Mike Trubridge was born in the north of Scotland, went to school in the south of England and has lived at all points in between, having resided in 21 different counties of the UK. He spent nearly all of his working life employed in the field of nature conservation, working on a total of 24 nature reserves in England, Scotland and Wales. In 2009 he took early retirement and together with his wife, moved to a quiet rural part of Somerset and then north Dorset, where he continues to observe and record wildlife for various local and national surveys.