Tour Leader

The leader on all of our tours is John Shipley, who has been an avid birder for more than 30 years.  John has led birding tours since 1987.  His birding travels have taken him to several foreign countries and throughout the United States.  John’s relatives have lived in Arizona for nearly 100 years.  However, his father was a U.S. Army officer, which allowed their family to travel extensively.  John’s interest in birds was augmented by living for three years, in both Thailand and Japan.

John received his B.S. degree from Northern Arizona University.  He has initiated four National Audubon Christmas Bird Counts.  John thoroughly enjoys finding birds and showing them to others in a field situation.  He is a dedicated preservationist and has developed an appreciation and understanding for most aspects of the natural world.  John enjoys sharing with others his knowledge of and enthusiasm for nature.  He founded Goldeneye Nature Tours in 1987, and operated that business until 2000.  During that time, John guided about 15 tours each year to destinations in the U.S. and Central America.

John worked in the “corporate America” sector from 2001-2007, and is now (as of September 2007) very pleased to return to operating his own tour business.  He has named this new company, Kingfisher Bird Tours, as he will now focus on conducting tours to foreign destinations.  With more than 200 birding tours under his belt, John’s objective in leading these tours is to do everything he can to ensure that his clients enjoy a fun, productive, and educational birding experience!

John’s other hobbies include watching baseball games.  He is an avid fan, and his favorite teams are the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners.  During the 1970’s, he played class A baseball for part of one season, in Seattle.  John and his wife, Dana, live in Montana.