Yorkshire has some great amateur wildlife photographers, as the winners of this year's Yorkshire Wildlife Trust wildlife photography competition reveal, says STEPHEN LEWIS. And if you think you can do better, the Trust will be repeating the competition at the end of this year...
SO here they are, the winning entries in the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust's wildlife photography competition.
Almost 900 entries were received in all. Earlier this year, a panel of judges whittled them down to just 20 finalists - five in each of four categories.
The winners were then chosen by public vote - and we think you'll agree those who voted came up with some worthy winners.
Ten-year-old Liam Constantine won the Wildlife Watch category for children with his stunning picture of three baby swallows, their mouths gaping wide for food.
In the Wild Places category, Andy Holden came out tops, with his beautiful photograph of cotton tops on an exposed Yorkshire moor.
Mark Ellis's exuberant photo of a red squirrel leaping from a branch in a North Yorkshire woodland deservedly won in the Wildlife category, while Maggie Bruce's extraordinary photograph of a group of feeding mallard ducks seen from above wowed voters in the Smartphone category.
You have to look at this one for a few moments before you can work it out: amazing that an image of such quality can be captured on a mobile phone.
The winners were announced at a special event at Potteric Car nature reserve near Doncaster on Thursday night.
Worthy runners-up in each category were Yasmin Hussein (Wild Places category) for her photograph of Brimham Rocks; Stephen Jones (Wildlife category) for his hovering barn owl; Amy Farrington (Smartphone category) for her picture of a common blue butterfly; and Jamie Kirk (Wildlife Watch category for children) for his crystal clear photograph of an Emerald damselfly.
So successful has the competition been that the Wildlife Trust is now planning to repeat it at the end of this year.
Entries will be opening on December 1, and closing on January 31, 2016. So if you're inspired by any of these great photos to try to do better yourself, this could be your chance. Any photos you take in Yorkshire during the course of this year will be eligible.
"So keen photographers should get their cameras ready in order to snap some winning shots over the spring and summer!" said Joanna Richards of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, who organised this year's competition.
Details of how to enter will be released on the Trust's website www.ywt.org.uk later this year.
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