Why, where and when did I start birding ?

I’m really a newbie when it comes to birds and knowledge on birds. A few years ago I appreciated nature like any other, especially birds and wildlife. But capturing nature, wildlife and birds always just used to be a topic on the side for me, as my true passion was to be found in Sports photography, cycling, motorsports and over the last 10 years, also a lot of figure skating. However, a few years back (January 2020 to be precise), I felt somewhat bored due to dark weather and the never ending Christmas holidays. That's when my wife suggested to go out and try to capture this rare bird, a "Dusky Thrush" from Siberia (Turdus Eunomus) A local birdwatcher spotted it in a nature reserve just around the corner and that made the local newspaper. As a sports photographer, I did own some serious lenses (at least I thought I did), so I made it my challenge to capture this bird. When I came to the location where the bird was spotted last… my jaw dropped and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Over, at least 75 photographers and birders, from all over Europe, came to photograph or spot this bird. 800mm lenses, 1200mm lenses equipment one can only dream of. Talking to these men and women, hearing why it was so special to find this particular bird here in Oud-Turnhout inbetween Antwerpen(B) and Eindhoven(NL) probably aroused my enthusiasm to follow their lead and after semi-successfully spotting and photographing this rare bird, I was sold to birdwatching and started learning more and more about birds. You know the saying, the more you know your subject the better your photographs will be. 
During Spring 2020 I started @Birds_in_Latin on Instagram to showcase my sightings and now, every single day I’m learning more about these lovely creatures. Now it’s my turn to share my enthusiasm with others and spread the love for birds. So, please check-in every now and then to see what’s new. See you soon again?