The best nature photography of the past decade has captured the amazing world of Australian wildlife, from sly seals to voracious snakes.
These images have been compiled in Australian Geographic’s Wild Australasia: 10th Anniversary of the ANZANG Photo Contest, showcasing animals caught in action. Their unusual and everyday rituals make for fascinating photography.
In 2011, Ofer Levy photographed the drinking behavior of a gray-headed flying fox, swooping low and gliding across the water with their bellies and then licking their wet fur as they flew away.
In 2012, St John Pound captured an echidna foraging for ants in the Narawntapu National Park in Tasmania.
In 2013, a beautiful black and white photo of black-winged stilts in their courtship dance was taken by Dan Giselsson in Charleville, Queensland.
Portrait of an Elephant seal, Elephant Point, Livingstone Island, South Shetland Islands, AntarcticaGrey-headed flying-fox drinking behavior. They swoop low, skimming the water with their belly. They then lick their wet fur as they fly and continue licking when perched nearby. Such behavior usually occurs at dusk and night but when the temperature reaches 35°C and above, they will also drink during the daySurvival of the fittest! It was an overcast, wet and miserable morning as photographer Trevor Penfold crawled commando-style across the wet beach on Stewart Island, off the southern tip of the South Island of New Zealand to capture two oystercatcher chicks (family Haematopodidae) battle endlessly, neither one wanting to give in to the otherRainforest dragon’s (Hypsilurus boydii) steady gaze, Stanley and Kaisa Breeden, 2006 (pictured left) and a Gannet courtship display (pictured right), Andy Trowbridge, 2008Australasian darter with bream was heading to the shore in Narrabeen Lagoon, New South Wales, to deal with its catch. Geoff Longford, 2013The beautiful courtship dance of black-winged stilts captured in Charleville, Queensland, began with the female stilt (Himantopus himantopus), on the right, clearing the little sand mound by picking up and tossing away any extraneous sticks. She then stooped forward, inclining her whole body, which immediately attracted the male. The male circled the female as she slowly and gracefully spun around on the spot. Dan Giselsson, 2013When the fruit of silkwood flowers open, they display unsubtle yet harmonious colors. These colors attract fruit-eating birds which then disperse the seeds. Photographed at Cape Tribulation, far north QueenslandRoyal spoonbill preening in Sydney, New South Wales. Ofer Levy, 2007Fungi in the mist. Each morning for a fortnight, a cluster of fungi would erupt out of a pile of woodchips in Noosa Botanic Gardens on Lake MacDonald at the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, but wither up and be gone a few hours after sunrise. Raoul Slater, 2013This macro photo of a mosquito (family Culicidae) was taken in a small rockpool in my garden in Gooseberry Hill, Western Australia. Tony Hopkins, 2010Little egret grabs little fish as the sunset over Chilli Beach, Cape York, Queensland, this little egret (Egretta garzetta) was hunting small fish trapped in the tidal pools on the sand flats. It was running and jumping after its prey in almost feverish excitement, knowing that there wasn’t much light left. David Stowe, 2013Rosie (pictured) is an adult tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) who was found with her head stuck in a swimming pool gate. Rescued and cared for by wildlife-rescue volunteers from Sydney Wildlife and WIRES, she was successfully rehabilitated and released soon afterwards. Angela Robertson-Buchanan, 2013Black-winged stilts. This beautiful courtship dance was captured in Charleville, Queensland. Dan Giselsson, 2013The green tree python (Morelia viridis) (pictured left) is restricted to the rainforests of the Iron and McIlwraith ranges in far north Queensland. Stephen Zozaya, 2013 while you can find jumping spiders (family Salticidae) (pictured right) in nearly any garden, such as this one at Castle Hill, New South WalesThe small fruiting bodies of bird’s nest fungi (Crucibulum sp.) are completely closed when first formed. Then the top crumbles away, leaving a cup containing spore-bearing tissues called peridioles. When raindrops land in the cup, the peridioles are propelled into the air, dispersing the spores. Photographed in East Harbour Regional Park, Wellington, New Zealand. Eric Burger, 2009Soft spiny-tailed gecko within the urban region of Perth, in Western Australia. Henry Cook, 2012Royal spoonbill preening in Sydney, New South Wales. Ofer Levy, 2007
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