Field Trip Leaders

Check back here in 2024 for more information. The information below is from 2023.

Please note: Field trip leader bios and photos will be added through May.

Thank you to our friends at Mountaineer Audubon in West Virginia for helping us plan field trips and recruit field trip leaders! We also wish to thank our friends with the Allegany & Garrett Counties Bird Club for their great help in planning and leading field trips.

Field trip leaders for the 2023 MOS Convention at Wisp include:

If you are interested in being a field trip leader, please contact Jim Rapp at jmrpp2@gmail.com.

2023 Field Trip Leader Bios

David Curson has worked as Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon in Maryland since 2004, covering many aspects of bird conservation in the state. These include leading efforts to protect, manage and monitor bird habitats across Maryland’s network of Important Bird Areas, and coordinating grassroots advocacy on issues and legislation affecting birds, through actions including the annual “I Bird, I Vote” summit. Dave leads Audubon’s coastal resilience program in Maryland, partnering with a wide variety of organizations to implement projects to prevent the loss of saltmarshes to climate-driven sea level rise and to safeguard endangered beach-nesting seabirds.

Dave completed his graduate studies in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where his research focused on the ecology and behavior of the parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird. He currently represents Audubon on the Management Board of the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture and the Management Committee of Maryland’s Dredged Material Management Program.

Katie Fallon is the author of the nonfiction books Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird (2020, 2017) and Cerulean Blues: A Personal Search for a Vanishing Songbird (2011), as well as two books for children. She is Executive Director of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving the region’s wild birds through research, education, and rehabilitation, and has served as President of the Mountaineer Chapter of the National Audubon Society. A member of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators, Katie has worked with birds since 1998; over the last twenty years she has given educational presentations featuring live raptors, vultures, parrots, and corvids. She is also a columnist for Bird Watcher’s Digest and has taught writing at West Virginia University, Virginia Tech, and elsewhere. Her first word was “bird.” For more: www.katiefallon.com.

LeJay Graffious had a thirty-six year career as a teacher and principal in Preston and Monongalia Counties, WV. He currently is the administrator of the Old Hemlock Foundation. He has had a lifelong interest in the natural world. He is a licensed bird bander whose research includes: longitudinal monitoring of avian production and survivorship at the Old Hemlock Bird Observatory; banding fall migrants at the Allegheny Front Bird Observatory; on the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge as a participant in the Eastern Woodcock Migration Research Cooperative by installing GPS transmitters on woodcock; and managing a Saw-whet Owl Banding Station on the refuge. He is the chair of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia’s board and bands releasable rehabilitated birds there.  He served ten years on the WV Bird Records Committee.

Alex Koch is a resident of Prince George’s County and recent new member of the Patuxent Bird Club. First drawn to birding during international travel, Alex soon began to study the birdlife around DC for a better understanding of the local ecosystems and closer eye into the natural world of Maryland. On a Thanksgiving trip to visit his grandmother, Alex was gifted his first pair of binoculars, the same pair that his grandparents had toured the world with for the past four decades in search of rare birds. Alex is now trying to do justice to this gift, and he can be found tromping around the rivers of central Maryland in search of elusive stocked trout or squinting into the trees to see what just made that delightful sound.

Connie Skipper was born in Garrett County and has been birding there for nearly 50 years. She received her Wildlife and Fisheries Bachelor degree from Frostburg University. She’s been a bird bander with the Bird Banding Laboratory since 1995. She ran a breeding bird route for a number of years. She has been active in the two previous breeding bird atlases and serves as co-coordinator for the current atlas in Garrett County. She has led bird walks as a park naturalist then as a park ranger for many years. She is now retired, enjoying birding and hiking more than ever.

Crystal Fike is a hairdresser who loves birds and nature. As a youth she started feeding birds from her bedroom window sill, eventually coaxing them to eat from her hand. After she married her husband Chad, they began traveling around the US visiting National Parks, birding hotspots, Indian ruins and petroglyph sites. Crystal has been involved in the May bird count since 2015, counting birds at Mt. Nebo WMA. She is always looking at, listening for, and learning about birds!

Kari McPartland has experience leading backpacking, paddling, caving, biking and now birding trips. She lives in Frederick, MD and has been birding officially since 2018. She has backpacked over 4000 miles with her spouse and also birding partner, Tyler Meneely. You can find them birding all around Maryland.

Karlyn McPartland, D.V.M.: In December 2019 Karlyn’s daughter introduced her to this amazing new app – Merlin! This opened the world of birding for her and kick started her new passion.  Since then she has spent a great deal of her spare time prowling all over Maryland joining as many birding field trips as she could fit in, learning so much from so many Maryland birders willing to share their expertise! 

Mary Lou Clark is a retired math teacher who came back to birding after a lapse of 20 years while raising her son. A past president of the Howard County Bird Club she now is the program chair of the club. She spends time listing but gets distracted by working on the Breeding Bird Atlas during the summer.

Peter Hanan started birding when he was 10 years old when he lived in New Jersey. Peter was involved in three different birding groups and was leading trips when he was about 12 years old. He’s been a member of the Anne Arundel Bird Club for 42 years. Peter was the president for many years and also was field trip chairperson. He started to get interested in traveling and Peter, his wife and his two sons traveled to many national parks throughout the US. He had setup trips that he would lead to different areas in the US for club members. Peter is not sure who named the “company” Maniac Tours but the name was appropriate. They were getting up early and staying out late to see as many birds as they could see. Peter started to get interested in going to South and Central America. He has set up trips to Costa Rica, Belize, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, and Argentina. When Peter was a young birder in New Jersey he’d ask old time birders what was their life list. Many of them had no idea how many birds they had seen. Peter falls into that category. He will be getting more familiar with eBird for his life list very soon. Peter has always been interested in bird calls. When the technology wasn’t as advanced as it is today, when Peter showed up on field trips, people said it was great because he could identify the bird songs. Merlin, eBird, and BirdsEye are making birding easier for everyone. He’s always enjoyed birding in western Maryland in the spring. Peter is looking forward to meeting new MOS members and leading field trips.

Kurt Schwarz has been a birder since 1994, and is ex-conservation chair for MOS. He is retired from the DoD. Kurt has ticked 400 species in Maryland, and his World List has crossed 1300 standing at 1307 with last month’s Texas trip.

Liz McDowell has called Mountain Maryland home since 1979. It was here while working on her MS in Wildlife Management that she discovered nature and a passion to share it with others. A native plant enthusiast who also enjoys birding and herping, she currently leads the Western Mountains Chapter of the Maryland Native Plant Society and volunteers with the Friends of New Germany State Park.

Josephine Cox: Jo grew up in the UK, and although she was not a twitcher back then, both parents encouraged her love of the outdoors. A chance to become a visiting scientist at NIH brought her to Maryland in 1988 where the brightly colored local birds were soon noticed. She has been a member of MOS for ~25 years and has just become a Chapter Director. In retirement, she been able to devote time to atlasing, bird counts as well as leading some field trips. She enjoys many outdoor activities with her husband, often hearing and spotting birds from a kayak, bike, or cross-country skis. Garrett County is a favorite place for birding and outdoor adventures. They owned a house not far from the Savage River Reservoir and over a hundred backyard species were logged there.

Cheryl Hogue began birding after a friend convinced her to take ornithology in college. A recent retiree from a large scientific society in Washington, DC, she is a freelance journalist specializing in environmental policy. She has led field trips at MOS conferences and for the Montgomery Bird Club. She’s also co-led several day-long birding tours for her professional organization, the Society of Environmental Journalists. The most recent is an April 2023 trip to the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area outside of Boise, Idaho. Cheryl actively supports inclusion in birding and is an ally with planners for this year’s 2023 Black Birders Week celebration in Washington, DC.

Russ Kovach is a resident of Howard County, Maryland and is an Earth Science and Biology teacher at Hammond High School in Columbia. He’s been birding since he was a high school student in 1988. Russ is a former president of the Harford County Bird Club and guides many birding trips in the mid-Atlantic region for the Maryland Ornithological Society and Delmarva Birding Weekends. When not birding Russ enjoys photography, canoeing, and coaching softball, in addition to giving presentations to local organizations about birds and climate change.

Steve Sheffield is a field biologist and ecologist, and serves as Professor of Biology at Bowie State University in Bowie, MD.  His taxonomic expertise is in birds, mammals, and herps in particular. Steve has participated in various bird counts (CBCs, migratory bird counts, BBSs, BioBlitzes, etc.) for many years.  Regarding birds, he is especially interested in raptors, particularly owls.

A long-time birder for 35+ years, Kevin Graff began birding at nine when his family took him to the zoo. He leads many trips for the MOS. Kevin maintains field trip records that he submits to MDOsprey and eBird. Because of his hearing impairment, Kevin cannot bird aurally, but he makes up for that by his keen eyesight. Kevin likes leading walks because he can help people in their birding efforts, and he enjoys pointing out other creatures like butterflies, dragonflies, and amphibians. In his free time, he’s a veteran volunteer firefighter for over 25 years.

Gwen Brewer has led field trips for MOS conferences and presented talks on travels with her husband, George Jett, for bird clubs for over 15 years. Gwen manages the science program for rare species at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and previously was a professor at Frostburg State University.  When not looking for birds, mammals, and herps in far-off places, she enjoys birding and kayaking from her property near Jug Bay in southern Anne Arundel County.

Nick Nicholson grew up in Georgia. He joined the Army after high school and served for 4 years. He went into construction right after he was out. Nick stayed in construction for many years, ending with an insurance restoration company for 13 years. He went from there to a commercial lending company and was there for about 13 years.  Nick currently works for ClearView Window & Door Co., now for 8 years, as a salesman. He used to do a lot of backpacking and camping, making many trips to West Virginia and Skyline Drive. He enjoys hiking, birding (of course), photography, kayaking and canoeing. He makes an annual trip to Tuckahoe State Park for 4 days of camping every year in June, for about 20 years now. Nick fishes, enjoys photography, and birding.  

Jim Rapp currently serves as director of the Hazel Outdoor Discovery Center. Prior to holding this post, he was the director of the Salisbury Zoo for 14 years before being tapped in 2007 as the director of Delmarva Low Impact Tourism Experiences, a business-sponsored nature tourism outfit created to entice tourists with birding, paddling, and cycling trails and events. In 2015 he formed Conservation Community Consulting, LLC with his business partner, Dave Wilson, to help promote conservation and nature tourism. Jim and Dave operate the award-winning Delmarva Birding Weekends.