Founded in the FensI've been interested in birds and wildlife as long as I can remember. Growing up in the flatlands of the Lincolnshire Fens didn't offer many birding opportunities but the local gravel pits, proximity to the Wash and weekends spent volunteering at the late Peakirk WWT centre kindled a long-standing interest in wildfowl and waders. Studying Ecology at the University of East Anglia provided a great environment for learning more about bird behaviour - and of course the odd trip to the coast! |
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Artistic interests and influencesI enjoy travelling, and wherever I go, a pair of binoculars, a camera or a sketcbook are not far away. I like to capture a record, either on paper or digital film, of whatever I see and many of these images then form the basis of future drawings and paintings. In all my artwork I strive for accuracy and capturing the moment. In addition to wildlife photography, I have an odd habit of taking photos of obscure signs. |
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Professional lifeProfessionally, I am a research scientist for the British Trust for Ornithology and work on a range of topics from intensive studies of birds' responses to habitat changes to large scale surveys such as the current Bird Atlas project. The photo to the right was taken during a long-running project concerned with the migration of waders through Delaware Bay, eastern USA. My Phd considered the nocturnal antics of Golden Plovers - hence the Apricaria site name. Much of my published artwork has come about through BTO publications, either as submissions for BTO News, or in books such as the EBCC European Atlas, the BTO Migration Atlas and Time to Fly. |
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