Britain's official guide to canals, rivers and lakes

Friday 5th December 2008

2008 wildlife photography competition results

Looking for wildlife along the canal in Birmingham

British Waterways' 2008 Wildlife Survey was run alongside a photography competition, encouraging budding photographers to head to their local canal or river and snap away at dragonflies and damselflies.

There were more than 350 sightings of dragonflies and damselflies along UK canals and rivers in this year's survey, a key indicator of good water quality and a healthy local ecosystem.

There were hundreds of entries to the competition and you can view the winner and runner-up images below.

Winner

Winning damselfly picture taken by Charlie McCartney

The winning damselfly image was taken by Charlie McCartney from Glenrothes, Fife.

2nd place

2nd place image taken by Ian McColl

The second place photograph was taken by Ian McColl from Marlborough, Wiltshire and is entitled Damsel's Delight, showing three pairs of White-legged Damselflies using a Yellow Water-Lily as a 'platform' for laying eggs. The photo was taken on the River Avon near Whaddon.

3rd place

3rd place image taken by Mark Pike

The third place image was taken by Mark Pike from Poole, Dorset.

Runner up

2nd place image taken by Andrew Makeham

This image of a damselfly was taken by Andrew Makeham from Bedford, Bedfordshire. It was taken at the River Great Ouse, near Kempston.

In this section ...

The UK's canals and rivers are full of wildlife Children's wildlife photography competition »
For the first time, British Waterways held a separate children's wildlife photography competition as part of the wildlife survey. This was open to all children aged 14 and under. More »