About Us

Brad

Hello, I'm Brad Weinert, I was born January 17, 1959 in Los Angeles, Ca. I have lived in Southern California all of my life and for the past 25 plus years in the San Diego area. If you are interested in what I do for a living you can click here: Brad's Work My job requires quite a bit of travel (I travel about 25% of the time) and the one and only advantage to this is that occasionally I do get to explore some areas that I would not normally get to see.

When I am not working you will find me in the field, as I love nature. My major interest is in the field of herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians) and bird watching. I have been around snakes, lizards, turtles and frogs most of my life. I was lucky enough growing up to always be in areas that were replete with herps (as we call them for short). In my younger days I used to capture and study them, sometimes having more than 20 snakes in a variety of aquaria and other enclosures, however today I am more than happy to study them only in the field unless there is some need to move or save an animal (I am currently caring for a garter snake that I found as a baby with a broken back, he is paralyzed a little more than half way down his back and would not survive in the wild, he is now 3 years old and he will be with me until his time comes). I also have one very large, energetic, wonderful and amazing Leopard Gecko that was given to me as a birthday present. Birds are also a fascination for me both in terms of their behavior and appearance as well as the photographic challenges they present!

I love to photograph wildlife, that's my hobby, beside the herps and birds that I actively pursue around the world, I am also very interested in wildlife and habitat in general, their interactions and how man impacts the overall balance of things. I currently use almost 100% Canon equipment, I am not biased one way or the other but I am very happy with it and it's durability. I switched over to digital imaging about three years ago and love it! My current camera equipment is described in detail HERE .

I try all sorts of different methods for fining wildlife but it mostly consists of driving or flying somewhere remote and then hiking and observing. I also very much enjoy the traditional road cruising methods of searching but I really like to get out and explore as much as possible.

The majority of my field experience has been in Southern California from the ocean to the deserts and most of Baja California, I have vast experience in the Borrego and Mojave deserts and I have traveled extensively from Tijuana to Loreto, Mexico, a little less so further south. I have also made many field trips to Northern California, Arizona, in particular the Catalina, Patagonia, Santa Rita, Chiricahua and Huachuca mountains (my favorite spots to this day are Madera Canyon and the Portal area of the Chiricahua's). I have also made field trips to Southeastern and Central Texas, Florida, Nevada, Indiana, Mississippi, Minnesota, all over the North East Coast of the US, Western Europe, Costa Rica and a few trips to Australia and on business I have been able to briefly explore areas such as Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Germany, China, Japan and Korea. The next few destinations on my list are Madagascar, Panama, South Africa, Belize and SE Asia.

Other interests include a love of music, almost anything other than rap/hip-hop which I just can't seem to get a grip on but I listen to everything from Dylan to Metallica, Sabbath to the Dead... I attempt to play the guitar, and there's nothing better in my opinion than road cruising on a warm spring night in the desert listening to music and hunting for herps...

Lynn

Hello, I am Lynn Ferguson-Weinert and I was born November 10, 1949 in Long Beach, California, a native, which is rare. I moved to San Diego when I was thirteen years old and have been here every since and that is a very long time. I have a sister who lives in Las Vegas and a brother who lives in Queensland, Australia. I have three "grown" children, nine grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews and one great, great niece. My mother is deceased and I never met my father although I am now and have been for some time researching my Ferguson linage. Another family member on the Newberry and Stokesbury (DNA Research) side of the family have already done that particular research and that leaves the Ferguson (Furgison) bunch for me to do. My brother has participated in the Ferguson DNA Project and that has been helpful. I will be attending the Clan Gathering 2009 in Scotland.

I also take pictures and have for many, many years. I am technically and electronically challenged but what I do have is a good eye. I am visual and it works out well with photography. I am lucky to be married to a man that likes to travel and now likes to take lots of pictures....this we can do together. Brad introduced me to snakes and reptiles, works well for me as I am an animal lover and sometimes protector. Brad does all the posting to date. I think our most difficult trip was trudging through the rain forest in Costa Rica, up hill, high humidity, heat, carrying three cameras on my body with lenses, didn't want to miss a good shot; the beach was just breath taking. We hope to get to Madagascar some day.

That pretty much says a bit about me.