Goldfinch by Gordon Speirs

 

 

There were some truly exceptional flight shots uploaded to the BirdGuides gallery this week and any one of at least six images could have comfortably won POTW in another week. Full credit must therefore go to Gordon Speirs for nailing this phenomenal photo of a Goldfinch.

Photographing passerines in flight is never an easy task due to their fast movements and unpredictable twists and turns, particularly at close range, so Gordon has done extremely well to capture a sharp shot of this beautiful finch. Taken in great light with a diffuse background, all attention is focused on the finch, which has been caught with its wings at a particularly striking angle so that the yellow primary patches have been isolated to give the impression of being vivid 'landing lights'. With perfect light on the bird's head, including a nice glint in the eye, this is an image that Gordon should be very pleased with indeed.

 

Other notable images

 

Northern Shoveler, Ham Wall RSPB, Somerset & Bristol (Carl Bovis).

Red Grouse, undisclosed site, Antrim (Ian Dickey).

Red Kite, undisclosed site, Perth & Kinross (Steve Laycock).

Black-crowned Night Heron, Ossett, West Yorkshire (Richard Pittam).

Speckled Pigeon, Kotu, Gambia (Richard Pittam).

Western Cattle Egret, La Sente, Jersey (Romano Da Costa).

 

Spotted Redshank, Melton, Suffolk (Nick Brown).

 

 

Black-winged Stilt, Seaton Marshes, Devon (Robin Morrison).

 

Goldcrest, Shardlow, Derbyshire (Neil Loverock).

Pied Flycatcher, Bidnija, Malta (Natalino Fenech).

Sedge Warbler, East Tilbury, Essex (Adrian Webb).