Photograph of the Year

A total of 151 transparencies was submitted by 57 photographers for this 1983 competition. The general standard of entries was exceedingly high, with all of the short-listed transparencies being top quality photographs.

After short-listing 18 entries, a final ten were selected, and then placed in order after a vote: 1st BIRD PHOTOGRAPH OF THE YEAR Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus

lobatus by David M. Cottridge (plate 87) 2nd Black Storks Ciconia nigra by Dr K.J . Carlson (plate 88) 3rd Cuckoo Cuculus canorusby A. T. MofFett (plate 89) 4th Stock Doves Columba oenas by J . Russell (plate 90) 5th Hawfinch Coccothmustes coccothraustes by Roger Tidman 6th Crested Lark Galerida cristata by Dr Mike Hill 7th Savi's Warbler Locustella luscinioides by Oene Moedt 8th Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major by A. T. Moffett 9th Coot Fulica atra, Gadwall Anas strepera and Black-headed Gull Larus

ridibundus by Chris Knights 10th Black Grouse Tetrao tetrix by Gordon Riddle

Also short-listed: White-fronted Geese Anser aliifrons (Gordon Langsbury), Water Rail Rdlus aquaticus (M. C. Wilkes), Curlew Numenittsarquats (Mr & Mrs R. W. Gibling), Spotted Redshank Tringa aythnpus (Chris Knights), Redwing Tardus itiacus (P. Smith), Mistle Thrush 7*. mscivoms (Gordon Langsbury), Rook Cmvusjmgilegus (S. C. Brown), Siskin Carduilis sjritms (Keith Atkin).

[Brit. Birds 76:225-229, May 1983] continued..

225

87. BIRD PHOTOGRAPH OF THE YEAR Female Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus, Shetland, May 1982 (DavidM. Cottridge). Nikon F3 with 55mm Micro-Nikkor, f8 at l/125th second, Agfachrome 100

88. 2ND. Black Storks Ciconia nigra, Portugal, June 1982 (K.J. Carlson). Nikon, 400mm Novoflex lens, f5.6 at 1/125th second, Kodachrome 64

89. 3RD. Male Cuckoo Cuculus canorus, West Midlands, May 1982 (4. T. Mojjett). Olympus OM1, 300 mm Zuiko lens, Kodachrome 64

90. 4TH. Stock Doves Columba oenas, Derbyshire, June 1982 (J. Russell). Nikon FE, Vivitar 100-200mm zoom lens, 2 flash units, f8 at l/15th second, Kodachrome 64

David M. Cottridge's winning entry (plate 87) has everything: a superbly sharp photograph of a photogenic bird, and also with the sense of impending action, as the phalarope stalks the fly. David Cottridge des­cribed how he obtained this photograph: 'At one point, I watched a bird stalking and catching flies which had landed on some stones at the edge of the loch. I quietly lay down at the water's edge as it approached, fly-catching. It came within one foot of the camera and I was able to photo­graph the bird with its neck and bill stretched out just before it caught a fly.'

Dr Kevin Carlson's photograph of Black Storks (plate 88) is not only an excellent portrait of this scarce species, but also illustrates a fascinating piece of behaviour. Dr Carlson wrote: 'Whilst photographing the Black Storks nesting in Portugal over several days, we noticed both adults bring­ing water in their bills, to quench the youngsters' thirsts and cool them by dribbling it over them. On one occasion, in the extreme heat of the day, one of the adults arrived on the nest with a clump of aquatic vegetation dripping with water, and proceeded to drip the water onto the young, which in turn nibbled at the "sponge", squeezing water into their bills and down their heads and necks. When the "sponge" was dry, the adult dropped the pieces of vegetation into the nest and left. The young spent the next half hour preening each other, to collect the last of the moisture out of their down.'

A. T. Moffett tried but failed to photograph adult Cuckoos in 1981. In 1982, however, his several successes included this portrait of the singing male (plate 89). The opening oak buds suggest the recent arrival of this bird in early spring; note also the pouched throat and crested forehead feathers, but the barely parted bill. For the second year running, A. T. Moffett had

Bird Photograph oj the Year 229

two transparencies short-listed; his second this year was a sunning Great Spotted Woodpecker, on the same branch as the Green Woodpecker Picus viridis which gained him fourth position in last year's competition.

J. Russell was actually photographing Kestrels Falco tinnunculus at their nest when the pair of Stock Doves (plate 90) started prospecting the Kestrels' nest-hole. The photograph of the male and female doves together captures not only the birds themselves but also the background foliage: a nice balance between flash on the birds and natural light on the back­ground. This photograph, and all the others short-listed, demonstrate the very high standard of present-day bird-photography, which seems to improve every year.

It is perhaps instructive to note that 13 of the 18 short-listed transparen­cies were obtained using Kodachrome film, although this was used for only 38% of the original entries:

Short-listed (18) Total entries (151)

Kodachrome 72% 38% Ektachrome 11% 50% Agfachrome 11% 7% Barfen 6% 3% Fujichrome 0% 2%

RICHARD CHANDLER, ERIC HOSKING, J . T. R. SHARROCK and DON SMITH