Agnieszka Florczyk's Image

Agnieszka Florczyk (Poland) frames a group of snipes on high alert, mirrored along a pond edge.

Agnieszka arrived before dawn and manoeuvred her floating hide into position in one of the fish ponds of Barycz Valley, Poland. Snipes are among the many water birds that arrive each spring to nest among the reeds and sedges at the edge of the ponds.

She had been watching a group of about 12 snipes as they preened, slept and fed – probing with their long beaks for invertebrates in the muddy banks.

These four had frozen “like porcelain figures” as a white-tailed eagle flew overhead. In addition to fish, white-tailed eagles prey on aquatic birds, so the snipes are always vigilant.

Snipes have eyes set high on the sides of their head, allowing them to look up and back, keeping alert for predators without moving.