Images: Photo Contest Finalists
A flamingo encounters a small visitor to the Sarasota Jungle Gardens in Sarasota, FL.
Allen Panek of Naperville
A colorful sunset is viewed from some thatched umbrellas on the beach in Bucerias, Mexico.
Richard Mallen of Glen Ellyn
Three ducks feed beneath the surface at Bosque del Apache, a National Wildlife Refuge near Albuquerque, NM, in late January.
Jeanne Garrett of Arlington Heights
Zoo lights shine with a Christmas theme at Lincoln Park during this past winter.
Deb Marak of Arlington Heights
A purple cone flower stands out from the group during a mid-September walk last year in Cincinnati, OH.
Candace Anderson of Fox Lake
Whisks hanging in a gourmet kitchen store in Stillwater, MN in 2009.
Denise Mattson of Libertyville
A wasp sits on a metal rod in Lincoln Park, Chicago.
Jana Capozzoli of Des Plaines
A great horned owl watches from its perch during a birds of prey demonstration at Hawthorn Gardens last year.
Marty Krogh of Ingleside
This photo was taken walking on the beach at the Pacific Ocean in Washington. It was amazing to see all the huge trees that had washed a shore and the trees that had taken a pounding from the surf and wind. I would also find little snippets of green grass or wildflowers.
Cindy Smith of Cary
I was taking pictures on this very windy day in Genoa, IL, when I came upon not one, but three windmills doing their thing. It was nice to see the sun after such a bitter, cold gray morning.
Allison M. Kramer of Carpentersville
This photo was taken with a film camera while in the Colorado Great Sand Dunes National Park. We believe this is a type of deer in the foreground ... not sure what type.
Brett Kent of Elgin
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