Spring and Fall Migration in Cape May: Premier Birding Guide Biographical Sketch
David Trently
David has loved natural history his entire life, and he has seriously studied birds and butterflies for over twenty-five years. For over two decades, he has led trips for local bird clubs and Audubon groups, first starting with the Tennessee Ornithological Society (TOS). That soon led to organizing trips farther afield, and he now guides half a dozen trips per year for the Partnership for International Birding.
David has led trips all around the US (especially Alaska, New Jersey, Texas and Ohio/Michigan) and to other countries, including Canada (Newfoundland), Panama, Ecuador, Mexico and Belize.
In addition to birding, David spends a lot of time documenting butterfly, dragonfly and moth species for county lists. David is also involved in annual BioBlitzes and bird counts, and his advice on the distribution of certain species is sought out in both Tennessee and Pennsylvania. He has been in active leadership roles in the Tennessee Ornithological Society, Lackawanna Audubon Society and the Northeast Pennsylvania Audubon Society.
He has worked at the University of Tennessee in the Entomology and Plant Pathology Department. He has an M.S. degree from UT and a B.S. in biology research from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.
David now lives in his home state of Pennsylvania, where he works full-time for the Partnership for International Birding. As a partner in the Partnership for International Birding, he is more than happy to guide anywhere in the United States and/or host a birding trip in most any country.
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Rebecca Smith
Rebecca (Beck) has been an avid birder and photographer for the past fifteen years. She began her career with an environmental science degree from Richard Stockton University. Her first internship was in 2000 studying Dotted Skippers and Diamondback Terrapins in Cape May County, NJ. After this period, her passion for biodiversity spread from entomology and herpetology to birding. Beck is a Certified Master Naturalist, a bird bander with the Wekiva Basin Banding Station until 2017, and participates as a volunteer in Jay Watch, North America Butterfly Association butterfly counts, and Christmas Bird Counts. She served two years as an Oklawaha Valley Audubon Society board member and field trip coordinator.
Beck has been a guide for the North Shore Birding Festival, Palm Coast’s Birds of a Feather Fest, Festival of Flight & Flowers, Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival, Orlando Wetland Park Festival, and Acadia Birding Festival and has been guiding birding tours both professionally and as a volunteer for the past six years. She brings a diverse knowledge of all of Florida’s fauna, but especially birds, butterflies, beetles, and other insects. Rebecca also brings a passion for all things nature and her love of the natural world is contagious to all those who go with her. She also has an extensive resume of thirteen years of ornithological fieldwork studying everything from Clapper Rails, Pileated Woodpeckers, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, shorebirds, waterfowl, and wading birds.