Commended. In late May, about a quarter of a million snow geese arrive from North America to nest on Wrangel Island, in northeastern Russia. They form the world's largest breeding colony of snow geese. Photographer Sergey Gorshkov spent two months on the remote island photographing the unfolding dramas. Arctic foxes take advantage of the abundance of eggs, caching surplus eggs for leaner times. But a goose (here the gander) is easily a match for a fox, which must rely on speed and guile to steal eggs. “The battles were fairly equal”, notes Sergey, “and I only saw a fox succeed in grabbing an egg on a couple of occasions, despite many attempts”. Surprisingly, “the geese lacked any sense of community spirit”, he adds, “and never reacted when a fox harassed a neighboring pair nesting close by”. (Photo by Sergey Gorshkov/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer)

Zahra Lari runs in a scene shot for the Nike Middle East ad campaign filmed in Dubai, UAE, February 10, 2017. An online commercial released by Nike (NKE.N) this week that showed Arab women fencing, boxing and spinning on ice-skates has stirred controversy over its attempt to smash stereotypes about women leading home-bound lives in the conservative region. (Photo by Reuters/Nike)

A performer takes part in a night parade to celebrate Chinese New Year in Hong Kong Friday, February 16, 2018. The Lunar New Year this year marks the Year of the Dog in the Chinese calendar. (Photo by Vincent Yu/AP Photo)

“The Baja California Pronghorn or Peninsular Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana peninsularis) is a critically endangered pronghorn, endemic to Mexico. The wild population is estimated at 200”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Two rare Peninsular pronghorns, male twins was born at the Los Angeles Zoo on April 24, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Only 250 antelope-like Peninsular pronghorns are believed to exist in the wild. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Foreign tourists join the annual Songkran Festival celebration, the Thai traditional New Year, also known as the water festival in Silom district of Bangkok, Thailand, 13 April 2014. The three-day Songkran Festival runs from 13 to 15 April and is celebrated with splashing water and putting powder on each others faces as a symbolic sign of cleansing and washing away the sins from the old year. (Photo by Narong Sangnak/EPA)

A woman laughs as she takes part in the “Domingo Fareleiro” (Floury Sunday in Galician) festival in the village of Xinzo de Limia, northwestern Spain, on January 21, 2018. Domingo Fareleiro (Floury Sunday) takes place annually in Xinzo de Limia, Spain, in a unique celebration that gives the starting signal for a long festive period known as Entroido, or Carnival. (Photo by Miguel Riopa/AFP Photo)

A Muslim woman wearing a hijab walks past a lingerie advertisement in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia April 26, 2013. (Photo by Andy Clark/Reuters)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews)

Highly commended birds : Crested guan by Tim Hunt (UK). ‘This photo shows a crested guan in the cloud forests of Costa Rica as it pauses while foraging on a lone branch. Due to the clouds that are so typical for this habitat, I could often only photograph the bird’s silhouette against a grey sky. But then, for a short moment only, the sun broke through the clouds, and I overexposed the image by over two stops in order to blow out the background and allow this beautifully marked bird to stand out’. (Photo by Tim Hunt/GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)