Goldfinches by Mark Johnson
It looks like Mark Johnson has taken advantage of one of the few sunny days of the winter to capture this superb image of a Goldfinch dispute.
Anyone who has photographed this species will know how they betray their lovely gentle looks when they arrive to feed, with lots of arguments over perches taking place.
A 500mm lens was used for this shot and even though it was a good day for light Mark still set the ISO to 1600 so he could achieve a shutter speed of 1/4000th second to freeze the action; the background colour greatly adds to the image and sets the whole scene off perfectly.
Congratulations to Mark on his winning POTW; five different winners and five different species up to now this year.
You can read more on bird photography from Steve Young, including product reviews and a regular Photo Challenge for readers, every month in Birdwatch magazine.
Other notable images
Nutcracker, Finland (Photo: Dave Barnes)
American Wigeon, Scalby Mills, North Yorkshire (Photo: Steve Race)
Treecreeper, Clara Vale LNR, Durham (Photo: Marsch)
Short-eared Owl, Lunt, Lancashire (Photo: David Shallcross)
Bittern, Far Ings NR, Lincolnshire (Photo: Gordon Bowes)
Slavonian Grebe, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire (Photo: Jim Welford)
Cedar Waxwing, United States (Photo: Artur Stankiewicz)
Penduline Tit, Saltholme RSPB, Cleveland (Photo: Arto Maatta)
Long-tailed Duck, Filey, North Yorkshire (Photo: Martin Standley)
Long-tailed Tit, Forge Valley NNR, North Yorkshire (Photo: Christopher Bell)
Great Northern Diver, Alton Water, Suffolk (Photo: Barry Woodhouse)
Red-breasted Merganser, Port Carlisle, Cumbria (Photo: Sam Northwood)