Andy Rouse / Maasai Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) silhouetted by beams of light from setting sun, Maasai Mara, Kenya, Africa. Winner of the African section of the Natures Best Windland Smith Rice...

Juergen & Christine Sohns / Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) on alert, Tswalu Game Reserve, South Africa

Guy Edwardes / Barn owl (Tyto alba) in flight above post and wildflowers, in morning light. The Hawk Conservancy Trust, Hampshire, England, UK. July. Captive.

Doug Gimesy / Little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor), two standing on rocks at night, silhouetted against Melbourne city lights. St Kilda breakwater, Victoria, Australia. December 2016. COP26 Countdown Photo Competi...

Ernie Janes / Beech trees (Fagus sylvatica) at night in winter, with lamp post illuminating the woodland. Felbrigg Woods, Norfolk, England, UK. January.

Ralph Pace / Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas), San Diego, California

Jeff Foott / Geyser spouting, Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Stefan Christmann / Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) on sea ice at sunrise. Atka Bay, Antarctica. May 2017.

Sven Zacek / Mist over bog with conifers in pre-dawn light. Endla Nature Reserve, Jogevamaa, Central Estonia. June 2016.

Sven Zacek / Ural owl (Strix uralensis) female flying with prey in beak. Flying back to nest in evening light. Tartumaa, Southern Estonia. May.

Jack Dykinga / Aurora Borealis reflected in Polar Lake, conifers silhouetted at edge. Near Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. September 2018.

Guy Edwardes / Sunrise through stone at Men-An-Tol, Morvah, Cornwall, England, UK. September 2016.

Guy Edwardes / Sunrise over the Marshwood Vale, West Dorset from Quar Hill, Chideock, Dorset, England, UK. May 2013.

Guy Edwardes / Corfe Castle in morning mist, Corfe, Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, England, UK. September 2013.

Guy Edwardes / Corfe Castle in morning mist, Corfe, Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, England, UK. September 2013.

Guy Edwardes / View from Colmer's Hill, Bridport, Dorset, England, UK. April 2016.

Sebastian Kennerknecht / South African Giraffe (Giraffa giraffa giraffa) juvenile at sunset, Greater Makalali Private Game Reserve, South Africa

Avijan Saha/ BIA / Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) juvenile crossing road at night in headlight of car watched by people on the road, West Bengal, India

Paul Bertner / Rainforest at sunrise, Sani Lodge, Ecuador

Paul Bertner / Dead Leaf Katydid (Orophus tessellatus) camouflaged in leaf litter, Hitoy Cerere Biological Reserve, Costa Rica

Paul Bertner / Looper Moth (Geometridae) caterpillar, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia

Chien Lee / Graceful Madagascar Ground Gecko (Paroedura gracilis), Marojejy National Park, Madagascar

Alex Mustard / Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) young seal silhouetted against the sun as it dives after breathing, Lundy Island, Devon, UK, Bristol Channel, August

SCOTLAND: The Big Picture / Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) flapping with sand eels in beak, in evening light, Fair Isle, Shetland, Scotland, UK, June.

Sandra Bartocha / Sun rays shining through European beech woodland (Fagus sylvatica). Serrahn, Muritz-National Park, World Natural Heritage site, Germany, Europe. November 2015.

Neil Aldridge / Two Impalas (Aepyceros melampus) ewes grooming each other in evening light on South Africa's Kruger National Park.

Andy Rouse / Mute swan (Cygnus olor) stretching in morning light, UK, February.

Pete Oxford / Whale shark (Rhincodon typus) and scuba divers seen from below, Cenderawasih Bay, West Papua. Indonesia.

Tony Wu / Juvenile Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) silhouetted against blue skies at Carnac Island, Western Australia

Solvin Zankl / English oak tree (Quercus robur) in moonlight, Nauroth, Germany, February.

Wim van den Heever / Plains zebra (Equus quagga) at sunset, Savuti Marsh, Botswana.

Jeff Vanuga / Elk (Cervus canadensis) bull in velvet silhouetted against a setting sun, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, May.

Donald M. Jones / White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) buck, central Montana

Fabrice Cahez / Morning mist over the countryside, Aubrac, France, July 2015.

Espen Bergersen / Two Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhychus) Svalbard, Norway, April.

Angelo Gandolfi / White stork (Ciconia ciconia), nesting colony to provide alternative nesting area whilst the building they normally nest on is under repair. Extremadura, Spain, April.

Andy Rouse / Great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus cristatus) with young chicks on back, Cardiff, UK, April.

Andy Rouse / Great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus cristatus) courtship dance, Cardiff, UK, March.

Konrad Wothe / View up into canopy with sun rays shining through the leaves, lowland rainforest, Panguana Reserve, Huanuco province, Amazon basin, Peru.

Andrew Parkinson / Brown hare (Lepus europaeus) adult backlit near a hedgerow at dawn, Derbyshire, UK, March.

Peter Cairns / Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) backlit in evening light, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway, August.

Cyril Ruoso / Longhorn Beetle (Cerambycidae), Pacaya Samiria National Park, Peru

Ole Jorgen Liodden / Red-chested Sunbird (Cinnyris erythrocercus) backlit on flower, Rwanda.

Ole Jorgen Liodden / Campbell albatross (Thalassarche impavida) in flight, silhouetted at sunset, near Campbell Islands, Sub-Antarctic New Zealand. February.

Ole Jorgen Liodden / Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus lagopus) mid moult into summer fur, back lit portrait, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway, June.

Ole Jorgen Liodden / Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) in mud collecting nesting material, collecting nesting material, with golden bokeh affect in puddle, Svalbard, Norway, June.

Jack Dykinga / Frost damaged Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) with sunset light shining through limbs. South Maricopa Mountains Wilderness, Arizona, USA, March 2015.

Orsolya Haarberg / Northern lights above the pine forest, Gjenvollhytta, Klaebu. Sor-Trondelag, Norway. March 2013.

Erlend Haarberg / Herb-paris (Paris quadrifolia), Norway, June.

Denis-Huot / African elephant (Loxodonta africana) herd at sunset, Masai-Mara Game Reserve, Kenya. January.

Gabriel Rojo / Marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) male with Cattle tyrant (Machetornis rixosus) on back, Ibera Marshes, Corrientes Province, Argentina.

David Tipling / Red deer (Cervus elaphus) stag during rut on a misty dawn in Richmond Park National Nature Reserve, London, UK, October.

Jack Dykinga / Yuccas (Yucca elata) silhouetted against the moon and morning light, White Sands National Park, New Mexico. January.

David Noton / Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) over the Klondike River, Yukon Territories, Canada, September 2013.

Sandra Bartocha / Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) trees in snowy woodland in evening sunlight, Potsdam, Germany, January.

Sandra Bartocha / Silver birch (Betula pendula) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) trunks in snow, Muritz-National Park, Germany, January.

Sam Hobson / Fallow deer (Dama dama) buck crossing road under street lights. London, UK. January.

Sean Crane / Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) at sunrise, Hudson Bay, Seal River, Manitoba, Canada

Alexander Badyaev / Deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) on giant puffball mushroom, watching mosquito in the moonlight. Blackfoot Valley, Western Montana, USA, July. Winner of the Mammals category, Wildlife Photographer...

Vincent Grafhorst / Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) flapping ears, Botswana

Roland Seitre / African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) running, native to Africa

MD Kern / Palo Alto JR Museum / Black Widow (Latrodectus hesperus) spider walking silhouetted against light, captive.

Radomir Jakubowski / Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) jumping, Vosges Mountains, France. Nominated in the Melvita Nature Images Awards competition 2014.

Bence Mate / Hooded crow (Corvus coronix) and Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica) waiting to scavenging White tailed eagle's (Haliaeetus albicilla) food, Pusztazer, Hungary.

Eric Baccega / Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) female coming out the den and shaking off snow. Wapusk National Park, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, March.

Bruno D'Amicis / Apennine chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata) herd resting on altitude plateau of Majella Massif, in moonlight with distant urban lights in the background. Endemic to the Apennine mountains. Majella N...

Steven Kazlowski / Northern lights (Aurora borealis) glowing brightly over trees along Steese Highway, Cleary Point, outside Fairbanks, Alaska

Juan Carlos Munoz / Two Great egrets (Ardea alba) wading, silhouetted at dawn, Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.

Chris & Monique Fallows / Storm over Kalk Bay harbor with boat, False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa.

Michael Pitts / Devil rays (Mobula japonica) viewed from below, South Ari atoll, Maldives.

Konrad Wothe / Black kitten in garden, Germany

Andy Rouse / Maasai Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) under setting sun Maasai Mara, Kenya, Africa

Markus Varesvuo,Markus Varesvuo / Male King eider (Somateria spectabilis) displaying, Norway, February.

Thomas Marent / Golden Snub-nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) young, Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi, China

Milan Radisics / Ducks silhouetted at night on Heroes Square, Budapest, July 2009

Franco Banfi / Manta ray (Manta birostris), San Benedicto, Revillagigedo (Socorro) Islands, Mexico, East Pacific Ocean

Eric Baccega / Grizzly bear cub (Ursus arctos horribilis) resting in the sedges, Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, British Columbia, Canada, June.

Andrew Parkinson / Gannet (Morus bassanus) adult, backlit by the morning sun, coming in to land in colony, Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK. September

Andrew Parkinson / Gannet (Morus bassanus) chick backlit by evening light. Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK, August.

Yukihiro Fukuda,Yukihiro Fukuda / Japanese fireflies (Luciola cruciata) in flight at night, endemic species, Yaku-shima UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kagoshima, Japan, May

Ben Hall / Mute swan (Cygnus olor) stretching its wings backlit at dawn, Poynton, Cheshire, UK, December. Highly honoured in the Bird Category of the Windland Awards of Natures Best Photography Competition 2016...

Anup Shah / Lion (Panthera leo) male nuzzling lioness, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, July

Flip Nicklin / Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) group gulp feeding, Auke Bay, Juneau, Alaska

Andy Rouse / Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in flight in dawn light. UK, Europe.

Andy Rouse / Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in hovering flight, with sunlight highlighting primary feathers. UK, May.

Paul Harcourt Davies / Cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus) and poppies (Papaver rhoeas) growing on fallow fields near Orvieto, Umbria, Italy. June 2010

Ernie Janes,Ernie Janes / Fallow deer (Dama dama) crossing rural road through Berkhamsted Common at dusk, Hertfordshire, UK, December

David Pattyn / Great Crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus) swimming in early morning light carrying chick on back, La Dombes area, France, July

Donald M. Jones / Common Loon (Gavia immer) stretching wings, Troy, Montana

Ross Hoddinott / Marbled White Butterfly (Melanargia galathea) resting on grass stem, Devon, UK July. Winner of Seasons category of the BWPA 2011 competition

Kevin Schafer / Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) pair swimming in Ariau River, tributary of Rio Negro, Amazonia, Brazil

Piotr Naskrecki / Scorpion young on the back of their mother, their soft cuticle is not yet reflecting ultraviolet light, Brownsberg Nature Park, Surinam

Vincent Grafhorst / Southern Giraffe (Giraffa giraffa) silhouetted against the setting sun, Lethiau Valley, Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana

Konrad Wothe / Camargue Horse (Equus caballus) group running at sunset, Camargue, France

Jan Vermeer / Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) chicks, Riiser-Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Michio Hoshino / Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) shaking off water after a bath, Alaska