Bird on a buffalo – stunning photographs showcased in SINWP Bird Photographer of the Year 2021
Alan Jones from Midlothian, Scotland with this winning image, Red-billed Oxpecker(Image credit: Alan Jones)
The Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers (SINWP) has announced the winners of the SINWP Bird Photographer of the Year 2021, which, now in its fourth year, is run in aid of the charity RSPB.
This year saw over 1,700 photographs entered from around the globe, and the images covered all wonders of the bird world from kingfishers, bald eagles, puffins and peacocks.
It was Alan Jonesfrom Midlothian, Scotland who won the competition, with his shot of a Red-billed Oxpecker sat on a buffalo's face.
"The image was taken at Zimanga reserve in the Kwa-Zulu Natal region of South Africa, in the Eastern Cape," Alan says. "The reserve has some amazing hides which allows you to collect images at water hole level. This hide allows overnight sessions and is well equipped, even including wi-fi which allowed me to post images taken during the night on Facebook!
The bird is a Red-billed Oxpecker, which is sitting on a buffalo's face. 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.''
Alan shot the image was taken with a Canon EOS 70D and Canon 100-400mm IS II USM lens at 100mm, using a manual exposure mode, 1/125sec at f/5.6, at ISO 1600.
Lauren is a writer, reviewer, and photographer with ten years of experience in the camera industry. She's the former Managing Editor of Digital Camera World, and previously served as Editor of Digital Photographer magazine, Technique editor for PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, and Deputy Editor of our sister publication, Digital Camera Magazine. An experienced journalist and freelance photographer, Lauren also has bylines at Tech Radar, Space.com, Canon Europe, PCGamesN, T3, Stuff, and British Airways' in-flight magazine (among others). When she's not testing gear for DCW, she's probably in the kitchen testing yet another new curry recipe or walking in the Cotswolds with her Flat-coated Retriever.
