Everything except stale
Highpoints from our Europe’s Natural Treasures photo competition
Even if this year’s winning picture – an Arctic fox having a good yawn – could give the impression of boredom, there was no trace of it in our selection of winning photos for our 2025 photo competition. This was the 32nd time EuroNatur had organised this international competition in cooperation with natur magazine, the Gelsenwasser AG utility company and specialist photography retailer LichtBlick in Konstanz.
The twelve winning photos, which will also be featured in our 2026 EuroNatur calendar, made it through from around 2,750 entries. Many were stunningly beautiful or delightfully droll. So it was no easy task for the jury to pick out the winning images. However, their selection is guaranteed to impress. See for yourself…
Tip: Click on pictures for a larger view.
What a yawn, Arctic fox!
1st place: Marcel Gerson
This Arctic Fox certainly doesn’t need any dental treatment. His full-on yawn gives us an in-depth insight into his mouth and throat. The winning photo this year was taken during a research visit to Spitzbergen. Over a period of several weeks, the photographer went out repeatedly on the search for his desired motif, but it was only a week before his departure at his last attempt that he succeeded in taking this fascinating photo.
Flocking together
2nd Place: Mateusz Piesiak
It’s really quite confusing trying to pick a single individual out of the many different colours and configurations of this flock of Goldfinches. And yet all this confusion serves a purpose: for many songbirds the flock means safety from birds of prey, as it makes it much harder for them to focus on a single bird as they hunt. And that was most likely the case for the Sparrowhawk whose presence flushed out this flock of goldfinches from of a fallow field of sunflowers.
Rivals
3rd Place: Alwin Hardenbol
Aptly named Ruffs in English, the puffed-up plumage and luxurious neck ruffs of these two birds make them look like they are performing a sort of courtly baroque dance such as a gavotte. Almost resembling noblemen of old, these members of the wader family are out to impress females with their display. The ruffs’ dance in their display ground amid the wide open spaces of the mountain landscapes of Scandinavia is one of the most impressive spectacles of Europe’s bird world.
Success!
4th Place: Lutz Klapp
This heron obviously dived in to get this tasty fish morsel, or maybe those weeds around its neck and over its back were camouflage. A Grey Heron can stand stock still at the water’s edge for several minutes, lulling its favourite prey, fish, into a false sense of security. But as soon as one of those unsuspecting gilled creatures comes close to it, the heron stabs it at lightning speed with its dagger-like beak.
Under mother’s watchful eye
5th Place: Piet van den Bemd
A wonderful composition: this photo captures the vulnerability of a Ringed Seal that is just a few days old. It lies on the ice, trusting its white coat of lanugo fur to protect it from being discovered by predators. The shallow depth of field emphasises the vulnerability of the youngster, and the low-angle perspective creates an atmosphere of intimacy between the baby seal and its mother behind.
Lying in wait
6th Place: Clément Blin
Chance encounters can often play a very important role in photography: this photographer actually wanted to capture a shot of a butterfly, but having already set the focus, he became aware of a movement out of the corner of his eye and swivelled round. A movement like this is extremely rare for Praying Mantises as they can remain poised for hours and then strike at lightning speed once an unwary insect has finished feeding.
Small, but oh my!
7th Place: Catherine Aupetit
A little tip: the images on this calendar are not to scale. Otherwise you’d probably need a magnifying glass for this picture. This softly-lit Springtail – members of this class shun bright light – is just two millimetres long. A real shrimp, yet it does achieve great things. Springtails are essential for the formation of humus and they improve soil fertility.
On target
8th Place: Folkert Christoffers
The beauty of nature can often be found in the everyday, as with this Buzzard homing in on a fence post for his landing pad. A perfectly familiar sight, as Buzzards are found right across Germany. Our most common bird of prey can have very varied plumage colouration (also called morphs in this context), from almost white to dark brown.
Peak baggers
9th Place: Melanie Weber
This picture was taken on a summer’s morning in the Ticino Alps. The photographer crept out of her mountain hut to watch the break of day. She knew that in this region now and again Alpine Ibex could be seen. And there they were: suddenly one stepped out onto a rocky outcrop to be joined just a little later by a second one. And the image of these two peak baggers was duplicated in the mirror-like waters of the mountain lake.
Smile, please!
10th place: Corinna Müller
The fact that individuality is not just something we humans possess is clear enough in wildlife photography. This photographer already had considerable experience of Alpine Salamanders. Some individuals tend towards shyness and hide themselves away as soon as she approaches; others come out unperturbed by the presence of a human. This Salamander seems almost to be posing and maybe that could even be a hint of a smile?
Enchanted valley
11th Place: Irene Sieber
At an altitude of over 2,300 meters In the Ticino Alps, hidden away in this valley basin, the photographer discovered a fairy-tale landscape. Meandering gently through an upland moor, wreathed by a carpet of cotton grass is a stream fed by the surrounding mountain slopes. The rising sun makes the clouds glow in intense shades of violet, pink and orange; a heavenly firework display reflected in the stream. And down the steep flanks of the mountain ridge flows the mist. Magical…
Play of colours
12th Place: Konrad Funk
The blue sea in the background, the grey rock topped by a red rock crab, which is anything but just red: the colours of this wildlife photo are perfectly balanced. The red rock crab, this specimen is from Tenerife, can be found along the east Atlantic coast from Portugal to Namibia. Its body is strong and extremely flat, allowing it to cling to the rocks in heavy surf.
Buying the calendar
The 12 prizewinning pictures for this year’s competition can also be admired in our large format wall calendar ‘EuroNatur – Europe’s Natural Treasures 2025’, which can be ordered exclusively from EuroNatur-Service GmbH. Available for delivery from October 2025.