Nature / Gull picture award win shows Rebecca has good eye for a photo
A LOCAL photographer is celebrating after winning the overall prize at British Ecological Society’s annual photography competition.
Rebecca Nason won the award with her close-up shot of a Kumlien’s gull’s eye.
The winning images from this year’s will be displayed in a virtual exhibition hosted by the society.
Nason explained: “In April 2021, I came across a scarce Kumlien’s gull as I fed bread to a growing number of herring gull sheltering from a spring storm.
“A beautiful gull, these birds breed in the Arctic regions of Canada and winter from Labrador west across the Great Lakes.
“When the Kumlien’s gull approached to a good distance to allow for closer full frame shots. I started photographing the eye detail, noting a gorgeous granite coloured iris with dark speckled plumage detail around the eye.
“It was only when I got home I realised that the speckled patterns were in fact lice clustered around the eye, the Kumlien’s Gull hadn’t travelled alone.
“I am thrilled to win such a prestigious photography competition after entering for the first time this year.
“I have had a very symbiotic relationship between ecology work and bird photography in my career, so for both to come together in this way to win a competition with a gull image taken on my local patch, is just the icing on the cake.”
The top award came with a £750 cash prize alongside an instant camera and lenses.
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