THERE were several Scottish winners of the British Wildlife Photography Awards this year, including this shot of a red squirrel by Neil Mcintyre from Aviemore which was the winner of the British Seasonal category.

A ghostly shot of the flight paths of Daubenton’s bats, which took months to capture, captured the overal top prize.

A portrait of a badger, a great skua eating a puffin, a magpie on railings in the snow, a close-up of a nursery web spider waiting among petals for her prey, and grey seals being released were among the winners in the other categories.

Paul Colley, from Swindon, Wiltshire, won the overall prize of £5,000 for his image Contrails At Dawn of Daubenton’s bats at Coate Water Country Park.

Naturalist, author and wildlife TV producer Stephen Moss said: “The extraordinary range of subjects, species and habitats, and the imaginative way they are portrayed, leaves us in no doubt that we in Britain are fortunate to be home to some of the most talented photographers in the world.

“It is also a snapshot of Britain’s diverse and beautiful wildlife, at a time when these wild creatures - and the places where they live - are under threat as never before.”

An exhibition of winning and commended entries from the competition will go on tour, starting in London on November 6, and a book, British Wildlife Photography Awards 9, will feature the best images.

The category winners are:

Black and white - Contrails At Dawn (Daubenton’s bats), Paul Colley, from Swindon, Wiltshire

Coast and marine - Storm Gull (lesser black-backed gull), Craig Denford, from Frimley, Surrey

Animal portraits - Bean (badger), Tesni Ward, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire

Animal behaviour - Life And Death At The Edge Of The World (great skua and puffin), Sunil Gopalan, from Middleton, Wisconsin, USA

Urban wildlife - Magpie In The Snow, Christopher Swan, from Glasgow

Hidden Britain - Waiting For Her Prey (nursery web spider), Andrew McCarthy, from Dunchideock, Devon

Wild woods - Seasonal Overlap (European beech), James Roddie, from Avoch, Ross-Shire

Habitat - Spectacular Isolation (mountain hare), Andrew Parkinson, from Crich, Derbyshire

Botanical - Kelp Bed At Dawn (Oarweed), Robert Canis, from Sittingbourne, Kent

Close to nature - Goose Barnacles, David Bennett, Rhes-y-cae, Flintshire

Documentary series - Rehabilitated Grey Seals Being Released Into The Wild, Cornwall, Ben Watkins, from Weybridge, Surrey

Wildlife in HD video - Industrial Evolution, Sam Oakes, from Richmond, North Yorkshire

Under 12 category - Who Says Bugs Aren’t Cute (cockchafer), Lucy Farrell, from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear

12-18 years category - Eye Of The Spawn (Common Tadpoles), Ivan Carter, from Deal, Kent