Lukas Schaefer / Rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) close up preening, Val Venosta, Italy, October.
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Joel Sartore / Photo Ark / Great green macaw (Ara ambiguus) turning its head and moving tongue, Tracy Aviary. Captive.
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Lewis Jefferies / Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) feeding on the ground in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland, UK, June.
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Lewis Jefferies / Close up shot of Pulsating xenid (Heteroxenia fuscescens) feeding , Red Sea, Egypt
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Lewis Jefferies / Blackfinned anemonefish (Amphiprion nigripes) family seeks shelter in safety of Anemone's stinging tentacles, South Ari Atoll, Maldives, Indian Ocean.
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Joel Sartore / Photo Ark / African wood owl (Strix woodfordii) looking around and towards camera, Monticello Cente, Monticello Grosseto. Captive.
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Joel Sartore / Photo Ark / Common Bay Owl (Phodilus badius) looking around, Penang Bird Park, Seberang Perai, Pulau Pinang. Captive.
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Eduardo Blanco / Tree silhouetted against volcanic eruption, Cumbre Vieja Volcano, La Palma, Canary Islands, September 2021.
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Uri Golman / Close up of a silverback Mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) face with eyes closed, and hand / fingers, Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Klein & Hubert / Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) close up of jaw and teeth, Chobe River, Botswana, Africa.
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Eric Baccega / Close up shot of Female Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) Huan Huan, holding her female cub, Beauval ZooPark, France, September 2021.
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Kim Taylor / Two Freshwater copepods (Cyclops sp) swimming through pond debris, Surrey, UK, May.
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Eric Baccega / Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) female, Huan Huan, holding cub aged one month, Beauval ZooPark, France. 9 September 2021.
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Eric Baccega / Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) female, Huan Huan, holding cub aged one month, Beauval ZooPark, France. 9 September 2021.
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Eric Baccega / Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) female, Huan Huan, holding cub aged one month, Beauval ZooPark, France. 9 September 2021.
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Eric Baccega / Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) female, Huan Huan, holding cub aged one month, Beauval ZooPark, France. 9 September 2021.
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Richard Hopkins / Close up shot of Female European otter (Lutra lutra) eating fish surrounded by seaweed, Shetland, UK, December.
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Richard Hopkins / Female European otter (Lutra lutra) looking directly at camera as her male cub suckles before she turns away from him; he pesters her to feed him again. Shetland, UK, September.
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David Weiller / Atta leaf-cutter ants (Genus atta) harvesting leaves and pink flower petals, Ecuador, February.
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Robert Thompson / African golden emperor moth (Gonimbrasia krucki), close up of male head , Kenya, Africa Controlled conditions.
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Pascal Kobeh / A school of Bluespotted cornetfish (Fistularia commersonii), Red Sea, Egypt.
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Michael W. Richards / Domestic hen (Gallus gallus domesticus) preening while brooding her chicks in farmyard, when she pecks at ground chicks appear from underneath her, Somerset, UK, September.
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Alex Hyde / Commuity of mosses predominately red Sphagnum Moss (Sphagnum sp.), with Reindeer Lichen (Cladonia sp.) growing alongside, in blanket bog. Glen Affric, Scotland, UK. October. Focus stacked image.
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Alex Hyde / Common Orb Weaver (Metellina sp.) male. With the camera at a very precise angle to the sun, the silk of the web refracted the light into a rainbow of coloured bands.
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John Chan / Calliope hummingbird (Stellula calliope) chasing insects before returning to its perch, Southern California, USA, April.
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Pal Hermansen / Portrait of a Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), Telemark, Norway.
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Pal Hermansen / Close up of a Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) face looking around and towards camera, Snow Hill Island, Antarctica, October.
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Guy Edwardes / Bonnet mycena fungus (Mycena galericulata) and Holly (Ilex aquifolium) seedling, New Forest National Park, England, UK. October.
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Guy Edwardes / Slime mould (Arcyria denudata) sporangia. New Forest National Park, England, UK. November. Focus stacked image.
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Guy Edwardes / Parrot waxcap fungus (Gliophorus psittacinus), close up of gills, Duncliffe Wood Woodland Trust Reserve, Dorset, England, UK. November.
Jack Dykinga / Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest with twisted limbs of Bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) at dawn on the White Mountains, Inyo National Forest, California, USA.
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Michael Hutchinson / Goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia) yellow female on Honesty flower, Bristol, UK, April
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Oliver Wright / Marbled white butterfly (Melanargia galathea) photographed in early morning light. Ledston, Yorkshire, June. Focus stacked image.
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Oliver Wright / Portrait of a Emerald damselfly (Lestes sponsa) Yorkshire, August. Focus stacked image.
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Oliver Wright / Portrait of a Common darter (Sympetrum striolatum) Yorkshire, July. Focus stacked image.
Ingo Arndt / Close up of Honey bees (Apis mellifera) forming 'chains' and a 'ball' at the top of their tree hole nest as they establish a colony, Germany.
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Nick Garbutt / Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) amongst group hauled out on shore. Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway. July.
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Tony Wu / Harlequin mantis shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus), close up of compound eyes. Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
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Simon Littlejohn / Close-up of a female Patagonian puma (Puma concolor patagonica) feeding on a Guanaco (Lama guanicoe) carcass, filmed with a remote camera, Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile, May.
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Simon Littlejohn / Flock of Griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) feeding, Andalusia, Spain, May.
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Brandon Cole / Crocodile fish (Cymbacephalus beauforti) camouflaged, Egypt, Red Sea.
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Brandon Cole / Bluespotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma) Egypt, Red Sea.
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Tui De Roy / Alcedo giant tortoise (Chelonoidis vandenburghi), Alcedo Volcano, Isabela Island, Galapagos
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Alex Hyde / Red-green carpet moth (Chloroclysta siterata), underside of individual resting on a window. Peak District National Park, Derbyshire, UK. April. Focus stacked image.
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Alex Hyde / Red velvet mite (Trombidium holosericeum) running across soil where it hunts smaller invertebrates. Peak District National Park, Derbyshire, UK. April.
