Journalist, photographer – and doctor – Josef Timar, had been capturing images of European bee-eaters for many years before he took this astonishing sequence of photographs of the bird. The images were taken with a Nikon D850 in Kiskunság National Park in southern Hungary last June. It meant that Josef could photograph “the different shapes of the birds while they fly and view their flight patterns from an unusual perspective”.

“Their name is a bit misleading, as they don’t just consume bees,” he says. “They also eat wasps, dragonflies, butterflies and flies. These colourful birds tend to live in colonies. They have a very beautiful voice and are real artists of the flight.”

Josef got an honorable mention in the 2020 Annual Photography Awards within the wildlife category series for his eight photographs, including this captivating image. The Annual Photography Awards are a global competition for photographers on every level: whether professional, amateur or currently studying the art form. There are eight different categories and participants can enter all eight, in both the single and series sections. The first entry deadline for the 2021 competition is 6 June. Visit annualphotoawards.com for more information.