Photo competition winners

From meadows and woodlands to gardens and urban spaces, 12 wild images have scooped places in this year’s photography competition run by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.

Each year, the county’s largest nature conservation charity invites people to enter photographs of the wonderful wildlife and wild places that are found throughout Worcestershire. Winners each receive a copy of the charity’s fundraising calendar, which features a different winning image each month.

Wendy Carter, organiser of the competition, explained “We’d like to say a big congratulations to the winners and runners-up. We’d also like to say thank you to everyone who entered and our two external judges, Pete Walkden and Jason Curtis, all of whom helped us to produce a fantastic calendar that helps to raise money for our work to help wildlife across the county."

Whether you’re watching wildlife in your garden, your local park, in the town or the countryside, it’s always worth having a camera to hand; you never know what you might spot.

Each winning photograph features as an A4 image in the Trust’s 2023 calendar. A further 24 images by runners-up appear as smaller inserts.

Brown hare sitting in a field of ox-eye daisies by Nick Thompson — Brown hare by Nick Thompson

This year’s overall winner is Nick Thompson of Cheltenham whose photograph of a brown hare taken in Worcestershire’s Vale of Evesham will feature on the front cover of the calendar. The image was voted as the overall winner in a public vote advertised across the Trust’s social media channels.

Nick said “I am over the moon to have been voted the winner of this year’s competition and have my brown hare posing on the front over of the 2023 Worcestershire Wildlife Trust Calendar – I can’t believe it! Thank you so much to those who selected and voted for it.

“The wildlife of Worcestershire is very close to my heart. I grew up in the countryside near Evesham, where I came to know the landscape like the back of my hand. Despite living over the border in Cheltenham now, there is nowhere I’d rather go to find and observe great wildlife than the fields, orchards and woodlands of home.

“We wildlife photographers can spend many hours waiting patiently for those rare encounters that make our adrenaline rush and to have recognition for our hard-earned photographs makes it even more worthwhile.

“I’d like to thank Worcestershire Wildlife Trust for giving local photographers the opportunity to showcase their photos to a wider audience in this competition. I also want to thank them for their work in protecting the Worcestershire wildlife, which I love so much.”

Judges had the difficult task of sifting through more than 200 images submitted by over 40 photographers. All Trust staff are involved in initial judging before previous winners, professional wildlife photographer Pete Walkden (Pete Walkden Photography) and semi-professional wildlife photographer Jason Curtis (Wyre Wildlife), help to choose twelve winners.

The calendar costs £8.00 and is available to buy from the Trust’s online shop. All proceeds directly benefit the Trust’s work to protect Worcestershire’s wildlife and wild places.

Photographers can stay in touch with the Trust online through their active Flickr group, Facebook page and Twitter account.

The Winners

Photographs can be seen at the Trust's Flickrstream.

January – Winter sunrise footprints, Dodford by Linda Jones

Wildlife footprints in a snowy landscape at sunrise by Linda Jones — Footprints in the snow by Linda Jones

"A rare winter morning in early 2021. With the weather forecast for overnight snow followed by a clear morning, I set out for a two mile walk in the dark, on icy roads at -5 degrees, to reach the pre-selected vantage point before sunrise. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment."

February – Mute swans, Worcester by Anil Patel

Mute swans on flood water in Worcester at sunset by Anil Patel — Mute swans in Worcester by Anil Patel

“My favourite time of day is capturing ‘golden hour’. This one involved risk; River Severn levels were peaking and emerged onto the riverside path. It was perfect to see the swans closer than usual and I had the opportunity to capture them with the beautiful sun setting.”

March – Frogspawn, Bromsgrove by Richard Clifford

Close up of frogspawn by Richard Clifford — Frogspawn by Richard Clifford

“I was tidying around our wildlife pond when I spotted this clump of frogspawn that had been laid outside of the pond. As I picked it up to return it I realised it would make a good image if it was backlit so a suitable light and a couple of quick snaps did the trick.”

April – Blackthorn blossom, North Littleton by Jill Orme

Blackthorn blossom with background of white blossom by Jill Orme — Blackthorn blossom by Jill Orme

"It was cold, overcast and windy when I went out to photograph the blackthorn, and everything looked dark and drab. Luckily though, the cloud broke for just a few minutes and when the sun lit the blossom it gave me an image that looks much more spring-like than the day really was!"

May – Wood mouse, Great Witley by Peter Cheshire

Wood mouse amongst a 'forest' of forget-me-not flowers by Peter Cheshire — Wood mouse by Peter Cheshire

"Taken during lockdown underneath our garden bird feeder, this wood mouse would pop its head up, grab some cast offs and disappear amongst the forget-me-nots. Sitting still for hours, with the camera set up on a tripod pointing at the most visited spot, I finally caught this image."

June – Brown hare, The Lenches by Nick Thompson

“I love to explore the fields of home to find wildlife to photograph. One summer’s evening I spotted some movement in the distance so, with stealth, patience and camouflage, I crawled close enough to capture this tranquil moment: a beautiful brown hare basking in the sunshine amongst the daisies.”

July – Swallow, nr Hanbury by Richard Clifford

Swallow flying over a flower-rich meadow by Richard Clifford — Swallow by Richard Clifford

“This was a quick ‘aim and hope’ shot at Eades Meadow as I only had my macro lens with me because I was searching for butterflies. I managed to focus and follow it for a few seconds before firing the shutter.”

Aug – Meadow brown, Redditch by Carl Harris

Backlit meadow brown butterfly on a grass head in a field with long grasses by Carl Harris — Meadow brown by Carl Harris

“Out early morning, I spotted this beautiful meadow brown butterfly perched on a grass head with wings fully spread taking in the sun. Moving behind it to capture the underside I lay on the ground to be level with the butterfly itself, added in the surroundings to the frame and took the shot.”

September – Kingfisher, Redditch by Rebekah Nash

Kingfisher with a fish in its bill, it's raining by Rebekah Nash — Kingfisher by Rebekah Nash

“Learning the flight pattern and favourite spots of this kingfisher was a pleasure, so to sit patiently in the rain, away from people, I felt privileged as this beautiful bird stayed with me fishing for over 20 minutes, an emotional experience.”

October – Autumn woodland, nr Tenbury Wells by Gillian Smith

Autumn colours in a woodland by Gillian Smith — Autumn woodland by Gillian Smith

“I set off in an autumn mist to take atmospheric woodland shots hoping to see shafts of light filtering through the trees. The mist had lifted by the time I reached the woods & it was overcast but I think this has enhanced the colours of the remaining leaves on the trees.”

November – Common bellcap, Monkwood nature reserve by Ira James

Common bellcap fungus amongst moss in a woodland by Ira James — Common bellcap by Ira James

“Having an interest in macro photography has led me to explore the fascinating worlds of mycology and bryology. So I was really pleased to combine these interests when I came across this scene early one damp autumn morning close to the path in Monkwood nature reserve.”

December – Umbel sunset, Eckington by Pat Pitt

Umbel flower head skeleton silhouetted against a red sky with the outline of the Malvern Hills visible at the very bottom of the image by Pat Pitt — Umbel sunset by Pat Pitt

“My husband and I were driving home from a day out and stopped the car to watch this amazing sunset. I luckily had my camera with me, as we'd been photographing wildlife, and so was able to take some photographs of various plants silhouetted against a backdrop of the Malvern Hills. It was a truly spectacular view!”