From grey seals to golden eagles, weasels to water voles Moors Valley Country Park celebrates the best of British wildlife in a remarkable photographic exhibition

Stunning images of wildlife from across Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire feature in the British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) exhibition at the award-winning Moors Valley Country Park and Forest from 14 January until 26 February.

The prestigious annual awards showcase the very best of nature photography drawn from thousands of entries from across the country, and Moors Valley is the only location south of London to host the BWPA national touring exhibition. Over 100 striking images feature in the exhibition, including many species that can be found at Moors Valley such as a dazzling array of dragonflies, all six UK species of reptile and water voles.

This year’s BWPA overall winning shot, ‘Hitchhikers’ features a magnificent lion’s mane jelly fish photographed in the waters off the island of Hirta in Scotland by George Stoyle. But it wasn’t just the amazing folds, frills and kaleidoscopic colours of this giant jellyfish that made this a winner, taking sanctuary within its tangle of stinging tentacles are a shoal of shimmering fish.

Nearer to home, highly commended images include Jane Morgan’s close-up of a feathery fan worm taken in Weymouth, Mark Bridger’s roe deer in a field in Salisbury, and Documentary Series winner Nick Upton, whose images detailed the monitoring and tracking of harvest mice. Hampshire is also represented with two highly commended images of freshwater fish from Paul Colley including a remarkable underwater shot of a trout and a mallard duck (above).

The 2017 British Wildlife Photography Awards opens for entries in early February. Details can be found at bwpawards.org.

Let’s go!

The British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition runs daily (14 January – 26 February) in the Visitor Centre at Moors Valley Country Park near Ringwood and is free to view. Parking charges apply. More at moors-valley.co.uk or 01425 470721.

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