Our story
A decade of dawns, told in birdsong.
SkyWatch Birding Tours started in 2012 with one guide, a spotting scope and a simple promise: share the region’s birds the way locals see them — slowly, ethically and with joy. Twelve years later, that promise has led more than 1,200 tours and 380+ species across the coast, wetlands and forests.
We are still a small team of certified master guides, still cap every group at ten, and still answer our own phones. When you tour with SkyWatch, you spend the day with the people who know exactly where the birds will be.
- Tours led
- 1,200+
- Species sighted
- 380+
- Master guides
- 15
- Guest rating
- 4.9/5
What we stand for
The values behind every sighting
Four principles that have carried us through a decade of fog, frost and perfect golden mornings.
Fieldcraft
Reading habitat, light and behaviour is what turns a walk into a sighting. Our guides carry over a decade of local knowledge on every trail.
Guests first
Small groups, patient teaching and a scope view for everyone. Whether you are counting your first bird or your 700th, you matter equally.
Conservation
A portion of every tour funds wetland restoration and community science. We bird ethically, and we give back to the birds we love.
Excellence
Certified guides, 486 five-star reviews and a 4.9/5 rating — earned one careful, joyful morning at a time since 2012.
The team
Meet the guides behind the scope
Every SkyWatch guide is a certified birding professional with 10+ years in the field — and they genuinely cannot wait for your tour.
Mara Ellison
Founder & Master Guide — 12 years, 1,000+ tours, Oregon state list #2
Jonas Whitfield
Head of Photography Tours — former field biologist, published in BirdWatching
Amara Chen
Workshops Lead — ornithology instructor and eBird reviewer
Leo Sandoval
Expedition Lead — 4 continents, 2,100+ world species
Book now
Spend a morning with people who live for it
Join 4,000+ happy birders. Book a walk, a workshop or a full expedition — we will take care of everything.