When it comes to birds, Troy Bynum is a raven fanatic. When he starts to talk about birds, he is bound to keep talking owl day. But he does not simply parrot things he has heard about birds.

Bynum, 33, who grew up in Mt. Airy, will be teaching five classes for Mt. Airy Learning Tree (MALT) on bird watching this fall, two online on Sept. 16 and Nov. 4 and three at Awbury Arboretum in Germantown, Carpenter’s Woods in West Mt. Airy and Andorra Meadow in upper Roxborough, respectively, on Sept. 26, Oct. 24 and Nov. 21. The online classes focus on learning how to identify local birds, and the other three are bird walks during which participants will be able to apply those skills or simply enjoy a day of admiring nature in a local green space.

When he is not leading bird walks or photography workshops for his company, TB Wildlife Photography, Bynum is a program director at the Whitemarsh Foundation, where he plans community events and coordinates field trips for students in Philadelphia to come out and visit Dixon Meadow Preserve. Programs are free and include guided bird walks, watershed education, falconry demonstrations, guided meditation, owl pellet dissection, and history of the preserve.

“I first started my photography journey in 2014 when I was a junior at Penn State,” Bynum told the Local last week. “I purchased a Nikon D3200 with the intent of taking graduation photos to make a little money on the side, but I quickly found myself disinterested in photographing people. I went to the arboretum on campus and quickly fell in love with capturing photos of nature. My interest was only a hobby at that point, but years later when COVID shut everything down, I needed something to keep active, and Wissahickon Valley Park reintroduced me to my love of photographing nature.”

“I don’t know exactly when birds became my focus, but I noticed that more and more pictures included birds,” he continued. “One day in the park I discovered a strange looking bird perched on a branch over the creek and snapped a photo. That was the first time I ever saw a green heron, and I was amazed by the little football-shaped bird fishing for lunch. A little research on the bird led to fascinating facts about behaviors and hunting methods. That random discovery is what sparked my interest in finding and photographing more birds in their natural habitat.”

Bynum attended Mercy Vocational High School (now called Mercy Career & Technical School) and Penn State University, where he graduated in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in information science and technology, with a minor in security and risk analysis. For the past four years, he has lived in Montgomery County with his wife and daughter. He has often taught for MALT in the past and continues to teach courses in every session.

“The hardest thing I ever had to do,” he said, “was to leave a comfortable, well-paying corporate job to pursue a career with no experience or knowledge of what I was doing. I left the tech industry to pursue a life of exploration and curiosity of the natural world. Since committing to wildlife photography, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to places like Ecuador and Costa Rica, and I’ll be going to the Galapagos Islands next summer. I get to see animals in real life that I’ve only ever watched on Animal Planet and Discovery Channel. This decision has allowed me to slow down and actually enjoy life.”

Bynum is on a mission to celebrate the inherent magnificence of nature and draw attention to the often overlooked naturally occurring beauty found in the wild.

“I’m most amazed,” he said, “by the natural colors, patterns and textures found in the feathers of birds. I’ve seen blue jays countless times, but have you ever stopped to look at the different shades of blue and the patterns they make? Or a male American kestrel with a rusty-colored back with slate-blue wings? Or a female belted kingfisher with a blue-gray body and chestnut belly bands?”

Bynum said he also wanted to take this opportunity to pay a tribute to his wife, Catherine.

“Without a doubt, my wife has had the greatest impact on my life,” he said. “She continues to advise, encourage and support me on this journey. I never thought I’d be able to make a career out of what I considered a hobby, but she saw the vision well before I did.”

For more information, call 267-737-8227. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.