PA Environment Digest Blog: Westmoreland Pollinator Partners, Penguin Court Invite Entries To Pennsylvania Pollinator Photo Challenge 2022

Recognizing the value pollinators provide to humans and our ecosystem, Penguin Court, a Preserve of the Brandywine Conservancy, and the Westmoreland Pollinator Partners, a committee of over two dozen groups in Westmoreland County promoting and protecting pollinators, are pleased to announce the second annual Pennsylvania Pollinator Photo Challenge.

Open to the public, this contest has categories for adults 18 and over and youth 17 or younger.

Images must include a pollinator found and photographed in Pennsylvania, such as bees, beetles, butterflies, flies, hummingbirds, moths, or wasps.

Photos of people hand-pollinating plants will be considered, too; however, the person must provide written consent if they are identifiable in the image.

Melissa Reckner, Penguin Court’s Program Manager, said, “This is called a photo challenge and not a contest, because photographing insects that dip, dive, dodge and duck requires patience and skill!”

A person may submit a maximum of three entries, which must be submitted electronically by August 5, 2022.

Judges from the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art and Westmoreland Photographers Society will score the entries based on the image’s relevancy to the theme, originality, impact and quality.

Reckner said last year’s inaugural photo challenge received 443 entries from 178 adults and 48 submissions from 19 children.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect so many entries. A core committee thought this would be a nice way to get people to slow down, observe, and admire the lesser known and perhaps less flashy pollinators in their backyards,” she said. “We were delighted that the public embraced this challenge.”

First, second, and third place winners in both the adult and youth categories, as well as honorable mentions, will be announced at the “Monarchs, Milkweed, and More” event on Sunday, August 21, 2022 at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Ligonier.

Prizes in the adult category include cash and passes to Longwood Gardens, while prizes in the youth category include Dairy Queen gift cards and field guides. Native perennials grown at Penguin Court will be included in all prize packages.

Complete rules, judging criteria, and more may be found at the Pennsylvania Pollinator Photo Challenge webpage.

(Photo: Elizabeth Harper, 1st Place Winner in 2021, from Muncy; Brooke Gajeski of Kennett Square in Youth Category.)

Resource Links - Native Plants:

-- Pollinator Gardens: Help Encourage Ecological Diversity In Your Own Backyard [Videos]

-- Gardening For Butterflies: Penn State Extension

-- Planting For Pollinators: Penn State Extension

-- Penn State Extension Master Gardeners

-- Penn State Pollinator Garden Certification

-- DCNR Blog: Bring Life To Your Yard With Native Plants - Start With These; Garden Templates; Where To Buy

-- DCNR Blog: Growing Native Plants To Thwart Invasive Species

-- DCNR Blog: Good Weeds (Native Plants)

-- PennDOT: Adopt And Beautify - Keystone Pollinator Habitat