Highly commended birds : Crested guan by Tim Hunt (UK). ‘This photo shows a crested guan in the cloud forests of Costa Rica as it pauses while foraging on a lone branch. Due to the clouds that are so typical for this habitat, I could often only photograph the bird’s silhouette against a grey sky. But then, for a short moment only, the sun broke through the clouds, and I overexposed the image by over two stops in order to blow out the background and allow this beautifully marked bird to stand out’. (Photo by Tim Hunt/GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)

Thoughts. They fly through the broad expenses of our mind, floating gracefully in midair, going into the clouds, and then reemerging once again. Some are quick and furtive, others are grand and majestic. We reflect upon them as they enter our minds, and once they leave, they are usually gone for good. However, some thoughts are different. These thoughts resemble a flock of angry birds or a swarm of hungry moths that invade your mind, slowly eating away at your sanity, strength, and desire to live. Such thoughts often plague that minds of people with Obsessive Compulsive disorder. They completely occupy their time; constantly there; ever-present. With his book sculpture, Thomas Wightman was able to accurately convey the way these thoughts consume the mind, slowly building a nest within it, resisting all attempts to drive them away.

Francisco Solano poses for a photo in his bird-feather suit after attending a Mass commemorating the feast day of St. Francis Solano, in Emboscada, Paraguay, Friday, July 24, 2015. Some 500 people attended the festivity – a mix of indigenous and Guarani Indian beliefs. The festival begins with a Mass, continues with a procession of the diminutive wooden statue of St. Francis, and ends with people dancing in suits made with black, white, brown and grey feathers. (Photo by Jorge Saenz/AP Photo)

Over the years a large population of grey herons have made an unlikely home in urban Amsterdam. Julie Hrudova documents how the birds integrate into city life. Here: Hundreds of herons come to the city during winter to find food and shelter. (Photo by by Julie Hrudova/The Guardian)

An undated handout photo obtained on May 14, 2022, from Khartoum's Marshall Nature Reserve for exotic birds, shows a visitor posing for pictures with some of the protected birds in the capital Khartoum. Tucked away east of Sudan's capital Khartoum, a sanctuary of lush green vegetation has been a haven for dozens of exotic birds from far and wide. (Photo by Khartoum Marshall Nature Reserve/AFP Photo)

The Sea Life Trust team move Beluga Whale Little Gray from a tugboat during transfer to the bayside care pool where they will be acclimatised to the natural environment of their new home at the open water sanctuary in Klettsvik Bay in Iceland on August 7, 2020. The two Beluga whales, named Little Grey and Little White, are being moved to the world's first open-water whale sanctuary after travelling from an aquarium in China 6,000 miles away in June 2019. (Photo by Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty Images)

Pigeon fancier Yonisbel Santana poses for a photo at his rooftop in Havana, Cuba, May 18, 2021. Havana's pigeon keepers crane out of a window, intently watching the grey birds take flight. Mostly staying indoors due to the country's worst outbreak of COVID-19 since the coronavirus pandemic began in March last year, Cubans are increasingly breeding pigeons as a form of escape. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)