STUNNING images of birds in motion have seen a West Dorset photographer granted fellowship of the prestigious Royal Photographic Society.

Mary Cantrille, a member of the Dorchester Camera Club, has gained the top accolade with the renowned society to follow in the footsteps of her husband David.

Mary, who lives in West Bexington, took up photography when she moved down to Dorset from Surrey in 1993 and it has developed into a passion.

She was awarded her fellowship after submitting a panel of 20 bird prints for assessment.

The images were mainly taken on her travels to Florida, southern Ireland and north Holland to watch birds and capture them going about their business.

Mary, who spent many hours waiting to get the perfect shots, said: “I’m not a proper twitcher but I learned about birds sitting behind a camera watching them and learning from their behaviour.

“You get to where you can anticipate what they might do next and it’s a wonderful way to while away a few hours or days.”

The collection was called ‘Birds In Motion’ and showed birds flying, catching fish, collecting material for nests and other activities.

Mary printed the photographs in A3 size and they were mounted by Frank Willock of Litton Cheney.

She said she was not really expecting to be accepted into the society and was pleasantly surprised when she got the call informing her she had been successful – making her the only nature photographer to achieve the distinction in the latest round of assessments.

Mary, 65, said: “I know it’s not easy and I know many people try and don’t succeed.

“I just did the best I could and kept my fingers crossed.”

She added: “It’s an achievement and it’s a very recognised qualification.”