Several times a month, photographer Berta Martirosyan takes her camera, fills her backpack with some essential items, and treks into the wilderness in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor Province.

Berta works for an organization that monitors the area’s bird population. For the past four years she’s also started to photograph the province’s wildlife.

 She works throughout the year, photographing birds that winter in Armenia or use the country as a temporary respite on a longer migration.

"When you go to the field, you generally know approximately what species you might encounter. For example, there are birds that prefer to rest on rocks, some others on the ground near trees. These are seed eaters. Some species live alone in the trees,” Berta tells Hetq.

Hetq reporters meet the photographer in the forests of Vayots Dzor. The day before, she took pictures of bears, yellow-bellied lizards, different kinds of birds and wild goats.

Berta loves to trek through the wilderness on her own.

Areas are preselected for monitoring that are favorable according to the season. There are areas that are difficult to access, mainly in winter when roads are impassable.  

Bertha also organizes bird-watching tours. People come from different corners of the world to learn about what birds can be found in Armenia.