Richard Crossley is a Yorkshireman who, growing up, lived for playing sport. At the age of 10 he first went birding with his schoolteacher Mr Sutton. This began a lifelong love afair with birding. By 21 he had hitchhiked over 100,000 miles chasing birds across Britain and Europe. After graduating with a degree in Environmental Sciences, he made his first trip to the USA and fell in love with Cape May. He now lives there with his wife Debra, and daughters Sophie and Sam. Along with fellow Brit Paul Holt he discovered a newly-formed raised embankment at Higbee - 'The Dyke'. The incredible migration spectacle and challenges of flight identification created great excitement and despite initial scepticism from other birders it soon became the 'in' spot (read 'Season at the Point' by Jack Conner - the 'Higbee Brit'). Richard's appreciation of size, structure and behaviour enables for very quick identifications. His belief that learning the least variable characters and relying less on color is very apparent in 'The Shorebird Guide' to be published by Houghton Mifflin May 06.

It was in the making of this book that Richard became hooked on photography. His Dad is an artist and he has been the biggest influence, both on his life and photography. Influenced by art and travel throughout the world, Richard tries to capture movement and the beautiful but varied patterns of nature instead of stiff, flat backgrounds that do not reflect reality. It is hoped that many of the photos and captions that are on this website will not only entertain but educate and take you to new areas of thought.

This site is also used by the Cape May Young Birders Club. The club was formed by Debra and Richard Crossley in 2005 with the support of Congress Hall and optics supplied by Nikon. Their hope is that more kids (and then family and friends) in the area will take up this sport, and it will become their lifelong passion. Then we can make a difference!