News

Habitat at Home photo contest now open

The 2023 winning entry annual Habitat at Home spring photo contest was a ruby crowned kinglet by Cathleen Bester.

By Lightning Reports, Published: April 8, 2024

Conserving Carolina’s fifth annual Habitat at Home spring photo contest is open through May 15.

Celebrating the beautiful and wild things right outside our door, the contest aims to inspire more people to restore natural habitat at homes, schools, businesses and houses of worship.

Conserving Carolina is looking for photos that showcase ways that people are restoring natural habitat — such as native plant gardens or bird boxes. They are also looking for photos of animals spotted around homes and other buildings. This can include the full range of wildlife from the smallest to the largest. In past years, people have shared photos of lizards, toads, turtles, snakes, butterflies, moths, beetles, bees, birds, deer, foxes, bobcats, bears, squirrels, and more.

The contest is open to both advanced photographers and people who are just having fun. Youth entries are encouraged. The primary goal is to celebrate nature near home and inspire more people to improve wildlife habitat.

To enter the contest, post photos or videos on Facebook and/or Instagram as a public post with the hashtag #habitatathome2024. If you do not use social media, you may enter the contest by emailing photos to rose@conservingcarolina.org. To be eligible for prizes, photos must be taken in Western North Carolina or Upstate South Carolina. The grand prize is a professional landscape consultation by Mark Byington of Byington Landscape Architects,. See full contest rules at conservingcarolina.org/contest2023.