Hi CC and welcome to WAB.
I think if ten people answered this question, you would probably get ten completely different views. It really depends on how much you want to spend and how close you want your pictures to be.
There are any number of compact cameras on the market with varying quality. If you go down this route, you would want a reasonable zoom facility. I am not aware of any that have interchangeable lenses so you would need to be fairly close to your subject.
There are another range, known as pro-sumer or bridge cameras. The Fuji S9600 is a good example.
Fuji FinePix S9600 - warehouseexpress.com
On the earlier models you could get 'add on' lenses which screwed over the lens body which added to the zoom or wide angle range. I still have my Fuji 6900 it has taken some fantastic pictures for me
Here are just two - apologies that they are not from Great Britain, but they are on British Territory
)
You could then consider a Digital SLR which will allow you to fit different lenses to suit differing conditions. You have a wide choice of telephoto, zoom, wide angle and macro to choose from. The most popular makes are probably Canon and Nikon. You can spend LOTS of money on this kit. To see some excellent examples of pictures taken with this sort of equipment, browse the galleries and look at work by the likes of GLSAMMY, Kev Lewis, Boddie and Eeyore. They are just a few of the talented photographers who frequent this website.
Happy snapping
