Bird photographer Melissa Groo reaches semifinals in worldwide competition

Former Greenwich resident and Greenwich Academy graduate Melissa Groo, whose bird photography has been featured in Greenwich Citizen, has reached the semifinals in a worldwide nature photography competition for the Nature's Best Windland Smith Rice International Awards.

Groo is a wildlife photographer with a focus on birds. She lives in Ithaca, N.Y. but frequently returns to Greenwich to visit her parents. (She is the daughter of our Anne W. Semmes.)

The Nature's Best photography contest celebrates the beauty and diversity of nature through the art of photography. More than 25,000 entries are received and judged each year. In partnership with the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, the top winners and a selection of the Highly Honored images are put on exhibit at the Smithsonian. The winners will be announced in the fall.

For more on the contest, and to see previous years' winning images, visit http://www.naturesbestphotography.com. To see more of Melissa Groo's work, visit http://www.melissagroo.com