Ernest completed D.Phil studies at the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Oxford, in 1980, having investigated interspecific territoriality in Sylvia warblers. His recent interests have focused on Iberian birds, culminating in the publication (with Eduardo de Juana) in 2015 of ‘The Birds of the Iberian Peninsula’. He is currently Assistant Editor of the journal Ardeola and also edits the Gibraltar Bird Report.