Stunning footage shows thousands of starlings performing a murmuration — when birds gather to swoop and dance across the sky — above the Scottish countryside.
But in a bizarre coincidence they end up precisely mirroring the "duck-rabbit" illusion which has been puzzling viewers for decades.
The famous 1892 image was used as a psychological exercise through the 19th and 20th centuries.
Spotted near Gretna, Scotland, the rare picture was captured as a screenshot by car salesman Degs Brown as he filmed the starlings weaving through the sky.
Hobby photographer Degs had been out taking pictures of the landscape when he spotted the nimble creatures flocking.
Degs from Carlisle, Cumbria, said: “I got very lucky. It's hard to describe how I felt capturing that.
“The starlings stayed in this shape for literally a second.
"They were going through a shape of the rabbit then made random shapes.
“I live close to where the starlings roost once a year and I've seen the formations and you can see funny shapes but obviously capturing them is quite hard.
“Looking from behind the camera I could see the shape forming so I thought I'd better catch it in that brief moment.
“I guess it's just a lucky photograph of a rabbit in the sky.”
Degs uses his phone rather than his professional kit to take pictures while out exploring as he finds it easier to carry.
Degs said: “I love nature and I'm in the Lakes twice a week taking portraits of mountains and lakes.
"I've been doing photography on an amateur level for two or three years, but because I do a lot of climbing it's easier taking my phone up because of the equipment.
“I own a Nikon DSLR but this was taken on a mobile phone. I took this at around 4.15pm – just as the sun was going down.
“I've got a lot of it on the video and I managed to take a snap at the same time. The reaction has been amazing.
“You'd never expect to get pictures of that quality on a mobile phone.”
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