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Brian Wesley, a local birding enthusiast, has called the valley home for over 20 years. His extensive field experience includes contributions to numerous bird studies such as the British Columbia and Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlases, Wildlife Canada Services Lewis’s Woodpecker Studies, and the Columbia Wetlands Waterbird Survey. Brian remains an active participant in conservation efforts, regularly conducting surveys like the Birds Canada Nightjar Survey, BC & Yukon Owl Survey, Columbia Valley Bank Swallow Survey, and the North American Breeding Bird Survey. As a member of the Wings Over the Rockies Board, Brian’s guided walks are always a highlight of the festival. 

Steve Burrows first began exploring nature around his childhood home in Birmingham, UK.  After emigrating to Canada, he earned degrees from York University and Dalhousie University before relocating to Hong Kong, where he earned a Master’s degree from the University of Hong Kong.

Steve’s travels have taken him to all seven continents. His freelance articles on nature, travel and environmental issues have appeared in publications around the world, including BBC Wildlife, from whom he received a Nature Writer of the Year award. As a contributing field editor with Asian Geographic, Steve visited destinations such as Taiwan, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea to cover stories on everything from gibbons to silk villages to seahorses. Steve now works with Adventure Canada as an onboard naturalist and guest author and is also a designated Zeiss Field Naturalist.

 Steve’s first work of fiction, A Siege of Bitterns, won the Crime Writers of Canada award for Best First Novel, and was selected as one of the Globe & Mail’s Top 100 Books of the Year. The ninth title in the Birder Murder mystery series, A Deceit of Lapwings, will be published in summer 2025. Steve lives in Oshawa, Ontario with his wife and muse, Resa.

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