Yossi Eshbol's Image

Black-winged stilts epitomize elegance, which helps explain why Yossi has been photographing them for more than 20 years.

This picture is his all-time favourite, aesthetically but also because of the tender moment it shows. It was taken close to Yossi's home at salt ponds in Atlit. The stilts have learnt to nest offshore, away from predators, building their nests out of salt crystals, which they scoop up from the bottom. As soon as the chicks hatch, they start feeding, looking for tiny crabs and other small water animals. Here the mother has called her newly hatched chicks back to the nest at sunset so they can dry out and warm up under her wings, alongside the egg she is still incubating.