2008 11-14 years old - Runner-up
Jesse Heikkinen (Finland)
Whooper delight
'I'd spent the afternoon photographing the swans from a hide in Kuusamo, Finland. The session began in bright sunlight, with the swans quietly going about their business. Then, suddenly, everything changed - the scene became wintry and the swans were bewitched by the snow. They started shouting and I started shooting.' The whooper swan's distinctive call sounds a bit like an old-fashioned car horn. It's made by a specially modified windpipe, which is coiled up in the bird's breast bone. This Eurasian species breeds in the far north, migrating south to spend the winters in coastal lowlands.
Nikon D70 + Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 lens; 1/50 sec at f5.6; ISO 200.
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The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine.