Rare Bird Alert, Reliable Bird News Services Since 1991

Our autumn prize draw and photo competition has now closed and we would like to thank everyone who uploaded their photos.  We have chosen the winners for the photo competition and drawn the winners in the free entry prize draw.  We had some fantastic entries with a wide range of species on show.

We are very grateful to WildSounds who kindly provided the books for the free prize draw.  WildSounds are a leading international supplier of wildlife books audio & multimedia guides (including eGuides) and Field Recording Equipment.  They donate a significant proportion of their profits to bird conservation organisations such as the African Bird Club (ABC), BirdLife Malta and the British Birdwatching Fair.  Visit their online shop at www.wildsounds.co.uk

When rarities show very well for the cameras it can be difficult to get a shot which stands out from the crowd but in this shot Andrew Jordon has managed just that.  Being in the right place at the right time is only half the battle, executing the photo when that brief moment presents itself is the other. 

Andrew has made the most of the circumstances, a low vantage point brings you down to the level of the heron and allows you to feel part of the scene rather than an observer. A low shutter speed of just 1/125 sec has ensured a sense of movement is retained whilst his control over depth of field (f5.6) ensured the head and importantly the eyes of the bird were sharp.  The heron's intense gaze, puffed up neck and upright stance all add character to the bird and make for a wonderful portrait. Apart from all of this the image is a lot of fun and makes you smile, surely one of the best reasons to take photos.

Barn Owl in flight, nothing new there then? Well not quite.  One of the most striking components of Tony Skerl's technically brilliant and wonderfully evocative photo is its composition.  All too often photos are taken or cropped too tight meaning that a sense context is lost, but this is not a trap Tony fell into.  The owl's position at the top of the image and the strong shape created by its wing draws the viewers eye to the bird and allows you to imagine the moment when the owl will stoop into the space towards its next victim. 

The backlighting is another key element in making this such a successful image. The suns rays penetrate the owl's wing and the result is more akin to an x-ray image where you can see the individual shafts of each feather.  This kind of strong backlighting can sometimes lead to other details being lost in the 'shadows' but Tony has expertly managed to retain detail on the bird's face and back despite the lack of direct light.  The final element of this wonderful image is the warm golden tones provided by the low autumnal light.  Perhaps they are ditches shimmering in the background or reeds swaying the wind catching the last rays of sun either way it adds to the sense of mystique and allows you to lose yourself in the scene. 

Over the autumn Ronan has submitted many superb images and his photo of a White-rumped Sandpiper (see below) running on a Waterford beach was a very strong contender for this category.  In that photo the action was very obvious, however in Ronan's winning photo the action hasn't yet happened, its all about to and this is what makes it stand out from the rest.  its the sense of anticipation, the sense of what is about to come, the brief moment of chaos which will erupt from the stillness.  Take the fly out of the photo and you have a very pleasing photo of a Pied Flycatcher on a post.  Add just a few blurry pixels in the shape of a fly and you now have a stunning photo of a Pied Flycatcher.

Some might think that a photo like this is all about luck and to a degree they would be correct, right place, right time and all that but that's only half the story.  Ronan's control over his equipment is the main reason this image has succeeded.  On what was a bright and sunny bright day it might have been easy to set the iso to 100 or 200 hundred but by opting for a much higher iso of 640 it has allowed Ronan to get a fast enough shutter speed (1/1000 sec) to freeze the fly just enough so you can see what it is.  An aperture of f8 has meant that the bird is sharp from front to back and in order to bring the fly into focus this kind of aperture was key.  So right time right place? absolutely, photographer who knows what he is doing?  most definitely.

The only question now is, did it catch the fly?

In this category we were hoping people would go beyond simply photographing a bird in its habitat but to actually show the connection between a bird and its habitat and to give a sense of how it exists there.  Richard has certainly managed this with his photo of a Little Egret stalking prey on a Pembrokeshire river.  Little Egrets, like many heron species, have evolved unique ways to deal with the aquatic environments in which they inhabit.  Richard's photo shows how Little Egrets use their wings as a cloak to cut out the the sun's glare and to confuse its prey whilst their long legs disturb the fish, invertebrates and other aquatic species.  With its wings spread wide, its feet moving through the water and the focused glare you get a real sense of the concentration and focus required for the egret to catch just a single item of  prey.  As well as capturing the action Richard has managed to expose the photo perfectly despite the obvious problems with exposing a white bird, in strong light against a predominately dark background.

At first glance it might appear as just another Little Egret photo but on closer inspection you find technically excellent photo which manages to capture a bird in its natural habitat exhibiting behaviour which has evolved over thousands of years.