Chris Downes' Focus on Birds

Welcome! I've been photographing birds seriously since my retirement in 2009. However birding and the birds come first so I don't always take a camera with me although I usually regret not taking it! I particularly like to photograph birds in flight. I generally use my Canon 1d Mk III with a Canon diffractive 400mm lens that I feel I can usually hand hold [but it takes practice!]

Favourite birds are waders, terns and warblers but gulls and birds of prey fascinate too! All time favourite bird: wood sandpiper - because it took me so long to get my first photographs of them. Bird I'd most like to see: bee-eater.

Although primarily intended to display my bird photographs, I have included additional galleries: for insects, mammals, orchids and one for butterflies & moths. These keep me going when birding is quiet in July & August!

My current British bird list total is 376 [April 2012]. Most recent 'lifers' were common yellowthroat, thayer's gull and most recently the female bufflehead at Covenham.

I started a blog within this site in March.