[IanF]

The competition theme for May 2005 is 'Birds and Water'.

From the 88 entries submitted 30 have been selected to be added to the voting booth.

The booth will remain open for the next eight days after which the winner will be announced.

The entries can be viewed as -

1. Slideshow
2. Thumbnails in reverse order of the voting booth
3. Thumbnails alaphatbetically

Best of luck everyone

[postcardcv]

I was amazed at some of the photos that went in the 'cull', but fortunately my fav was still there.

[IanF]

Yes it was tough deciding what to include and what to cut as there were so many very good entries.

Quite a few entries though still had information missing, this month mainly in respect of location taken, but some also for missing the common name, multiple entries and off topic subject matter. 76 qualified to be considered for the Voting Booth.

[postcardcv]

Originally Posted by IanF

Yes it was tough deciding what to include and what to cut as there were so many very good entries.

Quite a few entries though still had information missing, this month mainly in respect of location taken, but some also for missing the common name, multiple entries and off topic subject matter. 76 qualified to be considered for the Voting Booth.

I wasn't meaning it as a complaint, more a comment on how many excellent photos were in the competition.

[Neil]

I know the difficulty of selecting photographs for inclusion in a competition like this. I was a bit surprised that some of the photos selected did not show the birds in water and I don't think that light rain really qualifies as water. Just my opinion. Keep up the good work.

[IanF]

The theme title is 'Birds and Water' but was further defined in the posted rules as -

'The theme is further defined as being a photograph of a bird/birds interacting with water. This can be of birds bathing, in the rain, feeding in water, reflections in water, swimming and diving etc. As long as a bird or birds are invloved and the presence of water is in view and obvious.'

Presence of rain being one of the examples given. Water in view in any of it's forms would have sufficed, including the entries containing snow and ice.

[greypoint]

It's just about impossible to pick one [but I did!] - not just some technically good shots, but lots of unusual captures too. A great selection.

[christineredgate]

some excellent shots,but I did find one which really stood out from the rest.Good luck to all the entrants.

[Wan2caTanager]

That was a very hard choice! Beautiful pictures everyone!

[Forcreeks]

Seeing these splendid water shots is truly inspirational for going out looking for such subject matter... a real eye-opener. They've proven what the mods have always said; you can get a winner with any type camera from point and shoot, digiscope, or DSLR.

[lukenick]

i carnt believe mine was picked ! i thought it was bad but the only one i had which i thought made all requiments.

[ian carter]

just amazing photos

[Dr Manjeet Singh]

Truly amazing shots and may the best photo win (i am praying for the one i voted for).

[DSallee]

WOW!! Lots of great pics.. very hard to choose one... hats off to all... you are ALL an inspiration for me to do better and learn more about bird photography...

Well done!

Dave

[luke]

WELL DONE ALL
a very high standered of photography but there was one clear winner for me

[GavinM]

Really great work everyone. I voted for one that stuck in my mind, but really could have voted for any of them.

[stephennj]

incredible stuff !
I loved them all
way out of my Panasonic FZ1 league!

[ezhilarrasi]

after seeing this i am more enthusiastic i also wanted to take photos like this . Everyone done a good, wonderful job.

[rogerk]

Is it possible, (or already in place?) that the list can be 'shuffled' or displayed in a random list? I don't know about anyone else, but to be perfectly honest, in the past I have just ticked the first one on the list so that I've 'done my bit' and this year, on the face of it at least, appears to be no exception to this philosophy. Nothing against the first pic at all, they are all of an outstanding quality, I just thought it may be fairer to give everyone a fair crack of the whip as it were.

[Tony Brown]

Difficult choice.It will be interesting to see the result & therefore personal preferences.

[Thijs]

There are really great pictures in this competition, but some of theme are qualitative not very good.
I've choosen for quality, and there was an absolutely winner.
At last I want to say that not all of them are very good, but all of them are realy good pictures, i've enyojed them all .

Thijs Udo

PS I'm just thirteen years old, so my English isn't very good

[rayl]

Realy hard choice between 3 for me. But I think one does have the initial wow factor. Well done to everyone who submitted.

Ray

[egret3]

Thank you for sharing these. The
pictures are absolutely beautiful.
I have a hard time to decide, really.
It seems to me to be narrowed down
to about 4 or so. In fact, have to go
back and look at them all again. The way I viewed
them became a bit confusing.

I enjoyed all of them.

PS.. How does one find out who
did what picture? Just wondered.

[Talons]

Originally Posted by egret3

PS.. How does one find out who
did what picture? Just wondered.

Select any of the two 'view in thumbnails' options. There is a small table below each picture and the name of whoever took it is next to 'member'.

[IanF]

A very good interpretation of this months theme ' Birds and water' with a Swallow swooping down to the calm water surface for drink/insect and creating a superb reflection too. 'Touching' attracted 59/362 votes cast.

Congratulations to Jenygard

Also deserving mention are second placed jakobs with 'A Running Start' a photo of a Harlequin duck taking off which attracted 44/362 votes,

and

third placed Keoeeit with The Gurple Pallinule having attracted 39 votes.

Thank you also to everyone who submitted and entry and also everyone who took the time out to view the entries and cast your vote.