2010: Behaviour: Birds - Runner-up
Jim Neiger (United States of America)
The mobster
Jim has been photographing the birds on his home patch in Florida for a number of years and has got to know exactly where to find certain individuals, including a pair of great horned owls. One evening, just before sunset, he was focusing on one of the owls when a fish crow suddenly appeared above it and dived down, jabbing the owl with its feet. 'I got this image the instant before the crow made contact,' says Jim. 'The owl was obviously used to being mobbed. It barely flinched, shrugged off the crow and continued on its flight.'
Canon EOS-1D Mark III + 500mm f4 lens + 1.4x converter; 1/1000 sec at f5.6; ISO 1250.
View other winners in this category
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Adult awards Snatch and grab Arto Juvonen
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Adult awards Homage to stilts Yossi Eshbol
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Adult awards Little owls on top Ilia Shalamaev
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Adult awards Pickings from puffins Marcello Calandrini
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Adult awards Sweet intimacy Christian Ziegler
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