The 13 best photos of British wildlife
Chris Hitchings
BBC Springwatch Digital Team
The image of a pied wagtail sitting in a tree at London’s Heathrow Airport has been crowned winner of the British Wildlife Photography Awards. The image, taken by Daniel Trim, shows the silhouetted bird resting in front of the lights of Terminal 5.
Pied wagtails gather in roosts in the UK during the winter months, in order to stay warm during the colder months of the year. Places like Heathrow provide great habitats because of the additional warmth generated by the buildings. To capture the perfect image, Daniel said he chose a cold night and then waited until it had gone dark because that is when "their numbers swell."
"After about 30 minutes I hadn't seen a single wagtail, however, it wasn't long until hundreds were dropping in to the trees next to the terminal building, all calling away. It's an impressive site to see and once the initial excitement was over I spent time looking for birds I could isolate against interesting background lighting."
Other photographs that have reached the final in the competition included a badger scratching in Derbyshire, a misty woodland in the Peak District, and a wren resting on a frosted fern at Dunham Massey in Cheshire.
Andrew Parkinson took this image of a badger. It won the animal behaviour category.
This image of a gannet taken by Melvin Redeker at the Isle of Noss, Shetland Islands won the animal portraits category.
British Seasons
Judges asked photographers to submit one image of each of the four British seasons. Great cormorants at Holme Fen National Nature Reserve in Cambridgeshire were captured throughout the year by Ben Andrew. He took the prize for the best photo series representing spring, summer, autumn and winter.
An image of a short-eared owl looking for food during the golden hour by Matthew Roseveare, 18 from Hampshire, won the 12-18 category.
In the under-12 category, this image of a puffin at Skomer Island in Wales won the judges over. It was taken by 10-year-old Oliver Teasdale.
In the habitat category, the winner was this image of a wren wresting on a misty fern at Dunham Massey in Cheshire. It was captured by Ben Hall.
Francis Taylor captured a misty woodland in Derbyshire. This image was judged to be the best in the wild woods category.
In the Hidden Britain category, Alex Hyde took the prize for this image of green hydras taken in Derbyshire.
In the Botanical category, the winner was this image of common reeds captured in Cheshire by Steve Palmer.
For the Oceans and Marine category, this submerged gannet by Caron Steele, captured at Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire, took the prize.
A series of six photos by Peter Cairns focused on the relocation of red squirrels in Scotland.
Emerald damselflies captured in Cornwall by Ross Hoddinott took the prize for best photo in the closer to nature category.
Black and white winner: a brown-lipped snail captured at Thetford Forest in Norfolk by Paula Cooper.
