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WINGS Tour Leaders – Howard Vaughan

Howard Vaughan

Image of Howard Vaughan

Howard Vaughan was born in Essex. From the early eighties he spent time birdwatching with the local Young Ornithologist Club and other RSPB groups. After his early birding experiences within the UK he has travelled abroad in Europe, North Africa and North America and this has served to whet his appetite for more birding worldwide. Howard was one of the original group members who set up the East London Birders Forum in 1997, which aims to bring together local birders who would collect bird records and conduct national surveys. He was also the Essex County Bird Recorder from 1998 to 2007 and co-editor of the Essex annual Bird Report during much of that time.

In 2010, Howard fell in love with the Greek island of Lesvos and aims to spend at least one week there each spring drawn by the birds and other wildlife.

Thanks to his father’s influence, Howard is an all-round naturalist with a wide interest in invertebrates, with hoverflies proving particularly alluring in recent years, and has been fortunate to have worked within the conservation sector for nearly twenty years. This began with the two-year London Bird Project studying public green spaces for The British Trust for Ornithology and was followed by four months surveying the breeding bird populations of forty woodland sites across East Anglia and the Home Counties.

For the past 15 years, he has shared his knowledge in a variety of people-engagement projects working for the RSPB at their Rainham Marshes Reserve, Essex. He began there as a Field Teacher and is now the Visitor Experience Officer. Two years were also spent as Senior Research Assistant for the ‘London House Sparrow Project’.

Testimonials

"Howard was very good at hearing and getting us on birds and a great and fun communicator full of information about birds, the migration, butterflies and island fauna."
- Peter G. on Greece: Lesvos 2022 

"Excellent is not a strong enough word to give for Howard as a leader. He was entertaining and exceedingly knowledgeable in so many different areas -making certain we saw everything and learned much both about birds and the area itself."
- Lynne A. on Greece: Lesvos 2022 

Updated: July 2023