Derek Muschalek is a native Texan and cattle rancher living in Yorktown. He has been actively birding for over 30 years but shifted his attention to botany and butterflies during the past two decades. He helped identify over 1000 wildflowers in Dewitt County-named the " Wildflower Capitol of Texas" by the Texas Legislature. During the past four years he has led two butterfly trips each year to the El Cielo Biosphere Reserve in Northeast Mexico. During the 1980's he made over 100 trips to High Island, TX to record the spring and fall migrations of neotropical migrants and fondly remembers the great "fallout" of 1988 when he saw 450 Bay-breasted Warblers and 2,000 Indigo Buntings. He serves as a guide for many nature festivals in Texas. He has led birding trips to such faraway places as Trinidad and Tobago Mexico, Southeast Arizona and the Florida Everglades. Lately, he has become an avid user of e-bird and enjoys keeping various bird lists. Derek has been leading bird and butterfly fieldtrips for Nature Quest since 2002.

      Thomas (Tom) Collins is a 6th generation Texan. He was raised in the Texas Hill Country by parents who loved nature.  It was this early influence by his parents that has kept him involved in natural history studies.
    Tom graduated from Texas A&M in 1964 and served in the army as a Forward Area Signal Platoon Leader in Vietnam with the 1st Infantry Division.  He retired from Dow Chemical after 31 years as a Global Manager in Dow’s Manufacturing and Engineering Information and Process Information Systems.
    Tom has been a birder and naturalist all his life.  He and his wife Sherry of 46 years have toured all over the world seeing more than 3300 bird species on 6 continents and in 26 countries.  For the past 15 years he has expanded his interest in nature to studying butterflies, dragonflies, mushrooms, flora and other natural history subjects.
    He is the founder of the Cradle of Texas Master Naturalist Chapter in Brazoria County, serves on the Master Naturalist State Committee, is past Board Member of the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and currently serves on the Advisory Board.  He is the Compiler for the Kerrville and Love Creek Preserve North American Butterfly Association annual count and a member of the Hill County Master Naturalist, Master Gardeners and Kerrville Native Plant Society.
    For years he assisted in scientific studies for Texas Parks and Wildlife, US Fish & Wildlife and USGS conducting bird census.  His specialty is bird song recognition.  He is currently working on a project to record Hill Country bird songs and has led an effort to document and publish a checklist of “The Butterflies of Kerr County”. Tom joined our Nature Quest team in 2011.

    Rebecca Flack holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Science degree in Rangeland Ecology and Management from Texas A&M University at College Station. Rebecca grew up on her family’s farm in northwest Illinois, where her parents and brother continue to raise hogs and cattle and grow corn and soybeans.
    Rebecca began her career with The Nature Conservancy in 2002 as a Preserve Management Assistant, working on the Nachusa Grasslands Preserve in Franklin Grove, IL. For approximately 2.5 years, she worked as a seasonal employee with the Conservancy, splitting her time between preserves in Illinois, South Dakota, Minnesota and Florida. Rebecca joined the Texas Chapter of TNC in 2007, and is currently the Southern Hill Country Project Director. Her work duties include: landowner outreach, management of the Love Creek Preserve in Bandera, Co, volunteer coordination, prescribed fire implementation, and assisting with conservation easement transactions.

    Rebecca also co-authored a successful grant application to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service which provided funding for the purchase of 432 adjoining acres to expand the Love Creek Preserve.

    2012 is Rebecca’s first year helping Nature Quest and we are privileged to add her to our team.
    She will be assisting Tom Collins with the field-trip to Love Creek Preserve.

Bain Walker has been leading the Frio Bat Flight Tours to the Frio Cave since 1999. He has learned about Bats from Bat Specialists from Boston University, University of Tennessee, Bat Conservation International and Texas Parks & Wildlife. Bain and the Bats have appeared in several TV Documentaries, BBC Shows, Discovery and Animal Planet, plus in Texas Parks & Wildlife & Texas Highways Magazines. He is an expert at spotting and identifying the Raptors that catch the bats at the Frio Cave. He has helped maintain his families Bluebird Nestbox Trail since 2001. In 2003 Bain was the Co-nominator of the Largest Tree in Texas. Bain has been leading Birding, Nature by Kayak, Big Tree & Bat Flight Tours in our area for Hill Country Adventures since 1998. Bain gives Bat Programs for schools, organizations and is our main Frio Bat Flight Interpreter. Bain is one of Nature Quests original fieldtrip leaders. He has lead Frio Bat Flight, Nature by Kayak and Birding Field Trips for Nature Quest since it began in 1999.
www.friobatflight.com

      Bob and Martha Sargent joined Nature Quest in 2005 and are licensed Bird Banders specializing in the banding of hummingbirds. Their license is under the supervision of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, and the states of Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, District of Columbia, West Virginia, Maryland, Texas, Montana, New Mexico and Utah.  As a part of their study of birds they lecture and give seminars nationwide.  They target an audience of over 20,000 people annually.  They are authors of books, scientific publications as well as popular magazines and newspaper articles.  They have been involved in organized birding for 26 years and have been bird banders for over 20 years.  The Sargents are authors of the highly successful book Ruby-throated Hummingbird published by Stackpole Books.
      Bob and Martha are recipients of the American Birding Association’s prestigious 2003 Ludlow Griscom Award for Outstanding Contribution to Regional Ornithology. Other awards include the 1998 Alabama Wildlife Federation, Governor’s Conservation Achievement Award, Wildlife Conservationist of the Year, the 1998 W. Kelly Mosley Environmental Award and the 1997 Francis M. Weston Memorial Award for public awareness and education of bird conservation.  The Sargents were chosen by Mr. David Sibley to write the Hummingbird foreword for his Field Guide companion book to Bird Life and Behavior.    
      They are founders and directors of The Hummer/Bird Study Group, Inc., a 2000 plus member non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of hummingbirds and other Neo-tropical migrant birds.  Under the funding of this organization they operate a seasonal banding station at Fort Morgan, Alabama, on the Gulf coast.  This banding facility is open to the public for two weeks each spring and fall to capture and band inbound and outbound migrant birds (Neotropical migrants).  This site is used for the study of these special birds, but more importantly, it is a hands-on teaching tool for the public.  The Sargents specialize in making available to children of all ages the wonders of these beautiful birds that travel the winds of the Americas.  With the help of a skilled crew of more than a dozen volunteers, this banding site is open from dawn until mid-afternoon during much of each migratory season.  They capture and band over 5000 birds annually at their Fort Morgan location.
      Bob and Martha also operate banding and bander training sites in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, West Virginia and most recently in Arkansas. At there home they annually band over 800 Ruby-throated hummingbirds, and in addition recapture about 175 annually that were banded in previous years.  They are leaders in the pioneering study of wintering hummingbirds and travel thousands of miles each winter to capture, identify, band and document these more rare species that are found in the eastern United States.  Their efforts have resulted in the identification and documentation of over 70 first state records representing 13 different species of the hummingbird familyAs North America’s foremost trainers of new hummingbird banders, the researchers that they have trained now operate in most of the United States, Central and South America, and Canada. 
      Bob and Martha are past president and treasurer of the Alabama Ornithological Society.  They are members of the Ornithological Societies of North America.  Like all of you, THEY SIMPLY LOVE BIRDS.  Don’t miss an opportunity to meet these folks. 
      For more information write:  The Hummer/Bird Study Group, Inc., P.O. Box #250, Clay, Alabama  35048-0250.  Phone (205) 681-2888, FAX (205) 681-1339 or Email: Rubythroat@AOL.COM or HummerBSG@AOL.COM  
Visit their website at http://www.hummingbirdsplus.org

Lee Haile grew up in this area of the Hill Country and has been interested in Birds all his life, and Medicinal Plants since high school. He earned his Degree in Entomology (bugs) in 1982 from TX A&M University. He was an Entomology Consultant for Farmers and Ranchers for 13 years. In 1991 he purchased a Saw Mill for his woodworking business and his interest in large trees grew. Lee is a Certified Master Naturalist, Birder, and has come to appreciate how, “The Hill Country is the Biological Crossroads to North America.” Lee has been leading Nature, Birding, Natural History, Nature by Kayak, Big Tree, Frio Bat Flight Tours, and doing Cowboy Campfire Storytelling in our area for Hill Country Adventures since 2003. Lee is a Folklorist, Musician and Entertainer. He has performed at Dude Ranches, Schools, San Antonio’s Folklife Festival, and Sea World of Texas. In 2003 Lee was the Co-nominator of several Champion Trees in this area and one is the Largest Tree in Texas. Lee is one of the Frio Bat Flight Interpreters. Since April 2004 he has helped lead Nature by Kayak, Birding field trips, plus Storytelling and Entertaining for Nature Quest.

Sherry Collins began birding after she became obsessed with the yellow rump of the then named Myrtle Warbler. The next year she participated in the Freeport Christmas Bird Count. After a few years she became an area leader and a hummingbird expert for the count. She was a charter member of the Brazosport Birders and served in various offices in that club, including Program Chairman, Vice-President, and President. She was one of the organizers of the Migration Celebration, a four day birding festival. For six years she was the chairman of the festival. She was active in the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and served on the board of that organization. Sherry has been a speaker for many clubs, organizations, and schools. She taught a birding course for Elderhostel for two years. Her birding articles have appeared in magazines, newspapers, and monthly birding journals. She participated in nine Great Texas Birding Classics, winning one and coming in second in three of them. 2012 is Sherry’s first year leading and speaking at Nature Quest and we are privileged to add her to our team.

Anthony Sharp has helped lead birding fieldtrips for Nature Quest since 2007. Anthony & LeAnn helped organize and put on the North American Bluebird Society Convention in San Antonio, TX in 2006. Anthony was Vice President of the Hill Country Rivers group that started Nature Quest. LeAnn & Anthony created and run Hill Country Nature Center on their ranch. They have been in the lodging business since 1987 and the Nature Tourism business for 1999. Anthony & LeAnn became the Nature Quest coordinators in 2010 and took over the entire event in 2011. www.friolodging.com & www.hillcountrynaturecenter.com