Biodiversity photography winners: A snapshot of the wildlife that calls Ireland home

A photograph of a bird looking for food with one of its parents has won best photograph at the Biodiversity Photographer of the Year exhibition.

The photograph of the juvenile stonechat searching with its father was taken by Brenda Sheridan on a walk between Greystones and Bray, Co Wicklow. It was described by the judges, former Irish Times photographer Frank Miller and photographer Nick Bradshaw, as “simple, clean and well composed – an endearing image. A worthy winner in a very tough competition”.

Second prize was a morning hare taken by Anne Marie Mockler. It was described as a “striking composition, beautifully lit in sharp morning light and really draws in the viewer, well done”.

The third prize was a gannet diving and bringing up a Ballan Wrasse by Suzanne Behan. It was described as a “very dramatic image, timing is everything and this ticked all the boxes. Explosive action perfectly captured as the gannet surfaces with the unusual catch”.

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The judges described the image quality as “really exceptional – we considered some 15 images which were real contenders but at the end of the day we had to make those difficult choices and we chose the top three images and awarded six highly commended – in all truth the top 10 or so images deserved highly commended status.”

The Biodiversity Photographer of the Year exhibition starts today (Saturday, July 1st), celebrating Ireland’s wildlife with a unique collection of photographs captured during May 2023.

Wildlife photographers from all over Ireland submitted more than 1,000 photographs to the competition, which is run by the Irish Environmental Network each year as part of National Biodiversity Week activities.

This year also celebrates our marine life with the Ocean Category in collaboration with Fair Seas. The winner in that category was Mark O’Leary with Lobster and its garden.

The finalists for all categories depict a wide range of species, habitats and behaviours, and provide a snapshot of the wildlife that calls Ireland home.

The exhibition will be open at the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun, Dublin, until July 31st.

With 85 per cent of Ireland’s EU-protected habitats reported to be in “unfavourable” condition and 46 per cent of these in decline, Ireland faces a future of rapidly disappearing wildlife unless action is taken.