Rick Simpson Profile

Co-founder and Chair of Board of Trustees of Wader Quest a charity dedicated to promoting and supporting wader conservation and research together with Elis Simpson. This is a full time entirely voluntary role.

Editor of Wader Quest The Newsletter a quarterly publication with wader conservation stories and projects from around the world as well as Wader Quest news and updates. 


 Updated 14/03/2019
Languages

English - UK (native)
Portuguese - Brazil ( fluent)
Spanish - Spain (basic)
Education

Watford Grammar School for Boys
Cassio College. Watford
St. Mary's College, Paddington (day release)

Qualifications

O level

Mathematics
Biology
English Literature
English Language
Handicraft
Photography

GCSE

Spanish

Professional

City and Guilds 744 General Photography
Associate of the British Institute of Professional Photographers
Teaching English as  Foreign Language 
Work History

1976-80: Photographic technician and photographer - MSDS Stanmore.
1980-96: Firefighter, Leading Firefighter and Sub Officer - Hertfordshire Fire Brigade/ Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service.
1996-2001: Various employment including; security supervisor; estate agent; mortgage advisor; HGV class 1 driver.
2001-04: TEFL teacher, Brazil.
2004-07: TEFL teacher UK.
2007-12: Translator (Portuguese-English), Bird Guide, south-east Brazil.
2012- present: writer, speaker, fundraiser; Trustee (Chair) and co-founder of the charity Wader Quest.

Guiding Experience

1994-96: Capital Birding Tours. UK, Spain, Canary Islands.
2007: One off guide for BBC outside broadcast.
2007-12: Rick Simpson Birding Services, Brazil. Atlantic forest, Cerrado, Campo (Limpo, Sujo, Rupestre), Pantanal, coastal wetlands (south) and Caatinga.
Projects undertaken

·         Ubatuba Birdwatching Centre – created and ran a small birdwatching centre for visitors to the Rancho Pica-Pau, with feeders, library and mini shop. Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. 2009 – 2010 (Led to the formation of an NGO under a different name).

·         Brincando com Aves – Project working with children in a small community at the edge of the forest. Giving conservation education and bird identification skills to youngsters interacting with their environment. 2010 - 2012

·         Aves na Escola -  School project to bring birds into the daily life of young children. Feeders created, series of eight lessons given to all students of the school ages 4 to 12.

Volunteer History

·         British Natural History Museum bird collection. Assisted with inventory of collection and identification of miscellaneous specimens to be moved from Tring to London.

·         Zoological Museum of the University of São Paulo. Collected specimens for collection found dead.

·         Field trips and presentations to children of the NGO Namaskar, Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil.

·         Wetlands surveys for Wetlands International in three sites in south-east Brazil 2010, 2011. 2012.

Events attended as exhibitor
Representing Toucan Birding Tours. 
  • British Birdwatching  Fair 2005/6: 

Representing Ubatuba Birdwatching Centre. 
  • Avistar 2010, São Paulo, Brazil: 
  • British Birdwatching Fair 2010/11: 
Representing Neotropical Bird Club.
  • Avistar 2011, São Paulo, Brazil: 
Representing Wader Quest.
  • British Birdwatching Fair 2013/14/15/16/17/18/19: 
  • Festival Brasileiro de Aves Migratórias: 
  • Dutch Bird Fair 2014: 
  • Falsterbo Bird Show 2014/15/16/17/18/19: 
  • Northwest Birdwatching Festival 2014/15/16/17/18/19:
  • Norfolk Bird and Wildlife Fair 2014/15/16: 
  • Pensthorpe Norfolk Bird Fair 2019:
  • Wirral Wader Festival 2015/16/17/18/19:
  • Wash Wader Festival 2015:
  • Walney Wader Festival 2016/17:
  • Severn Wader Festival 2017/18:
  • Bolton Castle Curlew Festival 2017/18:
  • Naze Migration Festival Sept 2018:

Events organised

Wader Quest World Watch (2014)
Wader Conservation November (November 2015)
Wader Conservation World Watch (November 2015/16/17/18/19)
Wirral Wader Festival: jointly with Dee Estuary Voluntary Wardens, Wirral Country Park, RSPB Dee Estuary reserve and Cheshire Wildlife Trust (2015/16/17/18/19).
Wash Wader Festival: Organised jointly with the RSPB and Wash Wader Ringing Group ( November 2015).

Publications

Articles
  • Melodious Warbler (Identification in verse): Birding World 3/10 November 1990.
  • The problem of escapes as potential vagrants: Birding World 3/12 January 1991.
  • First record of Brown Noddy in São Paulo State: Atualidades Ornitológicas N° 154 March/April 2010. Photographs: Elis Simpson.
  • Recent documented record of Scarlet Ibis in Ubatuba: Atualidades Ornitológicas N° 160 March/April 2011. Photographs: Elis Simpson.
  • A Rare Visitor (Brown-backed Parrotlets in Ubatuba): PsittaScene (Magazine of the World Parrot Trust) May 2011. Photographs: Elis Simpson.
  • First documented record of Willet, (Tringa semipalmata (Charadiiformes: Scolopacidae) for the state of São Paulo: Atualidades Ornitológicas 163 September/October 2011. Photographs: Rick and Elis Simpson.
  • Documented record of Rufous-chested Dotterel in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro: Atualidades Ornitológicas 162 July/August 2011. Photographs: Rick and Elis Simpson.
  • Record of Austral Negrito in Ubatuba, São Paulo: Atualidades Ornitológicas 163 September/October 2011. Photographs: Rick and Elis Simpson
  • Wader Go: Birdwatching Magazine July 2013. Photographs: Elis Simpson.
  • Around the World in more than 80 Waders: Birdwatching Magazine August 2013. Photographs Elis Simpson.
  • Wading Around the World: Birdwatching Magazine August 2014. Photos by Elis Simpson.
  • Wader Quest and Endangered Waders: Birds of Andalucia. Photos by Elis Simpson.
  • Waders A way of Life: Birdwatching Magazine November 2015.
Papers
List of Documented Bird Species from the Municipality of Ubatuba, state of São Paulo, Brazil : Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, Museu de Zoologia de Universidade de São Paulo Volume 52(21):233-254,2012
Behavioural notes on Brown-backed Parrotlet Touit melanonotus in Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil.: Cotinga 34 2012. Photographs Elis Simpson

Books
Confessions of a Bird Guide: Self published ISBN 978-1-291-33819-5; April 2013
Eury the Spoon-billed Sandpiper: Wader Quest Publishing ISBN 978-0-9955146-0-7; July 2016
An Inspiration of Waders: Wader Quest Publishing ISBN 978-0-9955146-1-4; August 2018
A Quest for Waders: Wader Quest Publishing ISBN 978-0-9955146-2-1; August 2020

Translation work
Aves Chapada dos Veadeiros – Book by Edson Endrigo.
Aves do estado de São Paulo – Book by Edson Endrigo.
Aves do Estado de Rio de Janeiro – Book by Edson Endrigo.
Aves do Pampa – Book by Edson Endrigo.
Maps for reception centres at Serra do Mar State Parks nuclei.
Leaflet for distribution by Embratur at British Birdwatching Fair, UK, 2008.
Artwork
African Paradise Flycatcher: Wildsounds advert.
Collared Flycatcher: Wildsounds advert.
Tree Sparrow: BTO advert.
Long-tailed Tits: BTO tea towel.
Cartoon joke, 'Turdus metamorphosus': Birdwatch Magazine 1991.
Chestnut-sided White-eye escaping from cage: for article The problem of escapes and potential
vagrants: Birding World 3/12 January 1991.
Red-rumped Swallow: Birdwatch Magazine June 1994.
Golden-winged Warbler; Birdwatch Magazine January 1995.
Red-footed Falcon: Birdwatch Magazine September 1995.
Manx Shearwaters: Birdwatch Magazine September 1996.
American Avocet: Front cover - Guide to the Identification and Ageing of Holarctic
Waders.Published 1997 BTO guide 17.
European Nuthatch: BTO certificate 1998.

Presentations (Pre Wader Quest)
  •  Aves na Escola (Pilot in Portuguese): Escola Taba central college of learning, Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. 2009
  • Bird guiding from a Gringo’s perspective (In Portuguese): Ubatuba Birdwatching Festival 2010, Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Bird Guiding as a career (In Portuguese): Adult Tourism Course, Presidente Tancredo de Almeida Neves municipal school, Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. 2010
  • Brown-backed Parrotlets in Ubatuba (In Portuguese): Avistar 2010(Brazilian Bird Fair), Villa Lobos Park, São Paulo, Brazil.
  • Wader Quest: San Diego Field Ornithologists, Sand Diego California, USA. December 2012
  • Wader Quest: Louisiana Ornithologist Society, Cameron, Louisiana, USA . April 2013
  • Wader Quest: Colégio Dominique, Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil.  May 2013
  • Wader Quest: Colégio Bento Gonçalves, Matozinhos, Minas Gerais, Brazil. June 2013


Birding experience         

Europe
UK
France
Netherlands
Belgium
Luxembourg
Spain
Canary Islands (Tenerife, Fuerteventura)
Portugal
Switzerland
Austria
Liechtenstein
Germany
Denmark
Sweden
Poland
Greece
Cyprus
Middle East
Israel
The United Arab Emirates
Africa
The Gambia
Egypt
Kenya
South Africa
Botswana
Namibia
Asia
India
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Singapore
Australasia
Australia
New Zealand
North America
The United States of America: New York/New Jersey/Connecticut/Rhode Island/Massachusetts/Maine/Vermont/Florida/Louisiana/Texas/California/Washington
Caribbean
                    Cuba

South America
Brazil: São Paulo/Rio de Janeiro/Espirito Santo/Minas Gerais/Goiás/Distrito Federal de Brasilia/Mato Grosso/Mato Grosso do Sul/Santa Catarina/Paraná/Rio Grande do Sul/Bahia/Sergipe/Alagoas/Pernambuco/Paraíba/Rio Grande do Norte/Ceará/Piauí/Amazonas
Argentina
Uruguay
Paraguay
Peru
Chile

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