Garganey by Steve Ashton

 

 

It's far to say that 2022 has been one of the best for Garganey in many years, and it's fitting that the Photo of the Week for the last full week of April features the species. This wonderful side-on flight shot of a drake, taken by Steve Ashton at Stodmarsh NNR in Kent, is as good a Garganey image as we've seen this spring. This is a feather-perfect capture, with a shutter speed of 1/2,500 ensuring even the wingtips are frozen, and shows off the upperwing and head patterns very clearly. In fact, this image wouldn't look out of place in a photo field guide ... congratulations to Steve on his cracking winner!

 

Other notable images

 

Red-crested Pochard, Richmond Park, London (Clive Daelman).

Raven, Fair Isle, Shetland (Alex Penn).

Meadow Pipit, Findhorn, Moray & Nairn (Nigel Voaden).

Woodpigeon, Westonzoyland, Somerset & Bristol (Carl Bovis).

Yellow Wagtail, Broom GPs, Bedfordshire (Paul Kaiser).

Eurasian Coot, Alvaston, Derbyshire (Neil Loverock).

King Eider, Loch Fleet, Highland (Drew Lyness).

Razorbill, Bempton Cliffs RSPB, East Yorkshire (Nick Clayton).

Western Osprey, Ebro Delta NP, Catalonia (Al Henderson).

Pied Flycatcher, Bidnija, Malta (Natalino Fenech).

Slavonian Grebe, Alton Water, Suffolk (Chris Mayne).

Black-browed Albatross, Bempton Cliffs RSPB, East Yorkshire (Kit Day).

Common Kestrel, Richmond Park, London (Clive Daelman).

Western Marsh Harrier, Britain (Peter Hazlehurst).