Northern Gannet by Tom Hines

 

 

Northern Gannet, Bempton Cliffs RSPB, East Yorkshire (Tom Hines).

 

Spring tried to break through this week and the photos that were uploaded reflected a greater number of new arrivals, including the first of what I’m sure will be many images of Northern Gannet from Bempton Cliffs RSPB. This is a popular species on BirdGuides, but this week’s winning shot by Tom Hines is different from the norm, being a close-up shot of a bird collecting nest material. The intent of the gannet is clear to see, with as many bits and pieces being gathered as possible under the careful watch of a staring, blue-rimmed eye.

This is a well composed and cropped image, with the emphasis on the nest material and bill; the eye is carefully placed in the top half of the picture to lead our eyes to it.

Congratulations to Tom on his winning capture, taken with a 500 mm lens, 1.4x converter, at 1/1,250th sec f13 on ISO1600.

 

Other notable images

 

Common Eider, Loch Fleet, Highland (Toby Houlton).

Blue Tit, Hawick, Borders (Ron Mccombe).

Red-breasted Merganser, Kidwelly, Carmarthen (Wayne Davies).

Black-winged Stilt, Stodmarsh NNR, Kent (Steve Ashton).

Baillon's Crake, Agia Varvara, Cyprus (Matthew Smith).

Red Kite, Wiltshire, Britain (J G Snowball).

Ring Ouzel, Lower Test Marshes HWT, Hampshire (Lee Fuller).

Red Grouse, Perth, Britain (Joe Graham).

Yellow Wagtail, Ghajn Tuffieha, Malta (Natalino Fenech).

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher, Kaeng Krachan National Park, Central Region (Frank Golding).

Eurasian Wren, Belvide Reservoir (PERMIT ONLY), Staffordshire (Tony Kinder).

Black-headed Wagtail, Leighton Moss RSPB, Lancashire (Craig Bell).

Ringed Plover, Ross, Northumberland (Heiko Peters).

Black-necked Grebe, Saltholme RSPB, Cleveland (Ron Hindhaugh).

African Crimson-winged Finch, Oukaimeden, Morocco (Jaz Hughes).