Con Duyvestyn

Con Duyvestyn spent a career as a secondary and tertiary biological and environmental sciences educator. So his interests in conservation were much broader than simply birds.

Con developed an interest in using photography to assist teaching including bird photography. However, even with an SLR and a basic telephoto lens, it proved difficult, time consuming and expensive to build up a collection of usable images so the extent of myhisork whilst teaching was limited.

Retirement and the advent of digital SLR cameras facilitated a more serious approach and Con became a regular bird photographer some 15 years ago, honing both his photographic skills and knowledge of birds. Initially this pursuit was limited to the Mornington Peninsula and outer Melbourne areas but in recent years Con has managed to visit many areas of Australia with his camera.

Con is committed to education. He makes his work available free to non-profit organisations using it in an educational capacity. Facilitated through the Birdlife Australia Photography Group, Con’s work has been used by a wide range of organisations, including in worksheets for schoolchildren education programs and by the Mornington Peninsula Shire for signage in local reserves.

Con illustrated the second edition of Birdlife Mornington Peninsula publication Where to Find Birds around Mornington Peninsula.