Apple eating Fieldfare wins major Bird Photography competition

The Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers (SINWP) have announced the winners of the SINWP Bird Photographer of the Year 2023 in aid of RSPB competition. The winning entry was ‘Winter Fieldfare’ Gianpiero Ferrari from Leicestershire, England.

The award’s second place went to Robert Gloeckner from Florida, USA and 3rd place was awarded to Kevin Rooney from Gloucestershire, England.

From The Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers:

Now in its sixth year, The Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers are delighted to announce the winners of the SINWP Bird Photographer of the Year 2023 in aid of RSPB.

With over 1,750 photographs entered this competition from around the globe. We have seen everything from bald eagles, owls, kingfishers, penguins, and everything in between, and the quality has been stunning.

The winning entry by Gianpiero Ferrari from Leicestershire, England was of an apple munching fieldfare on a very snowy day, entitled ‘Winter Fieldfare’

The competition was adjudicated by our three specialists Charles Farnell ARPS, Jon Ashton ARPS and Tracey Lund FSINWP. Mike McNamee chaired the proceedings.

Thank you to all entrants for sharing your work with us at the same time as benefitting the RSPB to the tune of £2,273.42 bringing the total raised by this competition to £13,271 over the six years it has been running. It once again has been a pleasure! JA CF TL MMcN.

Gianpiero tells us – “The shot is from my home garden in Leicestershire, UK. After a snowfall during the night, several Fieldfare came in the garden to take advantage of the apple that I provided. This one was very aggressive and took over the entire garden chasing away all the other birds. I started to take some pictures from the house through a window, but I was not happy with the composition. I thought a ground level composition would have been much better. So first I had to build a pile of snow to use as a background and then lay on the ground under a camouflage blanket, waiting for the bird to return to eat the apples’’.

2nd place was awarded to Robert Gloeckner from Florida, USA and 3rd place was awarded to Kevin Rooney from Gloucestershire, England.