Star photographer does the double

Roy Rimmer has been a keen photographer for the best part of two decades, and has been capturing a wide variety of snaps.

And now his hard-earned works have been recognised by a wildlife photography group with a Photo of the Year award for the second year running.

Roy’s stunning image of a Robin was chosen from an 11-strong shortlist, which had been compiled from Bird Guides’ 52 Photo of the Week victors.

A total of 2,200 Bird Guides readers voted on a choice of 28,000 entries, and it was a close call with fewer than 60 votes separating first and second place.

The intimate simple shot of the bird, reflected at the moment of take-off from a mossy perch, took the top prize for its “elegance and compositional skill” as well as its “outright rarity.”

The 62-year-old said: “I was really chuffed to win the competition for the second year, after winning last year. It took me about a week to get the shot.

“I feed the garden birds every winter, but for this shot I baited the mossy stone with food. I then placed the stone in the shallow end of my pond then sat in my hide for a couple of hours a day until I got the shot.”

Roy scooped the top prize in 2015 with another breathtaking shot of a barn owl.

The incredible shot was described as a “truly insane image” by judge Alan Murphy.

Roy, a member of the Wigan 10 Foto Club, said the image itself often takes second place to the effort of capturing it. “It’s not about the picture itself.

“It’s actually about the challenge of getting the bird where I want it after waiting so long. That is what is just fantastic.”

Bird Guides is Britain’s leading content-based birding and wildlife website. It offers bird news services online and by email and text messages.

It also runs a huge database of articles and information.

For more information, visit birdguides.com