Sunrise to sundown, the mindsets of Mike and Ali Lubbock are focused on caring for their precious birds (over 2,500 ducks, geese, swans, and cranes in what is the largest North American collection of rare waterfowl). The goal is to make a difference, to preserve these rare and endangered birds from extinction. It's a job that requires literally constant attention - a true labor of love.

Every night at the Lubbock's family home, the same ritual is performed. After the last bird has been fed and the last hatchling has had its end of the day examination, Ali fixes the evening meal. Mike, Ali and the Sylvan Heights' entire complement of staff, interns and volunteers sit down to eat together. What is the topic of conversation? Birds. What chores need to be completed tomorrow, who will take care of what in the morning? As they dine and discuss the events of the day, Mike instructs the interns in the details of being a future aviculturalist, the apprentices learning from the master. He does it because he loves to teach, to shape the minds of the next generation of conservation-oriented aviculturalists, and he does it all for the birds.

Since boyhood, Mike Lubbock has been an avian caretaker. Raised on a farm near Somerset, England, and later moving to the family estate in Oxfordshire, Mike cared for and raised ducks. This youthful passion for being an avian caretaker eventually led him to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) in Slimbridge, England, where he served as the assistant curator. There he first met his eventual wife, Ali, who was serving as a volunteer at the Wildfowl Trust. She was frequently sent on assignment to Scotland to assist in the netting of Barnacle Geese.

While at the WWT, Mike continually refined and improved waterfowl propagation techniques. The founder of the Trust, Sir Peter Scott, quickly recognized the special talent and skill Mike possessed - a skill that enabled him to raise birds that no one else could. After eight years at the Trust, Mike's many achievements brought him international fame.

Because of this knowledge and expertise, he was sought out here in the United States to design and develop a large duck farm on Long Island, New York. Duck Puddle Farm became the most successful wildfowl propagation center in the world. Mike's list of achievements in New York was manifold. Between 1969 and 1975 alone, no less than 15 American first breedings were accomplished.

This unprecedented success gave cause for his former British employer, the WWT, to encourage him to return, this time as Director of Aviculture for all the Trust centers. It was during this time period that Mike did a considerable amount of fieldwork. In addition to being exceptionally grueling, fieldwork can involve a large amount of personal risk. Mike endured plane crashes, crocodile attacks, poisonous snakes, leeches, tropical diseases, political unrest and major storms. He was marooned for three days on an unnamed island off the coast of Chile. Mike's pioneering efforts of collecting fertile eggs in the field revolutionized the acquisition of rare birds from the wild. Freckled Ducks, Pink-eared Ducks, African Pygmy-geese and Musk Ducks, just to name a few, all benefited from the innovative propagation techniques Mike developed and refined over the years.

While at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust the second time, Mike and Ali yearned to return to America, where they spent time working on other private collections in Montgomery, Alabama and Sylva, in the mountains of North Carolina. But still, their dream was not fulfilled, the dream of having their own collection. That dream became a reality when, in 1989, they moved to Scotland Neck, North Carolina.

Here, Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Center was built from the raw earth to the magnificent facility we see today. But Sylvan Heights did not come to be without extremely hard work. Mike was personally involved in constructing all the facilities - from digging postholes and pools, to building barns and stringing wire. Ali supports the effort heartily, by coordinating the numerous events that occur at the Center, caring for the birds as well as the many volunteers - and of course, fixing the evening meal for all who come to help the birds.  Mike and Ali's labor of love has paid them a handsome dividend - the freedom to pursue a series of challenging and important conservation projects designed to be an integral part of preserving the world's most endangered waterfowl for future generations.

Please check the Awards Section for the comendations presented to the Lubbocks for their success in preserving rare and endangered birds.

The Lubbocks were named NEER Entrepreneurs of the Year for their design and development of the Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park and Eco-Center  Full Story