Cuckoo do you think you are? Tiny sedge warbler taunts a bird twice his size in this year’s best nature photograph – with a cute red squirrel, giant manta ray and a bizarre blue gecko among the stunning finalists
- British photographer Keith Bannister captured the incredible image of a warbler taking on a cuckoo in York
- It came top in the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers’ Living World competition
- A stunning shot of an Emperor Penguin colony on Snow Hill Island in the Antarctic finished second
- Highly commended entries included a monkey in a Bangladesh jungle and sea eagles fighting in Japan
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A stunning shot of a cuckoo being taken on by a tiny warbler in York has won an international photography award.
British snapper Keith Bannister, 69, woke up at 3.30am to get the winning shot, which was picked ahead of hundreds of others in the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers’ Living World competition.
The image of the warbler facing up to the much larger cuckoo beat off incredible competition, with another Brit, 70-year-old adventurer Christine Matthews, finishing second with her shot of an Emperor Penguin colony in the Antarctic.
Former food scientist Peter Beesley from Peterborough was highly commended for his shot of Steller Sea Eagles fighting in Japan, as was Nafis Ameen’s image of a monkey in Bangladesh appearing to stare straight at the camera.
Among the other highly commended photos were a bright blue Sinai Agama lizard in Oman, a huge stingray gliding through the waters off the Cayman Islands and a red squirrel in the snow near Aviemore, Scotland.
Speaking about his winning entry, Mr Bannister said: ‘I had not been in the hide long when a male cuckoo landed on a perch, just in front of the hide, a sedge warbler came in from nowhere and started to mob the surprised cuckoo.
‘The cuckoo just hunched his back and stared at the warbler, who then started to back off.’
Colin Jones, director of the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers, said the winning image was chosen ‘due to its expert timing and capture in which fulfilled the theme of the competition.’
Keith Bannister’s shot of a tiny sedge warbler taking on a cuckoo, taken from a hide at 5.30am in York, has won the Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers’ Living World competition
This shot of an Emperor Penguin Colony on Snow Hill Island in the Antarctic was taken by 70-year-old British adventurer Christine Matthews following a three-mile trudge through the snow
A Capped Leaf monkey appears to star straight at the camera in the Satchori National Reserve Forest in Bangladesh
Among the highly commended images was this picture of a bright blue Sinai Agama lizard taken by Khalid Faraj Mubarak Al-Wadihi in Oman
American Craig Bill was diving off the Cayman Islands when he captured this huge stingray gliding through the waters
British snapper Peter Beesley was highly commended for his image of Steller Sea Eagles fighting in Hokkaido, Japan
Photographer Alan Jones captured this image of icebergs glowing pink in the Arctic night during the summer
Steve Wood, 66, from Chingford, travelled to Richmond Park in London to get this stunning image of a stag calling
The stunning Peyto Lake in Banff National Park, Canada, was also among the highly commended images in the competition
IT worker Paul Smith, from Suffolk, travelled north to Aviemore in Scotland to snap this red squirrel on a snowy day