It’s rare to meet someone whose childhood passion becomes their career – much less consumes their life to the extent that they live and breathe their ‘job’. David Plummer is such a person. He is a talented professional wildlife photographer and for David the wildlife comes first, and the photography second.
We came across David when we published an article in BN5 about Henfield Birdwatch in September, David kindly allowed us to use his stunning image of a goldfinch perched on a teasel for our cover. We received many comments about this cover and thought it would be interesting to find out more about the man behind the lens. David works closely with The Sussex Wildlife Trust based at Woods Mill, he uses their sanctuaries to photograph many of his images and also runs some of his photography courses through the Trust.
David’s garden in Small Dole backs out onto fields with views to Truleigh Hill. It’s a short and pleasant walk across the fields to the reserve, possibly the most stress-free commute to work in the world! The garden is as wild as David’s photography, there are no immaculately pruned borders or bowling-green lawns, but it is a beautiful, natural garden. The grass grows long with many species encouraged for their potential as food for insects and butterflies. There are large native trees in neighbouring gardens giving shelter to myriads of birds and insects and a hole in the fence has deliberately been left wide for one of David’s nocturnal visitors – a badger.
Badger watching is one of the courses available through Sussex Wildlife and David takes great pleasure in studying them. He runs courses at Woods Mill, at his own woodland Scrag Copse and also, for those who want to stay warm with a nice cup of tea, from his own back garden. Watchers can sit in his conservatory and wait in the warm until the heavily camouflaged visitor shuffles through the night towards them. “It’s interesting how many people have only ever seen one of these beautiful creatures dead at the side of the road. We often have children come to badger-watch here, it’s great to see their reactions. I do think that allowing children to get up close to our native wildlife is the best way of instilling a love of their own countryside. After all, they are the future custodians of our wildlife.”
In 2007 David bought an area of woodland near Gatwick Airport called Scrag Copse. He has spent many hours there, in his purpose-built hides, watching the wildlife. It has allowed him to literally live his job – often staying out all night with tawny owls and barn owls. Although the woodland is just two miles from the airport it feels like another world of peace and tranquility. He has built owl boxes to encourage more nesting and is always captivated by the variety of species that visit. Sometimes a shot, which takes a split second to capture, will have taken six weeks to ‘set up’ with the right positioning, watching and props.
David sees a bright future for our wildlife, if we can continue to protect their habitats. He can see many young people who are really interested in birds, which was definitely not ‘cool’ when he was young. The Sussex Wildlife Trust is encouraging young people to protect wildlife and become stewards of the Sussex countryside. David’s enthusiasm for our beautiful countryside and its wildlife is contagious and the beautiful images he takes shows us just why our role as custodians is so important.
http://issuu.com/bn5magazine/docs/bn5_november_13
If you are interested in any of David’s wildlife photography courses see www.davidplummerimages.co.uk or go to www.sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk
Emma Osman