A PHOTOGRAPH of a scarce Worcestershire butterfly was the overall winner of the annual photography competition run by the charity Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.

More than 130 spectacular photographs were entered into the competition, which required photographers to focus their efforts on the charity’s nature reserves and wildlife found there. Winners will feature in the trust’s 2013 calendar, on sale now.

Wendy Carter, trust communications manager, said: “Once again we’ve been impressed by the quality of photographs taken of our local wildlife and nature reserves. This is the third consecutive year we’ve run the competition and each year it gets harder to pick just 12 winning images.

“We’re delighted with this year’s entries, which really do show the diversity of wildlife and habitats in Worcestershire – from butterflies and birds to woodlands and wetlands, we’re lucky to live in such a great county.

“It’s great that so many people enjoy getting outside and appreciating wildlife. Although the photos in our calendar feature our nature reserves, we hope that they will encourage people to go out to investigate and make the most of their local green spaces and natural environment.”

Each month of the calendar features an A4 sized print of the winning image along with two smaller runner’s-up images. Winning photographs include birds, trees, flowers and landscapes.

Among the winners from this area were Stuart Andrews from Bromsgrove, Gethin Thomas from Redditch, Bas Yates from Inkberrow and Ruth Bourne from Droitiwch Spa.