AWARDS: ENGLAND / WILTSHIRE / LAKE DISTRICT / WALES / SCOTLAND / COAST OF S.W. ENGLAND / COAST / STORMS / LAKES & MOUNTAINS / WINTER LANDSCAPES / DESERTS / ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY / BRITISH BIRDS 1 / BRITISH BIRDS 2 / BRITISH MAMMALS / BRITISH INSECTS / WORLD BIRDS / WORLD MAMMALS / NATURE
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