James Deane wins INHT Wildlife Photography Competition

James Deane's startling picture of a Buzzard and a Hen harrier interacting in front of a backdrop of wild geese has been chosen as the winner of the inaugural Islay Natural History Trust Wildlife Photography Competition.

The winner was chosen by Lord George Robertson of Port Ellen from a field of 157 photographs entered.

The winner was chosen from a "Final Three" - the other two being "Bottle-nosed dolphins, entered by the Mitchell family of An Gleann, and "Otter" by Mark and Sally Johnson.

George Robertson writes:  "The idea of an Islay wildlife photographic competition seems such an obvious one. Congratulations to the Trust for thinking of it! The proliferation of digital cameras arriving on Islay now almost rivals the number of geese!
"The product of these cameras and the many efforts to use them now have a much wider audience thanks to this competition.  The number of images and their variety has been quite remarkable and made my task of judging all the more difficult. The winning three are outstanding examples of both the variety of wildlife on Islay and the enthusiasm of those who seek to record it.

"It has been a huge pleasure for me to be able to see all the pictures and great privilege to have had the right to choose the best."

Carl Reavey, Chairman of the INHT Management Committee said:  "I would like to extend our grateful thanks to George for agreeing to undertake this most difficult task.  We have been absolutely delighted with the number of entries, the variety of subjects chosen and the very high standard.

"We have posted all the entries on a Flickr site, accessed via the link below.

INHT Wildlife Photography Competition - Flickr photostream

"The order in which they appear on the photostream is entirely random.

"We hope to be able to include the photographs in a public viewing in conjunction with the showing of some of the latest films from the RSPB.  We will of course post details of this as soon as they are finalised.

"Once again I would like to thank everyone for taking the time and trouble to enter what I hope has been a most enjoyable competition."