the 44th annual wildlife photographer of the year competition announces highly commended images.

Among the 83 best photos chosen for the exhibition in October are the Bee-eater ballet by Chris van Rooyen from South Africa and Starling genie by Bariş Koca from Turkey.

The competition is regarded as the international leader in the artistic representation of the natural world. This year it attracted a record 32,351 entries from 82 countries.
Bee-eater ballet image

When Chris’s boat moored on the Zambezi in Caprivi, Namibia, it became the perfect place from which to observe a colony of 1,000 bee-eaters.



The bee-eaters are expert aerial insect hunters, with a characteristic sailing style of flight, with little flapping, seen in the photograph (at the top of the page).

‘I had the distinct impression some were just having fun,’ said Chris. ‘They would weave around in the wind, hover in the updraft created by the riverbank, and then fold their wings to parachute back into the nest-hole’.

Competition judge Flip Nicklin says, ‘I loved this shot, it was so light and free it would have passed right by if not for the turn of the bird’s head.’

When asked to describe his entry Chris said, ‘This image embodies what I love about wildlife photography – the African continent, working with precision equipment, seeing fascinating behaviour and celebrating the unique beauty of birds.’

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