Walking on water! Lizard skips across lake in close-up captured by 'invisible' photographer

By ROB PREECE


Making a splash: A bright green double-crested basilisk lizard runs across the water in Santa Rita, Costa Rica

It is a miraculous sight, a privileged glimpse of a bright lizard appearing to walk on water as it dashes with limbs pumping in search of its next meal.
But this wonderful picture is not a one-off - it is one of many brilliant images captured by a man known as 'the invisible wildlife photographer'.
Hungarian photographer Bence Mate has won awards for his work and, judging by these stunning pictures of birds, reptiles and other curious creatures, it isn't hard to see why.



...And the other way: A darker green double-crested basilisk lizard dashes in the opposite direction, causing spray to rise around it


Glare: A Satiny parrot snake looks into the camera with bulging eyes as it devours a frog in Hungary


What big eyes you have! This amazing close-up clearly shows why the red-eyed tree frog was given its name. It was taken in Costa Rica

Mr Mate's portfolio includes at least two photographs of green double-crested basilisk lizards racing across the water.
Other pictures show Dalmatian pelicans opening their mouths as if breaking into song or being mobbed by a flock of gulls.
Elsewhere, poor fish look helpless as they are caught in time for dinner by great white egrets and grey herons.
Another stunning photograph shows a brightly coloured European roller flying directly at the camera, risking a collision.


All together now: Dalmatian pelicans open their beaks extremely wide as if in song in this picture, taken at Lake Kerkini, Greece


Pleased to see us? A group of Dalmatian pelicans are mobbed by a flock of gulls on the Danube delta in Romania


A predator swoops: A hungry grey heron grips a fish in its beak after catching it in water in the Prypiat area of Belarus


In trouble: A helpless fish faces its fate after being plucked by a great white egret, left, and two grey herons climb on top of another, right, in these photographs taken at Hungary's Kiskunsag National Park


Bolt from the blue: Even as lightning strikes, a large mixed flock of birds remains on Lake Csaj in Hungary's Kiskunsag National Park


Fixed gaze: A female sparrowhawk opens its eyes wide while bathing in the water at the beautiful Hungarian park


Refreshing: With its tail feathers fluttering, an American jay bird bathes in the water at Hungary's Kiskunsag National Park


Mirror, mirror: A flock of long-tailed tits stands at the water's edge, creating a beautiful reflection effect at Kiskunsag National Park in Hungary

Mr Mate, 27, can spend months waiting for the perfect picture opportunity to arise, quietly tucked away in hides which he has designed and built.
The hides often use one-way glass, which enables him to get so close to his oblivious subjects.
The photographer, who specialises in action shots of birds, said the success of his work was down to careful planning and lots of patience.

Graceful: A European roller is captured in flight with its impressive bluey-purple wings outstretched

Tea for two: A male red-footed falcon seeks to impress a female by offering it a small mammal to eat. The female's beak is already open in expectation


Open-mouthed: Two male blackbirds sing to each other in this amazing photograph, taken at Hungary's Kiskunsag National Park


Playfighting in the sky: Juvenile white-tailed sea eagles grapple mid-flight as they hover over Hungary's Kiskunsag National Park

He said: 'If a photographer wishes to capture a fast and exciting action scene in a technically perfect manner, he or she should at least know, or try to guess, what is going to happen in front of the lens.
'When walking in the wild with a pair of binoculars around our necks, we often witness breathtaking moments in nature.
'But at such moments factors such as distance, light, background, environment and the miracle of surprise, seldom enable us to pass on our visual experience to others.
'In my work I have strived to "forecast" when such moments will occur and capture them in photographs.'


Please, I'm hungry! A Dalmatian pelican chick's beak interlocks with an adult's as it begs for food on the Danube delta in Romania


Watch closely: Two common buzzards stare into one another's eyes at Kiskunsag National Park in Hungary


Feed me please: A common cuckoo chick begs for food from its foster parent, a great reed warbler, at Kiskunsag National Park in Hungary

source: dailymail