A WILDLIFE enthusiast has been a star find for a US film crew, which has been documenting a peculiarly British egg-centricity.

John Kilnsey, 43, is a nature lover and professional photographer.

He also comes from an era when collecting wild birds’ eggs was a common practice.

“When I was five or six, I did a project at Sutton CE School on kestrels and I became fascinated by birds and built up an egg collection,” said John. “Then I worked at a falconry centre in South Wales and that changed my life.

“I was hand-feeding a young bird and realised these beautiful things come out of those eggs. I turned to wildlife photography.

“Now I am only interested in conservation and photographing wildlife.”

But recently John has been advising a documentary film crew from the USA, which usually captures footage for the Whale Wars TV series.

“I haven’t collected eggs since 1988, but apparently bird nesting in the USA is unheard of and it is illegal here. It is mainy a British thing that began in Victorian times,” said John, who expects the documentary to be screened in the UK in 2015.

John has set up his own photographic business, Eyrie Photographics, and had an exhibition at Martin Mere last September.

Now he’s ready to set up birdwatching tours in Northern Scotland and Bulgaria, and is set to publish a book.