It's hard to believe but this is the last monthly winner of our Photography Competition - it's run for a little longer than originally intended due to the pause brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. For the final two months of the competition we changed the remaining themes to make them more appropriate to the current climate on living with coronavirus, lockdown and the 'new normal'.

Bat box full of brown long eared bats by Jon Hayter

The July theme was Hidden Gems and we received some lovely photos from tiny ants and hidden ladybirds to secret views and favourite spots. However, for once we found the decision quite easy and unanimously agreed that Jon Hayter's wonderful photo of a bat box full of brown long-eared bats was the clear winner. It's a lovely photo with every bat visible, the shine on their fur and even the veins in the wonderful large ears all clearly seen. All given an added feel by the one bat looking straight at the camera almost as if to say, "why are you disturbing us?"

This glorious photo showcases a true hidden gem that only a fortunate few like licensed bat ecologist Jon ever get to see.

Congratulations to Jon who has won a bundle of prizes from our featured Charity the Mammal Society plus others.

Jon's lovely photo has also been shortlisted for the reader's choice award, you can see the others and vote for your choice here.