Birding has always been a passion for me, going hand in hand with a general love of being outdoors. Born and raised in Yorkshire, England, I remember developing a keen interest in nature at the age of eight and became a fully fledged birder when I was about 12! Drawing and painting captivated my interest at about the same time and became an integral part of my development as a birder. In 1990, a first visit to Israel changed my approach to birding from a hobby into a career. Such is the avian and cultural diversity of Israel that it's drawn me back every year since. It was here that I fashioned my reputation as a bird tour leader in partnership with the now well known Kibbutz Lotan Centre for Birdwatching. I remain very much in touch with the Israel birding scene and I've been a serving member of the Israel Rarities and Distribution Committee for several years. More recently, I began leading birding tours in the US working closely with the UK based Birdfinders, a company with which I’ve led trips to Israel and parts of Asia and Africa. I now reside in New England with my wife Susannah Lerman. New England also happened to be my first birding destination in the US back in 1997. The Keenbirding website is a forum to display artwork, images and tour news with regular updates throughout the year. Please enjoy browsing throughout the site and, if you have any questions at all, please contact me by email: james@keenbirding.com Good birding to all! James P. Smith, Amherst, MA, summer 2005.      Plum Island, MA in May 2005. Wildebeast on the Masai Mara, Kenya, August, 2006. Taken on a recent trip with Birdfinders.