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You may think that in order to be a serious wildlife photographer you need a lot of expensive photographic equipment and you would be right. However, there's a lot of wildlife within the range of the amateur with limited equipment. All you need is patience and a lot of luck.

This photograph of a young Buzzard was taken by Debbie with a 300mm lens which would be considered a toy by the professional wildlife photographer. She spotted the Buzzard perched on a granite gatepost in one of our fields. As she lifted the camera it spread its wings and took off, but she was already firing off rapid shots and this is the result. I told you that you needed a lot of luck. You may have noticed that I have used a black and white version of this photo on our home page.

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I was watching this Magpie feeding on one of our bird feeding tables when this rat climbed up and joined in. The magpie stood back and watched for a while and then lunged forward and bit the rat on its tail. The rat beat a hasty retreat and the magpie went back to feeding.

 

    
       
  If you have a camera capable of taking close-ups then you can take pictures like this frog. It suddenly surfaced in one of our fishponds and stayed long enough for me to take the photo. If you are interested in taking wildlife photos it pays to have a camera to hand at all times as you never know what might pop up in front of you.
 

 

  

This elephant moth arrived in our sitting room one day. No doubt it was attracted to the houseplant.

The Elephant moth is not rare but it was the first one that we had seen and so it was worthy of a photograph.

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The population of butterflies in this country is in decline so it is always worth photographing them when you see them. Moorland areas are good places to spot them but I spotted this one in one of our fields and it was the only one present in an area of 5 acres.

 

 

We were on a crowded Cornish beach when this Dunlin turned up in the shallows. It was quite undisturbed by the people around it an I had enough time to photograph it complete with its reflection in the water.

It was a lucky find as I am told that their numbers are in decline.

     
         
    For quite a long time this Woodpecker turned up on our peanut feeder every morning. Debbie sat patiently at a safe distance to capture its arrival.    
         
               
    I hope that these photos serve to encourage you that it is possible to gather up quite a lot of wildlife photos with only limited equipment. You'll find a lot of it in your back garden even if you live in a town.