Winner by a nose: Photographer’s stunning picture earns top award
A PICTURE of an oxpecker perched on a buffalo’s nose has clinched a Scot the top prize in an international photography competition.
Alan Jones beat more than 1,700 others to win the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers Bird Photographer of the Year.
Other prize-winning pictures included a heron tussling with a weasel, a baby penguin waddling in the Antarctic and a kite and a buzzard coming to blows over a dead pheasant.
But the overall winner was the shot of the red-billed oxpecker sitting on the nose of a buffalo as it drank.
Mr Jones, a 69-year-old retired chartered accountant from Edinburgh, said: “The image was taken at Zimanga reserve in the Kwa-zulu Natal region of South Africa, which is in the Eastern Cape.
“The reserve has some amazing hides that allow you to collect images at water hole level.
“It was taken about 6am in late September, so the light level was still pretty low.
“Oxpeckers feed exclusively on the bodies of large mammals. It seems the jury is still out on whether they do the animal more harm than good.
“The buffalo appears to tolerate oxpeckers while other species will not.’’
As well as a trophy, mr Jones received a set of binoculars, camera vouchers, a flashgun and photo-editing software
Runner-up was Kevin Nash, from Cheshire, who photographed a whitetailed sea eagle with the mountains of Scotland in the background.
Amateur photographer Mr Nash said: “The shot was taken on trip to Mull in the summer. Myself and a group of fellow photographers chartered a boat to take us out on to Loch Na Keal.
“This enabled us to get closer to these awesome White Tailed Sea Eagles in their natural environment.
“The white tailed sea eagle is the
UKS largest bird of prey. I think the mountains gave the perfect backdrop.”
Third was Colin Bradshaw, from Peterborough, who snapped a kite tussling with a buzzard over a dead pheasant.
Retired Mr Bradshaw, 73, said: “The image was taken on a farm in Wiltshire on the edge of the Marlborough Downs.
“The owner of the farm is a keen photographer and dedicated to supporting wildlife.
“He set up a hide for himself and over time he has developed it and now lets others like myself take advantage of it.”
He added: “It was an early morning start as the idea is to get into the hide before daylight and stay until dusk so as to not disturb the birds.
“Buzzards can be very timid until they start to feed, then they are more concerned with eating and the other birds coming in trying to steal their food.”
The judges were so impressed with the quality of shots this year they even introduced a judges’ pick section, as well as gold, silver and bronze awards.
One of the gold winners was a shot of a heron trying to eat a very plucky weasel. Despite looking as if there is no way out for the creature, it did eventually bite the heron’s face and escape.
One of the judges’ choice winners was John-erik Ellingsen ,who found a family of kestrels nesting in Richmond Park, London.
Another gold winner was professional wildlife photographer Gary Jones, who took eight days to get his dramatic shot of an osprey diving in Aviemore.