British Birds Bird Photograph of the Year 2007

Throughout 2007, British Birds will be celebrating its centenary, which will be marked by a series of events and landmark papers. As always, one of our main events of the year is the Bird Photograph of the Year competition, the original bird photograph competition that has featured annually in British Birds since 1976.

This year in particular, we want to encourage both amateur and professional photographers to enter their best bird photographs taken during 2006. We welcome either colour transparencies or digital images of Western Palearctic species (which can be taken anywhere in the world).

This competition places a strong emphasis on entries that have managed to capture unusual, interesting or little-known behaviour. Although past winners have usually been able to produced technically outstanding images, it is the blend of high quality and interesting aspects of bird behaviour that the judges will be looking for; in other words, technical perfection is not essential to win this competition, although it certainly helps! The winning Bird Photograph of the Year of the 2006 competition, and runners up, will provide a guide to the type and quality of entries we are hoping to attract.

BIRD PHOTOGRAPH OF THE YEAR 2006: Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus, Rutland Water, Leicestershire, March 2005 (Canon EOS 1D Mark II; Canon 500-mm IS lens with 1.4x converter; 1/500, f7.1, ISO 400) (photo: Chris Knights).

SECOND: Adult Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus in flight, Spanish Pyrenees, October 2005 (Canon EOS 1D Mark II; Canon 500-mm IS lens; 1/800, f5.6, ISO 200) (photo: Philip Mugridge).

THIRD: Firecrest Regulus ignicapilla, Sierra de Guadarrama, Spain, March 2005 (Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon 400-mm DO IS lens; 1/500, f5.6, ISO 200) (photo: Hugh Harrop).

The overall winner will receive a Zeiss FL65 Diascope kindly donated by Zeiss UK, together with books of their choice from Christopher Helm/A&C Black and HarperCollins publishers, an engraved salver and a cash prize. Photographs placed in second and third positions will also receive books of their choice from Christopher Helm/A&C Black and HarperCollins publishers and cash prizes.

The best digiscoped entry will receive outdoor equipment from Sprayway and a cash prize from the Eric Hosking Charitable Trust, while the best photograph taken by a young photographer (aged under 26 on 31st December 2006) will receive a cash prize.

Full details can be found on the British Birds website.