A very amateur (hobby) photographer with a love for nature, based in Winnipeg (Transcona), Manitoba, Canada. Out of nowhere, birding has become a hobby for me the past few years. It all started by adding a single feeder to the yard, and wanting to know what the various birds were that were visiting. That one feeder led to numerous feeders & baths, and an assortment of wildlife visitors. My birding has been further encouraged by identifying sightings using iNaturalist and Merlin apps (both have their benefits). Before I realized it, I was learning to identify birds without the apps, and saying things like, “there’s a nice yellow-rumped warbler”, or “wow, a great crested flycatcher, that’s a lifer”. I now enjoy walks in various parks and wild spaces, and can’t leave my camera at home, snapping photos left, right, and occasionally center. iNaturalist has also been a catalyst in bringing biodiversity to my photography, through projects like Blitz the Gap, expanding from capturing pics of birds and mammals, to include the odd butterfly, dragonfly, bee, turtle, frog, wildflower, berries, mushroom, plant, and tree. But all with a basic telephoto lens, and no photography training, so they’re not always the best photos. There’s a big difference between an identifiable picture and a quality photo, but iNaturalist is happy with either, and the thought of my sightings being useful for scientific data and assisting wildlife makes it all the better.