Tour Leaders
David
Arsenault
David began leading birding tours while serving as Field Trip Chair for the Lahontan Audubon Society in Reno from 2001-03. He founded the Sierra Nevada Avian Center in 2002 and has been studying and watching birds in North America for over ten years, and in Mexico and Central America for over five years. David leads all of the scheduled tours with the help of various local guides.
These guides have helped with past tours or may help with future tours and they are available for private tours. We also work with other local guides at tour destinations, just contact us and let us know what you're interested in.
Miguel Mendez was born in Merida, Yucatan, but he grew up mostly in
California before moving back to Merida at the age of 12.
Miguel started guiding tours in 1984 working with cruise ships and
then in Cancun bringing groups to the Mayan sites of Chichen-Itza and
Tulum. In 1992, Miguel moved
back to Merida and began working with Ecoturismo Yucatan.
In this position, he mingled with well-known archaeologists from
whom Miguel learned much about Mayan civilization.
Miguel has been birding in Mexico for over ten years; he has
trained local bird guides for the Mexico Institute of Tourism, guided for
Victor Emanuel Nature Tours in Oaxaca, and has participated in the Yucatan
Bird Festival for the last three years.
With 20 years of guiding experience and an intimate knowledge of
Yucatan’s natural history and Mayan culture, you will surely enjoy time
spent with Miguel in Yucatan.
Jorge Montejo
Jorge (shown with Amy McAndrews) was born in Yucatan, Mexico, where he developed a passion for nature at a young age exploring the forests and the ocean around his hometown of Merida. He became a serious birder while attending the University of Veracruz, where he received a B.Sc. in Biology. It was during this time that Jorge and several friends "discovered" the now world-renowned River of Raptors in central Veracruz. Since his graduation in 1990, Jorge has been employed by various ornithological projects, both in the U.S. and Mexico, with organizations such as Cape May Bird Observatory, Hawk Watch International, USDA Forest Service, Institute for Bird Populations, Peregrine Foundation, and Pronatura Veracruz. Most recently, he has been heading a bird monitoring project at a Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas. Since the 1990s, he has led birding tours in southern Mexico and birding workshops throughout Central America. He recently co-authored the Checklist of the Birds of Central Veracruz and is a regular contributor to North American Birds Mexican Region. Fluent in both Spanish and English, Jorge is a friend and favorite on all of his tours.
Sam Tillet
Before Belize’s independence in 1981, Sam Tillet acquired an intimate knowledge of Belize while mapping the country as a member of a British Survey Team. His knowledge and enthusiasm in sharing the natural and cultural wonders of Belize is what makes Sam recognized as one of the best naturalists and bird watching guides in Belize by The Belize Handbook. He and his wife, Rita, own and operate their own hotel in the village of Crooked Tree. Sam is a personable and courteous guide and he speaks English, Creole, and Spanish.