Eurasian Sparrowhawk by Baz Scampion

 

 

Images of Eurasian Sparrowhawks in gardens have become increasingly frequent since the digital photography revolution, but few are as outstanding as this week's winner from Baz Scampion.

Not only is it a superbly sharp shot of a fierce female in a beautiful pose, but she has also caught a surprising prey item – a female Ring Ouzel, no less!

You have to feel for the ouzel, which was presumably freshly arrived on the north Norfolk coast after having migrated safely from southern European wintering grounds. Evidently it felt Baz's garden was a good place to feed up and seek shelter before moving on and ... whack!

Congratulations to Baz on his cracking capture, taken with a 500 mm lens and exposed at 1/250th second, f5.6 on ISO 500.

 

Other notable images

 

Steller's Eider, Vardø, Finnmark (Connor Coombes).

European Golden Plover, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Scott Duckworth).

Blue Tit, Haslemere, Surrey (Mike Young).

House Sparrow, Fishtoft, Lincolnshire (Jeremy Eyeons).

Hawfinch, Genappe, Walloon Brabant (Marc Fasol).

Eurasian Siskin, Hawick, Borders (Ron Mccombe).

Greenfinch, Longton, Lancashire (Gordon Speirs).

Common Chiffchaff, Sturry, Kent (Steve Ashton).

Dunnock, Chilwell, Nottinghamshire (Ian Bollen).

Eurasian Bullfinch, Haslemere, Surrey (Mike Young).

Collared Flycatcher, Anavargos, Cyprus (Matthew Smith).

White-spotted Bluethroat, Gribskov, Denmark (Helge Sorensen).

Black Wheatear, undisclosed, Malta (Natalino Fenech).

Barred Owl, Pacific Rim National Park, Vancouver Island, Canada (Keith Barnes).

Red Kite, Chesham, Buckinghamshire (Martin Webb).

Leach's Storm Petrel, The Gearagh, Cork (Richard Mills).

Southern Royal Albatross, at sea, Chile (Dermot Breen).