YOUNG blogger Zach Haynes has won yet more awards for his digital diary - in which he shares his fascination with the natural world.

When he was just ten, Zach set himself the challenge of writing a daily blog post for a whole year; photographing and researching nature encountered on walks around the UK with his parents Mark and Julie Haynes.

His posts range from information on insects to raising awareness of ecological issues and his own observations.

After completing his challenge, Zach, from Brompton, Northallerton decided to keep on blogging.

He now has followers in the United States, Sweden, France, and Japan, and his blog has received had more than 100,000 views.

Zach’s effort and passion have won him recognition from a variety of nature and science organisations and last December he was crowned BBC Wildlife Magazine Young Blogger of the Year.

During a visit to RSPB Minsmere in Suffolk in May, Zach was presented with an Unsprung Hero award by BBC Springwatch Unsprung presenter Lindsay Chapman.

Now the British Science Association has awarded him a Silver Crest Award for his blog.

It qualified him to take part in the Yorkshire and Humber Big Bang Fair at Doncaster – one of a series of science fairs held around the country for schools to display science, technology and engineering projects.

Mr Haynes said: “Zach went along to spread the word about the importance of looking after nature, displaying some of the photos he’s taken of the things he’s found, telling people about his project and passion for nature.”

Zach was competing against teams of students up to the ages of 18 from a range of secondary schools, but managed to win a place at the national Big Bang Fair in Birmingham next March, when his project will compete against other regional finalists.

The Northallerton School student also picked up two more awards; for the best project and an ACE Communicator Award, for communicating his project in an engaging manner.

Mr Haynes said: “It’s taken him over a year to build up the blog.

“He will usually spend about an hour on it on an evening, sometimes more if he’s researching a particular species. He spends a lot of time on it, but he enjoys it.”

To visit his blog visit; yearofnature.blogspot.co.uk