Time to go cuckoo for capturing wildlife (on camera): the National Audubon Society has revealed this year's winners of their annual bird photography contest, and the images are wings above anything ever seen before.
The grand winner of the $5,000 prize was Jack Zhi of Costa Mesa, California, responsible for an incredible shot of a pair of White-tailed Kite, one clutching a vole in its yellow talons. “I studied White-tailed Kite behavior for three years before I got this close-up. It was a challenge to get the action, distance, lighting, and angles of the individuals all right at the same time.” says Zhi, “The father, who teaches his fledglings to hunt, held a vole in his talons. The fledgling flew in and, in a blink, grabbed the rodent as the father let go.”
Peter Shen of San Jose, California took home the Amateur Award for his photo of a Western Gebe feeding two chicks. “I was hiking on a narrow, rocky trail when I saw a Western Grebe with two chicks on her back. A male arrived with a fish and passed it to the mom. I quickly laid flat on the gravel, bird droppings all around, but I didn’t care.” Dedication.
Ankur Khurana from Canada snagged a photo of a pair of Common Raven grooming each other on the snow, while Liron Gertsman, also from Canada, was crowned the professional winner for his image of a rare White-tailed Ptarmigan. “I’ve spent countless hikes searching for the elusive “mountain chicken,” to no avail. On this day, after a couple of hours, I stumbled right onto some. The small group was so well camouflaged I didn’t notice it until movement caught my eye.”
The Audubon Photography Awards saw a staggering 10,000 entries from 2,500 photographers and videographers this year. Winners were selected anonymously from an expert panel of judges, who based points on technical quality, originality, and artistic merit. All photographs followed Audubon’s Guide to Ethical Bird Photography and Videography. See all the winning photographs here.