Pictures of the month 2024
January
Water Rail © George Walthew, Kings Dyke, 27 January 2024
Bob Titman chose January's Picture of the Month
“I was impressed by the varied selection of photographic compositions this month. Of these, I would firstly like to commend Garth Peacock for his Fieldfare photograph and Roger Hardie for his Great Spotted Woodpecker. However, my choice for the January’s photo of the month goes to George Walthew for his Water Rail photograph.
This is a beautifully composed (he probably chose the spot and waited for the shot) and immaculately focused picture, which for me is enhanced by the generally secretive nature of the species, making it a much harder picture to obtain. Well done George.”
February
Starling © Simon Stirrup, Ouse Fen RSPB, 24 February 2024
Andrew Dobson selected February's Picture of the Month.
"There are fine portraits of some of our common resident species such as Roger Cresswell’s Little Grebe and Colin Brown’s Jackdaw. Our ‘waxwing winter’ continues with plenty of contributions of this photogenic species, and Jon Heath’s photo of a flock enables an accurate count. However, the series of photos by Simon Stirrup of the starling murmuration at Ouse Fen really took my breath away. As someone who loves cetaceans, I was very tempted to select the ‘whale’, but I’ve chosen the photo he has captured so perfectly of thousands of starlings blackening the sky at dusk —it’s totally absorbing. It could pass for an abstract painting. Why not visit the reserve to experience the murmuration for yourself?"
March
Grey Heron © Bob Steed, Fowlmere RSPB, 27 March 2024
Joanna Kubica chose March's Picture of the Month.
"A great selection of images for this month, from bird portraits to birds in flight, as well as birds in their environment. What stands out the most to me though is the Grey Heron with a Pike by Bob Steed. What a fantastic shot showing bird behaviour! Getting a photo of a bird in action requires great skills to react instantly at the scene. The photo perfectly captures the moment of a heron with its prey just before the demise of the pike. It also shows the bird in an interesting unusual pose - a frontal shot which is not common in bird photography but at the same time it greatly shows the prey at full length!
I also like the Cormorant by Tracey Graves - an interesting frame, it feels as if the Cormorant is deeply thinking about something which makes it intriguing. It's also lovely to see it in the breeding plumage (white patch on the thigh and white head feathers). Another vote goes to Whooper Swans by Matthew Webb. A great use of light making it look very artistic as well as capturing the birds in their natural environment combined with an urban factor in the background adds a nice finish to the overall result!"
April
Whinchat © Jon Heath, Swaffham Prior Fen, 17 April 2024
Donald Broom chose April's Picture of the Month:
"My eye was drawn to Roger Hardie’s Willow Warbler in full song and Ian Dale’s two contributions of Little Gull and Yellow Wagtail. My selection for April, however, is Jon Heath’s Whinchat, the first of two photos of this active little bird, difficult to get so sharply in focus and contrasting well with the background."
May
Great Reed Warbler © Simon Stirrup, Ouse Fen RSPB, 18 May 2024
Arjun Dutta chose May's Picture of the Month:
As May saw a gradual transition from spring to summer, the majority of the birds focused upon by wildlife watchers have been breeding summer migrants. Raptors such as Hobby have been especially popular, as evidenced by a number of the month's submissions. A few notable scarcities also appeared in the county in May, including Red-footed Falcon at Fen Drayton and Great Reed Warbler at Ouse Fen. The latter I was lucky to see and hear myself, though it proved difficult to get good views of. For that reason, the image captured by Simon Stirrup of the bird is my photo of the month. Far from easy to nail, yet managed with excellent composition and lighting. Great stuff!
June
Marsh Harrier © Simon Stirrup, location withheld, 7 June 2024
June's winner was chosen by Jill and Jeremy Aldred
A lot of very good photos, but the one that stood out for us was Simon Stirrup's Marsh Harrier. Technically good - beautifully framed, in good light, and capturing an aspect of bird behaviour, but at the same time it's hard not to smile at the nesting material, which is longer than the bird itself! There are a couple of other photos we think deserve a special mention. One is George Walthew's picture of the Kingfisher bursting out of the water at Kings Dyke, which is an excellent action shot of a bird more often photographed perched. The other is the second of Garth Peacock's two images of the Great Reed Warbler at Ouse Fen, an individual that was photographed multiple times during its stay but looking at this particular photo you can almost hear it shouting.
July
Tree Sparrow © Sue Sutherland, Hail Weston, 17 July 2024
July's bird was chosen by Andrew Dobson
The CBC gallery provides keen and casual photographers with the opportunity to share their bird photos. I am always envious of those lucky enough to capture a rarely seen bird in the county, such as James Hanlon’s Montagu’s Harrier and Trace Graves’ Black-crowned Night Heron. I’m also impressed by ‘difficult to photograph’ birds, especially nocturnal ones such as Garth Peacock’s series of Tawny Owls. My choice for Photo of the Month is a species that has become increasingly scarce, perhaps rare in the county, the Tree Sparrow. Sue Sutherland was very lucky to follow the progress of a family of Tree Sparrows visiting a private garden in Hail Weston. The set of photos, and I’m sure there are more, provide evidence that the species is hanging on as a breeding bird in the county. Thank you for sharing your photos, Sue.
August
Common Buzzard © Simon Stirrup Aldreth, 19 August 2024
August's bird was chosen by Jon Heath
My choice for the August photo of the month is Simon’s Stirrup’s Common Buzzard. Simon has caught the raptor in a moment of action with the bird’s beak wide open and wings up, with the underwings illuminated by soft light contrasting nicely with the smooth background. It is likely this juvenile is begging for food – one of the sounds of the Cambs countryside in late summer. Other notable photos this month include Simon’s Merlin (Aldreth the raptor hotspot!), Garth’s Pink-footed Goose with open symmetrical wings, Cookie’s courting Coots, Tracey’s Yellow Wagtail in flight with a nice shadow, Roger’s Cattle Egret action shot, Gary’s cute Tawny Owlet, and Ian’s Moorhen feeding a damselfly prey to its young.
September
Osprey © Jon Heath, 6-8 September 2024, Milton Country Park, Cambridge
September's Photo of the Month was chosen by Guy and Reuben Belcher
"The fine selection of September chats, some of our favourite birds, were initially in line for the prize, particularly Alan Fersht’s cracking Whinchat shot. However, there is likely little surprise that the photogenic juvenile Osprey at Milton would claim photo of the month. Whilst the close-up perched shots were stunning, we were torn between two flight shots showing the power and focus of the bird - James Hanlon’s shot of the Osprey banking or beginning to dive and Jon Heath’s head on view. We finally agreed on Jon’s atmospheric shot of the more distant bird emerging from the water (we don’t know the outcome), the reflected trees and epic splash bring a touch of the wilds to Milton Country Park and one can imagine having to spend a considerable sum of money to use a Scottish photography hide to capture such an image."