Jose Luis Ruiz Jiménez's Image

Up to his chest in water, Jose Luis shot this intimate moment with a family of great crested grebes. When one parent emerged with damp feathers and a fish, Jose Luis was lucky that not a breath of wind rippled the water. A stripy-headed chick stretched out of its sanctuary, open-beaked, to claim the tasty meal.

Grebes are at their most elegant in the breeding season when ornate plumage is used in courting. They build a nest of aquatic plant material, often among reeds at the edge of shallow water. Chicks venture out within just a few hours of hatching, hitching a snug ride on a parent’s back.