Member voting for the Bird On A Wire competition, which closed for entries on 20^th May and for voting on 16^th June, has been analysed and the results for the top 5 images (or more, in the case of a tie) in each category are listed here.  The Winner is the image which received the most votes; and we also show the next four highest placed images, rating them as Highly Commended if they received at least 90% of the votes for the winning image, and Commended for scores less than that.

Advanced Level – Best of 2018

This category attracted 80 entries, from 30 photographers. 47 members voted, with the following result:

• Winner - Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, by Keith Lightbody (Image ID 34581)
• Commended - Spotted Harrier, by Tim Van Leeuwen (Image ID 34704)
• Commended - Australian Hobby, by Stephen Garth (Image ID 35180)
• Commended - Eastern Spinebill, by Bill Harding (Image ID 35103)
• Commended - Australian Ringneck, by Trevor Harders (Image ID 35230)
• Commended - Spotted Pardalote, by Bill Harding (Image ID 35317)

Intermediate Level – Best of 2018

This category attracted 105 entries, from 44 photographers. 44 members voted, with the following result:

• Winner - Willie Wagtail, by Linda Joseph (Image ID 35194)
• Highly Commended - Australian Hobby, by Barry Deacon (Image ID 35107)
• Commended - Nankeen Kestrel, by Linda Joseph (Image ID 35198)
• Commended - Victoria's Riflebird, by Gary King (Image ID 35248)
• Commended - Fairy Martin, Tree Martin, by Con Duyvestyn (Image ID 34745)
• Commended - Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo, by Con Duyvestyn (Image ID 34767)

Entry Level – Best of 2018

This category attracted 38 entries, from 15 photographers. 45 members voted, with the following result:

• Winner - Forest Kingfisher, by Diana Womersley (Image ID 34632)
• Commended - Forest Kingfisher, by Jenny Donald (Image ID 35406)
• Commended - Brown Falcon, by Jennifer Carr (Image ID 34835)
• Commended - Eastern Yellow Robin, by Anna Browne (Image ID 34599)
• Commended - Rainbow Bee-eater, by Jenny Donald (Image ID 35403)

Congratulations to all these photographers for their quality images

Our very own national bird photography competition, which ran for the first time in 2018, will be on again in 2019.  Entries open on Saturday 8^th June, and you'll have until early August to get your entries in.

Thanks to our new major sponsor, Heritage Expeditions, we are offering an incredible new prize in 2019 for the best portfolio of images - a 14 day cruise to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands with renowned scientist Tim Flannery.  Like last year, there will also be cash prizes for the winning entry in each entry category as well.

The competition has a new name in 2019: Birdlife Australia Photography Awards, and we've made a few other small changes.  For all the details, visit the official competition website: https://www.birdlifephotoaward.org.au/

The Tom Oliver Award is a Special BirdLife Photography Award established in 2014; it seeks to entice photographers and/or photography-educators to create an original and inspiring educational resource enabling bird photographers to advance their photographic knowledge-base and technical competencies. This definition is deliberately broad to encourage lateral thinking and innovation by award entrants.  These resources should promote best practice in photographic techniques and could include aspects such as:

• photographing small birds
• photographing birds in flight
• capturing interesting behaviours
• compositional elements
• post-production techniques and workflows
• ethics in bird photography

BirdLife Photography invites entries for the 2019 Tom Oliver Award.  Entry is open to anyone living in Australia, and to overseas members of BirdLife Australia or Birdlife Photography.  Entries for the 2019 Award close on 15^th July 2019.  Please see the Rules and Conditions page for details, and a link to the 2019 Entry Form.

The Tom Oliver Award is NOT a photographic competition; entries which are merely a portfolio of bird photographs will not be accepted.

Best Photograph of the Year - Interchangeable Lens Camera

Regent Bowerbirds - Brian O'Leary (Image ID 30762)

Best Photograph of the Year - Fixed Lens Camera

Australian Pelican - Rodger Scott (Image ID 31133)

The winners of these Photographs of the Year will receive a BLP gold medal.

The other short-list finalists for Photo of the Year were:

Interchangeable Lens Camera:

• Southern Boobook, by Warren Wilson (Image ID 30598)
• Masked Woodswallow, by Jill Wilson (Image ID 29151)
• Australasian Gannet, by Con Duyvestyn (Image ID 31712)
• Azure Kingfisher, by Bill Harding (Image ID 33038)

Fixed Lens Camera:

• Golden-headed Cisticola, by Rodger Scott (Image ID 31313)
• Little Corella, by Anne Burgess (Image ID 30329)
• Blue-faced Honeyeater, by Malcolm Bone (Image ID 29786)
• Great Knot, by Anne Burgess (Image ID 29670)

World renowned bird photographer Glenn Bartley will be the keynote speaker at the Birdlife Photography Biennial Conference on 21st & 22nd September 2019, in Fremantle, WA.

Save those dates!