Phiphat Suwanmon, an amateur Thai photographer, spent two years photographing the blue-eared kingfisher in an attempt to document its extraordinary feeding habits
The birds, which are pictured diving into water to hunt, are so rare that many experts are awestruck that an amateur photographer managed to take the pictures at all
Mr Suwanmon said: 'It was important to allow the birds to see me often and build up trust in order to allow me to take their pictures while they act naturally - not an easy feat to get wild birds to do'
After studying the animals' natural mating, feeding and living cycle the family built a studio within the wilderness and created a new feeding pond for the birds to fish in
He said: 'A lot of people said this is the first time they'd seen pictures of this quality and expected that they'd really been taken by a non-Thai photographer'