Dave first became interested in birds as a youngster attending school in London, England, when his father was posted there for military service in the early 1960s. He still has his copy of "The Observer's Book of Birds," a pocket guide to birds of Britain. His enthusiasm for birds at that time was focused on birds of prey, using the photographs from the guide to illustrate class essays. Fast-forward to his university education, where he completed a B.Sc. in Biology at Queen's University, in Kingston, Ontario. Through classmates he learned about the Christmas Bird Count, and as a summer field assistant working on a Snow Goose colony on the shore of Hudson's Bay, he further solidified his interest in observing and studying birds. Following a Master's degree studying the American Dipper southwest of Calgary, he worked for 12 years as a wildlife biologist throughout western and northern Canada, which included a variety of environmental assessments and research projects, many of which were on birds. From about 1990 on, his work as a provincial civil servant was more in the fields of technical report editing and media relations. He still continued doing birding over the next three decades including as many as three Breeding Bird Survey routes every June; regular participation in the Edmonton and other Christmas Bird Counts, including as an organizer and as the compiler; and helped design and then participate in the first Alberta Bird Atlas program, with an emphasis on the remote birding activities. After retirement in 2012, he has been able to pay more attention to birding projects, including point counts throughout Wagner Natural Area during the breeding season, and getting involved in banding stations at Strathcona Science Park, Beaverhill Bird Observatory, Lady Flower Gardens in NE Edmonton, and in Belize in Central America.