The competition's third year drew 5,484 photographs from 1,019 photographers. Learn more at www.ncwildlife.org. Here are the top finishers with photographer, hometown, subject and location photo was taken if not in hometown:

BIRDS: 1, Lori Cash, Grandy, willet, Nags Head; 2, Gene Furr, Raleigh, brown pelican, Carolina Beach; 3, Gene Furr, great egrets, Southport; honorable mention, Ed Erkes, Goldsboro, prothonotary warblers, Four Oaks, and Timothy Bardy, Holly Springs, bluebird with winterberry

MAMMALS: 1, Gary Carter, McLeansville, Eastern chipmunk; 2, Bruce Siulinski, Brevard, elk, Cataloochee Valley; 3, Dustin Maynard, Thomasville, bobcat, N.C. Zoo, Asheboro; honorable mention, Brad Douglass, Banner Elk, fawn, Fleetwood, and David Vandre, Hendersonville, opossum

REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS: 1, Robert Dant, Hickory, Carolina anole, Hickory; 2, Kiran Venkatesh, Raleigh, copperhead, Pittsboro; 3, Ricky Riddle, Bakersville, Eastern garter snake; honorable mention, Zach Barfield, Mount Holly, black rat snake, Gaston County, and Mark Tegges, Eldersburg, Md., pine barrens treefrog, Pinehurst

INVERTEBRATES: 1, Ellen Devenny, Kings Mountain, Chinese mantid; 2, Johnny Hill, Goldsboro, dragonfly; 3, Bradley Lewis, Durham, ant; honorable mention, Tom Gillespie, Trinity, beetle, Outer Banks, and Tracey Helmstetler, Greensboro, snail

OUTDOOR RECREATION: 1, Joseph Rone, Spring Lake, trout fishing, Brevard; 2, Conrad Lowman, Wilmington, Intracoastal Waterway boating; 3, Scott Hubener, Asheville, climbing Shiprock, Blue Ridge Parkway; honorable mention, Nancy Baldwin, Green Mountain, walking, Little Switzerland

WILD PLANTS: 1, David Blevins, Fuquay-Varina, cinnamon fern, Sandhills Game Land; 2, Scott Hotaling, Cullowhee, Schweinitz's sunflower, Blue Ridge Parkway; 3, Joshua Doby, Zebulon, common greenbrier; honorable mention, Ellen Devenny, Kings Mountain, mountain rhododendron, Nantahala National Forest, Macon County, and Ellen Devenny, Queen Anne's lace, Hayesville

PEAKS, VALLEYS AND PLAINS: 1, Scott Hotaling, Cullowhee, waterfall, Cullasaja Gorge; 2, Monty Combs, Wilkesboro, icy scene, Grandfather Mountain; 3, Conrad Lowman, Wilmington, Rich Inlet aerial; honorable mention, Benjamin Ritner, High Point, Linville River cascade, Linville Gorge Wilderness Area, and Michael McCarn, Stanfield, fishing boat, Swan Quarter

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR: 1, Lori Cash, Grandy, Canada goose, Cape Hatteras; 2, Ed Erkes, Goldsboro, pileated woodpecker, Four Oaks; 3, Jeffrey Lewis, Manteo, broadhead skinks battling, Roanoke Island

YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHER 13-17: 1, Sarah O'Connell, New Bern, Oceanana Pier, Atlantic Beach; 2, Michael McCloy, Southern Pines, Eastern hognose snake, Sandhills Game Land; 3, Nathaniel Gass, Durham, milkweed longhorn beetle, Raleigh; honorable mention, Danielle Barrio, Cary, swimmer, Sugar Lake; 2, Alexander Bowman, Jamestown, juvenile ghost crab, Holden Beach; 3, Michael McCloy, Southern Pines, green tree frog, Hoffman

YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHER 12-UNDER: 1, Cole Nye, Elizabethtown, laughing gull, Ocracoke; 2, Mia Daniel, Greensboro, lynx spider; 3, Ryan Richardson, Asheboro, bullfrog; honorable mention, Lucas Bobay, Holly Springs, Eastern box turtle, and Anna Gass, Durham, Carolina anole, N.C. Zoological Park, Asheboro, and Lucas Bobay, grasshopper, Raleigh

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