OK - here is a topic that everybody can join in with, so come on all of you lurkers!
I would love to say that I have been passionate about wildlife for a lifetime, bit for many years I only had a vague interest. I could always identify garden birds and was often taken to the zoo by my parents.
In 2000 my partner Ross and I saw an advert for a cheap safari in Kenya (well as cheap as safaris get anyway!). It ended up being one of those life changing experiences awaking a dormant interest in wildlife in photography in both of us. We now find that most of our spare time revolves around wildlife and photography.
well, that scuppered me neatly! I saw the heading and thought 'ah, a topic I can join in with', and it's already got the details, as I am Gary's partner Ross!
Like Gary, I had been vaguely interested all my life, but that safari has a lot to answer for!
I've been interested in wildlife my whole life. My Dad when I was growing up was very much a cross between David Attenborough, Steve Irwin and David Bellamy! Almost every weekend we were out and about in the countryside somewhere or another - he was forever pointing out this and that, whether they were birds, plants, trees, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals...back then it was as though there was nothing he didn't know! And he had eyes like a hawk - us kids learnt quickly to look wherever he was looking because believe me there's nothing more frustrating than missing by seconds some creature or another that Dad had spotted. My kids suffer the same frustration now...they'll learn!
Seaside holidays were the most exciting adventures with Dad as it was an opportunity to get hands on which he encouraged and to this day thanks to Dad I can find crabs and all sorts of creatures in rock-pool systems (even pretty boring looking ones) where others dare not put their hands...nets *pah* who needs nets, and what's a vicious nip or two off a red eye anyway!
Our home was full of books on wildlife...both my parents loved BBC documentaries. One of the earliest I remember watching with keen interest was Life on Earth...that was back in 1979, so I'd have been about 7 years old. I can remember pouring over the book that accompanied the series. We had a lot of natural history type books at home, a subject I'm still passionate about now. I was crazy about Dinosaurs for a long time - mad to think years and years later, my favourite film would be created around that subject.
Sadly, it wasn't possible to go into this field when I left school, and really with the way the last 18 years have been, the space to make the opportunity happen never arose. There have been a few wildlife waifs and strays come and gone. It's definitely the area in animal welfare I'd like to become increasingly involved with, hence doing the Wildlife rescue, care and rehabilitation course this spring, and now an animal management course.
Almost every weekend we were out and about in the countryside somewhere or another - he was forever pointing out this and that, whether they were birds, plants, trees, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals...back then it was as though there was nothing he didn't know! And he had eyes like a hawk - us kids learnt quickly to look wherever he was looking because believe me there's nothing more frustrating than missing by seconds some creature or another that Dad had spotted. My kids suffer the same frustration now...they'll learn! 
