CHURCH CREEK - The Friends of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge last week announced the winners of the 2021 Refuge Photo Contest, which is the first photo contest held at Blackwater NWR for adult and youth photographers.

This inaugural contest attracted 122 photographers and 440 submissions covering categories of wildlife, landscape and waterscape, and flora. Youth 13 and older were also invited to submit photos for similar categories.

Adult first-place winners included Joshua Galicki (wildlife), Tom Statas (landscape/waterscape), and Nic Kuvshinoff (flora). Youth first-place winners included Patrick Matthews (wildlife), Savannah Elzey (landscape/waterscape), and Annabelle Horton (flora). Winning photos can be seen on the Friends of Blackwater website, friendsofblackwater.org/photo-contest-winners-2021.html.

The judges for the 2021 contest were professional photographers David Harp and Nikhil Bahl. Winners in first, second and third place will receive monetary awards and will be invited to exhibit framed prints of their winning submissions at the Blackwater NWR Visitor Center in time for the Blackwater NWR Eagle Festival in March.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2017 “Banking on Nature” report (fws.gov/economics/divisionpublications/bankingOnNature/BoN2017/bon2017.asp), photographers are one of the major user groups at Blackwater NWR. Refuge photographers have increased in number during the pandemic as people seek out safe places to enjoy the outdoors, a statement from the organization said.

Photographers at the refuge are attracted to the abundant winter waterfowl - including Canada and snow geese, tundra swans, and 20 species of ducks - as well as marsh birds, songbirds and raptors throughout the year. The refuge is home to the largest natural population of formerly endangered Delmarva fox squirrels and is also home to the largest breeding population of bald eagles on the East Coast, north of Florida.

Blackwater NWR includes forest, marsh and shallow open water, and protects one-third of Maryland’s tidal wetlands, which makes it an ecologically important area within the state. The refuge has been referred to as the “Everglades of the North,” and has been called one of the “Last Great Places” by the Nature Conservancy.

For more information about the 2021 Refuge Photo Contest and the Friends of Blackwater, contact Rick Abend, 443-521-2201, rdabend@yahoo.com.