Second place in the BirdWatching Photography Awards 2020: Goshawk

Pam Jenks of Canmore, Alberta, won second place in the 2020 BirdWatching Photography Awards competition with this striking photo of a northern goshawk eating a male wood duck. She took the photo in her snowy backyard on April 15, 2020.

“This photo caught my attention from the moment I saw it,” said Bird watching editor-in-chief Matt Mendenhall. “It shows in remarkable detail a large predator from the northern forests surrounded by the remains of one of the most beautiful birds in North America. It embodies Tennyson’s famous quote, “nature, red in tooth and claw”. It is both a tragic scene and one that evokes the power and prowess of the goshawk.

Pam used a Canon EOS R camera with a 24-240mm F4-6.3 IS USM lens. The settings were 1/2500 sec, f/6.3 and ISO 800.

The photo was one of more than 1,230 entries we received during the competition period this spring. And it was one of 14 finalists that we announced last week. Check out the links below for first and third place images as well as our finalists and honorable mentions.

First place at the BirdWatching Photography Awards 2020

Third place at the BirdWatching Photography Awards 2020

Finalists for the BirdWatching Photography Awards 2020

Honorable Mentions from the 2020 BirdWatching Photography Awards

A big thank you to our judges: Alan Murphy, professional bird photographer; author, podcaster, Bird watching columnist and photographer Laura Erickson; Outdoor photographer Editor-in-Chief Wes Pitts and Bird watching Editor Matt Mendenhall.

Find out how to submit your photos to our Color of Birds competition