A ghostly shot of the flight paths of Daubenton's bats, which took months to capture, has scooped top prize in this year's British Wildlife Photography Awards.
A portrait of a badger, a great skua eating a puffin, a magpie on railings in the snow, a close-up of a nursery web spider waiting among petals for her prey, and grey seals being released were among the winning shots in the contest.
Paul Colley, from Swindon, Wiltshire, won the overall prize of PS5,000 for his image Contrails At Dawn of Daubenton's bats at Coate Water Country Park.
Capturing the flight of the high-speed mammals in the dark required an infra-red camera and lighting system that was 14 months in development, and as the bats are a protected species they were photographed following advice from conservation experts.
"No other image in my portfolio had been so clearly conceived and yet so difficult to achieve," Mr Colley said.
Daubenton's Bat - in flight at night. Source: AAP
"There were the lows felt during months of long, cold and exhausting dusk-to-dawn sessions, sometimes waist-deep in water and often without getting a single usable image."
Prizes for top pictures were awarded in 15 categories, including ones that focus on the coasts, close-up images of the natural world, the same subject through the seasons, video, and a documentary series of photographs.
In the junior categories, Ivan Carter, 17, from Deal in Kent, won for his shot of common tadpoles, and nine-year-old Lucy Farrell, from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, scooped top prize for a close-up of a cockchafer beetle.
An exhibition of winning and commended entries from the competition will go on tour, starting in London on November 6, and a book, British Wildlife Photography Awards 9, will feature the best images.
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