You be the Judge: Small « Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

You be the Judge: Small

You Be the Judge: Small in the Frame

As regular readers know, the judging for the BIRDS AS ART 1st International Bird Photography Competition has been complete for some time. All of the judges including me were stunned by the quality of the images. We have been and will continue to be posting all of the images that were sent to the judges category by category. Each of you will have a chance to judge each category. Please read the directions below carefully. Your votes will not determine the winning images but it has been and will continue to be fun to see how everyone’s votes compare to the votes of the judges. So far the top pick of the public vote has matched the top pick of the judge’s panel in three of the six categories. I am betting that they match up perfectly in Small in the Frame.

With 422 images, this was a popular category. The 19 images sent to the five judges showed the strength of the category. Here is yet another big time thank you to Darrell, Chris, Julie, and Tim. And a big time thanks also to Peter Kes and Denise Ippolito for pitching in during the first rounds of image selection. We worked very hard for nearly three full days to get from more than 5500 images down to the final 163.

From the rules: Small in the Frame/Environmental category: images of a bird or flocks of birds in their natural habitat.

Before you vote, please sure to click on each image so that you can view it at full size. Then pick your five favorites and vote them 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 with 5 being your very favorite. Like this:

Roseate Spoonbills squabbling: 5
Siskins fighting: 4
Snowy Egrets midair combat: 3
Great Crested Grebe displaying: 2
Common Tern feeding chick: 1

The “Sample Vote” above is for illustrative purposes only. Please do not let the sample vote, the votes of others, or the names assigned to the images influence your vote. Please put each of your five favorites on its own line by hitting “enter” after each one. No ties; please assign a single digit, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 to each of your five favorites. As you will see there are a great many dramatic images here.

Please Note

If you wish to comment on any or all of the images, please do so below your five voting lines; this will make tallying the votes easier. Votes cast by those who fail to follow the formatting directions will be relegated to the Trash Bin.

The voting will be closed in about two days and the actual winning images for this category will be posted soon thereafter. A tally of the public vote along with my analysis and comments will follow.

Thanks for voting and please remember to breathe deeply and have fun.

Heron Silhouette

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Bear & Wagtail

.

African White Pelicans Fishing

.

Herons and Falls

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Coot Silhouette

.

Heavenly Cormorant

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Flamingo Aerial

.

Stilt in Mangroves

.

Savannah Sparrow Singing

.

Eagle Silhouette

.

Bearded Tit on Reed

.

Bird-scape

.

Bramblings & Siskins

.

Oxpecker on Cape Buffalo

.

Sunbird on Blossom

.

Swan-scape

.

Flamingo Patterns

.

White-Eye in Canopy

.

Cattle Egret Mist

77 comments to You be the Judge: Small

  • Carol Nichols

    Heron Silhouette: 5
    Bear & Wagtail: 4
    Cattle Egret Mist: 3
    Stilt in Mangroves: 2
    Herons and Falls: 1

    Wow! Amazing photos.

  • For me so far, this was the strongest category. Congrats to all. It was tough to narrow down.

    Beared Tit 5
    Heron silhouette 4
    Frlamingo Aerial 3
    Oxpecker 2
    Heavenly Cormorant 1

  • Ted Willcox

    #5 – Bear and Wagtail
    #4 – Swan-Scape
    #3 – Bird-Scape
    #2 – Stilt in Mangroves
    #1 – Cattle Egret Mist
    What a great category, so many outstanding images. My favourite category so far!!

  • Nancy Bell

    Heron Silhouette 5
    Bear & wagtail 4
    Herons & falls 3
    Oxpecker 2
    Coot silhouette 1

  • Bear and Wagtail: 5
    Bearded Tit on Reed: 4
    Heron Silhouette: 3
    Herons and Falls: 2
    Swan Scape: 1

  • Chris Wyatt

    Heron Silhouette -5
    Bear and Wagtail-4
    Heron and Falls-3
    Savannah Sparrow Singing-2
    Bearded Tit on Reed-1

  • Mark A Jordan

    Herons and Falls: 5
    Heron Silhouette: 4
    Heavenly Cormorant: 3
    Bear & Wagtail: 2
    Bearded Tit on Reed: 1

  • Bear & Wagtail — 5
    Swan scape — 4
    Coot Silhouette — 3
    Sunbird on Blossom — 2
    Bird Scape — 1

  • 5. Flamingo Aerial
    4. Cattle Egret Mist
    3. Heron Silhouette
    2. Bear and Wagtail
    1. Herons and Falls

  • 5.) Bear & Wagtail
    4.) Oxpecker
    3.) Savannah Sparrow Singing
    2.) Stilt in Mangroves
    1.) Herons & Falls

  • Savannah Sparrow Singing: 5
    Heron Silhouette: 4
    Bear and Wagtail: 3
    Swan-scape: 2
    Oxpecker: 1

  • Greg Payne

    Heron silhouette: 5
    Cattle egret mist: 4
    Coot silhouette: 3
    Savannah sparrow singing: 2
    Bear and wagtail: 1

  • Bear & Wagtail – 5
    Herons and Falls – 4
    Savannah Sparrow Singing – 3
    Stilt in Mangroves – 2
    Heron Silhouette – 1

  • I should’ve read the instructions better, please reverse my ratings.

  • 1. Swanscape
    2. Bear and Wagtail
    3. Heron Silouette
    4. Bearded Tit On Reed
    5. Oxpecker

  • Julie A

    1. Bear and Wagtail
    2. Heron and falls
    3. Bearded Tit on Reed
    4. Heron Silhouette
    5. Coot Silhouette

  • Bramblings and Siskins – 5
    Bearded Tit – 4
    Oxpecker – 3
    Bear and Wagtail – 2
    Cattle Egret Mist – 1

    Easy and fun to choose these. A nice collection of pictures!

  • 5 – Bear & Wagtail
    4 – Coot Silhouette
    3 – Oxpecker
    2 – Savannah Sparrow Singing
    1 – Bearded Tit on Reed

    So painful judging such quality work, great work all…

  • Peter Noyes

    Bear and Wagtail 5
    Savanah Sparrow Singing 4
    Bearded Tit on Reed 3
    Heron and Falls 2
    Birdscape 1

  • Melissa Groo

    Wowee, there are some absolutely incredible images here. Tough call but here goes

    5 – Heavenly Cormorant
    4 – Flamingo Aerial
    3 – African White Pelicans Fishing
    2 – Bear and Wagtail
    1 – Bearded Tit on Reed

    Congratulations to all the finalists, what a talented bunch.

  • Ed Celnicker

    Heron Silhouette – 5
    Herons and Falls – 4
    Heavenly Cormorant – 3
    Beared Tit of Reed – 2
    Bear and Wagtail – 1

  • Tom Lamb

    Coot Silhouette: 5
    Swan-scape: 4
    Bramblings & Siskins: 3
    Heron Silhouette: 2
    Heavenly Cormorant: 1

  • Paul A Thomas

    Bearded Tit in Reed – 5
    Heron Silhouette – 4
    Savannah Sparrow Singing – 3
    Sunbird in Blossom – 2
    Oxpecker – 1

  • Debbie Zilli

    Savannah Sparrow Singing – 5
    Bear & Wagtail – 4
    Oxpecker – 3
    Sunbird on Blossom – 2
    Bearded Tit on Reed – 1

    Beautiful pictures, congrats to all the photographers! Again, really hard to choose….

  • Chuck

    Bear and Wagtail – 5
    Swan-scape – 4
    Heron Silhouette – 3
    Heavenly Cormorant – 2
    Coot Silhouette – 1

  • Heron Silhouette: 5
    Herons and Falls: 4
    Coot Silhouette: 3
    Swan-scape: 2
    Eagle Silhouette: 1

  • Jim Longworth

    Bearded Tit on Reed – 5
    Oxpecker – 4
    Flamingo Patterns – 3
    Flamingo Aerial – 2
    African White Pelicans Fishing – 1

  • Lisa

    CATTLE EGRET MIST 5
    SWAN SCAPE 4
    BERDED TIT ON REED 3
    SAVANNAH SPARROW SINGING 2
    FLAMINGO AERIAL 1

  • Phil Ertel

    Heron Silhouette: 5
    Bear & Wagtail: 4
    Herons and Falls; 3
    Heavenly Cormorant: 2
    Savannah Sparrow Singing: 1

  • Geoff

    Bearded Tit – 5
    Heron Silhouette – 4
    Herons and Falls – 3
    Heavenly Cormorant – 2
    Bear and Wagtail – 1

  • Pam Scott

    Swan Scape: 5
    Heron Silhouette: 4
    Herons and Falls: 3
    Bearded Tit on Reed: 2
    Bear and Wagtail: 1

    Congratulations to all.

  • Heron in Falls -5
    Heron Silhouette -4
    Coot Silhouette- 3
    Bearded Tit on Reed – 2
    Ox pecker – 1

    Great Pics all!!!

  • Bob Schwartz

    Heron Silhouette-5
    Bear & Wagtail-4
    Herons and Falls-3
    Savannah Sparrow Singing-2
    Bearded Tit on Reed-1

    Hard to narrow it down to just five. they were all terrific!

  • Deirdre Sheerr-Gross

    Swan-Scape: 5
    Bearded Tit on Reed: 4
    Flamingo Aerial: 3
    Cattle Egret Mist: 2
    Oxpecker: 1

    …and so many others made my list

  • Col Seller

    Brown Bear and Wagtail: 5
    Swan-scape: 4
    Bearded Tit on Reed: 3
    Bird-scape: 2
    Savannah Sparrow singing: 1

  • Don McNally

    Heron Silhouette: 5
    Savannah Sparrow Singing: 4
    Stilt in Mangroves: 3
    Bear & Wagtail: 2
    Heron and Falls: 1

    Great captures all !

  • These images are truely amazing. Congratulations to those of you who captured them. Don’t know If I can narrow it down to 5 and I imagine this was a tough one for the judges.

  • Gary Felker

    5 Heron silhouette
    4 Heron Falls
    3 Bear and Wagtail
    2 Bearded Tit
    1 Birdscape

  • Heron Silhouette: 5
    Swan-scape: 4
    Cattle Egret Mist: 3
    Flamingo Patterns: 2
    Heavenly Cormorant: 1

    This was really tough! These are all spectacular images. It was hard to narrow it down to just 5. Congrats to all of the photographers who made it this far!

  • John Giatropoulos

    Heron Silhouette 5
    Swan-scape 4
    Herons and Falls 3
    Savannah Sparrow Singing 2
    OxPecker 1

  • Brenda Moseley

    Bear and Wagtail; 5
    Swan-scape; 4
    Herons and Falls; 3
    Flamingo Aerial; 2
    Heron Silhouette; 1

    All lovely images.

  • I am abstaining from voting since the flamingo aerial shot is mine. I have always loved flamingos so last year when I was in Kenya I chartered a small 4 seater Cessna so I could fly over a lake that had over a million flamingos on it. Totally surreal experience and glad I get to share the experience. Congrats to my fellow finalists, it is a honor to be in such company.

  • Bearded Tit on Reed – 5
    Sunbird on Blossom – 4
    Cattle Egret Mist – 3
    Oxpecker – 2
    Heron Silhouette – 1

    Lovely shots – as usual – hard to choose.

    Cheers,

    Bernie

  • Frank Kratofil

    Heavenly Cormorant. 5
    Herons and fall. 4
    Flamingo Patterns. 3
    Heron Silohette. 2
    Bear and wagtail 1

  • 5- Oxpecker
    4- Bear & Wagtail
    3- Heron Silhouette
    2- Swan-scape
    1- Flamingo Aerial

    Nice shots! Congrats to all who made it here!

  • Arla

    Bearded tit on reed: 5
    Heron Silhouette: 4
    Coot silhouette: 3
    Swan-scape: 2
    Savannah sparrow singing: 1

  • Heron Silhouette – 5
    Birdscape – 4
    Herons and Falls – 3
    Heavenly Cormorant – 2
    Cattle Egret in Mist – 1 (close tie with stilt in mangrove and savannah sparrow singing)

    I’d be happy to have taken any of the 19 photos shown!

  • Gail Beerman

    Bear & Wagtail: 5
    Bearded Tit on Reed: 4
    Sunbird on Blossom: 3
    Cattle Egret Mist: 2
    Savannah Sparrow Singing: 1

  • Renato Fernandez

    Herons and falls – 5
    Flamingo patterns – 4
    Flamingo aerial – 3
    Heavenly cormorant – 2
    Birdscape – 1

  • Doug Zoern

    Bearded Tit on Reed – 5
    Bird-scape – 4
    Bear & Wagtail – 3
    Savannah Sparrow Singing – 2
    Heron Silhouette – 1