Wildlife photography awards

But no computer wizardry was needed to capture these real-life angry birds. 

The four-strong band of starlings were photographed patrolling a London car park by Tomos Brangwyn.

The image, entitled 'London Starling Gang', beat off stiff competition at the annual photographic awards to win the urban wildlife category.

Barrie Williams, from Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland, beat thousands of entries to scooped the top prize for his striking image of seabirds nesting on cliffs over an inky-black sea. 

He was award the overall prize of £5,000 for his photograph of gannets in the Shetland Isles, described as 'beautiful and evocative' by the judges.

Extraordinary close-ups of fairy moss and a tiny mite walking over a frog's head and pictures of sunlight streaming through woods, a common lizard on a tree  were among the winning photographs.

Prizes were awarded in 16 categories, including for a documentary series of pictures won with photos about dealing with toads on roads in the North York Moors National Park, and a seasons category scooped by images of roe deer in Suffolk fields through the seasons.

In the junior categories, 10-year-old Max Eve, from Hexham, Northumberland, won the under-12s prize with his image of a blue-tailed damselfly, and Kyle Moore, 16, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, won the 12-18 years category for a shot of a frog in rain.

And Year 5 pupils at Meadowbrook Primary School, Bradley Stoke, Bristol, won the school award for their pictures of wildflowers and the insect wildlife they attract.

Mark Carwardine, zoologist, writer, photographer and broadcaster, said: 'The bar in wildlife photography has already been raised to unimaginably high levels of sophistication, innovation and artistic vision - yet the standard somehow continues to get better and better.

'This latest collection of images is testament to the sheer level of interest in wildlife in Britain and, above all, the remarkable abilities of our wildlife photographers.'

Of the overall winning image, judge Paul Wilkinson - head of living landscape at the Wildlife Trusts, said: 'Worlds collide in Barrie Williams's beautiful and evocative image, which demands a double-take, affording a unique insight into the habitat and behaviour of gannets.

'Sea cliffs provide a haven from potential predators, a place for birds to breed, hunt and safely raise the next generation.

'This vertigo-inducing shot shows guano-stained rocks, the bustle of lower ledges with birds packed tightly and gannets hunting over the inky seas below.'

He said the judges felt the unique perspective of the shot and its ability to reveal something new about seabird life made it a firm favourite.

Mr Williams described how he was blown away by the number of gannets when he visited Noss in the Shetlands, describing the scene as a 'seabird orchestra'.

'Looking down, it appeared to me that the gannets far below looked like stars against the dark backdrop of the sea. Add to this the nests scattered across the cliffs and I knew I had found my image,' he said.  

(dailymail.co.uk)