Daniel Muscat, Fight or Flight: The Water Birds (ANIMAL & NATURE 2026)

This series was captured at Springs Lake in Spring Farm, NSW, a place I regularly visit to observe and photograph the local birdlife. While quietly watching from behind the long grass during sunrise, I witnessed a brief encounter between a Little Pied Cormorant and a White-faced Heron as they competed for the same perch. The series documents the moment their calm surroundings shifted into a display of movement, instinct, and territorial behaviour as both birds took flight. Through these images, I wanted to capture a small but powerful moment in the everyday lives of our native waterbirds, revealing the unseen stories that unfold within our local environments. Shot on my Canon R6 Mark II with a Canon RF 70–200mm f/2.8 lens.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.