By way of Introduction……

Hello, we are Kevin and Seri, and we love wildlife. We are also enthusiastic photographers, owning several Nikon digital SLR cameras, purchased over several years, and, as you may expect, a number of lenses of various focal lengths.

Needless to say our joint love of photography, and wildlife watching, has,  inevitably developed into a passion for wildlife photography.

Due to illness and pressures of work and so on we do not often  get to travel too far in search of our photographic prey, but, living in the UK Midlands, we are fortunate to be surrounded by many sites of interest to the wildlife photographer.

We visit Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve as often as we can. A part of the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust portfolio, the reserve is situated on the outskirts of Coventry, a UK city of some 300,000 people. The reserve teems with wildlife of all types, from birds (waders through to woodland species) through to deer (Muntjac),  snakes, otter, mink and all manner of other creatures.

The reserve also abounds in fungi and plant life, season dependent, of course and insects. It is a fascinating place and is pretty much our favourite haunt. We share the place with a number of fellow photographers, many of whom we know, bird watchers and many people just hoping for a pleasant walk in the extensive grounds.

Habitats range from mudflats, lakes and reed-beds through to mature woodlands.

Coombe Abbey Country Park is another site which is close to our present home in Coventry and which we visit regularly. A large country park there are many pleasant walks, as well as an impressive Hotel with well manicured lawns. The main interest for us is, naturally the wild spots. There is a large body of water on the main pathway where all manner of ducks, geese and swans as well as a squadron of hungry Black Headed Gulls are regularly fed by visitors, giving great views for the photographers, of course……

Further into the park there is a bird watching hide which overlooks the most important Heronry in Warwickshire and from which, every spring, you may see the Grey Herons  and their accompanying Cormorants (they always breed together) getting down to the business of raising the next generation. It is quite an impressive site to behold and has become something of a pilgrimage for us……

Bradgate Park is another Country Park, this time in the county of Leicestershire, about 4 miles from central Leicester or 29 miles from home for us. The place is pretty amazing all year around, but particularly in the Autumn when the large herds of Red and Fallow Deer start their annual rut. It is possible to get very close to these large animals, and often we see people getting frankly far too close for either their, or the deer’s safety. There are also many species of bird to be seen.

Sitting astride the River Lin the park  is within the Charnwood Forest with Swithland Woods to the South East and Cropston Reservoir capturing the waters of the Lin.

The park is vast, and is a bit too far for us to manage fully, so we have not managed to see more than a small fraction of the place. Always an enjoyable spot we visit if and when time and illness allows.

Bradgate Park is very close to Groby Pool, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The site, as the name suggests, encompasses a large(ish) lake in which sits an island with Heronry. Mute Swans breed at the lake, as do a small but dedicated population of ducks, including many interesting and very pretty hybrids, if you are lucky you may see the local Black Swan as well as Pochard and Great Crested Grebes  Groby Pool is another great spot for the wildlife photographer and one which we visit as and when time, and such, allows.

These are just a few of the sites we visit, and from which we have taken 140,000 photographs over many years……….. We love what we do, if gives us great joy to see an animal in a wild environment, to take home a prized photograph gives all the more pleasure.

This posting is just an introduction to the blog – future posts will be more focussed on individual visits………..

No photos posted this time  - see side galleries for  a glimpse into our little world…..