Top league of the

take inspiration from these superb images, all successful entries in some of this year’s major photographic competitions

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2018 Overall Winner Paul Colley contrails at Dawn (Daubenton’s Bats)

Ghostly contrails reveal the flight paths and wing beats of Daubenton’s bats. This image, taken at the Coate Water Country Park in Wiltshire, was shot with an infrared camera and lighting system to overcome the challenge of photographing the high-speed flight of these small mammals in the dark. The in- camera double exposure caught the foreground bat milliseconds before insect intercept. As these bats are a protected species, they were photographed in the wild following advice from the Bat Conservation Trust and Natural England.