Stormy Scene. William Fortescue used a backdrop of storm clouds lit by the setting sun to show mating lions. It was the rainy season when William visited the Serengeti National Park. He watched the lions mate several times before the female broke it off. It wasn’t until William viewed an enlarged image that he noticed the saliva trails and the explosion of insects from the male’s mane. #

In the Spotlight. Shreyovi Mehta was walking in the forest with her parents when she spotted this scene in Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, India. She ran back to her dad, who was carrying the cameras, then got down on the ground to take her photograph from a low angle. Renowned for its birdlife, Keoladeo attracts large numbers of water birds in winter. Peafowl are year-round residents that roost in large trees. They rest in the shade during the day and are more active in open areas at dawn and dusk. #

Moonlight Hunter. Xingchao Zhu came face-to-face with a Pallas’s cat as the moon set in Hulun Buir, Inner Mongolia, China. Xingchao tracked a group of Pallas’s cats on the freezing plateau of Inner Mongolia for several days during the Chinese New Year in February 2023. Shortly before dawn, Xingchao managed to make eye contact with this cat, just as it had caught a small bird. #

Precious Rocks. Samual Stone watched as a jackdaw brought stones to its nest. Samual had been keeping an eye on the hole in the trunk of a half-fallen willow tree in London’s Bushy Park—he’d seen a pair of jackdaws visiting with their beaks full of hair taken from the coats of local deer. Jackdaws are highly intelligent and adaptable. They build new nests each year, from all sorts of materials: twigs, branches, feathers, wool, moss, mud, and animal dung. This pair kept adding rocks to theirs. #

The Last Resting Place. Randy Robbins was struck by the unusual beauty of the frosted form of this deer on the forest floor. On an early winter’s morning, Randy was checking the trail cameras near his home near Susanville, California, when he found the body of this deer. He photographed this poignant moment using his smartphone before the ice could melt. #

Leaving the Nest. Sasha Jumanca found two tawny owlets curiously watching people walking by. Sasha had been watching these tawny owlets for several days in a park near his home in Maximiliansanlagen, Munich, Germany. He had seen tawny owls in the neighborhood before but was surprised to discover these so close to the heart of the city. Owlets leave the nest before they can fly, in a phase known as "branching." They will jump, flutter, and climb around branches of nearby trees for several weeks while begging for food from their parents, before they eventually fledge and fly away. #

Going with the Floe. Tamara Stubbs spotted these crabeater seals taking a nap among the sea ice. In a standout moment on her nine-week expedition in the Weddell Sea, Tamara noticed that seals had fallen asleep alongside the ship, with the tips of their nostrils at the water’s surface. These two had bobbed up so they could take a deeper breath. #

Deadly Bite. Ian Ford documented the moment a jaguar delivered a fatal bite to a caiman in the Pantanal in Mato Grosso, Brazil. A call over the radio alerted Ian that a jaguar had been spotted prowling the banks of a São Lourenço River tributary. Kneeling in the boat, he was perfectly placed when the cat delivered the skull-crushing bite to the unsuspecting yacare caiman. #

Ziggy Spider. Lam Soon Tak spotted a vibrantly-colored David Bowie spider carrying an egg sac. Lam was exploring the highlands of Malaysia when he came across this spider perched on broken branches beside a river. The bright white disc of eggs in the spider’s jaws and its orange body stood out against the lush green moss. #

Hooked. Tommy Trenchard documented the bycatch of a requiem shark, its body arched in a final act of resistance. Tommy was traveling on the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise. The ship’s research expedition aimed to document the bycatch or accidental capture of sharks by fishing boats targeting tuna and swordfish, and to highlight the lack of effective regulation of industrial-scale fishing in international waters. #

Strength in Numbers. Theo Bosboom showed how mussels bind together to avoid being washed away from the shoreline along Praia da Ursa in Sintra, Portugal. Theo likes to take images of species that aren’t usually considered beautiful or important, to highlight their unappreciated significance. He took this image from above with a probe lens—a long, thin, macro wide-angle lens. #

Twist and Jump. Jose Manuel Grandío braved below-zero temperatures to witness a stoat jumping high into the air above the snow. Winter is Jose’s favorite season for photography. When he spotted this stoat mid-jump on the last day of his trip, he saw this performance as an "expression of exuberance" as the small mammal hurled itself about in a fresh fall of snow. #