Captured in the wild – the winning images

Behind Bars (grey heron) by Daniel Trim from from Hitchin, Hertfordshire, which came first in the Urban wildlife category and was named as the overall winner in this year's British Wildlife Photography Awards. PIcture: PA

An action picture of a swift skimming water and portraits of fish, spiders and butterflies are among the other winning photos in the contest.

Daniel Trim, from Hitchin, Hertfordshire, won the overall prize of £5,000 for a shot of a grey heron hunting in the cover of a bridge in London.

Prizes for top pictures were awarded in 14 categories, including ones that focus on the coasts, close-up images of the natural world, the same subject through the seasons, video and a documentary series of photographs. To mark the 10th year of the competition, and to help raise awareness of the coasts and the threats they are facing, the awards have expanded the coast and marine category.

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Alex Mustard, from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was the coast and marine overall category and Scotland winner for Seal in a Seaweed Garden taken on Coll in the Inner Hebrides.

Mark Kirkland, from Glasgow, won the animal portraits prize for Peering Through the Darkness, a photo of a small-spotted catshark.

In the junior categories, Ollie Teasdale, 10, from Caernarfon, Wales, won the under-12 age group for a black and white image of a razorbill on a rock on Skokholm Island, Pembrokeshire.

The 12-18 age group was won by Jacob Guy, 18, from Torquay in Devon, for a picture of a spiny starfish taken in Falmouth, Cornwall.

An exhibition of winning and commended entries from the competition will go on tour, starting in London tomorrow. A book, British Wildlife Photography Awards 10, will feature the best images.

Conservationist and TV presenter Mark Carwardine said: “With so many photographers scouring the globe for exotic megafauna, it’s easy to forget how much wildlife we have in our own small and densely populated backyard.”