My main lens for bird photography is a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM lens, although I do use a Sigma 50-500mm 1:4-6.3 APO  zoom lens occasionally.  I use a Sigma 150mm F2.8 APO macro lens for most of my Butterfly, Dragonfly and insect photography.

I also use other pieces of kit such as a Kenko Pro 300 1.4 Teleconverter.  A Canon 580EX 11 speedlite flash.  A Better Beamer Fresnel screen flash extender. A Lambency flash diffuser.  A Stroboframe quick flip flash bracket and of course all the other bits and pieces such as spare batteries, memory cards etc.  A Tamrac Expedition 8 back pack is used to carry all my equipment in.

I use a Manfrotto 055CL Classic Tripod fitted with a Manfrotto 488RC4 ball head as the support system. Both the birding set up and the macro set up are fairly heavy so it is essential to have a tripod and head capable of supporting it.  The Manfrotto 488RC4 ball head is more than capable of this as well as being very versatile, the camera can be used at any angle with this head.  The disadvantage of this set up is the weight, but well worth it in my opinion for the stability given.  The tripod legs can be independently set at different angles if required and the tripod can go down as low as 8 cm to the ground.  The Manfrotto can also be used as a monopod when conditions are not suitable for extending all three legs.

Shown below are photographs of my equipment.