A woman from south Dublin has said she was “absolutely shocked” to discover she had won Flickr’s annual photography contest in the wildlife category.
Deirdre Irwin was informed last week that she had won the ‘wildlife and its habitats’ category for her photograph of a Dalmatian pelican, taken in Greece in 2023.
“It was amazing as the other entries came in from all over the world: South Africa, Alaska, everywhere. I was really delighted,” she said.
“There were 32,500 entries overall and the wildlife section had the biggest amount of entries though I’m not sure exactly how many there were.”
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Ms Irwin works in occupational health at St Patrick’s University Hospital and began taking photographs of birds during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“My sister was very sick during Covid and I used to take photographs and send them to her when she was in hospital and that was when I noticed that the birds were freer than we were,” she said.
[ Bird Photographer of the Year 2024: The winners in picturesOpens in new window ]
“The birds were free to fly while we were actually here locked within the boundaries that Covid set. It was interesting and it was then I decided that I would follow the birds and see where they went, especially looking at the birds we have in Ireland that would migrate.
“Last year I went over to Greece to take photographs of the Dalmatian pelican – it was on a boat very early in the morning at a low angle. That pelican is on a conservation programme. Within Lake Kerkini they were trying to save the pelicans and to make sure they could still reproduce and the Dalmatian pelican’s bill changes colour when it comes into season. I was also looking at how birds attract in colour and how they hide in colour.”
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