The 2023 BirdLife Australia photography winners – in pictures

During a walk along the Victoria Quay in Fremantle I was shooting some photos of the seagulls flying around me. I noticed there were moments where they would fly directly above me. I tried for a shot like this one a few times but failed until I eventually captured one of the birds scratching itself mid-flight
Superb singers, pollen showers and some jambalaya on the bayou. The winners of the sixth annual BirdLife Australia Bird Photography awards have been announced
Portfolio prize winner

To capture this sequence I spent two full days a week for a two-month period at the same location, observing and learning the behaviours of the spotted harriers in the Richmond area of NSW. I became attuned to their daily routine and achieved many closeup flight shots. On this day, however, the spotted harrier came from an unexpected direction, at an unexpected time and it brought unexpected company with it – a brown falcon
Birds in the landscape shortlist

It was a magically still and misty morning at the Alcoa wetlands in Wellard, Western Australia, with a flock of pelicans and a couple of pied stilts waiting for the rising sun. I liked the changing light on the birds from left to right in relation to the rising sun
Special theme winner

The somewhat messy but beautifully coloured background in Perth inspired the title of this image. For those of you who don’t know, the Carpenters released a hit song in the 70s called Jambalaya (On the Bayou). It was a happy song with a tuneful beat, and it spoke of life on the bayou … my thoughts of a bayou include water everywhere, flooded cypress trees with Spanish moss hanging from their branches, and swampland with wading birds
Bird portrait winner

Just on sunset a female Australasian darter looks up from preening after her final successful fishing session for the day at Lake Macquarie in NSW. These birds are so angular it is difficult to get an interesting composition. This shot captures what these birds do under water. One can imagine this is the last thing a fish sees as the long neck launches that bill, piercing it as a spear fisher would
Related posts:
Back yard birds winner

There are several families of superb blue wrens living at my mother’s place, and I often sit and watch them popping around her garden in Tamworth. They are such happy little birds
Bird behaviour winner

I had spent several weeks returning to the same area of Kaiserstuhl conservation park in South Australia, watching and photographing a wide variety of native birds feeding on the grass trees. After taking a lot of front-lit shots, I set myself the challenge of getting some ‘last light’ backlit shots, capturing some behaviour with warmer light. I knew the instant I checked the back of the camera with this image that I’d captured a special moment, as the bird showered itself in pollen as it plucked the flower from the stem!
Birds in landscape winner

Bird portrait shortlist

We were driving in Tully Gorge national park and pulled off the road. To our surprise, this young southern cassowary was standing there. He was as curious about us as we were about him – while maintaining a safe distance! I love the tilt of his head and the way his casque looks like a cap, which I have emphasised with the way I have cropped the photo
Birds in flight winner

Being able to capture both the ‘fingertips’ of the feathers in flight and the cockatoo’s head and feet in the background makes this a magical image for me. Shooting in burst mode enabled me to capture just the right composition
Human impact winner

One night in April I went down to pick up a passenger off the late ferry. The Macleay Island jetty (then still under reconstruction) was deserted except for myself and this attentive bush stone-curlew
Youth shortlist

Walking around the lake at sunrise, I came across this scarlet robin flitting around in the trees. I positioned myself so the bird lined up with a tree in the background, as I didn’t want a silhouette, and I underexposed the image a little, which allowed me to retain detail in the brighter parts of the photo and avoid blowing out the beautiful rim lighting around the bird and the sun filtering through the trees
Birds in flight shortlist

Sitting and watching the sunset over a lagoon in outback Queensland, this galah flew down for its afternoon drink while being bathed in a golden glow. Seeing and understanding typical behaviours helped me achieve this shot, allowing myself to position around where the light on the subject and background would be
Birds in flight shortlist

Hovering! It’s what these birds do so well. I was trying to capture the movement in the wings so I lowered the shutter speed and used the side of the car to steady as I took the photo, hoping to keep a good focus on the eye. I find these black-shouldered kites contradictory in that as a bird of prey they have a certain softness to them. I think this photo shows that as well
Bird portrait shortlist

After scouting some locations the evening before, I arrived an hour before sunrise and got into a position for the compositions I wanted. Some obliging birds gave me a few opportunities. Eventually this pied oystercatcher posed in the perfect position long enough to hold focus and capture a silhouette portrait that’s bursting in colour from Perth’s city lights
Source: