When a fox smiled and frogs hitched a ride: The best of British Wildlife Photography

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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