I saw these shots earlier today in the paper and, whilst undoubtedly great photos, I'm guessing that a certain amount of trickery has been employed here.
For instance, I suspect that the first photo (the underwater shot) was achieved by using a fish tank baited with small fish - those rocks look just a bit too clean to be natural
This is an established technique and has been used by several other photographers. Personally, I think it exposes the bird to the danger of injuring itself but that's just my opinion.
Jeff
(Schedule 1 Licence holder for Kingfishers and Barn Owls)