Super-sweet snap of cute squirrel wins Countryfile prize for Highland man
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A LOCH Ness-side man’s quick snap of an inquisitive squirrel sniffing a daffodil has won the hearts of millions of fans of BBC television's Countryfile show.
From more than 60,000 entries, Brian Stokoe’s photograph Scent of Spring was chosen among 12 favourites for Countryfile’s 2021 calendar by presenter John Craven, musician Cerys Matthews and wildlife cameraman Simon King.
The dozen finalists were then voted on by the show’s nearly-six million viewers, who chose Mr Stokoe’s snap to take pride of place on the front cover.
The success is all the more amazing given that the retired 60-year-old survived a road accident six years ago, after swerving to avoid a deer.
The painful legacy of a broken back makes it impossible for him to lie, sit or stand in one position for too long.
But with a mix of good fortune and keen instinct, Mr Stokoe managed to capture the magical moment in a flash of inspiration at his own back doorstep after the peckish red squirrel saw him drop a drill bit.
“I’ve travelled everywhere photographing wildlife in remote corners of Scotland, so to capture one like this, at my own back door, was quite something,” Mr Stokoe said.
“It is just one of those photographs that makes you smile. I’m amazed it has had such an effect on people.
“Every day I go around putting nuts in the neighbours’ squirrel boxes. This one particular squirrel keeps a keen eye on me. As I was walking back towards the house, I must have had a hole in my pocket because I felt myself drop a drill bit onto the grass.
“After searching, I knew the squirrel would want to take a look. I automatically went and got my camera and, sure enough, it came straight over.
“Just at that moment, it stopped and lifted its head to sniff the daffodil.”
The theme for the latest Countryfile calendar competition, in aid of BBC Children in Need, was ‘Bright and Beautiful’.
Mr Stokoe’s wife Catherine sent in the entry and he had long forgotten about the photograph when notification came.
“I got a phone call from Laurie Nicholls (the show’s assistant producer) and I thought it was a hoax,” he said.
“In my previous job in the pharmacy at Hexham General Hospital, in Northumbria, I was a bit of a prankster so I’m always expecting return prank calls.
“Countryfile were very anxious about it getting out on social media . We couldn’t tell a soul, not even relatives.
“They filmed for five hours and then suddenly John Craven popped up on a Zoom call offering congratulations. It was very surreal.”
Mr Stokoe, who has begun exhibiting his works in local cafés, won a £1000 prize for the picture.
