Jari Peltomäki's Image

By February, when Jari arrived at Lake Kerkini, many of the Dalmatian pelicans were already in their breeding plumage, the males displaying their orange-red throat pouches.

Numbers have declined dramatically, but in winter, hundreds congregate on the lake in northern Greece. 'Local fishermen have a special relationship with them and feed them scraps,' says Jari. 'The pelicans follow the men around, and so I tagged along, too.' He used a floating hide to get the water-level angle he needed. His aim was to light them with the rising sun against a backdrop of the snow-covered mountains - which he did, to perfection, as the birds reached skyward for scraps thrown from a nearby boat.