Mark Beevers

Mark Beevers hails from the UK and has been birding since his early teens with a particular interest in visible migration and finding rarities on his local patch. Mark has completed 41 tours to mainland Africa plus one mega to Madagascar and is one of few birders to have passed the 2000 mark for his Africa list. Mark has developed enviable people skills in his career and has an incredible knowledge of Palaearctic birds, much to the advantage of our North African tours. He now, having enjoyed many years in his professional capacity as a Police Officer, takes the time to indulge in his passion for birds and this includes, inter alia, planning and leading bird tours (especially North Africa), acting as a voluntary manager at his local reserve and penning birding articles and reports.

  • Mark Beevers hails from the UK and, while having been a police officer for almost 35 years, he’s been birding since his early teens with a particular interest in visible migration and finding rarities on his local patch. He retired in 2011 to become a full-time birder, dedicated to his local patch, which he visits daily when not traveling, and to travel the world, particularly to Africa where he has visited more than twenty countries. Mark has completed 41 tours to mainland Africa plus one mega to Madagascar, including sixteen tours to Morocco, four to Ethiopia, three each to Egypt and Petra, Gambia, and Tunisia and is one of few birders to have passed the 2000 mark for his Africa list. (He was the first European birder to post more than 2000 species for Africa on Surfbirds listings and currently stands on 2006 with a combined Africa / Madagascar list of 2137). Additionally, Mark has also made about 20 visits to Macronesia, mainly to the Canary Islands, which he twitches from the UK in search of Africa ticks, but also to Cape Verde and Madeira. Mark has developed enviable people skills in his career and has an incredible knowledge of Palaearctic birds, much to the advantage of our North African tours. He now, having enjoyed many years in his professional capacity as a Police Officer, takes the time to indulge in his passion for birds and this includes, inter alia, planning and leading bird tours (especially North Africa), acting as voluntary manager at his local reserve and penning birding articles and reports.

  • MN, Morocco

    Morocco was a fun and thoroughly enjoyable tour. How could it not be with David Hoddinott and Mark Beevers as leaders!!! They just make me want to go on more Rockjumper tours to see as many birds as I can. You have no idea how appreciative I am of them. They are great and generous and fun and so focused. I love that. They have an intensity that makes birding fun.

    SP, Morocco

    This tour (Morocco) more than met my expectations, which I must admit were rather lukewarm. I knew there were not a lot of new birds for me but I signed up for the tour because Mark kept telling me how wonderful Morocco was. Well Mark, you were certainly right. The birds were fantastic, the scenery spectacular, the food way too good, and the geology unbelievable. I'm actually taking an online geology course because of this tour. This tour is truly a special one and I will spread the word to all my birding contacts. Thanks again for such a special experience.

    TT, Morocco

    Mark’s depth and breadth of knowledge of European birds is amazing, but I was also impressed with his ability to adapt to changing local conditions. One particular incident, where a rarity showed up which required quickly redirecting the group, was handled directly and skillfully. Plus, as a Yank, I enjoyed his English humour.

    LG, Morocco 2018

    Another wonderful Rockjumper tour. My sister and I were happy to reconnect with Glen Valentine, with whom we'd been on 2 tours before, and enjoyed meeting Mark Beevers who certainly knows the ins and outs of Morocco birding as well as anyone could. Both guides are excellent birders, of course, and very hard working, making sure we all had the best chance possible of seeing every bird. For the first time ever, though I always try to keep my expectations realistic, I came away with 30 of my 25 targets! This was a great trip, I would gladly travel with either Glen or Mark again. I should mention the food and accommodations were terrific too!

    TD, Morocco 2018

    The guides, Glen Valentine and Mark Beevers, were excellent and got us on nearly all the target birds for the trip. Their knowledge of North African birds added to the enjoyment. Both the touring van and hotel accommodations were very comfortable, making the tour of Morocco delightful. A tour not to be missed.

    TD, Morocco 2018

    The guides, Glen Valentine and Mark Beevers, were excellent and got us on nearly all the target birds for the trip. Their knowledge of North African birds added to the enjoyment. A tour not to be missed.

    SD, Morocco 2018

    I had an amazing trip. The guides, Glen Valentine and Mark Beevers, were knowledgeable and caring. Everything ran smoothly and efficiently. Thanks for an excellent trip!

    SH, Morocco 2018

    It was a great trip and I thought that Mark Beevers and Glen Valentine did a wonderful job of finding the birds and helping me get on them.

    MF, Morocco 2018

    The guides were excellent and worked well together. Mark Beevers and David Hoddinott were excellent at spotting and identifying the birds. They were also great company while not birding.

    CL & RL - Ghana 2019

    Andre proved to be an excellent lead guide and was very well supported by Mark. They had a very good knowledge of the birds of Ghana and knew where to look for them and how to locate them. They got on well and provided us with excellent company. We were very pleased with our bird list, with many rare and highly desirable species. The Picathartes was the major reason we went to Ghana and was, for us, the highlight of the trip and the views were superb.

    CL & RL, Ghana 2020

    Andre proved to be an excellent lead guide and was very well supported by Mark. They had a very good knowledge of the birds of Ghana and knew where to look for them and how to locate them. They got on well and provided us with excellent company. We were very pleased with our bird list, with many rare and highly desirable species. The Picathartes was the major reason we went to Ghana and was, for us, the highlight of the trip and the views were superb.

    RS - Egypt 2022

    Overall, this was a terrific trip - lots of variety in what we did and the experiences we had, fabulous antiquities, a superb cultural guide, personable and very knowledgeable bird guides and a really great group of participants. I would wholeheartedly recommend this trip to others, especially to people like myself who are not that interested anymore in a trip that offers nothing but birding. That's simply too narrow for me these days.

    SP, Antarctica 2022

    An expedition of a lifetime well worth every penny! As a member of the Survivors of 2019 Club it was a very special tour. From the outstanding service by the expedition staff and crew on the extremely comfortable Quark Ocean Diamond to the always fabulous Rockjumper guides including Glen and Keith Valentine and Mark Beevers, it was the trip of a lifetime. The totally unexpected closeup sightings of Emperor Penguins and the tens of thousands of the six other penguin species was so much fun. Fur Seals and Elephant Seals sunbathed on the beaches as the many species of seabirds flew overhead. The trip to the Black-browed Albatross nesting sight was like something you only expect to see on tv. I felt the Quark crew and the Rockjumper guides went out of their way to make sure everyone had the perfect and safe trip.

English