The Bird Club Photographic Competition 2026

It's that time of year when the Club's photographers start thinking about entries into the Photographic Competition. Those of you who are organised will have set up an album with potential entries and just need to decide which 24 photos to enter into the different categories.

The deadline for entry is 24th December by email to Dave Thomas following the rules here;

https://northantsbirdclub.blogspot.com/p/photographic-competition-rules.html 

In particular, the simple rules around categories as this seems to cause many of the issues Dave has to overcome when collating entries. 

Photos must be labelled as per the following system:

Category Number - Photographer's Name - Subject Name - Where the photo was taken, for example:

C01 Bob Gill - Kingfisher - Pitsford Res.

C05 Bob Gill - African Finfoot - The Gambia

No other information is required and photos labelled differently might not be entered into the competition. 

Any questions, please ask at the December meeting or contact Dave, Bob or me. Good luck! 

Clive with one of 2 successful entries into the 2026 Nene Valley Special Protection Area calendar.

News

For the August indoor meeting, we welcomed John Fuller who'd spent 3-months in New Zealand and provided us with an engaging talk illustrated with some stunning photos from his time there. We anticipate another talk from John in future following his trip to Brazil; he does get about!

September's meeting won't be one to miss either, John Showers will be giving us a talk on 'A Day on St. Kilda' followed by Chairman Bob who'll be providing a collection of the finest images known to man, and womankind, with a twist. Not that kind of twist; they'll be no slipped discs caused by Chubby Checker and ice isn't forecast so you'll just have to wait and see...and hear.

Dave J. has been busy building a website with albums including birds, mammals, macro and more! Please feel free to take a look, all feedback welcomed. 

https://www.davejphotography.com/

July Outdoor Meeting at Ravensthorpe Reservoir.

A dozen members turned out for the evening walk at Ravensthorpe Reservoir for the July Outdoor Meeting with a slow circular meander around the Anglian Water reservoir first constructed in the 1890s by the Northampton Corporation to supply water to Northampton.

It was a breezy affair so the anticipated insects were taking cover but continual sunshine and that lovely evening summer glow was much appreciated. A mixture of common birds of woodland edge were mostly heard rather than seen with renditions from Blackbird, Song Thrush, Robin, Blackcap and Chiffchaff emanating from hidden perches. Spotted Flycatchers called from high trees at the car park by the dam but I don't think anyone could see them!

Along the dam we enjoyed views of habituated wildfowl and Pied and Grey Wagtails, and Stock Doves and Woodpigeons wheeled around the trees below us next to the pumping station. Red Kites and Common Buzzards popped up over the tree-line regularly as we chatted and padded around the vegetated reservoir margins. A couple of the impressive Blue Emperor dragonflies defied the conditions to hunt and oviposit in the more sheltered spots. Two pairs of Mute Swans, Greylag Geese and at least two pairs of Great Crested Grebes were showing off their still dependent youngsters.

First seen by Stuart and then re-located by Helen, an Osprey tracked down the length of the reservoir before heading off in a north-westerly direction. Lesser Black-backed Gulls sauntered over the water, a single Common Tern fished the choppy waters and a fine male Bullfinch, something of a scarcity these days, flew over us. A Common Toad crossed the path in front and we mused over discarded oak apples. large bored exit holes in a dead conifer (probably the result of longhorn beetle action) and un-ripened bullace plums falling from the trees due to the extreme weather conditions of late.

In less than two hours we were back at the car park by the dam where an adult Green Woodpecker was waiting for us and we went our separate ways after a very pleasant wander and catch-up.

Neil McMahon

Great Crested Grebes.

Greylag Geese.

Great Crested Grebes.

Dubious duo in action!
Image courtesy of 
Helen Franklin.

Photo Competition

The much anticipated Club's Photographic Competition was again well supported and the winner of the Graham Soden Shield for the entry judged by the audience on the night goes to Dave Thomas for his Fieldfare photo taken in Northants. 

Dave also wins the Wendy Gossage Trophy for Photographer of the Year for his cumulative points total for photos placed in the top 3 across the categories. Well done Dave!

Thanks also to the judge, Peter Walmsley who commented on the high quality of shots and how difficult his decision was in choosing the top 3 from so many excellent photos. 

Well done to all who entered for making the night successful and enjoyable for photographers and non-photographers alike. 

The winning photos will be uploaded in due course. 

Fieldfare - Dave Thomas