BBOWT

A STUNNING shot of an insect face has been crowned the winner of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust’s 2023 photography competition.

The photo is an extreme close-up of a white-legged damselfly taken by Harry Berks, 24, from Sibford Gower, near Banbury. It was taken at his local nature reserve, Lamb’s Pool.

He said: “Dozens of damselflies were mating around the pool and young buzzards were scrapping over a mouse.

“After almost 10 minutes of crawling and crouching next to the bank of the pool, I managed to get the angle I wanted and the head in focus.

“I was amazed the damselfly didn't move during this time — it must have been feeling co-operative. Photographing animals can be extremely difficult at times but the occasions when they let you into their world for even just a moment are extremely special and I never forget them.”

Mr Berks won a top-of-the-range Nikon digital camera and a wildlife photography masterclass as well as receiving a printed canvas of his picture and the honour of having it appear in the trust’s 2024 calendar.

The children’s category was won by nine-year-old Fern Gregory, from Oxfordshire, with a pin-sharp picture of a yellow-and-black hoverfly drinking nectar from a pink scabious flower.

She said: “I took the photo in my back garden next to the steps where I sit to watch the bees and hoverflies on the pretty scabious flowers. I hope that I have helped to raise awareness of nature, even the tiny things we might not give much thought to, like the hoverfly.”

A total of 146 people submitted 454 photographs for this year’s competition. The winners were chosen by a panel of judges, Ben Vanheems, editor of the trust’s Wild magazine, trust website and design officer Chris Deeney and wildlife photographer Steve Gozdz, of GG Wildlife Experiences in Goring.

The runner-up in the birds category was John Kearns with a picture of a juvenile bullfinch taken at Warburg Nature Reserve.

To see all the winning photos, visit bbowt.org.uk/photo-competition-results-2023

Pete Hughes