Close-up of gull's eye in Shetland wins ecology photography prize

Rebecca Nason's winning photo shows a Kumlien's Gull and hitchhiking insects

A close-up of a gull's eye taken in Shetland has won the British Ecological Society's annual international photography competition.

Rebecca Nason's overall winning shot captured a Kumlien's Gull with speckled markings - which she later realised were actually lice.

The ecologist and photographer lives in Lerwick in the Northern Isles.

She said her ecology and photography passions coming together to land the honour was "the icing on the cake".

'Hadn't travelled alone'

She said she was "thrilled" to win, and explained: "In April I came across a scarce Kumlien's Gull as I fed bread to a growing number of Herring Gull sheltering from a Spring storm.

"When the Kumlien's Gull approached to a good distance to allow for closer, full-frame shots, I started photographing the eye detail, noting a gorgeous granite-coloured iris with dark speckled plumage detail around the eye.

"It was only when I got home I realised that the speckled patterns were in fact lice clustered around the eye - the Kumlien's Gull hadn't travelled alone."

Roberto Garcia Roa's image of a cave-dwelling bug recently discovered in Spanish caves was the runner-up

Other winning subjects included a rare sighting of the so-called "fairy of the Valencian forests", a recently- discovered cave-dwelling bug in Spain.

Overall student winner Dani Davis captured a green lynx spider with its bumblebee catch in the Apalachicola National Forest, North Florida

Pete Hudson's shot in Bangladesh shows disease research with the sampling of fruit bats

Nature's Landmine is the title of this shot of a viper in India from John Benjamin Owens

Jack Marcus Smith's portrait of blowfly was the student winner in the Up Close and Personal category

Prof Jane Memmott, president of the British Ecological Society, said: "This year's photos are of a very high standard and are a pleasure to look through.

"The winner is a beautifully composed photograph of a gull's eye - it's visually arresting, pin sharp and very beautiful, hitchhiking lice included."

An exhibition of the winning Capturing Ecology images will be available virtually.

All images are subject to copyright.