Winners and runners up of the Young Nature Writer 2023 competition have had their entries shipped to and displayed on the Calf of Man.

The competition is run annually by UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man, in partnership with the Manx Wildlife Trust (MWT), Manx Ornithological Society (MOS) and Media Isle of Man.

It sees young people under the age of 21 invited to submit a piece of writing about an aspect of the natural world that they love.

An overall winner and winner of the ‘bird category’ were selected by judges along with four runners up, who all won prizes for their contributions in October 2023.

Eight-year-old Kayleigh Cannon's account of a summer day at Scarlett, which included a hand-drawn map, earned her the Young Nature Writer 2023 title, along with a locally hand-made trophy, family membership of the MWT and an MWT goody bag.

10-year-old Delta Baptist's descriptive account of a boat trip to the Calf of Man bird observatory earned her the 'Best Bird' winner, while Austin Rogerson's tale of a gull stealing his chips, which carried a serious message about the importance of birds, was also commended by judges as the runner-up in the 'Best Bird' entry.

For the first time, in 2024, the winner and runners’ up entries from the 2023 competition had their work printed on display boards, with good weather at the start of May seeing these boards transported to one of the island’s signature landmarks.

A spokesperson from Biosphere Isle of Man said: ‘The Calf seemed like the perfect place for the entries to be displayed and enjoyed, especially seeing as one piece of writing is called “Come to the Calf”.

‘The boards set sail from Port St Mary aboard the Scraayl boat, along with Breeshey Kermode from UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man and Shaun Murphy from Manx National Heritage.

‘They were greeted on shore by Chloe Hurst, Calf of Man Estate Warden and Aron Sapford, Calf of Man Bird Warden, where the boards were taken up to the observatory to be mounted at their temporary home. They will be displayed for this year’s season, which ends in the autumn.’