Capturing Wildlife

Capturing the wildlife of Compton Verney through a lens is quite challenging, as much of it is so good at blending into the background – being heard but not seen. As soon as we walk through the coppice for example, we can hear the birds making their alarm calls as they move away. It is like having a huge invisible aura that circles a person, an aura that repels birdlife!

Generally therefore it takes a good while of waiting patiently, blending into the background before wildlife re-emerges for the camera. Thanks to Alwyn our resident bird spotter, who is able to spend a little longer out there with a camera, we are now building a better picture of the birds that use Compton Verney, in the process collecting good quality wildlife images – some more featuring today in this post.

The first three images were taken last year of the Great Crested Grebe’s and their young. The grebes work rest and play on the lake, and it’s lovely to see them bring the lake to life, along with ducks, moorhens and many more species.

Great Crested Grebe on lake at Compton Verney. © Compton Verney / Alwyn Knapton 2014

Great Crested Grebe taking lunch, courtesy of the lake at Compton Verney. © Compton Verney / Alwyn Knapton 2014

Not all days are great, yet there’s a comfortable spot for at least one of the young, on the back of this grebe. © Compton Verney / Alwyn Knapton 2014

Marsh Tit, photographed near the play area at Compton Verney. © Compton Verney / Alwyn Knapton 2014

If you’re into wildlife photography, hopefully these few images will inspire you to visit Compton Verney – we’d love to share your images through this blog. We’ll be open to visitors from Saturday 14th March.

All images by Alwyn Knapton

Kind regards,

Gary Webb – Head of Landscape and Gardens