Meet the Guides for Black Belt Birding Festival 2026
We are excited to have an incredible group of guides coming from across the Southeast for the Black Belt Birding Festival 2026. Each of them brings a unique background and experience to the trips they are leading. Regardless of the trips you choose to attend, you can expect your guide to provide a memorable experience. Guide assignments will be listed on the Info PDF that will be emailed to registered attendee before the festival. Check back regularly to read new bios as they are added!
Brian Cammarano
Having called South Florida my home since birth, I now reside in Pensacola, located in the far Western Florida Panhandle working for Audubon FL as the panhandle’s Shorebird Stewardship Coordinator. In this position, I work with staff, volunteers and partners of the Florida Shorebird Alliance to help protect Florida’s imperiled beach-nesting birds, like the Snowy Plover and Black Skimmer. Throughout my early career, I have held seasonal positions monitoring Florida Scrub-Jay productivity, conducting Black Rail detection surveys, banding migratory songbirds at the Cape Florida Banding Station, and being stationed on an island off the southern coast of Maine monitoring nesting productivity of hundreds of Common Terns, Roseate Terns, and Arctic Terns. I also lead private tours for American Birding Guides helping clients see highly sought-after target species. I have previously guided at the North Shore Birding Festival in Central Florida and lead bird outings throughout the year under my current position with Audubon FL.
Mason Currier
Mason Currier has been an avid birder since middle school. While spending over a decade in Mobile, he grew a deep passion for the birds of Alabama and beyond. Mason is passionate about sharing bird joy with others, especially with other young birders. He has guided the past few years at Coastal Birdfest, and after reviving Mobile Bay Audubon’s Junior Birder Club, he led trips with the group from 2021-2023. His Bama Kingbirds team placed first in 2024 and 2025 in the Alabama Youth Bird Search competition. In 2025, alongside Alabama Audubon's Andrew Lydeard, he broke the record for most species seen in Alabama in a single year, spotting over 350 species in all corners of the state. Mason has found several of Alabama’s first bird species records, including Manx Shearwater and White Wagtail. He's been privileged to represent the American Birding Association the past two years in the World Series of Birding. Currently, Mason is at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, but the rich birdlife and ecosystems of the Alabama Gulf Coast will always have a special place in his heart.
Collin Dobson
Collin is an avid birder originally from central Illinois and has birded for nearly 20 years in Illinois and beyond! He recently finished his master's at Arkansas State University in the Boves Lab and is currently beginning a PhD position at Mississippi State University in the McConnell Lab.
Most of his research focuses on bird communities at restored wetlands in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. He also leads bird trips throughout the US and beyond, and travels and runs races as often as he can during his spare time!
Scot Duncan, Executive Director ALABAMA AUDUBON
Scot Duncan likes to quip that he was birding in utero. His parents took up birding in the late 1960s and went on to become celebrated birders and conservationists. Scot began his life list at age eight, has birded in 13 countries across six continents, and has observed nearly one-fifth of Earth’s bird species. In graduate school, he studied how birds and other animals contribute to tropical forest regrowth through seed dispersal in the deforested landscapes of East Africa. After earning his doctorate from the University of Florida, he moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he taught college biology for 20 years and conducted research on the conservation of the region’s endangered species.
Scot is the author of two award-winning books on the ecology of Alabama and the rivers of the Southeast. In 2022, he became the Executive Director of Alabama Audubon, and under his leadership, the organization has grown quickly. Scot is also an expert bird guide and outdoor educator, having led countless bird outings and field labs, including Alabama Audubon tours to Cuba, Belize, and Colombia.
Sam Fishman
Originally from Long Island, New York, Sam developed an appreciation for birds and the natural world from a young age. She went on to study Wildlife Management at SUNY Cobleskill, earning her B.T. in 2018.After graduating, she gained hands-on experience through a variety of field positions across the eastern U.S., including work with shorebirds, waterfowl, wild pigs, and grassland songbirds. In 2025, she completed her M.S. in Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, where her thesis explored how native vegetation and nonnative shrubs influence the foraging preference and behavior of Golden-winged and Chestnut-sided Warblers. Her research included detailed foraging observations, vegetation surveys, and bird banding, all aimed at informing conservation efforts for these declining species. Sam started working for AL AUD in May 2025 as a coastal biologist. She conducts surveys to monitor our coastal bird populations, helps with bird banding, and educates beachgoers about nesting birds.
Barry Fleming
Barry Fleming has been a serious birder for forty-five years. Growing up in the countryside around Nashville, his naturalist tendencies began with learning snakes and fish and turned to birds one morning as he crawled into a limestone-bottomed creek as a teenager to fish for red-eye bass. A breeding plumage Black-crowned Night Heron perched on a branch directly above his head sparked his deep dive into birding. As a graduate student, he became the first conservation commissioner for the Knoxville chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society, where he, with the help of a graduate art seminar class, spearheaded a movement that saved House Mountain, which is now a state recreational area with birder access. He and a few friends worked with the City of Opelika, Alabama, to found Wood Duck Nature Preserve of Opelika, which is a premier site on the Piedmont Birding Trail. Barry is a professor emeritus of art at Auburn University and has served as president of the Alabama Ornithological Society and vice-president of Conservation and Science for Alabama Audubon. He also has a standing offer to present a special prize to anyone who finds a new county bird in his home county of Lee – a small ball jar of moonshine labelled with your name and the name of the bird. It comes from a historic Alabama moonshine family, which he can’t talk much about. Inca Dove, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Red and Red-necked Phalarope have been so honored. If the finder doesn’t drink, the prize can be used as paint thinner.
Greg Harber
Greg was born and raised in south Florida, where charismatic long-legged waders and Spot-breasted Orioles first piqued his interest in birdwatching. He is a graduate of Auburn University, with a B.S. degree in Secondary Science Education and an M.S. degree in Cell Biology. Greg joined Birmingham Audubon in 1986 and through the years has served the chapter in a variety of capacities, including as bird counts compiler, newsletter editor, director of the Birmingham Audubon Mountain Workshop, vice president for field trips, vice president for conservation, and chapter president. He is employed as a laboratory manager at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry.
Wesley (Wes) Jarnigan
Born and raised in Alabama, Wes enjoys studying and learning about his home state's rich biodiversity, in particular its birds. His start into birding was launched after participating in Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch program while in high school. His interests in nature and natural history led him to pursue and earn a B.S. in Professional Biology and Geographic Information Science with a minor in Chemistry from the University of North Alabama and a M.S. in Conservation Biology from the University of West Alabama. He has been active in various birding projects and birding organizations around the state such as Christmas Bird Counts, the North American Breeding Bird Survey, Alabama Audubon's SwiftWatch program, and the Alabama Ornithological Society. He has been a birding guide for the University of Alabama's BioBlitz, Alabama Audubon’s Black Belt Birding Festival, and the Georgia Bird Fest. He enjoys sharing his passion for birds and birding with others. Wes stays active in his local community by coordinating and leading local birding walks.
Andrew Lydeard, Program Coordinator ALABAMA AUDUBON
Andrew Lydeard was born in South Carolina and spent his formative years exploring the diverse woodlands and stream systems in Alabama, which led to a lifelong fascination with the diversity of the state. He graduated in 2011 from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Biological Sciences, and his ‘spark bird’ was the Red Crossbill during an ornithology lecture on bill adaptations. In 2025, Andrew received his master's degree in biology from Murray State University, where he started the Murray State Bird Club and did graduate research on aquatic ecosystems in Land Between the Lakes Recreation Area. In 2018, he became a seasonal Least Tern and Snowy Plover steward in Baldwin County, AL for Alabama Audubon (formerly Birmingham Audubon) and has focused on bird advocacy and conservation ever since. Andrew has guided domestically throughout the U.S. and in Puerto Rico as well as internationally in Cuba and Colombia, and he will be leading Alabama Audubon’s international trip to Belize in March 2026.
Mercedes Maddox
Mercedes Maddox is a Nongame Wildlife Biologist with the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division of ADCNR, where she coordinates various avian-related projects throughout the state and southeast. Her work varies from golden eagle monitoring and songbird banding to installing Motus towers and assisting in prescribed burns. Since starting in her position in 2018, she has expanded the Southeastern American Kestrel nest box program and significantly contributed to understanding golden eagle distribution in the state. Mercedes initiated a breeding songbird banding station on a WMA, revived the annual swallow-tailed kite surveys, and awarded a Competitive State Wildlife Grant that will expand the Motus Tower network in the Southeast. In her role, she also serves on multiple boards, committees, and species-specific working groups. Mercedes professional goals go beyond avian conservation, and she wants to leave a lasting impact by providing hands-on learning experiences and mentoring opportunities for students from all backgrounds. In her spare time, Mercedes enjoys traveling and exploring different places and cultures, all while adding new birds and beers to her life list.
Olivia Morpeth, Coastal Biologist ALABAMA AUDUBON
Born and raised in central New Jersey, Olivia graduated from Delaware Valley University in 2018 with a BS in conservation and wildlife management and a minor in business administration. She worked at the Mercer County Wildlife Center in college, rehabilitating orphaned, injured, and displaced native wildlife. Olivia came to Alabama in the fall of 2018 to intern at the Orange Beach Wildlife Center.
Starting in April 2019, she interned at the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Fort Morgan, protecting sea turtle nests and collecting data through predation observations and excavations to determine hatching success on refuge beaches. During her time at the refuge, she also participated in Alabama beach mouse trapping surveys as well as beach nesting bird surveys for snowy plovers.
Linda Neighbors
Born and raised in Homewood, AL, Linda has always had an interest in animals getting her B.S. in zoology at Auburn. She then went on to obtain a master’s in physical therapy from UAB. She is semi-retired though continues to work some helping teach UAB P.T. students in their skills labs. Her love of birds began when volunteering at the Alabama Wildlife Center where she was able to work with raptors and songbirds. After going on several field trips with AL Audubon she joined the field trip committee, helping to co-lead trips and serving as chairperson for several years.
Daniel Redwine
After a lifelong interest in nature, Daniel became an avid birder in 2017. His passion for birds and underappreciated habitats inspired him to pursue a career in wildlife biology. Daniel now studies avian behavior and ecology at Austin Peay State University, where his research focuses on the winter behavior of White-throated Sparrows. In addition to his research, he serves as a part-time instructor in the Department of Biology.
Daniel has a keen interest in grassland and wetland birds, but he also enjoys tackling some of birding’s most difficult identification challenges, especially shorebirds and gulls. He has guided field trips for Alabama Audubon and for the Nashville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society, sharing his knowledge of bird behavior, habitat use, and identification skills with birders of all experience levels. He has also presented a workshop on sparrow identification for Alabama Audubon and has shared his White-throated Sparrow research at the Wilson Ornithological Society conference.
Jess Searcy
Jess' claim to fame around Alabama is being the founder and organizer of the Alabama Bird Search - Youth Challenge. Coming up on its third year, this youth birding competition is already recognizing some amazing youth birders in the state and inspiring the next generation of conservationists. Jess got her BS degree in zoology from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and went on to a career in outdoor education and marine science. After leaving the Georgia Aquarium to be a stay-at-home mom, Jess started suffering from animal withdrawal. Since backyard fish and octopus are hard to come by, Jess turned her eyes to the skies, discovering you can watch toddlers and birds at the same time! Her two kids, Evan and Cole, are both now teenagers and Jess is still hooked on birds. When she isn't watching birds (and sometimes when she is!) you'll see her improving the iNaturalist database with her mushroom, flower, and spider photos.
Tonya Scott-Williams
Tonya Scott-Williams is a birder and community advocate based in Montgomery, Alabama who’s passionate about connecting people to nature through birding, storytelling, and conservation outreach. With a background in media and voice work, she loves creating welcoming spaces for people to develop a deeper appreciation for the natural beauty and biodiversity of Alabama’s Black Belt region. For years, birding has been a meaningful source of grounding, and reflection in her life. As a champion for conservation and community engagement, she’s especially committed to introducing underrepresented communities and young people to this immersive experience.
Tonya is an Alabama Audubon Association Ambassador, serves on the board of the Central Alabama Community Foundation as well as her neighborhood association board. She's honored to lead tours for the festival and looks forward to sharing the joy of birds, learning, and connection with participants.
Mary Smith
Mary Smith is a 16 year old who is homeschooled in her sophomore year of high school. She has been interested in birds from a very early age and started birding in 2021. In 2025, she attended taxidermy school and her passion deepened where she gained a greater appreciation for bird anatomy and preservation. She enjoys volunteering at banding events where her knowledge has broadened through hands-on experience and learning from others in the field.
Jason Smith
Jason Smith developed a passion for birding through the influence of his daughter, Mary now 16, whose love for birds sparked a shared family interest. What began as supporting her hobby soon grew into a personal appreciation for bird identification, behavior, and conservation. Jason enjoys spending time in nature searching for new species, learning alongside other birders, and sharing experiences with his family.
Cortney Weatherby, Coastal Outreach Manager ALABAMA AUDUBON
Born and raised in Nebraska, Cortney developed a love for all things outdoors at an early age. After earning a BS in Marine Biology she spent several years working as an educator and a naturalist with environmental organizations in the Florida Keys, South Carolina, Alaska, and Chesapeake Bay. Cortney’s interest in birds started 10 years ago and has since become intertwined with her passion for education and conservation. In 2021 she joined the Alabama Audubon team as part of the Coastal Bird Stewardship Program leading outreach initiatives and guiding field trips throughout Mobile & Baldwin county. She has been a part of the Alabama Coastal BirdFest planning committee, and guiding for the event, for 4 years. Her favorite part of leading field trips is seeing the look on someone’s face when they see a new bird for the first time or experience any moment of birding joy.