About John

john muddeman

Who am I?

Wildlife Guide & Field Naturalist

I am an independent wildlife guide, field naturalist and translator specialising in birdwatching and natural history across Spain and abroad. Based near Madrid, I work with private clients and leading international tour operators, offering expert guiding, tailor-made trips and small group tours for nature enthusiasts of all levels. With a bilingual background (English–Spanish) and over three decades of field experience, I focus on sharing the ecological richness of each region responsibly and ethically.

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My Story

Birds have fascinated me since childhood. After completing a degree in Biology at the University of Exeter, I worked in nature reserve management and conservation planning for the Devon Wildlife Trust. I later spent several years conducting postgraduate research on avian ecology at the University of Oxford.
My international experience began early, with long-term fieldwork in Armenia (including contributions to the Field Guide to the Birds of Armenia) and the United States. I settled in Spain in 1997, where I shifted from teaching English to guiding full-time, especially after publishing A Birdwatching Guide to Extremadura in the early 2000s.

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Since then, I have guided hundreds of trips in over 30 countries on 6 continents, working with well-known travel companies such as The Travelling Naturalist, Heatherlea Birdwatching & Wildlife Holidays, WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide and Spainbirds Nature Tours.

Guiding Approach & Values

  • Ethical field behaviour
  • Respect for habitats, species and local communities
  • Sustainable ecotourism
  • Sharing ecological knowledge with enthusiasm and clarity
  • Supporting conservation through education

Credentials & Contributions

  • Honorary member of GUIDEX
  • Speaker in nature-tourism events and training courses
  • Former photographic ID reviewer for Fotografía y Biodiversidad
  • Translator and reviewer of scientific works and technical conservation documents
  • Translator and reviewer of scientific works and technical conservation documents

What Travellers Say

John, your trip summary was spectacular. Because of the amount of detail you included, you must have written it on a daily basis. Thank you for the effort. We have reported about the trip in glowing terms to all who are interested. Thanks again!

Tom & Karen C.

(CA, USA)

Thanks for a great tour of habitats around Madrid, good spotting, and good company. For me it was a fun day, well spent. I was surprised at the end of the day that we saw so many species – over 70 birds is a large list, even for the tropics! This is a testimony to good spotting by you – many thanks.

Tad S.

(USA)

We had a fantastic wildlife day trip from Madrid with John Muddeman. During the day we saw an incredible variety of wildlife at a number of locations. Highlights include seeing a large group of displaying Great Bustard accompanied by about 15 Black-bellied Sandgrouse, and some wonderful butterflies such as Spanish Festoon and Provence Hairstreak. John's enthusiasm and knowledge made the day particularly enjoyable and he made every effort to cater to our requests. Communication, via email, before the trip was also excellent. I would have every confidence in John to run any kind of wildlife trip: birds, butterflies, mammals, plants, reptiles, amphibians… He knew where to find them and identified them all with ease.

Chris S & Carolina SdlF

(UK)

Thank you for the fabulous day of birding. We really enjoyed it; most birds were new to us. Unfortunately, we had to come back… So, our birding day was very special.

Susan & Mike B.

(USA)

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