Tales from the Riverbank Photography Competition

Kingfishers By Jon Hawkins

Bob has once again been doing a brilliant job of producing a blog for every day in June as part of the The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild – we’re halfway through the month and I’m sure another 15 blogs will appear! 

As the UK’s biggest nature challenge, 30 Days Wild challenges you to do one wild thing a day throughout the month of June. That’s 30 simple, fun and exciting Random Acts of Wildness to see you through the month… and hopefully beyond!

If you’re a Hampshire resident and looking for a challenge, why not have a go at photographing the streams that feed the Test and Itchen rivers and enter your favourite photo (or two!) into the Trust’s Tales from the Riverbank Photography Competition?

Banded demoiselle

If you head further up the Test Valley from Stockbridge (Bob’s Day 13 if you missed it) you reach the chalky headwaters of the River Test, namely the Upper Test, Bourne Rivulet, Upper Anton and Pillhill Brook. These, along with the chalk streams that feed the River Itchen (the Candover Brook, River Arle and the Cheriton Stream), make up the project area for Hampshire and Isle of Wight’s Watercress and Winterbournes project, a landscape partnership scheme supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund that aims to bring together local communities and organisations to restore and celebrate these beautiful waters. 

With only around 200 chalk streams existing worldwide, and most of those in England, our Hampshire streams provide an ecologically rare home for a whole host of wonderful wildlife, including water vole, brown trout, southern damselfly, water crowfoot, and endangered white-clawed crayfish.

Brown trout

We’re looking for photos of the streams that feed the Rivers Test and Itchen, as well as their wildlife, heritage, and communities. So whether you’re a camera whizz or a smartphone snapper, capture these amazing places and you could be a winner.

The competition is free to enter and open to Hampshire residents. You could win £75 of gift vouchers, and there are special prizes for under-18s. The competition closes on 31 August 2021 – visit our website for more details and the competition categories.

 

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