The results of the Second photobirding competition "Reserved Frame"

How was the Second photobirding competition in the Berezinsky Reserve

The Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve is an Important Bird Area and is included in the List of Wetlands of International Importance, mainly as habitats for waterfowl. More than 240 species of birds live here, 58 of them included in the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus. All of them are under protection in the reserve and are being studied by scientists.

The third part of the list of bird species of the reserve (about 90 species in total) were not only seen, but also captured by the participants of the “Reserve Frame” photobirding competition! On the first day of the tour, its 14 participants (comprising 6 teams and 2 individuals), after registration, listening to the instructions on the competition and discussing organizational issues, visited a special ornithological excursion "Birds of the Evening Forest", which was conducted by the host of the competition − the ornithologist of the reserve Yuri Vladimirovich Bogutsky.

On May 1, lovers of the feathered world, like early birds, at 7 o'clock in the morning already set off on an exciting journey to the very heart of the reserve − to the territory of the Kraitsy forestry.

It was necessary not only to make photos of the birds, but also to define their species and put them on the checklist.

After the 6-hour competition, the birdwatchers started preparing the footage and submitting it, along with the checklists, to the organizer of the event.

The next day after the competition, the judging team summed up the results and chose the winners. The places were distributed as follows:

The “Triangle” team, which scored the most points, was an unconditional winner. In addition, a member of this team − Natalia Kaporikova − was lucky enough to capture a new for the reserve specie in the floodplain of the Berezina River. It was the marshmallow – a rare sandpiper, which is included in the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus. Congratulations to Natalia on this amazing find!

Фотография Натальи Капориковой

The team "Center of Ecological Education" not only took second place in the competition, but also won in the "Best Photo" nomination, capturing a bluethroat − a species of the Muscicapidae family, that is very rare in the reserve.

With a small margin from the "CEE" team, the third place was taken by Natalya Kosar, who participated individually and, moreover, photographed an osprey − a rare species included in the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus.

In addition, the jury decided to mark some pictures of the competition participants and introduced additional nominations:

Natalia Kaporikova won in the nomination “Red Book Species” for her photo of a black stork;

Olga Gavrosh − in the nomination "The rarest shot" − for a photo of a European penduline tit, very rare in the reserve;

Our fellow countryman Tatyana Kornilovich from Dokshitsy won in the nomination “The most original shot”;

"Special Jury Award" was given to Anna Myalik for the picturesque composition of a photo with a shoveler and a close-up of a white wagtail.

The Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve congratulates the winners of the competition and thanks everyone for their participation. All prize-winners of competitions can pick up their diplomas and prizes at any convenient time.

The participants of the 2nd competition "Reserve Frame" proposed to hold photobirding in the reserve twice a year. The administration of the nature protection institution supported it with great pleasure, as this is not only a unique opportunity for amateur ornithologists to observe birds in their natural environment in a protected natural area of the highest rank, but also an extremely interesting and useful event, both for its participants and for the ornithologists of the reserve . Therefore, we’ll repeat it in autumn this year!