PHOTOS: BC SPCA announces winners in 12th annual wildlife photo contest

People’s Choice winner: Eileen Harris of Kelowna, bumble bee clinging to grass.People’s Choice winner: Eileen Harris of Kelowna, bumble bee clinging to grass.
Honourable mention: Wiley Wolfe, black bear and cub.Honourable mention: Wiley Wolfe, black bear and cub.
First place, Wild Settings: Joshua Wolfe of New Westminster, black bears.First place, Wild Settings: Joshua Wolfe of New Westminster, black bears.
First place, Backyard Habitats: Thomas Haslinger of Coldstream, pine chipmunk.First place, Backyard Habitats: Thomas Haslinger of Coldstream, pine chipmunk.
Honourable mention: Sheila Banks, cougar.Honourable mention: Sheila Banks, cougar.
Honourable mention: Lyn Riley, albino groundhog.Honourable mention: Lyn Riley, albino groundhog.
Honourable mention: John Czornobaj, kermode bear.Honourable mention: John Czornobaj, kermode bear.
Third place, Wild Settings: Deborah Freeman of Nanoose Bay, mink on Malcolm Island.Third place, Wild Settings: Deborah Freeman of Nanoose Bay, mink on Malcolm Island.
Honourable mention: Francisco Carreon, mountain goat.Honourable mention: Francisco Carreon, mountain goat.
Second-place, Wild Settings: Greg Peterson of Burnaby, short-eared owl.Second-place, Wild Settings: Greg Peterson of Burnaby, short-eared owl.
Honourable mention: Aurore Sabrier, raven.Honourable mention: Aurore Sabrier, raven.
Second place, Backyard Habitats: D. Ross Fisher’s (Campbell River), robins.Second place, Backyard Habitats: D. Ross Fisher’s (Campbell River), robins.
Honourable mention: Tyera Lentz, salmon.Honourable mention: Tyera Lentz, salmon.
Honourable mention: Jacek Kaim of South Surrey, skunk family.Honourable mention: Jacek Kaim of South Surrey, skunk family.
Honourable mention: Patrick O’Sullivan, stoat.Honourable mention: Patrick O’Sullivan, stoat.
Honourable mention: Vern Clooten, tree swallow stretching its wing.Honourable mention: Vern Clooten, tree swallow stretching its wing.
Third place, Backyard Habitats: Sandy Stirling of Nanoose Bay, tree frog.Third place, Backyard Habitats: Sandy Stirling of Nanoose Bay, tree frog.

A family photo of the four-legged variety has earned a place of honour in the BC SPCA’s latest Wildlife-in-Focus Photography contest.

The image – of seven skunk kits and their mother in a South Surrey backyard – captured by Jacek Kaim in mid-June was among 10 “incredible” entries submitted from across the province to receive an honourable mention in the contest.

The youngsters were “tumbling over each other as they followed their mother from one end of our yard to the other,” Kaim writes in a submission explaining the photo.

“Managed to get one good shot with all of them looking forward (mother in the back).”

The contest, in its 12th year, challenged amateur photographers in B.C. to celebrate the province’s diverse wildlife through photos, capturing them in either a backyard or natural habitat.

Nearly 1,000 entries were submitted.

READ MORE: PHOTOS: BC SPCA announces winners of Wildlife-In-Focus contest

First place in the Backyard Habitats category went to Coldstream’s Thomas Haslinger for a photo of a pine chipmunk eating breakfast, followed by a Campbell River shot by D. Ross Fisher of a baby robin preparing to dine on a juicy worm. Third place went to Sandy Stirling of Nanoose Bay for a photo taken in 2014 of a tiny frog found in one of her garden’s canna lilies.

In the Wild Settings category, New Westminster’s Joshua Wolfe scored the win with a photo of bear cubs foraging near Bob Quinn (Lake), followed by Greg Peterson of Burnaby’s shot of a short-eared owl in Boundary Bay and Nanoose Bay resident Deborah Freeman’s photo of a mink on Malcolm Island.

The People’s Choice Award went to Kelowna’s Eileen Harris for her shot of a bumble bee clinging to grass.

First-place winners in both judged categories will be featured in the upcoming issue of the BC SPCA’s Animal Sense magazine, while the photos of all three winners in both categories as well as the top 12 People’s Choice photos will appear on BC SPCA greeting cards that are to be sold online, a news release states.

The contest raised $32,920 for the society’s Wild Animal Rehabilitation Centre (Wild ARC), to benefit care for injured and orphaned wildlife.

To view more of the submitted photos, visit spca.bc.ca/wildlife-in-focus



tholmes@peacearchnews.com

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