Pat Martin, OUT OF THE BLUE (ANIMAL & NATURE 2024)

OUT OF THE BLUE I often walk in a nearby reserve and greatly enjoy the native flora and fauna. The air is filled with bird sounds – warnings, socialising and whatever else birds ‘sing’ about. Sometimes there is a sudden silence and I know that if I look up, I will see a raptor. Usually it will be a Square-tailed Kite whose territory it seems to be, but once I was delighted to see a juvenile Peregrine Falcon perched high up on a dead tree branch, looking down in search of prey. Below in tree canopies and other hiding places, the small birds wait. My photos tell this story: high up are the raptors which may suddenly appear out of the blue and take a small unsuspecting bird such as a Western Spinebill or a Dusky Woodswallow, as shown here, always wary and looking around but sometimes not fast enough to avoid their fate. I chose to leave the blue colours as they were, even though the blue of the sky is always different from one day to the next, as can be seen here.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.