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Wildlife – Birds

About this portfolio

Raptors, Waders, Songbirds, Corvids and many other families, comprising thousands of species, make birds a photographic specialism in their own right. I'm a self-confessed bad birder and am grateful for all the wisdom passed onto me by those with greater knowledge of these wonderful creatures.

I was fortunate to grow up just a short distance from the Hawk Conservancy, one of the UK's finest bird of prey centres, where I've spent many a day improving my identification and photography skills. I may not keep bird lists, but I definitely do get a thrill when I realise I've captured a lifer image!

Birds are a curious subject for nature photographers. They may not seem as though they project much by way of personality and yet, when we observe them in groups, they reveal a myriad of behaviours for us to capture.

And they make such glorious shapes! Perhaps this is my favourite aspect of bird photography, capturing the movements associated with flight, soaring, landing and hunting through the sky. In these moments birds reveal their mastery of physics, defying gravity in ways we earthbound animals can only admire.

Birds present many unique challenges to the photographer, testing our equipment and technique to its limits, but their abilities are worthy of a lifetime of study and recording to capture what makes flying creatures so incredibly special.