When a fox smiled and frogs hitched a ride: The best of British Wildlife Photography
Britain’s beautiful wildlife comes alive in these captivating and stunning images. The winners of this contest remind us of the value our wild ecosystem still holds
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Sleeping With Dandelions: A vixen covered in open dandelions in London, England. The photographer said: “After spending a lot of time with this particular vixen, she began to learn I was not a threat. As the dandelions began to open there were a couple of days when she would wake up covered in them. Image Courtesy: Lewis Newman/British Wildlife Photography awards
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Branching Out: A snap of the elusive Tawny owl. The photographer speaking of the image, says, “I was sitting outside when I heard some blackbirds going mental in the woodland next to my house. My heart leapt into action as I knew that this meant that somewhere nearby was a tawny owlet! I suddenly caught a white ball of fluff in the corner of my eye.” Image Courtesy: Billy Evans-Freke/British Wildlife Photography awards
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Hitching a Lift: The common toad migration to their spawning grounds can be a spectacular event to watch. As the large females make their way to the water, the smaller males approach them to try and ‘hitch a lift’. This image was captured just as one of the males tried to push away another. Image Courtesy: James Roddie/British Wildlife Photography awards
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A Look to the Future… One day when setting up my camera with a remote shutter release, a fox approached from the photographer. This encounter probably tells the story more than the photo itself. Wildlife has become used to us encroaching on them. I think the felled tree and longing look on the fox’s face portray this tragedy perfectly," says the photographer. Image Courtesy: Charlie Page/British Wildlife Photography awards
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Welcome to the Zoo (plankton): One night in Shetland, the photographer came face to face with plankton on a scale unlike anything he had experienced before. To the naked eye, it looks like a million peach-coloured spheres, as if the contents of a bean bag had spilt over the sea, but the macro lens reveals a mass of tiny organisms. Image Courtesy: Henley Spiers/British Wildlife Photography awards
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A Poet’s Lunch: “A 4:30am alarm to get to Devilla Forest for some early morning butterflies resulted in me finding my first ever Sundew. It was even better that it had prey! Then, when I discovered it had actually snared a horsefly, I was extremely excited. There’s something poetic about the piece: the horsefly, known for biting us, was ‘bitten’ by the Sundew.” Image Courtesy: Matt Doogue/British Wildlife Photography awards
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Honey Bee Flight Trail: Honey bees leave ‘light trails’ as they approach their hive entrance. This shot was taken in a small wildlife-friendly garden in Bristol. Using a slow shutter speed (0.3 secs) and second-curtain flash, the photographer ‘froze’ the bees after they had made their light trails. Image Courtesy: John Waters/British Wildlife Photography awards
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Great Mell Fell: A foggy morning in the wooded eastern contours of Great Mell Fell in the Lake District. This is a strange and otherworldly place, with gnarled bark, distorted branches and dank moss everywhere. This one decaying specimen, looked like a claw reaching out from the decomposing pile of tree carcasses beneath. Image Courtesy: Matthew Turner/British Wildlife Photography awards
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Willughby’s Leafcutter Bee: This male Willughby’s leafcutter bee looks out of a hole, but it kept retreating whenever the photographer approached. It eventually reappeared and he carefully framed the shot. At the last moment it cocked its head to one side to what I felt was a pleasing angle. Image Courtesy: Ed Phillips/British Wildlife Photography awards
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Looking at You: Deep snow drifts had left ridges and contours on the plateaux. Across the bowl, the male hare moved slowly towards the female hare above it and stopped. For a moment the blizzard abated, allowing me to capture the hares in their special mountain environment. Image Courtesy: Peter Bartholomew/British Wildlife Photography awards
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Forest Dawn: The Abernethy Forest in the Cairngorm National Park is a very special place. One day as the sun rose, it illuminated the swirling mist in the forest below, accentuating the shapes and layers of trees. Image Courtesy: Graham Niven/British Wildlife Photography awards
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Vine Wevill: “When I was staying at my nanny and grandad’s house I kept finding vine weevils coming from a pot plant. Grandad helped me set up the camera and flash so I could take this photo,” says the photographer. Image Courtesy: Wilbur King/British Wildlife Photography awards
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