The Breathtaking Winners of the British Wildlife Photography Awards

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024 winners -- portrait of a brown hare, goose barnacles on a soccer ball, and butterfly on a plant

In this year’s British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA), more than 14,000 incredible wildlife images were whittled down to a single grand prize winner, photographer Ryan Stalker.

Stalker’s powerful image was captured off the coast of England and shows a colony of creatures that traveled thousands of miles attached to a floating soccer ball.

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, photo of a soccer ball above water with goose barnacles hanging off it beneath the ocean surface, blue and green, daytime
Overall Winner, British Wildlife Photographer of the Year — ‘Ocean Drifter’ by Ryan Stalker / Goose barnacles (Thoracica) in Portland, Dorset, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

While the mollusks’ journey is remarkable and makes for an incredible image, it underlies how ocean pollution can cause problems. In this case, garbage floated to England, bringing an invasive species, goose barnacles, along with it.

“Above the water is just a football. But below the waterline is a colony of creatures,” says Stalker. “The football was washed up in Dorset after making a huge ocean journey across the Atlantic. More rubbish in the sea could increase the risk of more creatures making it to our shores and becoming invasive species.”

Alongside winning the overall prize for adult photographers, Stalker also took top honors in the “Coast and Marine” category.

“The British Wildlife Photography Awards brings to light the spectacular tapestry of Britain’s natural heritage,” explains Will Nicholls, Director of BWPA. “This collection is more than just a gallery of images; it is a celebration, a reminder of the enduring beauty of British wildlife and a call to preserve the natural spaces that we are so fortunate to have in Britain.”

Alongside Stalker’s overall title, winners were chosen across 10 categories for adults and three age groups of children.

Young Photographer Max Wood Named ‘Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year’

For his fantastic silhouette image of a coot running across a misty lake at sunrise, Max Wood has been named the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024. The RSPB supports this award to help encourage children to get involved with nature.

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, silhouette portrait of a coot (bird) running on water, dusk, dark and orange
RSPB Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year and 15-17 Years Old Winner — ‘Running on Water’ by Max Wood / Coot (Fulica atra) on Frensham Little Pond, Surrey, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

Youth Winners

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, portrait of a pheasant on a railing
RSPB 12-14 Years Winner — ‘Mothern and Fawn’ by Felix Walker-Nix / Roe deer (Capreolus caproelus) in Sherfield on Loddon, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024
British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, portrait of a doe and her fawn, green grass, woods
RSPB 11 and Under Winner — ‘Spring’s Treasures’ by Jamie Smart / Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) in Wales | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

Category Winners

Animal Behavior

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, image of three frogs in water
Winner — ‘Three Frogs in Amplexus’ by Ian Mason / Common frog (Rana temporaria) in Perthshire, Scotland | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024
British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, image of two birds, silhouette at sunset
Runner-up — ‘Dancing in the Dark’ by Matthew Glover / Great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatatus) in Killingworth, North Tyneside, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

Animal Portraits

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, image of a starling against a black background, shot with a flash
Winner — ‘Starling at Night’ by Mark Williams / Common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) in Solihull, West Midlands, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024
British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, portrait of a brown hare in a field, orange light and green background
Runner-up — ‘Sunrise Hare’ by Spencer Burrows / Brown hare (Lepus europaeus) in Nottinghamshire, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

Botanical Britain

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, macro photo of slime mold against a pink background
Winner — ‘Tiny Forest Balloons’ by Jason McCombe / Slime mold (Comatricha nigra) in Essex, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024
British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, wide-angle photo of plants underwater at sunrise
Runner-up — ‘Rainbow at Dawn’ by Martin Stevens / Rainbow wrack (Cystoseira tamariscifolia) in Falmouth, Cornwall, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

Black and White

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, wide-angle black and white landscape image, raven flying above mountains
Winner — ‘Raven Above Arran’ by Robin Dodd / Raven (Corvus corax) on the Isle of Arran in Scotland | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024
British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, telephoto black and white image of a squirrel jumping through the air, silhouette
Runner-up — ‘Squirrel Silhouette’ by Rosamund Macfarlance / Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) in Cumbria, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

Coast and Marine

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, portrait of fluorescent anemone against a black background, underwater photo
Runner-up — ‘Fire in the Night’ by Dan Bolt / Fireworks anemone (Pachycerianthus multiplicatus) in Loch Fyne, Scotland | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

Habitat

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, portrait of a red fox walking across a tree branch, above the ground, forest
Winner — ‘The Tightrope Walker’ by Daniel Valverde Fernandez / Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Sherwood Pines Forest Park, Nottinghamshire, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024
British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, a brown hare seen through the grass at eye-level
Runner-up — ‘The Crop Thief’ by Steven Allcock / Brown hare (Lepus europaeus) in Nantwich Cheshire, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

Hidden Britain

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, macro photo of three butterflies against an orange background, purple flowers in the foreground
Winner — ‘Three’s a Crowd’ by Ross Hoddinott / Common blue butterflies (Polyommatus icarus) at Vealand Farm in Devon, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024
British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, macro photo of a honeybee on a white daisy, blue sky
Runner-up — ‘Daisy Danger’ by Lucien Harris / Flower crab spider (Misumena vatia) and honeybee (Apis mellifera) at Lee Mill in Devon, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

Urban Wildlife

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, portrait of a red fox walking in an urban city environment during the daytime, sunlight streaming down
Winner — ‘Day Walker’ by Simon Withyman / Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Bristol, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024
British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, a walrus laying down at a pier at night with ships in the background
Runner-up — ‘What’s All the Fuss About?’ by Will Palmer / Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) in North Yorkshire, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

Wild Woods

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, wide-angle photo looking up at beech trees in autumn, white sky
Winner — ‘Beech for the Sky’ by Graham Niven / Beech (Fagus sylvatica) in East Lothian, Scotland | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024
British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024, wide-angle photo of beech trees in the mist, green and white
Runner-up — ‘Into the Mist’ by Philip Selby / Beech (Fagus sylvatica) in Badbury Hill, Oxfordshire, England | British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024

The winners and other awarded photos from this year’s British Wildlife Photography Awards are featured in a hardcover coffee table book, which is available for purchase now. The book includes a foreword by British naturalist and explorer Steve Backshall.

The 2025 edition of the contest is open for entries. While the photos must showcase British wildlife, entrants do not need to be British themselves.


Image credits: All images courtesy of the British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA). Individual photographers are credited in the photo captions.

Discussion