Budding Halton wildlife photographer spends lockdown taking thousands of photos of birds

Nature-mad Polly first got interested in photography through her father Paul Bradbury, who let her have a go with his camera.

She said: "I love wildlife and wanted to photograph it.

"I’m interested in all animals but at the moment I find birds are the easiest to photograph."

Polly got her first basic camera 18 months ago but has since progressed to a more professional Lumix Panasonic camera with a powerful zoom lens.

"My mum and dad said would you like to have a good camera for Christmas and not many presents,” she said.

"I asked them to choose and they got me the camera, which I think was a good choice.

"Daddy taught me how to focus and a bit about light, but I still have a lot to learn.”

Polly used to go to Leighton Moss RSPB reserve every weekend to photograph waterfowl, but when lockdown started, she began spending hours taking photos of birds on the River Lune and in the woods and buildings near the Lancaster Cohousing Community in Halton, where she lives.

“Lockdown has given me more time to look at birds and study them,’ said Polly. ‘I have learnt which birds live where and a lot of different bird calls.

"I go to the places where the kind of birds that I like are and look for movement.”

She’s photographed a wide range of birds including bullfinches, egrets, herons, nuthatches and a goldcrest.

“Someone on my street found a great spotted woodpecker nest just outside my home, and it fledged at 7am on my birthday, when I was birdwatching in the back garden.

“I also found a swallow’s nest in the bin store just a few steps away from my house, with three chicks being fed butterflies.”

Polly’s mum, Kathy Bashford, said: "It has been a pleasure watching Polly developing her passion and skills, and making the most of this unexpected interlude before starting high school."

Polly has discovered that you have to be patient to get a good photo and will wait half an hour or more to get the right shot.

She likes taking ‘action’ photos, such as chicks being fed or swans doing ‘a dance’ on the river and prefers getting the birds in a natural setting.

She is also part of a Nature Club, started by some of the children living at the Cohousing Community when they were not able to go to school.

The club meets every weekday morning and they choose a different topic every week.

They have just finished building a bug hotel.