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A tasty gallery of images from the Bird Photographer of the Year shortlist
BWERE privileged to be part of the judging process for the inaugural ‘Bird Photographer of the Year’ competition, with art editor Katie Wilkinson forming part of the final judging panel. The eight categories and two special awards attracted an exceptional standard of entry – as our favourite short-listed images featured over the next few pages testify. The winning images will be revealed by Chris Packham at a special awards event at Birdfair on Saturday, 20 August, and we’ll feature them in next month’s issue of Bird Watching, so keep a look out! Categories were Best Portrait, Birds in the Environment, Attention to Detail, Birds in Flight, Bird Behaviour, Garden Birds, Creative Imagery and Best Digiscoped Image. The special awards were for Best Portfolio and Young Bird Photographer of the Year. The competition will be open for entries from 20 August this year, closing on 30 November. Visit birdpoty.co.uk for information on how to enter. A prize of £5,000 will be awarded to the overall winner, but with a total prize fund of more than £15,000, there are plenty of other opportunities to win, too. By entering, you will be doing your bit for conservation, as a percentage of the entry fee goes directly to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). Category: Attention to detail Photographer: Graham Mcgeorge Location: Okefenokee Swamp, South Georgia Bird: Eastern Screech Owl Category: Birds in the Environment Photographer: Nikita Vetrennyi Location: Yoshka-ola, Russia Bird: Feral Pigeons Chris Packham launched the Bird Photographer of the Year competition last year at the BTO stand at Birdfair