M&J Bloomfield BlogWildlife Photographers

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Lao Tzu

Our journey, of five hundred and seventy miles begins today, with our first giant step. For today, 19 July 2016 we are re-locating home and business to the Scottish highlands.

Our home has been the southeast of England, both of us grew up here and we have lived here for many years, this where it all started, photographing wildlife and nature. The Chilterns, Berkshire Downs and the heathlands of Hampshire provided us with many wonderful memories and pictures.

So why have we decided to leave the southeast of England? Where should we move to? Should we move at all? Why move from the southeast is perhaps the easiest answer to give. We need to expand our photographic range. Somewhere more rural than our current home means we could spend more time in the field.

Countless times we have talked about giving up the search. The where, part of the equation, has been the hardest to find an answer to. With its diverse geology and Oceanic climate the UK offers so many different climates and habitats. We have visited many parts of the UK, taking pictures and without exception, every time we venture somewhere new we are bowled over by what we find. Our job has in fact made the task harder the whole of the UK is our oyster. We’ve considered Shetland to Pembrokeshire and ever where in between.

So after visiting many areas of the UK, we came to realise that the Scottish highlands, seemed the place, we were drawn back to. Its wildlife, landscape and areas of outstanding natural beauty, always drew us back for more. We have looked everywhere, all over Scotland to find a new home and wildlife base and eventually after much of searching we’ve found the right place for us.

Our new base is going to be just west of Inverness, capital of the highlands some say. We choose this location because it offers easy access to the Cairngorms National Park, and the west coast with the islands of Mull and Skye only a couple of hours away. Closer to home is the great glen and the wild flow country to the north, all of which offer wonderful places to take pictures.

We are so excited, as we now own a small bit of woodland. It’s not the rolling acres we would have bought if had we won the lottery. But it is ours and part of a much larger woodland, which supports badgers, pine martins, red squirrels and we hope a whole host of birds including owls. Our long term goal is to attract as many species to our bit of the wood and set up purpose built hides. Well that’s the plan; we will keep you posted on how we are doing, here on our blog.

Today is the start of another chapter, our extraordinary adventure photographing wildlife and nature continues. Now can anyone remember which box the kettle and teabags were packed in?

Join in the conversation; you can add your comments via the blog page, follow us on twitter, twitter.com/mandjbloomfield (use #WoodinAird) find us on  Facebook, facebook.com/MarkandJackyBloomfield and Instagram, instagram.com/mandjbloomfield .

By Mark Bloomfield

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