A couple brought together by a shared love of birds are planning to marry after a surprise engagement at Birdworld.

Lovebirds Nicolai Dienemann, a staff security officer at Gatwick Airport, and Naomi Lawson, a mobile nail technician, both from East Grinstead, had known of each other for some time, often bumping into one another around town.

But it was their shared love of birds and animals that helped the pair flock together.

Nicolai said: “I love birds and we often send memes and reels, which we call ‘pebbles’, like the gifts penguins give to each other.”

Just two months after they first got together, Nicolai decided the moment to propose following a penguin feeding experience at Birdworld at Holt Pound, near Farnham.

He said: “When I tell people we have only been together two months and just got engaged, they are like ‘what?’ But I have always been someone who says when you know, you know — and I knew the day I met Naomi.”

Naomi said the proposal caught her completely off guard.

“At first I thought he was joking, as I had previously joked about getting married at Birdworld,” she said.

“But then I pieced everything together — his excitement and the nails he wanted me to do in the same colour as his birthstone, garnet red — and I knew he meant it.”

The couple are planning to tie the knot in 2027 and have already begun mapping out their big day, with a Halloween theme.

They joked: “We could do it at Birdworld again — we might as well keep nesting there.”

Woodies Wheeler-Bennett, marketing manager at Birdworld, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled that Birdworld was the place they chose for this wonderful moment.

“Penguins are well known for their strong pair bonds and devoted partnerships, which made Penguin Beach an especially meaningful place for a proposal.

“We wish the happy couple all the very best for a lifetime of love and adventure together.”