A LIZARD hunting in the heather, a copper-coloured butterfly perching on wild carrot flower and two shots of wild woodland are the prize-winning photographs in the third annual Oxford Festival of Nature Photography Competition.

Snappers from across the UK took part in this year's contest run by the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), taking pictures of wildlife on the charity's reserves.

But the overall winner was homegrown hero Matthew Hearne, after he had an unexpected encounter with a cold blooded critter.

The Didcot dad was visiting Snelsmore Common nature reserve between Wantage and Newbury with his daughter Evie, seven, and three-year-old son Wyatt, when he was surprised to spy a reptile.

Despite being a regular at the reserve he said he had never seen a lizard there before.

Luckily, the web developer had his camera with him, and whipped it out just in time to capture this incredibly sharp shot of the common lizard hunting in the pink heather.

Mr Hearne, who lives in Queensway with his partner Johanna and the children, said he had never won a photography competition before and was delighted to take first place in the whole contest.

He won a Panasonic camera and a day out with wildlife photographer Elliott Neep.

This year's Young Photographer prize was awarded to 14-year-old Adam Dewar from Lower Earley, Reading, who captured a spectacular shot of an Essex Skipper butterfly poised on a wild carrot flower at Hosehill Lake nature reserve at Theale, West Berks.

Adam and his family were on their own ‘fun photo competition’ visit to the reserve, and his mum Helen sent his photo in to the BBOWT headquarters in Littlemore.

Another Oxfordshire artist won this year's Wild Places category with her atmospheric black-and-white shot of Whitecross Green Wood reserve on the Ox/ Bucks border.

Jess Moore from Great Milton dubbed her photo simply 'The Woods Are Lovely'.

This year's competition also included a new People and Wildlife category – an opportunity to take a portrait of someone in their favourite spot on a BBOWT reserve.

Charlie Gray from Calcot, Reading, was out with his son Nick and their dog Muffin at Wokefield Common nature reserve south of Reading last December when the late afternoon sunshine lit up the woodland.

Mr Gray took this prize-winning photo on his mobile phone and won the smartphone category at the same time.

He said that he and Muffin enjoy the peacefulness of the woodland at Wokefield, beautifully portrayed in his shot.

Such was the strength of this year's entries that judges named three runners-up in the Wildlife category: Roy McDonald from Buckinghamshire took of those for his photos 'Fluffy Feet' and 'Akimbo', while Darren Sagar from Lancashire won the third with his photo 'Shadow of a Fly', taken on a visit to Finemere Wood in Bucks.