AN amateur photographer has captured stunning images of two jay birds fighting for their lunch.

Phil Clark, 40, snapped the noisy squabble at a bird hide in Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, after patiently waiting for seven hours to capture the shot.

The bus driver, from Inverness, said he was amazed to see the elusive birds fighting over food.

Clark said: “Jays are very intelligent and shy. To see two of them fighting for food was extremely uncommon.

“They are quite territorial. They are vocal and they shout once they see another bird coming. I think that’s basically to tell the other bird that it shouldn’t go near their food.

“But obviously some jays end up chancing their luck anyway, which is what happened here. It was amazing to see them fighting. To get an action shot of it was just something else.”