Don,
knowing the species of a timber is like knowing who painted a piece of modern art, or what particular model of sports car someone is driving. If you have been interested in the art for many years, you will know right away who the artist is.
I had the good fortune to be raised with a father who took me on a lot of trips to the forest to gather firewood and materials for our farm, and for some reason I took an interest from the beginning, so I can nearly always ID a timber, or at least put it into a group like oak/ash or poplar/basswood.
Probably cutting firewood has given me the most information about identifying wood, and in later years learning to run the sawmill has put a lot of timber past my eyes.