British wildlife

With my final proposed idea, which is to come up with a small zine that focuses on the local wildlife of the UK, I want to look at some local wildlife around me, as a way to both gain inspiration, and to see what kind of animals I could include in my zine.

http://www.virbac.co.uk/images/UK_Companion_Map.png < image reference at this link.

I have started by quickly brainstorming about local wildlife, and which ones really stand out to me.
I want to avoid choosing animals that aren't really native to the UK, and I also want to choose only a few animals per species, for example, I don't want a zine with one bird image, and nine illustrations of fish.

Below is a bullet point list of the animals that initially stand out to me straight away when I think of local wildlife.

• Pigeon
• Seagull
• Robin
• Red squirrel
• Adder
• Magpie
• Seal
• Deer
• House Spider
• Adder
• Jellyfish
• Blue tit
• Bass
• Perch
• Otter
• Badger
• Fox
• Bumblebee
• Newt
• Dormouse
• Owl
• Duck
• Hedgehog
• Sparrow
• Brown Rat
• House Fly

Some of these animals are relatively common in the local area, so I have the opportunity to go out into the wild, and document the majority of my list through primary research.

In my opinion the most interesting animal listed is the jellyfish, just because personally I feel as if these creatures are incredibly strange and odd.

http://britishseafishing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/RS-Common-Jellyfish.jpg < image reference at this link.

I have recently been walking around Hartlepool, taking photos of various different types of wildlife, and I notably took a visit to the local coastal regions, looking to see what wildlife was lurking around.

Pebbles in the dark.

Sand Dunes.

Most of the beach was quite desolate due to the winter.

I did see some life however.

I was quite disappointed with what was at the beach, I had a feeling that the beach would be quite lifeless with it being the peak of winter.
The sea is of course far too rough to see any fish, however I did come across some wildlife, notably in the form of birds such as seagulls and pigeons, and some insects.

I want to look into going to a number of other different places, taking photos, and documenting the wildlife that I find.

I also went to a local pet store, and photographed some animals there, to get a better understanding and first hand view of such animals as rabbits, and rats.

Although the photos show domesticated versions, they still hold strong resemblance.

Thomas.