada. As well as being a mother to little Cerys (who
got Killer Whale on her list when she was two weeks old!), Michelle is
our office manager and the driving force behind the successful day-to-day
operations of Shetland Wildlife. When not working in our office, Michelle,
Hugh and little Cerys escape Shetland and travel to far-flung corners
of the earth in search of exciting wildlife.
Rob Fray
Rob hails from Leicester and his love of Shetland and its wildlife culminated
in him migrating north every spring, summer and autumn from 1990 until
2007 when he decided to become a permanent resident! Rob is a first-class
birder and also has a deep interest in moths and butterflies. A keen writer,
he is part of the editorial team responsible for producing our annual
Shetland Bird Reports, author of Where to Watch birds in the East Midlands
and is currently writing The Birds of Leicestershire and Rutland, due
to be published by in early 2008. He is also currently assisting Hugh
in writing a new photo-based publication on the birdlife in Shetland.
Like all of our guides, he is widely travelled and his sorties have taken
him across Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean.
Deryk & Hollie Shaw
As warden of Fair Isle Bird Observatory, Deryk has one of the most enviable
jobs in Scotland! Before he came to Fair Isle he worked at Sandwich Bay
bird observatory in Kent, gained a degree in Zoology at Newcastle University
and worked for both the RSPB and Oxford University as a research assistant.
Deryk's warm and friendly manner, coupled with his incredible knowledge
of birds, makes him an ideal individual to balance the research and educational
aspects of the bird observatory. His wife, Hollie, is the lodge manager
and responsible for the successful day-to-day running of the observatory.
Hollie graduated from Newcastle University in 1994 with a degree in Agriculture
and then achieved an MSc in Environmental and Resource Assessment. Deryk,
Hollie and their seven year old son Lachlan moved to Fair Isle in April
1999 and their second son, Fyntan, was born in September that year. The
couple demonstrated their love of this unique island when they married
on a hill outside the Observatory in August 2000 - in thick fog and pouring
rain!
Micky
Maher
Micky is a self-employed ecological consultant and naturalist based
in Stonehaven Aberdeenshire. He joined our team after fifteen years
working for some of Britain's top conservation organisations,
including the RSPB, The National Trust, The Wildlife Trusts and
Scottish Natural Heritage. His varied career saw him moving to
Shetland to work as warden of Noss National Nature Reserve and then
as a ranger for the north of Shetland. During his stint in Shetland,
he was also the county bird recorder and served on the local rare
birds records committee. Birds and migration are Micky's first love,
although his diverse list of interests range from bees to cetaceans
and he is also a keen amateur botanist. He needs no invitation to
travel in search of wildlife and his most recent trips have been to
North America in search of Gray Whales and to central and eastern
India in search of Tigers and globally threatened birds! Micky also
leads some of our exciting trips across the Bay of Biscay for our
sister-business, The Company of Whales.
Lawrence Tulloch
Lawrence is a born and bred Shetlander from the island of Yell. His diverse
career has included spells working as a Muckle Flugga lighthouse keeper,
a postman, a weaver and a printer! Nowadays, he assists his wife, Margaret,
with the running of their family guest house at Gutcher but his interests
since retirement are just as diverse as his career! Lawrence is currently
chairman of Shetland Islands Tourism, has a keen interest in local history
and archaeology, presents radio programmes for BBC Radio Shetland, teaches
Shetland dialect to schools and has a passion for all things folk - tales,
lore and music! Lawrence is also a professional storyteller who travels
to all corners of Scotland to attend festivals and has produced his very
own cassette 'For sic a hearin'. His warm and friendly manner and
exceptional knowledge of Shetland and its people make him an ideal advocate
for leading our series of Island Insights holidays.
Dylan Walker
Dylan Walker is a professional field naturalist, conservationist and tour
guide. Having completed a degree in Ecology, Dylan has been involved in
a wide variety of conservation projects working with, amongst others,
Koala Bears, Loggerhead Turtles and Laurel Pigeons. During the last few
years, he has conducted cetacean and seabird surveys throughout the north
east Atlantic from the Faroe Islands to the Canaries, and taken part in
research projects on Pilot Whales and Bottlenose Dolphins. He has been
heavily involved in whale watching and cetacean research in the Bay of
Biscay since 1996, helping to set up ORCA (Organisation Cetacea) and co-ordinating
sightings data collected by a network of volunteer observers. More recently,
Dylan set up UK Cetnet, the country's first inter-active email discussion
group on cetaceans and he is currently finishing off a new field guide
to cetaceans in the European Atlantic. A combined appetite for wildlife
and travel has taken Dylan to much of Europe, North Africa and Australia.
His friendly personality, good sense of humour and unquenchable enthusiasm
for nature make him an excellent and highly popular staff naturalist guide.
Dr Jonathan Wills
Jonathan has been birdwatching and boating around the shores of Shetland
since childhood holidays. Born in Oxford to a Lerwick mother, he has lived
in Shetland for most of his life. Jonathan is an honorary warden of Noss
National Nature Reserve, a former boatman to the Muckle Flugga Lighthouse,
and wrote his Edinburgh University Ph.D. on the historical geography of
Shetland. He was inspired to take up wildlife guiding by the late Bobby
Tulloch, who taught him much of what he knows about seabirds, seals and
otters - and how to get close to them. In the winter and in bad weather
he works as a journalist and broadcaster.
David Tipling
David is one of the world's top wildlife photographers and guides our
photography trips here in Shetland. A keen naturalist from a young age,
David established his own picture library Windrush Photos in 1993 and
his work has been published in hundreds of publications world-wide. His
incredible shots will be familiar to travellers who read BBC Wildlife,
RSPB Birds, Birdwatching, Country Life and Audubon magazine. David is
author or co-author of several books including The Birdwatcher's Guide
to Digital Photography, Where to Watch Birds in Britain and Ireland and
Bird Photography: Choosing the Best Destinations, Planning a Trip, Taking
Great Photographs. When not photographing wildlife, David is an active
sportsman with a passion for tennis and skiing.
Rob Still
Rob has had a keen interest in wildlife since childhood. Rob has travelled
all over the world in search of wildlife, but has a particular fondness
for South America. After obtaining a degree in Ecology from UEA he formed
his own graphic design company, producing material for conservation bodies
such as Butterfly Conservation, ORCA, and The Neotropical and Oriental
Bird Clubs. Rob's artwork has appeared in such diverse places as a British
Birds front cover and the Trinidad and Tobago High Commission in Nigeria!
More recently Rob has been the driving force behind WildGuides - a publishing
company specialising in wildlife guides that help raise funds for conservation.
He has designed and co-authored books on Galápagos and British
butterflies. He is responsible for co-ordinating both Shetland Wildlife's
and The Company of Whales brochures and media design and is looking forward
to some exciting new publishing projects with Hugh and David over the
next year or so!
Lynn Duncan
Lynn has lived in the south Mainland of Shetland all her life and feels
privileged to stay in an area that has so much to offer. Over the years
she has learnt much about Shetland's rich cultural heritage, folklore
and traditions from her work in the Shetland library. A significant amount
of her time is spent walking to the remoter parts of the isles and Lynn
especially loves to share this experience with others whenever the chance
arises. For her there are so many different ways to see Shetland - whether
it is from behind the camera, rowing in a yoal, walking beaches or cliff
tops, it doesn't matter. So long as it's outside!
Hywel Maggs
Hywel has had a keen interest in wildlife since an early age and has travelled
widely to fulfil his passion. After graduating in Environmental Science
in 1992, Hywel worked as a shorebird warden for the National Trust in
Northumberland. During this time he also played as a semi-professional
musician with a band that toured extensively both in the UK and abroad.
In 1998 he took up post as a warden at Gibraltar Point National Nature
Reserve and Bird Observatory where his work focussed on shorebirds and
day-to-day management of a NNR. Following two years on the shores of the
Wash, Hywel migrated north to Fair Isle for two seasons of rare migrants
and seabirds. Here, he fine-tuned his knowledge on both and has been returning
during spring and autumn ever since. Hywel now works for the RSPB in East
Scotland as Corn Bunting Officer. Based in Aberdeen, he works wherever
the species still exists in Scotland. Travel is still very much part of
his life and during recent years, Hywel has been on trips to New Zealand,
the United Arab Emirates and a number of European destinations.
Laughton Johnston
Laughton is the author of A Naturalist's Shetland, the only comprehensive
account of Shetland's natural history from its geological beginnings to
the present day. He is also the author of Scotland's Nature in Trust,
written in association with the National Trust for Scotland on the environmental
management of their island and mountain properties. At present he is writing
a book for Scottish Natural Heritage, to celebrate the 50th birthday of
the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve. He has an excellent knowledge
of Shetland's wildlife, as well as its history and culture, being a half-Shetlander
himself and familiar with the islands since childhood. From 1969 until
he took early retirement four years ago he has worked for Scottish Natural
Heritage. During that period among other things, he was responsible for
Shetland and Orkney for 6 years and the island of Rum on the West Coast
of Scotland. Because of his love of the islands he has recently renovated
a cottage in Sandness where he now spends half the year wildlife guiding
and writing.
Judd Hunt
Judd lives in Cardiff and is employed as a manager within the
Department for Work and Pensions. Judd has been an avid birdwatcher
since 1979 and is a founder member of the Glamorgan Bird Club. Since
his first trip abroad, to Canada in 1986, Judd has travelled much of
the globe in search of new and exciting species and lists anywhere in
South America, India and Europe as his favourite destinations. He
developed a keen interest in cetaceans in the mid-19080s when he used
to sail across the Irish Sea with Hugh in search of seabirds and
still clearly remembers his first encounters with Fin Whales and
Orcas! Since 2000, Judd has worked for our sister business, The
Company of Whales and has lost count of the number of people he has
guided across his favourite piece of ocean, the Bay of Biscay! Judd
has also worked as a guide for Shetland Wildlife since 2002 and has
travelled extensively within Shetland, Spain, France and Poland in
this capacity. Although widely travelled, Judd still dreams of
visiting the Antarctic Peninsula and the islands in the South
Atlantic, hopefully as a guide for Shetland Wildlife or the Company of Whales!