BRIGHTENING up walks this January are the distinctive drooping stems and pretty white buds of newly-blooming snowdrops.

This image of the flower was submitted by Camera Club member Christine Crook for this week's 'winter walks' theme.

Taken while following the canal path in Hungerford, just across the border in Berkshire, she has captured what will become an increasingly familiar sight as winter gives way to spring.

Flowering between January and March, the hardy snowdrop can be relied upon to bloom no matter the weather.

Snowdrops have seen their flowering time shift in recent decades as a result of climate change, with the 'fair maids of February' – once common in late February – now routinely flowering in the first month of the year.

When Ms Crook shared a collection of images from her wintry walk on the Oxford Mail Camera Club Facebook page Becca Collacott called them a 'lovely set'.

We agree and particularly liked this snap of a small group of snowdrops at the bottom of a tree, with more out of focus in the background.

Join our Camera Club – which now has more than 900 members – by visiting facebook.com and searching for Oxford Mail Camera Club.

A double page spread of our favourite entries will appear in tomorrow's paper, with the winner announced in the following day's edition.

Happy snapping!