Winners named in owl photo contest
A year ago, Cheryl Anderson got the idea of doing a photo contest devoted to the official bird of the city of Cape Coral.
In just two years, the event sponsored by the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife has grown quickly. On Saturday, at Rotary Park, winners and their representatives, as well as the mayor and a city council member, gathered to mark the winning photos in the second annual Burrowing Owl photo contest.
The contest brought in 40 entries, with the grand prize winner’s photo to be featured on next year’s Friends of Cape Coral Wildlife T-shirt.
Anderson said there were many great photos this year that didn’t end up winning, which is what she hoped for when she envisioned the idea.
“We corresponded this with the census. Last week we had that and we were supposed to have this last week, but the weather made us postpone it,” Anderson said. “This is a culmination of our work.”
The weeklong postponement resulted in many of the winners being unable to attend. Connie Hessler, the grand prize winner, was among those who did not attend, and she had her friend, Heather Anderson, describe her entry.
“In order to take a great photo of the burrowing owl, you need three aspects; patience, patience and patience,” Anderson read from a statement by Hessler, who has taken photos of the owls for years and thanked Friends of Wildlife for their support and education regarding the owls.
Anderson said there are burrows at both ends of their street, so Hessler gets many opportunities to take photos. She went through her files and found what she felt were her four best and went to her neighbors and asked which one was best.
“She had the opportunity to enter last year and when she got honorable mention and her photo was used for the front plate on your car, she was ecstatic,” Anderson said.
After photos were selected to advance to the finals, Mayor John Gunter, Councilmember Gloria Tate and two professional birding photographers judged the photos in the adult and youth divisions.
Gunter a builder, said conservation is important for one of the fastest growing cities in the country.
“We have to find a balance between the wildlife and our growth. I’ve always been an advocate for that, but we need to find that common ground so we all could live here,” Gunter said, thanking Friends of Wildlife in the process.
The adult division winners were:
First place: Lynette Zuccata
Second place: John McConnell
Third place: Vivian Cordoso
Honorable Mention: Peter Sestak, Faith McCormack, Rachel Walker, Jennifer Perez, Kathy Swartz.
Youth division: First Place: Sky Colella
Second Place: Harry Freedman
Third place: Charlie Periman
To reach CHUCK BALLARO, please email news@breezenewspapers.com