Photo credit, Bidyut Kalita
At first glance, the potter wasp appears to be riding a broomstick.
But this hardworking insect doesn't come back to stir up her witch's cauldron or play Quidditch. It carries a caterpillar – prey to feed its young.
It was captured by macro wildlife photographer Bidyut Kalita and was among the most popular entries in this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
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The winning images will be announced on October 14, followed by an exhibition at the Natural History Museum, showcasing 100 exceptional photographs from around the world.
Scroll down to discover other winning works from the competition.
Photo credit, Emmanuel Tardy
Title: There's No Place Like Home
Photographer: Emmanuel Tardy (France)
Location: El Tanque, San Carlos, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Mr Tardy photographed a brown-throated sloth clinging to a barbed wire post after crossing a road.
When their habitats become fragmented due to the loss of trees, sloths are forced to make multiple crossings to reach the next tree, which leaves them vulnerable.
Photo credit, Bertie Gregory
Title: Journey to the edge of the ice
Photographer: Bertie Gregory (UK)
Location: Ekström Ice Shelf, Atka Bay, Antarctica
Mr Gregory photographed a group of young emperor penguins swinging on the edge of an ice floe.
After two months of observing the colony, he found that most chicks were using natural ice ramps to descend safely to the sea, but this group had missed the easiest descent.
Left to their own devices, emperor penguin chicks must eventually make a leap into the icy ocean for their first feeding attempt.
Scientists believe that the retreat of the sea ice could force penguins to breed on ice shelves, making this type of jumping more common.
Photo credit, Kutub Uddin
Title: Family portrait of mold
Photographer: Kutub Uddin (Bangladesh/UK)
Location: Slindon Wood, West Sussex, England, UK
Mr. Uddin discovered a group of slime molds arranged on a fallen tree trunk in a forest. He described the scene as a “strange family portrait,” complete with a tiny yellow insect egg.
A slime mold is made up of mobile, single-celled, amoeba-like organisms that live independently but can group together to function as a single entity to find food and reproduce.
Photo credit, Jamie Smart
Title: Rut roar
Photographer: Jamie Smart (UK)
Location: Bradgate Park, Leicestershire, UK
A male stag during the autumn rut at Bradgate Park, as captured by Miss Smart from a safe distance.
He avoided the tall grass by stretching upwards to keep a clear view.
The deer's antlers, now fully hardened and velvet-free, grow back each spring, becoming more impressive each year as new tips, called tines, develop.
Photo credit, Amit Eshel
Title: In the ice floe
Photographer: Amit Eshel (Israel)
Location: Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada
Standing alongside a pack of curious Arctic wolves in -35°C, Mr Eshel fulfilled his dream of photographing these elusive creatures.
The wolves came so close that he could smell their breath.
Arctic wolves, found only in northern Canada and northern Greenland, are curious about humans due to minimal exposure.
Photo credit, Kesshav Vikram
Title: Essence of Kamchatka
Photographer: Kesshav Vikram (India)
Location: Kurile Lake, Kamchatka Krai, Russia
After days of patience, Mr Vikram captured a brown bear walking along the shores of Kurile Lake, with the Iliinsky volcano looming through the clouds.
While bears are usually solitary, this one was headed to feast with others on the surplus of sockeye salmon migrating upstream from the Pacific to their home lake to spawn.
Photo credit, Parham Pourahmad
Title: A Tale of Two Coyotes
Photographer: Parham Pourahmad (United States)
Location: Bernal Heights Park, San Francisco, California, United States
Catching the morning light, Mr. Pourahmad framed the amber eye of a male coyote in the curve of a female's rounded-tipped black tail.
He followed this pair across a rocky hillside for a few hours and fired when the male stopped to nuzzle the female.
Coyotes are very adaptable and are beginning to reestablish themselves in San Francisco, where they were once extinct.
Photo credit, Leana Kuster
Title: Pink Pose
Photographer: Leana Kuster (Switzerland)
Location: Pont de Gau, Camargue, France
Leana Kuster shows a flamingo scratching its head with one of its unmistakably long legs.
While on vacation, she was fascinated by their foraging behavior as they moved gracefully through shallow saline wetlands, filtering for molluscs and crustaceans.
Flamingos use their tongues to pump water through their uniquely adapted bills, which are lined with rows of thin, comb-like plates.
The flamingo's pink coloring comes from a diet rich in carotenoids, pigments found in algae and invertebrates such as shrimp.
Photo credit, Marina Cano
Title: Deadly Lessons
Photographer: Marina Cano (Spain)
Location: Samburu National Park, Samburu County, Kenya
In Kenya's Samburu National Park, Marina Cano saw young cheetahs practicing hunting on a Günther dik-dik, with their mother watching nearby.
Cheetah cubs stay hidden for two months and don't join hunts until they're about a year old to learn how to stalk and kill.
Photo credit, Lakshitha Karunarathna
Title: Toxic Tip
Photographer: Lakshitha Karunarathna (Sri Lanka)
Location: Ampara, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, Lakshitha Karunarathna documented a lone Asian elephant navigating a landfill.
Over the past three years, he has recorded the impacts of humans on the region's elephants.
The Ampara landfill was created more than a decade ago near a protected area that is home to around 300 elephants. In addition to food scraps, they consume plastic, which is slowly killing them, according to authorities.
Photo credit, Gabriella Comi
Title: Alarm signal
Photographer: Gabriella Comi (Italy)
Location: Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Gabriella Comi and her guide David spotted a cobra heading towards two sleeping lions in Serengeti National Park under the scorching midday sun. The older lion raised his head to face the creeping threat.
Photo credit, Ralph Pace
Title: SummerJelly Smack
Photographer: Ralph Pace (USA)
Location: Monterey Bay, Monterey, California, United States
Amid a mass – or “smack” – of Pacific nettles, Mr. Pace coated any skin not covered by his suit with petroleum jelly to protect against stings.
The trailing tentacles can deliver a painful sting, which Mr Pace said is more like that of a bee than a nettle.
Photo credit, Sitaram Raul
Title: Nature reclaims its space
Photographer: Sitaram Raul (India)
Location: Banda, Maharashtra, India
In total darkness, Mr. Raul stood among fruit bats emerging from a historic ruin, using focus and flash to capture the moment. The bats swooped above him while “randomly pooping” on him and his camera.
In South Asia, Old World bats often roost in abandoned buildings.
Photo credit, Isaac Szabo
Title: Fragile river of life
Photographer: Isaac Szabo (United States)
Location: Columbia County, Florida, United States
While wading in a crystal-clear Florida river, Mr. Szabo photographed a female bony gar alongside several males during mating season. The discovery of a drifting turtle was the “icing on the cake,” according to Mr. Szabo.
This river is one of more than 1,000 waterways fed by freshwater springs, renowned for their exceptional clarity. Protecting the aquifers that feed these springs is essential, not only for iconic wildlife like manatees, but also for the drinking water supply of nearly half of Florida's population.
Photo credit, Jassen Todorov
Title: Golden Clouds
Photographer: Jassen Todorov (United States)
Location: San Francisco Bay, California, United States
Mr. Todorov captured the reflection of clouds in vast salt ponds during his flight to San Francisco.
These ponds, which cover almost 5,000 hectares, display constantly changing colors – a sight of which he never tires.
The process of collecting salt in San Francisco Bay was industrialized in the 1800s, but today the bay's salt ponds are part of a major restoration project, bringing back salt marshes and wildlife.
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