Joris van Alphen / Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus) preparing to land at her nest, clasping a songbird. Viewed from below. Groningen, the Netherlands. July.

Ben Hall / Black headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) taking flight, artistically blurred photograph. Cheshire, UK, October. Highly honoured in the Art in Nature category of the Nature's Best Windland Smith...

Tony Heald / African elephant (Loxodonta africana) South Luangwa NP. Zambia. Digitally enhanced.

Tony Heald / African lion (Panthera leo) male. Etosha National Park, Namibia. Digitally enhanced.

Sandra Bartocha / Double exposure of Poppies (Papaver rhoeas) Cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus) and rapeseed (Brassica napus), Penzlin, Germany, June.

SCOTLAND: The Big Picture / Waves crashing over rocky coastline near Elgol with view to Cuillin mountains, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Sandra Bartocha / Poppies (Papaver rhoseas) and Cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus) flowering in field of Rapeseed (Brassica rapus) Penzlin, Germany, July 2011.

Wim van den Heever / Black rhino (Diceros bicornis) approaching waterhole with her calf close by. Etosha National Park, Namibia

Erlend Haarberg / Charcoal burner arranging a pile of burning wood, silhouetted in morning light with shadow on smoke, Calonda, Harghita, Transylvania, Romania, June 2015.

Claudio Contreras / Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) Playa del Carmen, Caribbean Sea, Mexico, January.

Pascal Pittorino / Southern gatekeeper butterfly (Pyronia cecilia) nectaring from Scabious flower (Scabiosa), Var, Provence, France, August

Florian Möllers / Black-headed Gulls (Larus ridibundus) abstract of group in flight, Berlin Zoological Garden, Berlin Zoo, Germany. February.