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The winners of the 2009 Audubon South Carolina Nature Photography Contest, co-sponsored by the Carolinas' Nature Photographers Association, are listed below:

The contest invited photographers to capture the beauty of the natural world at South Carolina's two Audubon Sanctuaries: Francis Beidler Forest (Harleyville) and Silver Bluff (Jackson) Audubon Centers. Over 100 entries were submitted, with participants from as far away as New York and Texas, and numerous entrants from North and South Carolina.

First Place Winner: Best in Show Award was “Owlful Stare” by Scott McWatty of Lexington, SC (This is the first time that the “Best in Show” has been won by the same photographer two years running.)

First Place Awards: “Swamp Moss Cypress” (Plant/Landscape category) by Scott McWatty of Lexington, SC “Prothonotary Warbler on Cypress Knee” (Wildlife category) by Ron Wright of Cayce, SC

Second Place Awards: "Bowfin Ripples" (Plant/Landscape) by Mike Baker of York, SC "Snake" (Wildlife) by Jason Harrington of Summerville, SC

Third Place Awards: “Momma Wren with Breakfast” (Wildlife) by Steve White of Sugar Hill, GA “Come Hitthhhhher for Cottonmouth Kissssses” (Wildlife) by Catherine Miller of Charleston, SC “Spring Reflection” (Plant/Landscape) by Susan Bailey of Raleigh, NC “Weathered by Time” (Plant/Landscape) by Catherine Miller of Charleston, NC

The winning images from previous years can be seen by selecting the year: 2007 or 2008.