An award-winning photographer has captured stunning shots of the often unnoticed wildlife at Blenheim Palace for a new exhibition.

The images created by Pete Seaward, from Bletchingdon, include a pair of nesting swans caring for their newborn cygnets, deer, pheasants, egrets, herons and ducks.

He said: “I’ve photographed the wildlife on the park, by the lake and in the grounds that a lot of people don’t know about or bother to see.

“I followed the swans from their nest building to laying eggs to the cygnets’ first swim. I also caught the heron strike of a fish.

Oxford Mail: Swans and cygnets at Blenheim. Picture Pete Seaward

“You kind of have to sit there waiting for things to happen but you also get to notice things that they do.

“Herons can be very flighty – the moment they see you they can fly off. You have got to be there already but if you stay very quiet and still you can see and learn their tactics, it’s all part of the process.

“Of course the minute you look away you miss something. You just have to hope and wait.”

Gathering the shots, he said took “countless hours, certainly weeks”.

Mr Seaward is a regular visitor to the site and uses a mobile wildlife hide to help capture his beautifully atmospheric images.

He also took shots from behind trees and disguised himself with camouflaged clothing although “even then they can spot you”.

He said: “The Blenheim estate is definitely one of my favourite locations anywhere in the world to take photographs.

“It is constantly changing with the seasons, and the time of day, and provides a never-ending series of fascinating wildlife stories set against a truly historic backdrop which I really enjoy documenting.”

He added: “I really wanted to introduce people to the nature on their doorstep, particularly during this lockdown period when many people seem to have reconnected with nature.”

Mr Seaward, who used to work in advertising, has been a photographer for over 30 years and travelled the world for major international clients from business, tourism boards and hotels.

He was voted one of Lürzer’s Archive 200 best ad photographers in the world and won Travel Photographer of the Year 2011 from the British Travel Press.

Oxford Mail: Heron at Blenheim. Picture Pete Seaward

However, he said his first love is nature and landscape photography.

The images, which are displayed within a re-created wooden wildlife hide, form part of the new Stables Exhibition, an interactive experience in the stable block showcasing the importance of horses at Blenheim through the centuries.

The display highlights how the ancient woodland, royal hunting lodge and ‘Capability’ Brown landscaped parkland have contributed to the estate’s success.