From a tawny owlet to a fox in dandelions, the British Wildlife Awards 2023 capture nature in all its glory
Hitching a lift
Animal Behaviour | Winner
As the large females make their way to the water, the smaller males approach them to try and ‘hitch a lift’. It can result in some amusing behaviour, as multiple males will often try to mount the same female. This image was captured just as one of the males tried to push away another.
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Credit: James Roddie
Sleeping with dandelions
Animal Portraits | Winner
This vixen would often wake up covered in dandelion seeds, providing a perfect opportunity for a photo.
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Credit: Lewis Newman
Metallic jumping spider in moss
Hidden Britain | Runner-up
The tiny moss plants tower above the spider in this photo, emphasising the small physical size of the spider.
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Credit: Will Atkins
A look to the future...
Urban Wildlife | Winner
Charlie Page photographed this fox in London's Lee Valley Park. He says: "I think the felled tree and longing look on the fox’s face portray this tragedy perfectly. I hope that all wildlife photography doesn’t look like this in years to come."
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Credit: Charlie Page
Welcome to the zoo(plankton)
Coast & Marine | Winner
This plankton soup of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the Shetland Islands has attracted an army of jellyfish, who feast upon the buffet of miniature life.
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Credit: Henley Spiers
A quiet moment
Habitat | Winner
The stag walked into the light patch in this wide glen with a loch in the Western Highlands, Scotland.
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What’s over there?
12-14 years | Winner
A hare eating young barley in Winchester.
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Credit: Felix Walker-Nix
Branching out
15-17 Years | Winner
A tawny owlet in East Sussex.
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Credit: Billy Evans-Freke
First signs of spring
Wild Woods | Winner
Beech woodland, carpeted in bluebells on the remains of an Iron Age hill fort, Badbury Hill in Oxfordshire.
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Credit: Philip Selby
A poet’s lunch
Botanical Britain | Winner
A horsefly, known for its painful bite, becomes prey for this sundew in Devilla Forest, Scotland.
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Credit: Matt Doogue
Beehave yourself!
Animal Portraits | Runner-up
A male Willoughby’s leafcutter bee seems to cock its head at the photographer in a Staffordshire garden.
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Credit: Ed Phillips
Night shoot
Coast & Marine | Runner-up
Bobtail squid hunting at night under Paignton Pier in Devon.
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Credit: Kirsty Andrews
Pike courtship
Animal Behaviour | Runner-up
During courtship, male pikes are oblivious of divers and allowed the photographer to capture this fish-eye image of three males and a female.
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Soaring
Black & White | Runner-up
A huge breeding population of gannets at Bass Rock, Scotland
For more information about the British Wildlife Photography Awards, please see their website.
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Credit: Paula Cooper