A 12-year-old wildlife photographer from Oxfordshire held his own when his work was critiqued live in front of the nation by Springwatch presenter Chris Packham.

Alex White, 12, from Appleton, won rapturous applause from the studio audience as he showed off pictures of a butterfly, a badger and a hare all captured around his village.

He also chuckled at the audience's boos and hisses when the show's presenter tried to tell him what he could do better.

Alex, who goes to Matthew Arnold School in Cumnor, took four of his superb snaps to the Springwatch studio in Suffolk for the live show last Thursday night.

Even as he even lifted his first print up to show the crowd, Mr Packham warned him "I am ruthless".

When Alex revealed the shot of a sky blue butterfly delicately resting on an ear of corn Mr Packham began: "I quite like that... if I was going to be ruthless–" and the audience erupted in boos and jeers.

But Mr Packham continued: "The thing is Alex, if you were to tell me that was the best picture in the world, I would say 'what are you going to do tomorrow?'

"I think as photographers – as artists – we can all continue to improve and we'll only improve if we're critical of our work so we see what we've done wrong so we can put it right next time."

Alex, who also keeps a blog about his wildlife adventures, told the Oxford Mail he thought Mr Packham was "very fair".

He said: "I really enjoyed the whole experience.

"I think Chris was very fair, I completely agreed with some of the things he said and it was very helpful.

"I have met Chris before and he is a really nice guy in person."

Alex also showed Springwatch his perfect picture of a badger cub snuffling through a field near his house earlier this year and a colour-drenched shot of some fungi sprouting amidst a rainbow of autumn leaves.

When Alex revealed his final photograph, a stunning shot of a wide-eyed hare captured in a field of wheat, the audience gave him a round of applause.

Even Mr Packham admitted: "Now that is a good photo... we like that one."

Alex also revealed the shot had won the Mammal Society's Young Mammal Photographer of the Year 15-and-under category.

Mr Packham seemed to have been finally won over when he finished the interview by saying: "I think you've proved the point that it's not the camera, it's the photographer that does the work."

Alex told the Mail: "I am always trying to prove that you don't need a massive, expensive camera to see amazing wildlife.

"It's about whether the animals is behaving differently – you just have to get something eye-catching."

Follow Alex's adventures at appletonwildlifediary.blogspot.co.uk