You be the Judge: Flight « Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

You be the Judge: Flight

You Be the Judge: Flight

As regular readers know, the judging for the BIRDS AS ART 1st International Bird Photography Competition has been complete for some time. All of the judges including me were stunned by the quality of the images. We have been and will continue to be posting all of the images that were sent to the judges category by category. Each of you will have a chance to judge each category. Please read the directions below carefully. Your votes will not determine the winning images but it (usually) has been and will continue to be fun to see how everyone’s votes compare to the votes of the judges. So far the top pick of the public vote has matched the top pick of the judge’s panel in several categories and I think that that may be the case here despite there being so many strong images.

With 626 images entered, this was a hugely popular category. The 19 images sent to the five judges show the strength of the category. Here is yet another big time thank you to Darrell, Chris, Julie, and Tim. And a big time thanks also to Peter Kes and Denise Ippolito for pitching in during the first rounds of image selection. We worked very hard for nearly three full days to get from more than 5500 images down to the final 163.

Here we were looking for dramatic images of birds in flight.

Before you vote, please be sure to click on each image so that you can view it at full size. Then pick your five favorites and vote them 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 with 5 being your very favorite. Like this:

Roseate Spoonbills squabbling: 5
Siskins fighting: 4
Snowy Egrets midair combat: 3
Great Crested Grebe displaying: 2
Common Tern feeding chick: 1

Please do not let the votes of others or the names assigned to the images influence your vote. Please put each of your five favorites on its own line by hitting “enter” after each one. No ties; please assign a single digit, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 to each of your five favorites. As you will see there are a great many dramatic images here.

Please Note

If you wish to comment on any or all of the images, please do so below your five voting lines; this will make tallying the votes easier. Votes cast by those who fail to follow the formatting directions will be relegated to the Trash Bin.

The voting will be closed in about two days and the actual winning images for this category will be posted soon thereafter. A tally of the public vote along with my analysis and comments will follow.

Thanks for voting and please remember to breathe deeply and have fun. The two remaining categories will be covered when I return home from my upcoming bear boat trip in early August and the overall winner will be announced soon thereafter. Sorry for the added suspense. 🙂

Pallid Harrier looking back

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Harrier landing

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Bald Eagle taking flight

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Great Egret taking flight

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Arctic Tern kiting

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Malachite Kingfisher with prey

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Weaver approaching nest

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Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

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Short Eared Owl

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Burrowing Owl

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American Oystercatcher

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Bald Eagle in snow storm

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Long-billed Curlew

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Bald Eagle vertical

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Osprey touching down

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Whistling Duck quartet

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Forster’s Tern vertical

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Great Grey Owl braking

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Hummingbird at flower

81 comments to You be the Judge: Flight

  • avatar Jason Wu

    Harrier landing: 5
    Bald Eagle taking flight: 4
    Malachite Kingfisher with prey: 3
    Great Egret taking flight: 2
    American Oyster Catcher: 1

  • avatar Debbie Zilli

    5: Bald Eagle in snowstorm
    4: Harrier landing
    3: Hummingbird at flower
    2: Great Owl breaking
    1: Pallid Harrier looking back

  • Pallid Harrier looking back: 5
    Harrier landing: 4
    Great Egret taking flight: 3
    Hummingbird at flower: 2
    Weaver approaching nest: 1

  • avatar Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

    Voting in this category is now closed. You had some extra time as my flight from Dallas to Anchorage was delayed four hours for a brake job. I missed my connecting flight to Kodiak :).

  • Pallid Harrier looking back: 5
    Bald Eagle in snow storm: 4
    Malachite Kingfisher with prey: 3
    Scissor-tailed flycatcher: 2
    Great Egret taking flight: 1

  • Burrowing Owl: 5
    Harrier landing: 4
    Bald Eagle vertical: 3
    Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: 2
    Arctic Tern kiting: 1

    So many great photos, so few votes….

  • avatar Neill Crawford

    5- Kingfisher with prey
    4-Pallid Harrier looking back
    3-Bald Eagle in snow storm
    2-Osprey touching down
    1-Scissor tailed flycatcher

    Another wonderfully tough group of images….I loved them all…LOL

  • avatar Jim Richards

    5. Arctic Tern
    4. M. Kingfisher
    3. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
    2. Great Gray Owl
    1. Whistling-Ducks

  • avatar sharona

    Arctic tern kiting : 5
    Forster’s Tern vertical: 4
    Whistling Duck quartet :3
    American Oystercatcher :2
    Great Egret taking flight:1

  • avatar Sachi

    Bald Eagle in snow storm: 5
    Pallid Harrier looking back: 4
    Great Grey Owl braking: 3
    Arctic Tern kiting: 2
    Weaver approaching nest: 1

  • avatar Kathleen Hanika

    Weaver Approaching Nest: 5
    Great Grey Owl Braking: 4
    Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: 3
    Pallid Harrier looking back: 2
    Whistling duck quartet: 1

  • avatar Mark Hendricks

    Great Grey Owl braking-5
    Bald Eagle in snow storm-4
    Pallid Harrier looking back-3
    Weaver approaching nest-2
    Hummingbird at flower-1

  • avatar Deirdre Sheerr-Gross

    Pallid Harrier looking back: 5
    Osprey touching down: 4
    Bald Eagle vertical: 3
    Weaver approaching Nest: 2
    Great Grey Owl braking: 1

  • avatar Ted Willcox

    #5-Pallid Harrier Looking Back
    #4-Bald Eagle In Snow Storm
    #3-Harrier Landing
    #2-American Oyster Catcher
    #1-Osprey Touching Down
    What amazing images!!!

  • avatar Paule Hjertaas

    5. Malachite Kingfisher with prey
    4. Great Gray Owl braking
    3.Osprey Touching Down
    2. Whistling Duck quartet
    1. Weaver Approaching Nest

    All great photos; really enjoyed looking at them.

  • avatar Jennie Stock

    Pallid harrier landing : 5
    Arctic tern kiting : 4
    Bald eagle in snow: 3
    Great grey owl braking : 2
    Hummingbird at flower : 1

  • avatar Jim Longworth

    Malachite Kingfisher with prey: 5
    Bald Eagle in snow storm: 4
    Weaver Approaching Nest: 3
    Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: 2
    Osprey touching down: 1

  • 5 palid
    4 artic tern
    3 weaver
    2 great Gray owl
    1- great egret

    For obvious reasons, i have not voted for mine. Congrats to all! Stunning photos!

  • Weaver Approaching Nest: 5
    Great Grey Owl Braking: 4
    Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: 3
    Osprey Landing: 2
    Hummingbird at Flower: 1

    I really liked the Malachite Kingfisher but it ran out of feather detail just beyond the eye.

  • avatar Kathleen Freeborn

    Awesome awesome awesome

  • avatar Kathleen Freeborn

    Bald Eagle in Snowstorm: 5
    Bald eagle vertical:4
    Bald eagle taking flight:3
    American Oystercatcher:2
    Great Grey owl breaking:1

  • 5 – Weaver approaching nest
    4 – Great Grey Owl braking
    3 – Bald Eagle vertical
    2 – Pallid Harrier looking back
    1 – Osprey touching down

    What great work, wonderful photographs…

  • Pallid Harrier looking back: 5
    Bald Eagle in snow storm: 4
    Harrier landing: 3
    Whistling Duck quartet: 2
    Osprey touching down: 1

  • avatar Martha Decker

    Pallid Harrier looking back: 5
    Weaver Approaching Nest: 4
    Malachite Kingfisher with prey: 3
    Scissor-tailed flycatcher: 2
    Great Grey Owl Breaking: 1

  • avatar Mark A Jordan

    Malachite Kingfisher with prey: 5
    Weaver Approaching Nest: 4
    Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: 3
    Pallid Harrier looking back: 2
    Bald Eagle vertical: 1