A stunning image of a kingfisher flawlessly diving into a river with an amazing trail of bright blue light shining behind it, which captured the hearts of photography judges, is so enthralling that many have claimed it’s too perfect to be real.
The phenomenon is rarely seen as it involves catching the bird hit the surface of the water at speeds of up to 25mph - with the perfect amount of natural light.
Photographer Mario Cea spent five months and 5,000 attempts trying to achieve ‘The Blue Trail’ at a small pond on the outskirts of Salamanca in north-western Spain.
On Friday, he was crowned the winner of the 2016 Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Awards for his work, which many thought must have been photoshopped.
Some photographers use bait to predict where the bird will strike but for Mario, he found persistence was the key to capturing the lightning-fast dive in the wild.
Mario Cea said: “The incredible speed of the bird means the movement is almost invisible to the human eye, so I had to use lighting to both illuminate the image and freeze movement. I think one of the reasons people like this image is the palpable trail of light the bird leaves behind.”
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