My name is Chris and I'm a wildlife enthusiast from Staffordshire. This site shows a collection of my best wildlife photographs, since embarking on a mission to see and photograph every regular British bird species. I've always had a keen interest in wildlife and enjoyed photography, looking to capture interesting and attractive images of as many species as possible. Birds primarily, but wildlife generally. In 2009 a like-minded work colleague told me he'd set himself a target of photographing every British bird species. I was really inspired by that idea and thought I would do the same, but make more of it than just capturing a collection of single record shots. I want to capture both males and females, juveniles and mature individuals, animals in their summer/breeding and winter/non-breeding guises, etc. It seemed like a great challenge and one that would take me all over the British Isles. I was relatively new to birding at that time and my tally was very modest, so it gave me lots of research to do, bird songs to learn, places to visit and species to find.
I was strongly encouraged (bullied) by family and friends to record my progress in a way that could be shared by others. So here it is, my website, well the beginnings anyway. You can see the wildlife I’ve encountered to date. It will hopefully continue to expand and develop as I get to see and capture images of more species and continually improve my portfolio. This isn't a see, click and tick exercise. I want this to be a long term project that continually evolves and expands into a desirable collection of images. I find it a great way to spend my spare time. I love wild, remote areas that few bother to experience. Watching wildlife in truly natural surroundings. I am lucky to have a wife, brother and friend who share my passion and one or more often accompany me.
Not long after I started capturing bird images other wildlife started to creep into my collection. Most notably butterflies and dragonflies. They fit in perfectly into the birding calendar as most emerge at the one time of year when birds are generally more difficult to see and are not in prime condition. I now realise that lots of birders do exactly the same. I don’t pretend to be an expert in any aspect, or indeed a great photographer, just a passionate admirer with a tendency to collect things I hold dear. I hope you enjoy the site and if I can share any tips please contact me.
All the photographs are my own and all are of truly wild animals. It's sometimes tempting to substitute a nicely posed image taken of a captive specimen, but it just doesn't feel right. So I'm afraid a few of my images are nothing more than record shots, at best, and leave a lot to be desired. For now at least.
This is not a commercial website. The photos are displayed in low resolution, for anyone's enjoyment. Hopefully the site might come in handy as a source of reference or learning. If you wish to copy any of the images that is fine. All I would ask is that you let me know and donate a little something to a wildlife conservation charity.