Here for the Whole Time, from Morning Until Evening.”

A Balanced Argument Two Great egrets (Ardea alba) standing opposite each other with Grey heron (Ardea cinerea) in between. Lake Csaj, Pusztaszer, Hungary, January. Photographer quote: “Just before starting a serious fight, these great white egrets are facing each other in a threatening way. Most of the time they do not start the fight itself; their behaviour remains in the intimidation phase, and then they move apart from each other. They may be measuring each other up, or simply indicating that they are ready for a fight, we do not know for sure.” Photographer: Bence Mate Image number: 01519777 Shadows in the Water Crested newt (Triturus carnifex) Gelderland, The Netherlands, April. Photographer quote: “I photographed this great crested newt in a small pond in the Netherlands. Between mid-March and June, amphibians migrate to ponds and lakes to reproduce. Sitting in the water wearing a wetsuit, I gently moved my submerged camera until it was directly under the newt, pointing up at the overhanging woodland canopy. The result was a floating silhouette of the amphibian against the tree-lined sky. Crested newts, alongside other salamander species in the Neth- erlands, face a grave threat. A skin fungus, similar to one that has killed frogs and toads worldwide, has already wiped out fire salamander populations in this area. Scientists are bracing themselves for a collapse of salamander numbers throughout Europe, unless the spread can be stopped.” Photographer: Edwin Giesbers Image number: 01517764 The Advancing Storm Arizona State Trust land near Redrock, AZ with summer monsoon storm, flashes of lightning and a partial rainbow ober the saguaro cacti in the Sonoran Desert Arizona. Photographer quote: “The 2015 summer “monsoon” was a vigorous season in Arizona. I had been following and photographing the powerful storm cells that transit through our part of the Sonoran Desert for two weeks, when I made a radical decision to drive 40 miles ahead of the advancing storm. With the setting sun behind me, I headed straight into the oncoming turbulence and soon became engulfed in sheets of rain, barrages of thunder, and electricity in the air. I retreated two miles and set up my Nikon with its lightning sensor device. It’s a little tricky, because one needs to plan a composition based on a judgement of the storm’s direction, and the storm cells can be very localized - with one part of town getting drenched, while another is bone dry. But I was pretty sure the storm would pass over these saguaro cacti. I watched as each flash of lightning activated the camera, recording 14 lightning strikes. The total elapsed time was about ten minutes before calm was restored, and my pulse rate returned to normal. The final image is a combination of all 14 shots, taken from ex- actly the same position and merged in Photoshop. It shows the storm’s transition over time with the progression of color change, light levels and the appearance of a brief rainbow. The illuminated lightning column in the center of the storm is the result of ionized air. The blue glow comes from excited Nitrogen molecules, which de-energize by releasing photons, primarily in the UV to blue wavelengths, but including to a lesser extent wavelengths all the way to infra-red.” Photographer: Jack Dykinga Image number: 01514956 Close Encounter A diver is dwarfed by a large female great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran). South Bimini, Bahamas, West Atlantic Ocean. Photographer quote: “During the winter, great hammerheads can be encountered in the sandy shallow waters around Bimini in the Bahamas, on the edge of the Gulf Stream. These sharks are huge, females like this one can grow to 6m. I decided to include a diver in this portrait to show both the size and the confidence of these impressive predators. Its large fins, especially the huge dorsal fin, makes them a target for the shark fin soup trade.” Photographer: Alex Mustard Image number: 01527138 Croaked! Otter (lutra lutra) feeding on Common frog (Rana temporaria) it just caught from river. Southern Estonia, January. Photographer quote: “This was taken during an amazing winter when an otter was feeding in a particular river bend for nine days straight. That is a record I haven’t seen in over ten years. This was the only day with sunlight that made the wintering frogs look especially colourful. So I was there for the whole time, from morning until evening.” Photographer: Sven Zacek Image number: 01519128 Curious Kittens Photographer quote: “I have spent several years photographing wild lynx in Switzerland. This iconic carnivore was reintroduced to the Alps in 1971 and in the mountains of the Swiss Jura in 1974. Research and monitor- ing of the developing population has been ongoing ever since, opening up a new dimension in the study of this rare and secretive carnivore. Working together with a research organisation, I discovered the den of a female lynx in the Swiss Alps. She had just given birth to three kittens, and the researchers were keen to monitor their progress. Reaching the den with my equipment was a challenge, because lynx don’t give birth in easy-to-access places! Our small team (consisting of one biologist, one vet and myself) had to work quickly to tag and weigh the kittens, and take samples of their DNA. Their mother was close by in the bushes, almost invisible but we could hear her growling at us. The kittens were placed carefully back in the den, and while we were packing away our equipment, one kitten came out to look at us, then the second one, and then the third. Soon after we left, the female returned and moved the kittens to a new den site. Lynx naturally change their dens on a regular basis, moving from one known site to another in order to keep their lo- cation secret. This means that the kittens could be handled by the research team without fear of causing too much disturbance.” Photographer: Laurent Geslin Image number: 01528348 Holy Night Barn owl (Tyto alba) flying in old chapel at night, taken with infra red remote camera trap, Mayenne, Pays de Loire, France, Novem- ber. Photographer quote: “This owl was photographed in an old forgotten chapel in the mid- dle of a forest close to my home. A pair of barn owls breeds there each year and I took advantage of the presence of three young to install my camera trap. Every night the young owls flew in the chapel and I hoped for some beautiful photos. My idea was to use the white walls as screens to project the shadows of the birds in flight. The camera trap was left in the chapel for 2 months.” Photographer: Eric Médard Image number: 01520670 Bejewelled Crane Fly Crane fly / Daddy long legs (Tipula paludosa) female covered in morning dew. Peak DIstrict National Park, Derbyshire, UK. Sep- tember. Photographer quote: “Early on a crisp September morning I noticed scores of crane flies clinging to the tops of grass stems in the Peak District National Park. Dew drops covered every surface including their delicate bodies, each droplet creating a tiny inverted view of the sur- rounding landscape. Within a few minutes, the warmth of the sun evaporated the dew and I felt privileged to have witnessed such a delicate and transient scene.” Photographer: Alex Hyde Image number: 01509968 Star and Stripes Poisonous spines of Magnificent fire urchin (Asthenosoma ijimai) with Zebra urchin crab (Zebrida adamsii) sheltering, Anilao, Batan- gas, Luzon, Philippines. Verde Island Passages, Tropical West Pacific Ocean. Photographer quote: “My intention with this photograph was to show the relationship between the zebra crab and its host fire urchin, whose poisonous spines provide a safe refuge from predators. Fire urchins (like star- fish) are echinoderms, with the characteristic five arm symmetry. I wanted the star shape to dominate the frame, with the crab on one side. Underwater in the Philippines, I spent a considerable time searching for an urchin with a crab living in it, and then waiting for the crab to move into position. I used two flash guns to produce a shadow-free illumination, to reveal the full colour and detail of the subjects.” Photographer: Alex Mustard Image number: 01520093 Oceanic Orgy A bunch of twinspot snapper (Lutjanus bohar) rushing up to spawn, releasing a cloud of milky white sperm and eggs in the water column. Photographed in Palau. Photographer quote: “Having photographed the amazing spectacle bumphead parrot- fish gathering in huge numbers to spawn I was on the lookout for other oceanic orgies I could document, eventually homing in on Lutjanus bohar, commonly known as the twinspot red snapper. They are relatively common fish in the tropics, often hanging out at corners and off reef edges, coming in to eyeball divers from time to time. The existence of red snapper spawning aggregations in Palau has been known for some time, so I wondered why there weren’t many photographs of it. I was nervous about committing time to a project that seemed like it might have a high chance of failing. But after much deliberation, I decided to Act First, Think Later. The action takes place at a dive site called Shark City, once Pa- lau’s signature site for diving with sharks. Geographically, the actual reef formation is the westernmost part of Palau, meaning that it’s exposed to open ocean. I was willing to bet that the strong currents were part of the reason the snappers have chosen this area for group spawning. When they spawn en masse, they inun- date the ocean with gametes (sperm and eggs), with the objective of overwhelming other ocean residents that come in to hoover up the instant meal.

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