Each year, photographers across Britain—and, unknowingly, Britain’s wildlife— vie for the attention of the British Wildlife Photography Awards, a competition celebrating the Britain’s biodiversity. Only a handful of the 14,000-odd photos could be selected as honorees, with the grand prize winner taking home over $US6,000.
The photographs were submitted to 10 different categories: Animal Behaviour, Animal Portraits, Botanical Britain, Black & White, British Seasons, Coast & Marine, Habitat, Hidden Britain, Urban Wildlife, and Wild Woods. Click through to see all the winning shots.
“Spring’s Treasures”
A pheasant on a cold spring morning in Wales. This photo won the “11 and Under” category of the competition.
“Mother and Fawn”
The winner of the “12-14 years” category was this photo of a Roe deer (C. capreolus) in the English woods.
“Running on Water”
The overall winner of the young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year award was this striking photo of a coot (F. atra) fleeing from a fight and taking off from a pond in Surrey.
“Squirrel Silhouette”
This photo of a red squirrel’s silhouette was the runner-up image in the “Black & White” category.
“Dancing in the Dark”
A pair of great crested grebes are in courtship in this runner-up photo in the “Animal Behavior” category.
“What’s All the Fuss About?”
An walrus (O. rosmarus) happy lying on a slipway in North Yorkshire, England. The shot of the walrus—dubbed “Thor”—was taken at 2:28am local time, and was the runner-up in the “Urban Wildlife” category.
“Sunrise Hare”
This head-on view of a hair was the runner-up in the “Animal Portraits” category.
“Rainbow at Dawn”
This shot of seaweed thriving under the surface of a rock pool was the runner-up in the “Botanical Britain” category.
“Fire in the Night”
These fireworks anemone were imaged with fluorescence photography, highlighting the remarkable arms of the organisms. The image was the runner-up in the “Coast & Marine” category.
“Into the Mist”
Runner-up in the “Wild Woods” category was this mystical shot of Badbury Clump, a collection of beech trees and bluebells in Oxfordshire.
“Tiny Forest Balloons”
These slime moulds are minuscule. Their photo—composed of 160 individual images—won the “Botanical Britain” part of the contest.
“Daisy Danger”
Runner-up in the “Hidden Britain” category was this shot of a flower crab spider wrestling a bee on the underside of a daisy in Devon, England.
“The Crop Thief”
Runner-up in the “Habitat” category was this shot—“The Crop Thief”—showing a brown hare (L. europaeus) gnoshing on a crop in Nantwich Cheshire, England.
“Starling at Night”
A starling in flight at night (that’s right!) won the “Animal Portraits” category.
“Raven Above Arran”
This shot of a raven aloft over the Isle of Arran, Scotland, won the competition’s “Black & White” category.
“Beech for the Sky”
Winner of the “Wild Woods” category, this spellbinding shot looks up toward the highest heights of a beech tree grove in East Lothian, Scotland.
“Ocean Drifter”
Behold, the overall winner of the competition: a shot of a socc—er, football—covered in goose barnacles on its underside. The barnacles are not native to the UK, indicating the long journey the ball has been on.
“Day Walker”
Foxes are a familiar sight in the UK, and this one—a female in Bristol—is no exception. The photographer captured the fox pacing a long a wall in an electricity substation, and the photo won the “Urban Wildlife” competition category.
“The Tightrope Walker”
It’s not quite a fox on a box, but it’ll do. This fox in Nottinghamshire’s Sherwood Pines Forest Park made its way onto a tree branch, making for a pretty composition in this competition winner for the “Habitat” category.
“Three Frogs in Amplexus”
Several frogs’ heads poke out from a pond as males wrestle, competing for a female. This image won the competition’s “Animal Behavior” category.
“Three’s a Crowd”
The winner of the “Hidden Britain” category was this beautifully composed shot of common blue butterflies (P. icarus) in a field in Devon.