Josh DeLeenheer took the third place photo titled, "The Homesteader." This photo was taken on Race Rocks Ecological Reserve in June 2018. The description reads: "Ollie, the lone sea otter at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve, has broken from a distant sea otter raft to find a suitable location for a new sea otter colony. He now awaits his new family." Josh DeLeenheer via B.C. SPCA
iN PHOTOS: Bears, bees and an otter star in B.C. SPCA’s photo contest
The B.C. SPCA has announced its winners for the 10th annual Wildlife In-Focus photography contest.
Contestants could submit photos in two categories: Backyard Habitats and Wild Settings. There was also a People's Choice category.
“With almost 600 photos submitted, it was a challenge for the contest judges to highlight only a few of the many amazing photos celebrating B.C.’s diverse wildlife,” Erin Ryan with the SPCA says in a media release. “We want to thank all the participants for sharing their amazing photos and helping to raise more than $17,500 for wild animals in need.”
The first-place winner of the Backyard Habitats category is of a Rufous hummingbird in a bird bath. This 2011 photo was taken in Nanoose Bay by Tony Markle. “This male Rufous Hummingbird is bathing in a water feature in our yard that I built specifically for hummingbirds,” Markle says in the description. Tony Markle via B.C. SPCA
Second place
Teresa Nightingale’s “Seeing Double” photo took home second place in the Backyard Habitats category. The photo was taken June 2018 in Halfmoon Bay. Nightingale writes: “Every year we have one or two fawns born near or in our back yard. This year the doe decided to give birth three feet from our bedroom window! Upstairs, our cat was on the windowsill getting excited about something. I finally decided to look down and saw the doe and two newborns, the second one having just emerged, from the looks of things. I rushed downstairs with my phone and camera, took some video and then a lot of stills. This was about 10 minutes later as the twins napped to recover from the birth experience, settling down in mirror image positions.” Teresa Nightingale via B.C. SPCA
Third place
The third place photo was taken in 2017 by Vicki Morell. This photo is from the Lander and 72nd dyke area and is called, “I don’t give a hoot!” In the caption Morell writes:”I had bought a new lens and went to check out the Ladner dyke area for great photo ops. I came upon this short eared owl who seemed to like posing for the photographers. As he started to scratch click, click, click & this is the result!” Vicki Morell via B.C. SPCA
Wild Settings
First place
Second place
“The majestic Pika” by Jonathan Bauder holds second place in the Wild Settings category. This photo was taken in 2017 at Mount Robson. Bauder’s photo caption reads: “This little pika was posing very still for me half way up to Mount Robson on the Berg Lake trail. I think it really wanted to win this contest.” Jonathan Bauder via B.C. SPCA
Third place
Josh DeLeenheer took the third place photo titled, “The Homesteader.” This photo was taken on Race Rocks Ecological Reserve in June 2018. The description reads: “Ollie, the lone sea otter at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve, has broken from a distant sea otter raft to find a suitable location for a new sea otter colony. He now awaits his new family.” Josh DeLeenheer via B.C. SPCA
People's Choice
The People’s Choice winner goes to Izabelle Stevens with her photo, “Beauty and the Bee-st.” This photo was taken in June 2018 in Sechelt. The description reads: “The beautiful bee, doing its simple job that greatly affects the world. The bees are a disappearing species, and are dying rapidly. You may wonder why the bees are so important and to answer that, without the bee, our world would suffer. Without the bees pollination, the amount of food we would have would drastically decrease and scientists have said that mankind would have only four years left if the bee disappeared. Yet neonicotinoids, one of the large contributors to the rapid death of bees, is not completely banned in Canada. I hope that through winning this contest, information about how we can help the bees will be spread, and people will spring to action to help our little friends, the bees, before it is too late.” Izabelle Stevens via B.C. SPCA
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Shelby has lived across Canada. She grew up near Winnipeg, Manitoba then obtained her B.F.A in Multidisciplinary Fine Arts at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta. In 2014 she moved to Montreal, Quebec to study French and thrived in the Visual Journalism Graduate Diploma program at Concordia University. Now she works at iNFO News where she strives to get the stories that matter to the Okanagan Valley community.
In this photo provided by Helen North, laundry-stealing cat Leo poses on Sept. 25, 2024, with some of the socks it has found and brought to its home in Auckland, New Zealand. (Helen North via AP)
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