05/07/2026
I decided to make a personal post because I've been getting ALOT of questions recently in regards to how I got into birds/birding/bird photography, and it all started with this special book right here🖤 this book was published in 2000 which would of made me around 8 years old at the time... I am currently in my mid 30s lol, during that time my 1 and only grandfather I knew was still alive and I was very close with him. My grandfather was stabbed multiple times in the neck/back many years ago that left him paralyzed from the neck down and was confined to a wheelchair the rest of his life 😞 it never stopped him though!! My grandfather was a very smart, handy man and made the best of life & his situation.... so me at the time I was the oldest and only child and spent alot of time with my grandparents and my grandpa loved birds! ( I got it from him) He built and bought so many different kinds of bird feeders for all different kinds of species that windsor had to offer. We spent many hours sitting in his window watching the birds and everytime a bird would come in he'd say what bird is that!? Find it!! Im going to quiz you! What's this bird? What's that bird etc. And Id sit there and flip through this whole book until I found it! And had to read to him what kind of bird it was! He let me checkmark each bird that I saw in the book so I would know I've seen it! We did this for many years and over time I learned about birds and grew to love them and I started doing photography around the same time aswell so they went hand in hand! Up until recently in realized I couldnt find my grandpa's book and it devastated me because of the attachment I have to it and it being 1 of the only things I have of him... still have not found the book but I recently bought a new one just to have it🩷 unfortunately my book is gone along with my childhood checklist and into my adult years checklist but atleast I have the book!! I will have to start all over again, but thats okay!!!
So there you have it folks! There's my story in a nutshell on how I became a bird lover so filled with bird knowledge! I learn new stuff everyday and discover new birds all the time! I know he would be proud of me! And I wish he was still here to see how far I've come.... all because of him. Love you grandpa! I wish you were still here! I wish I could teach you about birds the same way you taught me when I was so young! 🩷 I will see every bird in Ontario 1 day!! I promise!!! Thank you for teaching me!
