WE think you'll agree there are some some stunning wildlife photographs here. They include a tree sparrow perched on a signpost near Flamborough; a red deer stag standing in stately grace in the lee of a gnarled tree; and a curlew looking wonderfully languid and relaxed on one leg.
But do you think you can do better?
Well, now is your chance.
For the second year running, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has launched a major wildlife photography competition. Most of the photographs on these pages have already been submitted for this year's competition. But you have until the end of this month to get your own entries in. So if you want the perfect excuse to get out in the fresh air for the New Year, this is it.
The Trust has 97 natures reserves dotted across the county - everything from wonderful wetlands such as Wheldrake Ings to woodland (Moorlands), bog (Askham Bog), common land (such as at Strensall Common) and coast (Flamborough and Spurn Point).
They're all great spots for amateur photographers who want to get up close to Yorkshire's wildlife. Or you could just head out to your own favourite bit of countryside. Even your back garden can be a great place to photograph garden birds or insects.
Last year, the Trust was inundated with a flood of fantastic images of wildlife and landscapes from around Yorkshire.
"We had a terrific response to our competition last year," says Jono Leadley, director of development at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. "The standard of entries was incredibly high."
It certainly was, as two of the entries from last year that we have reproduced today demonstrate. Ten year old Liam Constantine was a worthy winner of the junior category with his stunning photograph of baby swallows, their mouths agape as they begged for food.
Baby swallows by Liam Constantine
In the adult wildlife category, meanwhile, Mark Ellison's photo of a red squirrel jumping between branches in a North Yorkshire woodland was a real show-stopper.
Red squirrel by Mark Ellison
Many entrants last year urged the Trust to run the competition again this year - which is exactly what they have done.
- Just like a year ago, there are four categories in this year's competition: Yorkshire’s wild places
- Yorkshire’s wildlife
- Junior category (photos of Yorkshire’s wildlife or wild places by the under 15s)
- Smartphone category (photos of Yorkshire wildlife or wild places captured on a smartphone).
To enter, you must submit your entries by 5pm on January 31 - full details of how to do so are below.
A panel made up of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust staff, representatives from the competition's sponsors Yorkshire Coast Nature, and York Press chief feature writer Stephen Lewis will draw up a shortlist of ten finalists in each category. These will then be put to a public vote to choose the final category winners.
So now it's over to you. Dig out that camera or smartphone, get out into the fresh air ... and start snapping!
How to enter
There are two ways to submit your photographs:
- via Flickr - for full details of how to do so see the Trust's website, ywt.org.uk
- if you don't have a Flickr account, you can submit photos by email to photo@ywt.org.uk
Full terms and conditions are at ywt.org.uk
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