John Woodcock
TCBO Coordinator
johntbaywoodcock@hotmail.com

My interest in natural history began as a child growing-up in Hamilton,Ontario exploring the 'wilds' of Cootes Paradise. My passion for birds was enhanced by members of the Hamilton Naturalists Club who took me under their wings, introduced me to thrills of birding and brought me to Long Point in the 1960's for my first experiences with bird banding. After teaching public school for about 20 years I returned to university to complete a masters degree in biology with a career change in mind. In the late 1980's I was contracted by CWS to do preliminary field work and data collection for the Ontario Forest Bird Monitoring Program. Throughout the 1990's I was principal researcher of the songbird component of the Fallingsnow Ecosystem Project, investigating the effects of various forestry management practices on songbirds breeding in regenerating cutovers, using constant-effort mist-netting & banding, territory mapping, and song counts. I first became involved in migration monitoring in 2001 when I was hired to assist the warden at Thunder Cape Bird Observatory. Assisted by my wife Maureen, I have settled-in for the long term as Program Coordinator for Thunder Cape Bird Observatory. Our greatest adventure was driving to Costa Rica (7,500 km from Thunder Bay) in November 2001 where we spent the winter travelling throughout the country banding neotropical migrants. Our ambition is to establish a migratory bird research station there and spend winters with our feathered friends.