We have winners in the 2007 Foto Contest!

The 2007 Foto Committee selected the winning entries on the basis of composition, clarity and Purple Martin interest.

The Purple Martin Society, NA and the 2007 Foto Contest Committee want to congratulate the 2007 Foto Contest winners and thank all the entrants for their wonderful shots of 2007 Purple Martins.

As the 2007 Foto Contest closes, the 2008 Foto Contest begins with the commencement of the new Purple Martin season on January 1st and will end in October, 2008. It might be a good idea to ask for a new digital camera over the holidays.

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The Purple Martin Society, NA is pleased to announce the winners of “The 2007 Foto Contest.”

Ms. Vickie Ferguson, Gilbert, SC, with her beautifully composed sunset foto of Purple Martins flying over the Bomb Island Roost in Lake Murray, SC this past July, won first prize ($200) with her foto presentation captioned , “Purple Martins on Bomb Island.”

The 2007 Foto Contest Committee awarded Ms. Susan S. Davis, Exmore, VA with its Second Prize ($100) with her entry entitled Sibling Rivalry.

Susan’s Second Prize winning foto shows a contented martin family with the female parent perched on the porch of a gourd, eyeing the fotographer as the male martin sits atop the gourd protecting his gourd and precious contents.

While the Society promised to award two honorable mentions this year, the Foto Committee actually chose three entrants.

First Honorable mention ($25) goes to Judy Vincent, who takes her Purple Martin photos in her backyard in Port Neches, TX.

Ms. Vincent’s 2007 Foto entry shows a female martin, making a precarious food handoff to one young bird, one in a very frenetic bunch of impatient, nearly fledged, or fledged, young martins on the porch of a martin house.

Lee Bakewell, Forest Lake, MN, won second Honorable mention ($25) with his in-flight Purple Martin close up showing a male making a sharp banking flight maneuver. Mr. Bakewell’s entry was entitled, “Hard Left Aileron! Hard Left Rudder!” This winning foto’s complete caption read:

“Intimidating, diving run on human complete! Now, let’s scare him with a loud “Geek! Geek!” then HARD LEFT AILERON! HARD LEFT RUDDER!—Pull out and get back to safe Combat Air Patrol altitude where we can see if he was dissuaded from coming any closer to our newly hatched chicks!”

The third Honorable Mention ($25) goes to our Second Prize Foto Contest winner, Susan S. Davis, with her second entry entitled, “It’s my birthday!” showing a newly-hatched baby martin, fresh out of the eggshell inside its natal gourd, raising its head with open beak for the very first time.

In a letter to the Foto Committee, Ms. Davis says this is the first time she has ever entered a photo contest. Congratulations, Ms. Davis! You did very, very well!