About
I grew up in a small rural Essex village with the surrounding countryside as my playground, and I soon developed an interest in wildlife. In particular I enjoyed watching the birds that came into the garden; and as a young teenager got my first pair of binoculars and field guide.
Over the years birdwatching became my main hobby, and I have been on many "birdie" holidays in the UK and abroad (including Cornwall, Norfolk, Wales, Scotland, Majorca, France, Spain, Sweden, Estonia, Belarus, Israel, Lesbos, Cyprus ...). East Anglia is "home" - Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk all boasting some wonderful nature reserves; and I also have a brilliant local patch at Holland Haven.
At some point I decided that rather than just seeing and listing birds I'd try to build up a photo list of all the species I'd seen. So began a new challenge and an interest in photography; and also a growing interest and developing knowledge of other wildlife groups, particularly butterflies and dragonflies.
I was fortunate enough to spend 15 years working for Essex Wildlife Trust at Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre, where I was able to indulge my passion for wildlife and share my knowledge with others. Photography and guided walks are now giving me a new vehicle to do that!
I started years ago with a Praktica 35mm SLR film camera, moved on through a couple of compact digitals (and digiscoping with varying degrees of success!) to a Nikon Coolpix P610 bridge camera, and now a Canon SX70 bridge camera. Hope you enjoy the results!
Over the years birdwatching became my main hobby, and I have been on many "birdie" holidays in the UK and abroad (including Cornwall, Norfolk, Wales, Scotland, Majorca, France, Spain, Sweden, Estonia, Belarus, Israel, Lesbos, Cyprus ...). East Anglia is "home" - Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk all boasting some wonderful nature reserves; and I also have a brilliant local patch at Holland Haven.
At some point I decided that rather than just seeing and listing birds I'd try to build up a photo list of all the species I'd seen. So began a new challenge and an interest in photography; and also a growing interest and developing knowledge of other wildlife groups, particularly butterflies and dragonflies.
I was fortunate enough to spend 15 years working for Essex Wildlife Trust at Abberton Reservoir Visitor Centre, where I was able to indulge my passion for wildlife and share my knowledge with others. Photography and guided walks are now giving me a new vehicle to do that!
I started years ago with a Praktica 35mm SLR film camera, moved on through a couple of compact digitals (and digiscoping with varying degrees of success!) to a Nikon Coolpix P610 bridge camera, and now a Canon SX70 bridge camera. Hope you enjoy the results!
