[Click on the images above to see them larger and for other photo awards entries.]
We have our first Feathered Four finalist: ! Three more to go before we have our big people鈥檚 choice winner.
Next up, we鈥檝e got the black-crowned night heron playing peek-a-boo and the peregrine falcon soaring off the roof, winners of Matchups and , respectively. They both come from the gallery, 鈥?鈥 chock-full of images from our Photo Awards. [Please note, voting time this round will be shortened due to the holidays, ending Saturday evening, 12/24. Get your votes in before then.]
By now you likely know how our Bird Madness bracket game works. But just in case you need a refresher, here are some details: Each round of the Soaring Sixteen, we posted two entries from this year鈥檚 爆料公社 Magazine Photo Awards. Those winners are going head to head in our Egret Eight round. The top quartet makes it to the Feathered Four, then two onto the championship match.
It鈥檚 all in anticipation of announcing the official winners of our Photo Awards鈥攊t鈥檚 coming soon!鈥攕elected by our design director, Kevin Fisher, our photo editor, Lila Garnett, and publisher and editor-in-chief of Nature鈥檚 Best Photography magazine, Steve Freligh.
More than 1,300 of you chose the winners of our Soaring Sixteen. The ultimate victor of Bird Madness will appear on , along with a story about how he or she captured the shot. Our Jan-Feb 2012 issue will feature the awards鈥 official winners.
Vote here! Voting closes on Saturday, Dec. 24. We鈥檒l be on hiatus next week due to the holidays, but we鈥檒l pick up the Egret Eight again in the new year, on Monday, January 2, 2012. It鈥檚 sure to be a great match!