Shropshire photographer captures beauty of back garden wildlife

Vanessa Pearce

BBC News, West Midlands

Andrew Fusek Peters A goldfinch with its wings outspread. The light can be seen refracting through its wing tips giving it a rainbow effect — Photographer Andrew Fusek Peters captured a goldfinch with rainbow-effect wings in his Shropshire garden

A photographer has spent a decade carrying out “garden safaris” in order to capture the diversity and beauty of Britain’s back garden wildlife.

The images, including battling birds and squabbling squirrels, showed just what could be found “under our noses”, said Andrew Fusek Peters.

“I wanted to celebrate the everyday stories and reveal the beauty of our birds, mammals and insects that live alongside us,” the Shropshire photographer added.

Hundreds of his images feature in a new book.

Two red squirrels were captured fighting in a back garden on the Isle of Wight

Andrew Fusek Peters Two red squirrels are pictured fighting whilst balancing on bird feeders. — Two red squirrels were captured fighting in a back garden on the Isle of Wight

The majority of the photographs were taken in his “modest” garden, and local village of Lydbury.

“You don’t have to travel to nature reserves or mountains,” he said.

“I sometimes get snobbery from the big photographers who go to Africa and do the lions and tigers, or Greenland for the Polar bears,” he explained.

“And they think I’m somehow inferior because I do blue tits in the garden.”

The photographer set up a hide on a domestic lawn to capture this rare image of a mother hare suckling her leveret

Andrew Fusek Peters A mother hare sits on a lawn with her suckling leveret. — The photographer set up a hide on a domestic lawn to capture this rare image of a mother hare suckling her leveret

But, he added, capturing rare images such as a hare feeding her leveret on someone’s back lawn was “just amazing”.

“At the time I took it, that had been photographed maybe less than 10 times in the world,” he said.

“It was sheer gold on my memory card.”

He had also travelled to other parts of the UK in order to capture other “extraordinary moments,” including a fox family playing in Clapham, south London, and a pair of red squirrels on the Isle of Wight.

This pair of brightly coloured bramblings fighting over food was one of the photographer’s favourite shots

Andrew Fusek Peters Two brambling birds are pictured with their claws out mid-air in a fight over food — This pair of brightly coloured bramblings fighting over food was one of the photographer’s favourite shots

Mr Fusek Peters started concentrating on his own garden wildlife after a diagnosis of bowel cancer in 2018, perfecting a technique to “make time stop” to get shots of birds and butterflies taking off and in mid flight.

Using his kitchen as a hide, he has also taken rare pictures of birds – showing the effect of diffraction on their wings, giving a rainbow effect.

“This winter I got a woodpecker and a nuthatch” he said, adding the images were “extraordinary”.

“Everyone’s going to accuse me of using AI, but it’s not – it’s actually scientific.”

He added he was “one of the few in the world” to have taken such images.

“I just seem to have this blessed luck when I concentrate on what’s out of the kitchen window.”

This image of a nuthatch is among the collection

Andrew Fusek Peters A nuthatch can be seen taking off from a branch with a seed in its beak and light refracting through its feathers, giving a rainbow wing effect — This image of a nuthatch is among the collection

The book was also a “rallying cry” to transform “over-manicured spaces into more wildlife friendly havens,” he said.

“These places are important, I think they really are,” he added.

“As we know with climate change and with what’s happening with habitat a lot of species are really suffering, and that includes our garden visitors so it’s important to showcase them.

“They are just as important as all the wonderful creatures of the jungle and the desert,” he added.

A fox family plays in Clapham, South London

Andrew Fusek Peters An older fox sits as a young pup on its hind legs puts its paws up towards it — A fox family plays in Clapham, South London

This image of a ruby tailed wasp is included in the book

Andrew Fusek Peters A ruby tailed wasp with iridescent blue and green head and thorax with a deep red tail — This image of a ruby tailed wasp is included in the book

Springwatch presenter Iolo Williams said of the book, Garden Safari: “Andrew makes the ordinary look extraordinary – stunning photography which helps to emphasise the importance of our gardens for wildlife.”

“I think this is the best compliment I’ve ever had,” the photographer commented.