You Be the Judge: Flight
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 (usually) 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 several categories and I think that that may be the case here despite there being so many strong images.
With 626 images entered, this was a hugely popular category. The 19 images sent to the five judges show 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.
Here we were looking for dramatic images of birds in flight.
Before you vote, please be 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
Please do not let 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. The two remaining categories will be covered when I return home from my upcoming bear boat trip in early August and the overall winner will be announced soon thereafter. Sorry for the added suspense. 🙂
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Pallid Harrier looking back |
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Harrier landing |
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Bald Eagle taking flight |
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Great Egret taking flight |
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Arctic Tern kiting |
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Malachite Kingfisher with prey |
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Weaver approaching nest |
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Scissor-tailed Flycatcher |
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Short Eared Owl |
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Burrowing Owl |
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American Oystercatcher |
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Bald Eagle in snow storm |
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Long-billed Curlew |
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Bald Eagle vertical |
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Osprey touching down |
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Whistling Duck quartet |
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Forster’s Tern vertical |
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Great Grey Owl braking |
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Hummingbird at flower |
Really tough to choose..each one is outstanding and I can imagine how hard it is going to be for the judges..
Tough yes, but we need your help. So vote!
Pallid Harrier looking back: 5
Whistling Duck Quartet: 4
Harrier landing: 3
Bald Eagle in snow storm: 2
Osprey touching down: 1
Pallid harrier-5
Grey owl-4
Weaver-3
Hummer-2
ducks-1
All amazing images! Congratulations to all
Fantastic Photos
so hard to pick
Pallid Harrier looking back:5
Bald Eagle Vertical:4
Artic Tern:3
Great Grey Owl braking:2
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher
Arctic Tern kiting – 5
Malachite Kingfisher with prey – 4
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher – 3
Great Grey Owl braking – 2
Bald Eagle taking flight – 1
Harrier landing: 5
Weaver Approaching Nest: 4
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: 3
Osprey touching down: 2
Whistling Duck quartet: 1
Malachite Kingfisher; 5
Arctic Tern Kiting: 4
Scissor-tail Flycatcher: 3
Osprey touching down:2
Pallid Harrier looking back: 1
Pallid Harrier Looking Back – 5
Arctic Tern Kiting – 4
Weaver Approaching Nest – 3
Harrier Landing – 2
Great Gray Owl Braking – 1
Pallid Harrier looking back – 5
Bald Eagle vertical – 4
Weaver approaching nest – 3
Arctic Tern kiting – 2
Osprey touching down – 1
Pallid Harrier looking back : 5
Arctic Tern kiting : 4
Malachite Kingfisher with prey :3
Bald Eagle in snow storm : 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher : 1
Pallid harrier looking back : 5
Bald Eagle in snowstorm : 4
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher : 3
Great Gray Owl braking : 2
Osprey touching down : 1
Pallid Harrier looking back: 5
Malachite Kingfisher with prey – 4
Great Gray Owl braking 3
Bald Eagle in snowstorm 2
Whistling Duck quartet: 1
Weaver approaching nest: 5
Whistling Duck quartet: 4
Malachite Kingfisher with prey: 3
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: 2
Hummingbird at flower: 1
Collections like these sure make me want to try harder!
Malachite Kingfisher with prey – 5
Weaver approaching nest – 4
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher – 3
American Oyster Catcher – 2
Great Grey Owl braking – 1
Weaver at nest: 5
Bald Eagle in Snow storm: 4
Malachite Kingfisher with prey: 3
Great Egret taking flight: 2
Great Grey Owl braking: 1
5 Weaver at nest
4 Hummer at flower
3 Whistling ducks
2 Harrier landing
1 Scissor-tailed flcatcher
Osprey touching down: 5
Short Eared Owl: 4
Whistling Duck Quartet: 3
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: 2
Great Grey Owl braking: 1
Very strong images. They are all winners!
Arctic Tern kiting: 5
Long-billed Curlew: 4
Weaver approaching nest: 3
Bald Eagle in snow storm: 2
Hummingbird at flower: 1
Pallid harrier looking back 5
Osprey touching down 4
Great Gray Owl braking 3
Bald Eagle in snowstorm 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 1
Artic Tern kiting: 5
Harrier landing: 4
Burrowing Owl: 3
Great Grey Owl braking: 2
Whistling Duck quartet: 1
All are amazing images!
Weaver approaching nest: 5
Great grey owl braking: 4
Malachite kingfisher with prey: 3
Arctic tern kiting: 2
Great egret taking flight: 1
Great Grey Owl braking: 5
Harrier landing: 4
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: 3
Arctic Tern kiting: 2
Pallid Harrier looking back: 1
Weaver approaching nest 5
Great gray owl braking 4
Osprey Touching Down 3
Scissor Tailed Flycatcher 2
Artic tern kiting 1
Malachite Kingfisher; 5
Pallid Harrier looking back; 4
Bald Eagle in Snow Storm; 3
Harrier Landing, 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher; 1
All beautiful images.
5 Great Gray Owl Landing
4 Harrier Landing
3 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
2 Arctic Tern Kiting
1 Long-billed Curley
Weaver Approaching Nest: 5
Great Owl Braking: 4
Bald Eagle in Snow Storm: 3
Malachite King Fisher with Prey: 2
Arctic Tern Kiting: 1
Pallid Harrier looking back: 5
Egret taking flight: 4
Opsrey touching down: 3
Arctic Tern: 2
Malachite Kingfisher: 1
A very difficult choice as they are all super! Congrats to all selected. You are all winners!
Pallid Harier looking back: 5
Malachite Kingfisher with prey: 4
Whistling Duck Quartet: 3
Weaver approaching nest: 2
Great Grey Owl braking: 1
These pictures are all great. Congratulations to all.
Pallid Harrier looking back: 5
Arctic tern kiting: 4
Hummingbird at flower: 3
Osprey touching down: 2
Bald eagle vertical: 1
Wow, difficult to choose! All of the above plus the Scissor-tailed flycatcher and short-eared owl and bald eagle taking flight are equally cool. The pics really should be viewed enlarged to bring out all the details in the feathers and eyes. I would have voted for the kingfisher with its great colors, except, there is something in that picture that strikes me as odd. But maybe that’s just the rendering on my screen.
Harrier landing: 5
Burrowing Owl: 4
Whistling Duck quartet: 3
Osprey touching down: 2
Arctic Tern kiting: 1
Whistling Duck quartet: 5
Great Grey Owl braking: 4
Bald Eagle in snow storm: 3
Hummingbird at flower: 2
Pallid Harrier looking back: 1
Awesome shots!!
5 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
4 Pallid Harrier looking back
3 Arctic Tern kiting
2 Weaver approaching nest
1 Great Grey Owl braking
honorable mention Whistling Duck quartet
Scissor Tailed Flycatcher : 5
Harrier Landing :4
Long Billed Curlew:3
Great Owl Braking: 2
Osprey Touching Down:1
Would be glad to call any/all mine
Pallid Harrier looking back: 5
Malachite Kingfisher with prey: 4
Bald Eagle in snow storm: 3
Whistling Duck Quartet: 2
Harrier landing: 1
Artie, you are making this harder with every round 🙂 stunning shots, all of them.
Agree. This grouping is super-strong. Wait till you see Portraits! Thanks for voting KD.
the way things were going, I had seen this coming….every subsequent category harder than the previous. Yes, can’t wait to see the portraits.
Pallid harrier 5
weaver 4
hummer 3
arctic tern 2
great gray 1
This was a tough category.
Pallid Harrier Looking Back: 5
Malachite Kingfisher with Prey: 4
Great Grey Owl Braking: 3
Weaver Approaching Nest: 2
Arctic Tern Kiting: 1
Wow! Great images.
No vote from me … they are all outstanding … it is like a downhill ski race … the margin of difference is negligible … well done all.
Hey Toby. Dig deep and let us know your five favorites in order!
Osprey touching down: 5
Harrier landing: 4
Malachite Kingfisher with prey: 3
Weaver approaching nest: 2
Tern kiting: 1
What a wonderful series of flight images! Congratulations to all.
Pallid Harrier looking back – 5
Great Owl breaking – 4
Malachite Kingfisher – 3
Arctic Tern kiting – 2
Bald Eagle vertical – 1
Holy guacamole these were good!
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher – 5
Osprey touching down – 4
Malachite Kingfisher with prey – 3
Harrier landing – 2
Great Grey Owl braking – 1
A great crop of photographs as usual!
Bernie
5 Pallid harrier looking back
4 Weaver approaching nest
3 Burrowing Owl
2 Great Grey Owl braking
1 Bald Eagle vertical
WOW!
Back later to vote…
Malachite Kingfisher with Prey 5
Harrier Landing 4
Weaver Approaching Nest 3
Sciessor Tailed Flycatcher 2
Bald Eagle in Snowstorm 1
Bald Eagle Snow storm – 5
Burrowing owl – 4
Great grey owl braking – 3
Arctic term kiting – 2
Weaver approaching nest – 1
Great Grey Owl braking: 5
Short Eared Owl: 4
Whistling Duck quartet: 3
Hummingbird at flower: 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: 1
Great Grey Owl Braking: 5
Harrier Looking Back: 4
Weaver Approaching Nest: 3
Hummingbird at Flower: 2
Bald Eagle Vertical: 1
Malachite Kingfisher 5
Osprey touching down 4
Scissor-tail Flycatcher 3
Arctic Tern Kiting 2
Short-eared Owl 1
These are all great shots!
Arctic Tern Kiting: 5
Pallid Harrier Looking Back: 4
Osprey Touching Down: 3
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: 2
American Oystercatcher: 1
Great Grey Owl braking – 5
Malachite Kingfisher with prey – 4
Pallid Harrier looking back – 3
Great Egret taking flight – 2
Burrowing Owl – 1
Pallid Harrier looking back: 5
Great Grey Owl braking: 4
Whistling Duck Quartet: 3
Osprey touching down: 2
Bald Eagle in snow storm: 1
Wonderful collection of images here. I would be proud of any of them.