Ted and Hannah Floyd
looking at Juncos.
Harry birding in Europe.
Bill Schmoker and Gray Jay.  Photo by
Chris Wood.
Charles Thornton-Kolbe with
friends Schuyler and Sabine.
Nestling Tours Trip Leaders and Outdoor Instructors!
Ted Floyd:  Trip Leader Colorado
  • Ted Floyd is the editor of the American Birding Association's Birding Magazine and author of the 2008 edition of
    the Smithsonian Guide to North American Birds.  See the beautiful cover of the new guide to the left.  The
    "Smith-so-Floyd" guide comes out in April 2008.
  • Ted has led birding trips throughout North America, birded around the world, &and has led trips to several
    international destinations.
  • Besides being the editor for Birding Magazine and a great bird guide, Ted Floyd is the father of Hannah and
    Andrew.  Ted and his daughter hold the only recorded mark for the number of species found in the ABA Area for
    a father and child team in the child’s first year of life --- 414 species.  Ted, his wife Kei, and Hannah have birded
    with Hannah’s cousins (and now brother Andrew) in groups of birders and children in baby backpacks and
    strollers.  Ted believes we should never pass up a birding opportunity when we have small children in the
    household.  We too are believers!
  • Ted Floyd started birding when he was thirteen years old. The exact date of his conversion was September 21,
    1981. After college (B.A. in Biology, Princeton University) and graduate school (Ph.D. in Ecology, Penn State
    University), he taught biology at several colleges and universities. Then he migrated into the nonprofit realm,
    first heading up the Nevada Breeding Bird Atlas for the Great Basin Bird Observatory and now serving as editor
    of Birding, the flagship publication of the American Birding Association.
  • Ted's major interests are avian status and distribution, bird conservation, and birder education. He also has
    strong secondary interests in entomology, statistics, and general ecology. Ted has published more than 100
    articles, for popular and professional audiences alike.  He is a frequent speaker at birding festivals and
    ornithological meetings, and he has led birding trips throughout North America.
For more information,
contact us at
1-888-203-7464 or by
email at
travel@nestlingtours.com.
Bill Schmoker:  Trip Host and Outdoor Instructor for
the Family Ecuador Trip and Colorado Field Guide
  • Bill Schmoker is one person who is both an excellent Outdoor  
    Instructor and a skilled Bird Guide.  
  • Bill is currently President of the Colorado Field Ornithologists and
    also Colorado/Wyoming regional editor for North American Birds.
  • Bill teaches middle school science in Boulder, Colorado and is also
    a first time father.  He is a third generation birder, and his photos can
    be regularly seen in Birding Magazine, books and other periodicals.  
    Bill has lead a successful trip to Costa Rica with 14 junior high
    students (and with no other adults). Bill loves science, the outdoors,
    natural history, wildlife and birding (in no particular order) and is
    anxious to share these opportunities with children and enthusiastic
    adult bird watchers.
  • To learn more about his photographic and bird work, please check
    out his website at www.schmoker.org.  His website now contains
    over 525 bird species!

Charles Thornton-Kolbe:  Nestling Tour Owner and
Occasional Trip Host
  • Charles Thornton-Kolbe is the owner of Nestling Tours and an
    occasional trip leader.  After completing graduate work at Harvard,
    Charles has spent most of his twenty year career as a quality
    management consultant in health, human services and education.  
    His largest client remains a Head Start program, serving over 2,000
    children every school day across ten counties throughout Colorado.  
    Charles has brought his experience in education with young and
    school age children and his management consulting skills to
    Nestling Tours.
  • As a father of three children (ages 5, 9 and 12) and as a birder,
    Charles found that birding tour companies were really focused on
    meeting the needs of the single birder and the birding couple.  
    These other tour companies did not meet the needs of the birder
    with young children, and most politely refer birders with families
    elsewhere.  Charles thus began Nestling Tours to meet the needs
    of families with birders and children.   
  • Charles has recently found that trips for adults sale all too well and
    has expanded trips to meet the interest of adults who enjoy small
    groups of birding companions.
  • Charles is currently the Vice President of Denver Field
    Ornithologists, Coordinator for Audubon's Adopt-an-Important Bird
    Area Project for the Pawnee National Grasslands and an occasional
    compiler for the Colorado Rare Bird Alert.
  • He has experience birding in the early morning before the children
    arise, birding while camping, birding while hiking, and birding while
    enjoying the outdoors with children.  Charles is birding most of the
    time while parenting (along with his wife Jennifer) his three children
    all of the time.

Mandi Prout:  Outdoor Instructor
  • Mandi Prout has experience in teaching in classrooms as large as
    30 children (1st to 3rd grade) in urban and rural settings.
  • Though not yet a birder, Mandi enjoys the outdoors on a regular
    basis throughout the year by skiing, hiking, and camping near her
    home in Garfield County in Colorado.
  • She is anxious to apply her Montessori teaching abilities to outdoor
    education.  
Harry Fuller:  Trip Leader for Northern
California and United Kingom; Host for
Spain/Portugal in 2009 and Something
South American in 2009
  • Harry Fuller has led numerous professional tours in
    Northern California and the United Kingdom. Harry
    Fuller, is a long-time San Francisco resident and
    birder. He was a founding member of the San
    Francisco Field Ornithologists. In addition Mr. Fuller
    has led dozens of field trips for Golden Gate Audubon
    Society, for the Strybing Arboretum, and for the Golden
    Gate National Recreation Area. He is also the
    Northern California tour leader for Island Holidays.
  • Mr. Fuller has taught classes on early American
    ornithology at the California Academy of Sciences.  
    Elsewhere on his website (www.towhee.net) you can
    find some of his articles on the history of American
    ornithology with an emphasis on the Pacific Coast and
    San Francisco area.  Also he's written and published
    Now and Then, a history of changes in San
    Francisco's natural habitats and wildlife since the
    earliest written records.
  • Mr. Fuller has also spent considerable time in Europe
    and the United Kingdom.  He's written accounts of
    birding in several countries including suggestions that
    may prove useful to North American birders.  His
    series of pieces on birding in major European cities
    can be found in Winging It, the newsletter of the
    American Birding Association.
  • Harry has raised 3 children, and all of them remain
    birders today. His granddaughter already builds little
    cardboard binoculars in preschool.

Norm Lewis:  Trip Leader for Southeast
Arizona and Colorado; Host for Ecuador in
February 2009 and Uganda in 2010
  • Norm Lewis has guided numerous birding tours
    across North America, including multiple trips to
    Southeast Arizona, Florida, the Rio Grande Valley, the
    Upper Texas Coast, Nebraska and the Platte River
    Valley, North Carolina, New Mexico and elsewhere.
    For thirteen years he has led monthly trips across
    Colorado for the Denver Museum of Nature and
    Science.  Recently, he has hosted a trip to Costa Rica
    and looks forward to guiding his flock of loyal bird
    enthusiasts to other destinations around the world.
  • Norm is always good for a quick and tricky
    identification. He is always helpful with a quick lesson
    on the finer points of bird identification in the field.
  • Norm is the Past-President of the Colorado Field
    Ornithologists and a Research Associate in the
    Department of Zoology with the Denver Museum of
    Nature and Science.
John Drummond:  Host for Sri Lanka 2009 and more.
  • John Drummond could be described as an avid bird watcher as he is approaching 6,500 bird species on his world bird list and has
    birded in 25 countries (including Sri Lanka and South Africa) covering 6 continents.
  • John has been a leader, co-leader or has advanced a number of international trips covering Australia, Jamaica, Japan, Sri Lanka and
    Thailand.
  • I believe John keeps upwards of field marks for over 6,000 species in his head.  When birding with John, you will find that he is spotting
    constantly and finds birds through holes in thick vegetation which you may have missed. He may not be a local guide, but he is a handy
    resource on any birding trip.
  • John has a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Southampton University, England, has extensive field experience on a number of bird
    studies, and has spoken to a number of Audubon and other ornithological groups.

Norm Erthal:  Trip Leader for Panama in 2009 and more
  • Norm Erthal has birded extensively throughout the United States including a trip to Attu, Nome, and Gambell.
  • He has led trips to Costa Rica, Oaxaca Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Spain, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, Spain and the Canary
    Islands, Jamaica, the United Arab Emirates, and Alaska.
  • Though Norm has recently retired from the Colorado Division of Wildlife after 30 years of service, he looks forward to leading several bird
    watching trips around the world each year.
  • Norm has served the birding community in several capacities by participating in the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas, serving as President
    and Board member of the Denver Field Ornithologists, and by compiling and publishing the Colorado Rare Bird Alert for seven years.
John Drummond (to the left) with clean pants and clean shaven; Lelis Navarrette (in the middle
with my scope), and Charles Thornton-Kolbe (with blue jeans with mud after falling while seeing
a second Antpitta species in 15 mintues time) with other bird watching companions.