Dowsett, who is English, now lives in Michigan. Mike Dowsett won third place for his excellent shot of an osprey carrying a fish. And the pièce de résistance? The kingbird's beautifully exposed crown, something never easy to see, much less capture so vividly in a photo. The egret appears to be in a state of panic, the kingbird's extended leg and grasping toes hanging tight to the egret's neck. Both birds' bodies and faces are in focus and eyes open. I've taken dozens of photos of kingbirds attacking larger birds, including Bald Eagles, but none of them capture a perfect moment as this photo does. This photo provides dramatic proof that the name is deserved, especially when you consider that egrets easily stab and capture live prey many times heavier than a 1 1/2-ounce kingbird. 'When I taught junior high,' Laura Erickson said, 'my students loved learning that the Eastern Kingbird's scientific name is Tyrannus tyrannus - tyrant of all tyrants. The second-place winner is Ed Hughes for his photo of an eastern kingbird mobbing a great egret. You can see more of Bysshe's photography at his website. The image was shot at 1/30s, f/5 and ISO 800. Only a few of the shots worked! But, the soft colors of the background, and the blurred crane wings made the effort worth it.'īysshe used a Nikon D4S DSLR with a Nikon 500mm f/4 lens.

The trick was to get the head of the bird as sharp as possible. Given the low light of sunrise, I chose to photograph the cranes' takeoff using a slow shutter speed while panning with the birds. The brown background was the winter grass behind the pond.

The pond where the cranes were taking off from was frozen, and the ice reflected the purple color of the sky. The early morning when this image was taken was no exception. It's a wintering site for the sandhill crane is a popular destination for avid bird watchers and photographers.īysshe said of his winning image, 'The high desert area is known for its colorful sunrises and sunsets. He won first place with an image of a sandhill crane captured at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. The grand prize went to Stan Bysshe of Virginia. Fellow Madavor publication BirdWatching has announced the winners of its 2021 Birds in Flight photo contest.

Backyard cranes in the sky