ORNITHOLIDAYS' TEAM

New Ornitholidays is ready to welcome you!

The passionate team is composed by Max and Dobry as owner and managing directors of the company and at the office you will find Sara and Igor that will be in charge for logistics and in contact with local agencies around the world, guides and companies we deal with. Sara will be glad to reply to your requests of informations and follow you during the booking process.  

A tight-knit team that will be able to count on SKUA Nature Group experience, with Paola and Teresa at the SKUA office.

Max and Dobry will lead this new project with passion and their huge experience in nature tourism and tour operator' direction, developing fresh itineraries and starting new international partnerships for the purpose of offering you the most exclusive tours, safe experiences and a friendly atmosphere!

MAX BIASIOLI

Ornitholidays Managing Director

direzione@skuanature.com

mobile: +39 3920690207

Max is also SKUA Nature Group Managing Director. SKUA has been organizing birding and photo tours since 2008 and now he is glad to offer his long expertise for Ornitholidays' clients.

He’s been interested in nature since he was young and he has delved deeper into ornithology, herpetology, entomology, therology and botany.

He has developed various conservation and popularization projects working directly or as consultant with public and private companies and organizations.

He is also the author of several books about conservation and ornithology.

For years he’s been travelling around Western Palearctic and beyond and he is an expert tour leader able to get clients involved into the research and discovery of every gift nature can offer. He speaks fluent Spanish and a good English.

A tight-knit group that share the same passion in birdwatching and wildlife photography

SARA GENOVESE

Ornitholidays logistics and Secretary

info@ornitholidays.com

Tel. from UK: 020 81449814

mobile: +39 3280692640

Since passion for natural world and wildlife grew in me, I’ve been wishing to share my interest in animals and wild destinations. I graduated in Natural Science at Pavia University and then I got my phd in Sustainable and Responsible Tourism. Since 2008, year of the constitution of SKUA Nature Group, I have been in charge for tours logistics, marketing and promotion management, clients and BtoB relations. I will be at the Ornitholidays office, happy to speak with you, reply to your requests of information about our worldwide and exclusive tours and follow you during the booking process. I must admit I’m really excited to start this new and thrilling experience! I have lived abroad for many years and I speak English, Spanish and, of course, Italian. I look forward to speak with you!

IGOR MAIORANO

Tour planner & Tour leader

igormaiorano@ornitholidays.com

Tel. from UK: 020 81449814

Igor is a nature lover since he was young. He has been travelling around Western Palearctic for years birdwatching in many countries from the Arctic to the deserts of Northern Africa.

In Ornitholidays he deals with logistics and tour planning, exploring new exciting worldwide destinations for you!

He is passionate about sharing his love for nature and birds to other people and he loved being a local guide in SKUA Nature' Ultima Frontiera and spanish INNATE reserves for one year. He speaks Fluent English and some spanish.

OUR TOUR LEADERS

DAVID WALSH

has recently retired from teaching and lives in Suffolk. He has been a keen birdwatcher for most of his life. Over the last few years he has led many tours to Europe,Africa and North America. His other interests include butterflies and dragonflies. David has proved very popular with Ornitholidays’ clients on the tours he recently led to Brazil, Morocco, Hungary, Corsica, Sri Lanka, Camargue and the Canary Islands.

He has travelled widely in Asia and South America and the other countries he has visited include China, Tibet, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Peru and Venezuela.

NEIL GLENN

  Neil started birdwatching as a child when he can remember getting very excited about seeing his first Reed Bunting and Goldeneye near his Nottingham home and identifying them from a book without any help!

Neil has led tours all over the world and his birdwatching exploits have taken him to every continent apart from Antartica (New Zealand is the closest he's come!). Neil' s other obsession is football and when not wildlife watching he spends a lot of time travelling the country visiting non-league grounds: it's called Groundhopping!

NIGEL JONES

Former Orntiholidays' managing director, Nigel is now supporting us as with his deep knowledge and expert tour leading. His interest in birds and natural history led to a degree in Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia, then to employment as Assistant Warden on Fair Isle in the Shetlands and as an ornithologist working in the Camargue, France. Subsequent posts in teaching and research have  finally culminated in his position running Ornitholidays since 1990. He has travelled extensively to all seven continents in search of birds. In 2019 he will lead for us the amazing birding tour to Regua (Brazil) and on 2020 the new birding expedition to Buthan.

IGOR MAIORANO

See above description

LUCA BOSCAIN

Luca is one of SKUA Nature’s guides who has worked at Ultima Frontiera in the Danube Delta in Romania, as well as in some of the Spanish photographic estates. He is fluent in a number of languages (Spanish,French, Italian), including English, and is a great birder and all-round naturalist, with a good sense of humour. He co-led Ornitholidays' tours in Italy in the past years, as well as he led several tours to different destinations for SKUA and has been co-leader for italian destinations for other english tour operators.

GABOR ORBAN

became interested in birding whilst a young boy and later widened his interests to botany, geology and zoology. During the 80’s and 90’s he led several tours firstly in Hungary, then in other Eastern European countries and Western Europe as well. He lived and worked for years in the US criss-crossing the continent several times. He became a licensed professional birdwatching and nature guide, and since 2006 he has spent six months every year in Latin America and six months in Eastern Europe.

He has a passion for Africa as well and has led many of our Ethiopian tours. He leads birding, nature, cultural, buttery and photographic tours worldwide. He is passionate about sharing his knowledge of nature and the culture of different countries and his hobbies include nature and wildlife photography, birding and travelling to hidden places.

BERT PALTHE

is a long-standing registered guide and has many years of experience, both in tourism and wildlife conservation. After qualifying as a specialist in Nature Conservation, he went on to manage exclusive game reserves in the previous Eastern and NorthernTransvaal. He is now a full time tour leader based in CapeTown. Bert has a passionate interest in wildlife,birds and nature conservation, and genuinely enjoys sharing his wealth of knowledge with others. He has led our Natural History tours to the Cape region for the past few years and he has proved very popular with our groups.

MARK AYRE

lives on the South Island of New Zealand and has been a keen birder for most of his life. He is originally from the UK, where he worked as a warden on various bird reserves. Mark is very active in the local Royal Forest and Bird Protection Societies and is particularly involved in the conservation management of the endangered Mohua (Yellowhead). He has led our tour to New Zealand for the past 13 years.    

GABOR SIMAY

has been interested in birds and nature conservation since his first years in primary school. During his studies at the University of Debrecen he deepened his knowledge on birds, carried out research on ground-nesting birds of the Hortobágy National Park, spending most of his time in the field. His favourite area is the Bihar Plain and the Hortobágy. In 2008 he started to work for the Hortobágy National Park as a full time warden in the Bihar Plain area. He is also a member of the Hungarian Rarity Committee. He frequently visits other parts of Hungary as well as many sites of the Carpathian Basin to study birds. As a keen birdwatcher and photographer, he has visited several different Western Palearctic countries (e.g.Turkey, Spain, Egypt, Jordan), as well as Namibia, Mexico, Vietnam, Cambodia,Thailand, Malaysia and India. He speaks perfect English and some German.

FRANK MCCLINTOCK

was born in Africa and educated in England. He emigrated to Portugal over 20 years ago and bought some scrubland and a few ruins overlooking a vast, man-made lake. He has turned this property into Paradise in Portugal, a guest lodge, which, in addition to a view to die for, offers excellent eco-friendly accommodation. He has always had a passion for nature and has been a professional bird guide for over 10 years.

VICTOR OWUSU

was born in Eziama in the Western Region of Ghana close to Ankasa Reserve surrounded by the upper guinea rainforest. His childhood was spent exploring the forests around his community and is the main reason for his exceptional ability to identify and  find the most difficult species. He is a very experienced guide having led over 100 tours and his calm and professional style ensures a smooth and enjoyable trip for all the tour participants. Now in his mid-thirtiesVictor knows all the birds by song and call and can identify all the West African species. He has a love of nature and is also very knowledgeable on the culture and history of Ghana which he enjoys sharing with clients.     

ENRIQUE COUVE

is an Industrial Design Engineer by profession, but a naturalist at heart and has been birdwatching for more than 40 years. He is extremely knowledgeable about Chilean birds, having travelled from the High Andes in northern Chile to the frozen Antarctic seas. He is extremely skilled in finding and identifying birds in the field.  Enrique is also the main author of the forthcoming book entitled Field Guide to the Birds of Chile and also author of Birds of Patagonia,Tierra del Fuego and Antarctic Peninsula. He is an excellent nature photographer, having one of the most complete photographic collections of Chile’s birds and other wildlife. He is a partner and Director of Fantastico Sur and lives in Punta Arenas with his wife Cecilia and their four children.

DEEPAL WARAKAGODA

is one of Sri Lanka’s top birdwatching tour guides and the author of the new Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka. He will be happy to show us virtually all of the country’s endemic birds on our tour. He has been the leader on our last 11 holidays to Sri Lanka.  

MORE INFO

DOBROMIR DOMUSCHIEV

Ornitholidays Co-Director

dobry@ornitholidays.com

mobile: +359 899666167

Dobry is Ornitholidays co-owner. He has a long and deep experience in the direction tour operators running his own nature based tour company in Bulgaria. In Ornitholidays he deals with general supervision and co-direction. He is born Bulgarian and has been a keen naturalist since he was eleven years old. His main interests are birds, butterflies and photography. Dobry holds an MSc degree in economics and management. Nevertheless his love of birds and nature have been his main reason for his involvment in their conservation and he has been working on a number of environmental projects. His true wish is to make the local people believe that sustanaible tourism is a real alternative to poverty and to try to preserve their natural resources in the beautiful countryside of his home country Bulgaria! He speaks bulgarian, a fluent English and Russian.

NICOLA SCATASSI

Nico has been interested in birds, and nature in general, since he was young. He is an excellent birdwatcher, and he also has a very deep knowledge on the other groups of animals. His ornithological interest is perfectly combined with his great passion for travelling through the Italian Peninsula and to all continents, including trips to Iran. Since 2000 he has been guiding nature and bird watching tours. He speaks fluent English and he has led and co-led Ornitholidays' tours to Italy and Georgia for the past few years, as well as many worldwide tours for SKUA in the past.

MAX BIASIOLI

See above description

DOBROMIR DOMUSCHIEV

See above description

DAVIDE DE ROSA

  Davide De Rosa is an ornithologist with particular expertise in the ecology, migration and population dynamics of birds in Italy, especially in southern Italy and Sardinia. In recent years, his studies have focused on raptors (Lanner Falcon and Red Kite) and on the impacts of climate change on bird communities. He is also interested in relationships between pollution and the physiology of birds in agricultural landscapes.

He is a ringer, a data collector for the Italian Ornithological Monitoring and for IWC (International Waterfowl Census). He has collaborated in several bird ringing projects in Italy and abroad. He wrote the book “Where to Watch Birds in Sardinia” with his wife Ilaria Fozzi, it will be published on September 2018.