This week, I was delighted to hear that my image of a rolling Mountain Hare had achieved the runner-up position in the Mammal Society’s Mammal Photographer of the Year competition. The email had actually gone in my junk folder, so I only discovered on the day that the announcement was made!
I took the shot on a trip to the Cairngorms, in amazing snowy conditions. I had been really lucky with this shot; one in a sequence of four that I took. I had been tracking this hare across the snowy landscape, when it paused and then rolled. It was over in a fraction of a second! Sometimes, you are just in the right place at the right time! They often roll in this way and it is thought it may be to help clean their coat and keep it in tip-top condition, which is essential in these harsh conditions.
Chuffed that Zeb Soames, Broadcaster and Mammal Society patron, who was on the judging panel, said “Kate’s Rolling Mountain Hare has everything: photographic skill, terrific composition and a sense of drama and character in its subject. It’s a superb picture.”
I have won a photography day at the British Wildlife Centre. I am thrilled, as I have been meaning to visit the centre for a while. Photographing native animals in captivity can be a great way to practise skills, meaning a better chance of getting a shot in the wild.
To see all the winning shots, take a look at the Mammal Society website
The winning image is this great fox shot. I love an image that tells a story and this urban fox, that had been foraging on cherries falling onto cars, is a perfect example! A massive congratulations to Roger Cox. Roger says of his stunning image ‘Foxhall Zafira’ “This animal often foraged for the wild cherries that fell from the trees and landed in the wells between the bonnets and windscreens of parked cars. It was also used to getting food from people who threw food out of their car windows at night during the early hours. I took this picture…when it jumped up on my car to investigate if there was anything of interest for it, as I’d seen it do several times before.”
This fabulous shot of a common dolphin won the ‘Elusive mammal’ category for Dan Lettice.
It was also super to see some familiar names, of people I know, within the winning images!
Alex White won the junior category with this lovely shot of a roe deer…
and Charlie Phillips got highly commended with this fantastic Bottle nose dolphin shot…
Great to see several papers take up the story and the images appeared on most of the online papers.
Some super images in the final choices and I feel privileged to have made it to runner up!