A vicious tit fight was caught on camera by an amateur photographer in a Scottish park.
Scott Williams, 54, photographed the tiny pair of blue tits bashing each other while out in his local park in Ayr.
He said: "I must admit, I thought one of the birds wouldn't survive the fight but thankfully they both flew off at the end."
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Williams had visited the park to photograph local wildlife when he spotted the duel.
He had been trying to photograph some other birds in flight when he noticed the tits, also in flight, having a squabble.
The amateur photographer had to drop to the ground to get a better angle on the plump pair.
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"They landed in a furious ball of feathers," he said.
"The fight itself lasted for a good couple of minutes and was ferocious."
He added there was a chance one of the birds lost an eye during the fight, judging from his final photo.
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The RSPB's website says blue tit flocks tend to join up with other tits in the winter as they search for food, suggesting it may be easier to spot them.
The birds can be found across the UK all year round, amassing around 15 million individual tits between October and March.
They must be the tiniest tits I've ever seen at 12cm in length and 11g in weight.
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Williams' demonstrable skill has certainly paid off, as he posted on his Facebook page on 8 February that the Guild of Photographers had awarded him the prestigious Photographers Bar.
He wrote: "The annual awards were held on Saturday night and I was delighted to learn I had been awarded the Photographers Bar.
"This is something I had hoped to achieve as it means achieving a high and consistent level of photography throughout the year."
He was also awarded a place as one of the Guild of Photographers' top ten natural world photographers due to the number of points he had acquired in competitions, according to the post.
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As well as tits, Williams has photographed other birds, crumbling medieval castles, and other natural landscapes across Scotland.
This follows a massive rise in birdwatching during the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch between 29 and 31 January, as reported by the Independent.
Words: Clifford Mason
Featured Image Credit: @SKIER1066/Caters NewsTopics: UK News, Birds, Animals