BLACK GROUSE FIGHTING AT LEK

A black grouse lek is one of Britain's greatest wildlife spectacles. I took up position in a hide on a remote Cairngorms moorland before the first hint of dawn light so the birds would not see me. As dawn broke, a group of males performed the most extraordinary display of strutting and calling, seemingly regardless of whether any females were watching. Occasionally the posturing spilled over into a brawl. A shutter speed of 1/1,000th second has caught the action here, though the head of the right-hand bird is slightly beyond the plane of focus at F/8.

F/8, 1/1,000th second, ISO 1600
Accepted: Cheltenham 2017

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