Treasures of Nature Photography Competition won by image of mother polar bear and cubs From a polar bear with her cubs to the eyes of an eagle owl or an osprey swooping for a fish, these pictures are some of the top entries in a wildlife photo competition. Organised by the Society of Nature and Wildlife Photographers, judges arrived at these finalists from hundreds of entries. The winner of the Treasures of Nature Photography Competition was Michelle Valberg from Ontario, Canada with her polar bear and cubs image entitled 'On the Move'. The winner of the Treasures of Nature Photography Competition was Michelle Valberg with her polar bear and cubs image entitled 'On the Move' Michelle said: 'I used a Nikon D4 with a 600mm lens to take this picture in Wapusk National Park near Churchill, Manitoba. It is one of the only known denning areas of the polar bears that visitors can see the bears first out of their dens. The runner-up was taken by British snapper Debbie Picknell from East Sussex, with the image entitled 'Eagle Owl Eyes' taken at the British Wildlife Centre in Lingfield, Surrey. The runner-up was taken by British photographer Debbie Picknell with the image entitled 'Eagle Owl Eyes' taken at the British Wildlife Centre in Lingfield, Surrey And third was another Briton, Anne Algar from Middlesex, with this stunning image entitled 'Great Egrets' Christopher Alga received a 'highly commended' for this dramatic picture of an osprey taking an Atlantic Croakerfish in the sea off Bowditch Point, Fort Myers Beach, Florida Christopher Algar was also praised for his photo of a roseate spoonbill at Harns Marsh Preserve, Lehigh Acres also in Florida Debbie said: 'Raptors have remarkable eyesight and I wanted to capture the stunning orange eyes of this female European Eagle Owl. The challenge was to get the bird to look at me. With patience I gained her attention and made a special connection when this image was taken. I hope the picture encourages people to appreciate the beauty of birds of prey and to accept that there is a place for them in the British countryside. And third was another Briton, Anne Algar from Middlesex, with the image entitled 'Great Egrets'. Christopher Algar shot a bee on a cosmos flower a bit closer to home in Crane Park, Twickenham, Middlesex A strange swirl of a picture entitled Mother Earth got Denis Gadbois from Canada highly commended Nigel Picknell's stunning shot. The competition was open to photographers from all around the globe, which gave image makers the opportunity to showcase their talents and some of the wonderful places they had visited She said: 'I took the photo of the great egrets at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve in Florida, USA. Water levels had dropped and the birds were fighting for the remaining fish trapped in the pool. As the pool was surrounded by tall trees, the birds were illuminated by sunlight against deep shade. Highly commended entrants included Antonio Rojas, from the Phillipines with a picture of butterflies at the Butterfly Garden of the Central Philippine University and Mihaly Kazsuba, a Hungarian living in Spain, for his image of snails in Alicante. Also highly commended was Anne Algar's husband Chris with three pictures, an osprey taking an Atlantic Croakerfish in the sea off Bowditch Point, Fort Myers Beach, Florida, a roseate spoonbill at Harns Marsh Preserve, Lehigh Acres also in Florida and a bee on a cosmos flower a bit closer to home in Crane Park, Twickenham, Middlesex. Mihaly Attila Kazsub, a Hungarian living in Spain, submitted this image of snails in Alicante Highly commended entrants included Antonio Rojas, from the Phillipines with a picture of butterflies at the Butterfly Garden of the Central Philippine University Sarit Saliman's spider web. The Societies have 7,500 members worldwide and we had entries from as far as Melbourne A strange swirl of a picture entitled Mother Earth got Denis Gadbois from Canada highly commended. He took the photo at the Antelope Canyon, Arizona from a pole seven metres above it using four shots with a fisheye lens. And lastly, this image of Scarce Chaser dragonflies mating at the Wildlife and Wetland Trust, Slimbridge, got Brit Nigel Picknell highly commended as well. Competition organiser Ben Jones said: 'The competition was open to photographers from all around the globe, which gave image makers the opportunity to showcase their talents and some of the wonderful places they had visited. The Societies have 7,500 members worldwide and we had entries from as far as Melbourne. The standard of photography for the Treasures of Nature Photography Competition was very high and the entrants gave the judges a really tough decision to make to narrow it down to the final three.