Gabor Baross from Hungary took this photo of an Eurasian spoon in Hortobágy National Park.
“This picture was taken during my second photo session on this small lake,” Baross said.
“On my first visit there were a lot of birds and a lot of opportunities to take action photos.
“However, now silence was my companion.
“All I saw was a lone Gray Heron (Ardea cinerea) attacking every bird that approached the lake.
“However, in the afternoon the situation had improved and a group of Eurasian spoons landed not far from me.
“It was immediately apparent that there was an attacker among them, a bird that had very strong territorial instincts.
“I focused my attention and my camera on this bird. In the vast majority of cases, the other spoons chose to avoid confrontation.
“However, in one case there was a bird that turned to face the attacker and started a minute of unbridled fighting.
“The level of aggression shown by the birds was far beyond my imagination.
“I felt like they were fighting for their lives, as they pressed each other’s heads under the water or just grabbed each other’s legs and did not let their opponent fly away.
“During the battle, they got closer and closer to me, so by the time this photo was taken, they completely filled the frame.”