Wakodahatchee wetlands, Delray Beach, Florida, US. Equipped with sinewy necks and spear-like bills, great blue herons can lunge with fearsome speed to strike their aquatic prey. Adults will also employ rapid stabbing motions as one aspect of their complex courtship displays; they’re seemingly dangerous moves, but fitting to the intensity of mating season. (Photo by Melissa Rowell/Audubon Photography Awards)

Hirari Ikeda, a well-known Harajuku street fashion personality, on the street in Shibuya. (Photo by Tokyo Fashion)

Prepare yourself for some rib-tickling laughter because the Comedy Wildlife Awards has announced its finalists. Founded by Tanzania-based photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks MBE and Tom Sullam, the aim of the awards is to put a spotlight on wildlife conservation efforts while simultaneously injecting some humour into the world of wildlife photography. Here: Mountains Gorilla is making grimaces, as he came out of the bush after the rain, in Virunga National Park, Rwanda. (Photo by Josef Friedhuber/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards/Barcroft Media)

“Red Arrows” at the 2016 royal air tattoo, RAF Fairford, UK. By Jonny Williams, finalist: action. (Photo by Jonny Williams/UK National Geographic Traveller Photography Competition 2018)

“The fantastic landscape of Bagan in Myanmar features hundreds of temples and pagodas as far as the eye can see. Experiencing this sight at dawn from the basket of a hot air balloon will remain engraved in my memory for ever. Mick Ryan, judge – What a magical photograph and place. The Buddhist temples and pagodas fill the plains of Bagan in Myanmar at sunrise… the golden hour providing beautiful light to illuminate the retrogression of the temples and balloons toward a misty, mountainous distance. An excellent, exotic photograph that makes you want to book a flight”. (Photo by Alastair Swan/The Guardian)

Winner. “I took this picture of a woman in traditional clothing in Cartagena, Colombia”. PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE: “The blaze of colour from every angle, the boldness of the picture, taken from behind, which gives it so much more allure and frankly a superb get up. Did I mention the colours? Oh, and that looks suspiciously like a Nokia”. (Photo by Stanislav Shmelev/The Guardian)