About John

I was born in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1964 and living close to woodland and fields as we did I was always out and about on walks with my Mum and Dad and also my Granddad. I suppose mostly my Dad and Granddad who used to point out things as we walked sparked my interest in wildlife. I'm not so sure though that they knew quite as much as they said.

As I grew up, like most young boys, I got interested in birds and birds nests and we used to roam as widely as we could looking for nests. Our intention was never to take a whole clutch of eggs; usually it was only one and often none. The thrill was in watching the birds and their behaviours. Armed with our trusty Observers Book of Birds we discovered many a great rarity in our local area... or so we thought.

As I grew up and went away to college I still retained a latent interest in birds and it wasn't until I was made redundant in 1992 that I rediscovered birding. My enlightenment came in WH Smith in Manchester when I spent a fair chunk of my dole money on copies of Birdwatch and Bird Watching magazines and I suddenly realised that there were plenty of people out birding and sharing their knowledge. As soon as I got home I was off down to Broomhill Flash watching Glaucous and Iceland Gull and I've never looked back.

I moved to Leicester in 1993 to start training as a Psychiatric Nurse, a job I still do to this day, and found the Soar Valley Gravel Pits a short and easy bus ride from the City Centre. I still watch the Soar Valley regularly and I've seen as of today 160 species there. I currently edit the local bird club (LROS) newsletter The Grebe as well as serving on the committee, not something you would have expected only a few years ago. I have also been asked now to review a number of books on birds and most recently a novel.

In 2003 I met Leigh quite unexpectedly and we married in 2005, still the happiest day of my life. Leigh is wonderful and indulges me in my hobbies and providing we don't have to get up too early she will often accompany me on trips. Leigh has also being instrumental in planning two of my best holidays to Extremadura and most recently to British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies.

In recent years I've become increasingly interested in all forms of wildlife, especially Butterflies and Dragonflies. I had also flirted with the dark arts of digiscoping but my old scope, in fairness, wasn't up to the job. More recently I've invested in the superb Kowa 883 scope and moved into DSLR photography using a Canon 40D with the 100-400 ISM Zoom. Let me say now that I'm not an out and out photographer, watching wildlife is still my main focus. Digital photography though has helped me reconnect with species I've long overlooked and made me look at wildlife from a different and more challenging perspective. I now rarely go anywhere without a DSLR and I'm always looking to record what I see... I hope you enjoy my efforts.