Who is Hike & Hearth?

Hi, I'm Dustin.

I didn't plan to become a wildlife photographer and conservationist, but sometimes nature surprises you. It all started with a pair of ring-necked ducks on the lake by our home in suburban Boston. They were the first diving ducks I'd ever noticed. Their arrival every fall and spring sparked something in me. I started paying closer attention—first with curiosity, then with purpose.

At first, I was just trying to identify the birds visiting our yard. But before long, I wanted to capture those moments. I picked up a camera and began photographing everything I saw around the lake we call home. What began as a simple ID tool turned into a personal challenge: document more species, take better shots, and understand the lives unfolding all around me.

Eventually, it wasn't enough just to observe—I wanted to give something back. That led me into habitat stewardship. I learned how to build and install nest boxes for wood ducks, tree swallows, and bluebirds, and now maintain a local program to support their breeding success. The seasonal ritual of checking boxes through the year has become one of the most grounding parts of my life. It's also led me into deeper involvement with our local ecosystem—I'm now president of our town's conservation trust, where I help support broader efforts to preserve and protect the natural spaces that drew me in to begin with.

But this journey isn't just mine—it's one I share with my wife, Lynn. From the beginning, she's helped me turn all of this into something more. Together, we created Hike & Hearth as a way to document our experiences, share what we're learning, and celebrate the beauty of the natural world.

Today, Hike & Hearth Birding is a YouTube channel and photography platform where we share the hidden lives of New England's birds. We release in-depth birding education videos every Monday and go LIVE every Wednesday at 7:30 PM ET, where I review raw photography and share behind-the-scenes field stories. Our nest box cameras have captured intimate moments like wood ducklings making their day-old leap and bluebird families raising their young. Through field segments and photography, we explore bird behavior, migration patterns, and conservation in action.

Lynn handles the production side. She's also the one behind most of our writing (thanks to her years as a professional science communicator). I bring the field notes, the photography, and the birding and conservation knowledge. Together, we're building a community of people who care about birds, wild spaces, and finding those quiet moments of natural beauty in an increasingly busy world.

We've got big dreams for this project. More content. More creativity. More connection with people who understand that watching a chickadee cache seeds or hearing the first red-winged blackbird of spring can make everything else fade away, if only for a moment.

Thanks for stopping by. We hope you find something here that inspires you—whether it's a photo that stops you in your tracks, a video that answers that birding question you've always had, or a moment during our Wednesday live stream where you feel like you're right there in the field with us.

As we like to say around these parts, keep your eyes on the skies and your hearts in the wild, friends.