“Stuck squirrel” by Milko Marchetti. Overall Winners & Mammals Winner.
“The photo was taken on April 23, 2022, in the “Podere Pantaleone” park in Bagnacavallo, Ravenna, Italy. It is a park open to the public and schools, but from October to March, it is closed to visitors. I am allowed (in exchange for photographs for educational and promotional purposes) to use a fixed photographic hide to photograph passerines, woodpeckers, hawks, and even 3-4 squirrels that come to visit the photographic set consisting of a small lake and the surrounding vegetation. Generally, in Italy, especially in the area where I live, in the Po Delta Regional Park, it is very difficult to see and photograph squirrels (they are very rare), but here in the park, they are quite confident. A few meters from the hide, an old cut tree has a hole (an old woodpecker's nest), and here, the squirrels (two years ago, there were 4 specimens) sometimes come out of curiosity to check out the old hollow tree. I have taken several photos of squirrels in many situations, but the shot I chose to participate in the Nikon Comedy Wildlife immediately struck me for the strange position assumed by the squirrel that seems to be stuck halfway in the hole in the tree, but in reality it is the moment in which it is detaching the support on its hind legs and enters the hole. This photo had an effect on me and made me smile a lot in that moment that I clicked the button, and during my evenings of slideshows and nature videos that I often hold at photography clubs and theaters, the audience always explodes in energetic laughter when I show this photo. I knew I had to enter it into the competition.”
A wily squirrel entering a hollow tree has won the 2024 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. The image, taken by Milko Marchetti, beat out a record number of entries in the tenth edition of the contest. Over 9,000 delightful wildlife photos were entered into the fiercely competitive contest, with only a few points separating the top five entries.
The Italian photographer was thrilled about his win, as the photo made him smile from the moment he clicked the shutter. “Nature photography has been my passion, ever since I was a boy, and I’ve always put all my free time and energy into it,” he shares. “I think that nature offers so much beauty and variety, and with a camera, the photographer has this ability, this superpower to freeze a moment and make it last forever in the form of a photograph.”
Thanks to his win, Marchetti will now experience a once-in-a-lifetime safari at Kenya's Masai Mara, where he'll surely put his photography skills to good work. In addition to the overall winner, nine other category awards were handed out. Standouts include Jose Miguel Gallego‘s “dancing” Flemish mantis, which won the Insect category, and Tapani Linnanmäki‘s amusing image of an eagle shaking out its feathers, which was awarded the People's Choice prize.
Scroll down to see all of the winners and highly commended images, and be prepared to be amused.
Here are the winners of the 2024 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.
“Mantis Flamenca” by Jose Miguel Gallego Molina. Insect Winner.
“On my way back from my photo walk in a swamp near my town (Pantano el Sitjar), I suddenly stopped my car on the road when I saw someone ordering me to stop. This was when I saw my friend the Flemish Mantis for the first time. You can imagine the faces of the other cars passing by, seeing a car with the indicators on and the door open, stopped on the roadside and a madman lying on the ground with his camera in his hand.”
“Shake ruffle rattle and roll” by Tapani Linnanmäki. People's Choice Winner.
“In the picture, a white-tailed eagle is ruffling its feathers. The picture was taken with the Nikon Z9's autocapture feature. The camera is placed on top of the sea ice on top of a bag of nuts at the level of the ice. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this picture. There were more than ten funny poses and expressions in the photo series.”
“Awkward smiley frog” by Kingston Tam. Nikon Young Photographer Winner (25 and Under).
“I’ve always been interested in photography since I was about 10. And I started out just taking snapshots of little things like flowers and pretty skies on my cousin’s point-and-shoot, just like any other 10-year-old would. When I was about 16, I got super interested in star trail photography and started doing it on the Nikon p900 since it has a star trail mode for dummies. Slowly, it evolved to proper wide-angle landscape and astrophotography (Milky Way and deep sky), and that’s when I invested in a bit of gear and really dived into learning about the technical and creative side of photography, trying to do better every time I go out shooting. I also decided to pick up photography for my high school art class and dabbled in some street photography. In 2022 I moved to Australia from Hong Kong to study wildlife science and my friends got me into ‘herping’ (looking for reptiles and amphibians in the wild) and through that, I met a bunch of amazing photographers who specialise in taking photos of these critters and I started doing it as well. And that’s how I ended up photographing critters. My goal for my images is to bring attention to our scaly or moist friends, showing that not only fluffy animals can be cute and beautiful. Ultimately, I wish my work could bring more conservation awareness to these amazing reptiles and amphibians, and that’s been my motivation to keep doing what I’m doing.”
“Unexpected role swap” by Przemyslaw Jakubczyk. Aquatic Animals Winner.
“Every annoyed and overtired fish needs to de-stress by hunting for a bald eagle.”
“Whiskered Tern crash on landing” by Damyan Petkov. Bird Winner.
“A whiskered tern head hit the rock when try to land.”
“Frog in a balloon” by Eberhard Ehmke. Reptile Winner.
“During a photo shoot at the pond I discovered this frog with its head in a bubble. This resembles a tree bell.”
“Smooching owlets” by Sarthak Ranganadhan. Nikon Junior (16 and Under) Winner.
“Our parents always find a way to embarrass us, I guess that's also true in the case of spotted owlets. It was truly a funny sight to see two owlets trying to get some privacy as their little offspring stood next to them with a grin shut eyes.”
“The Rock Star” by Sanjay Patil. Highly Commended.
“Fan-throated lizards are found only in the Indian subcontinent, where they have evolved under the influence of changing climates. These lizards are colorful and belong to the category of reptiles. Female Lizards do not display fan as they do not have. Male lizards inflates its attractive neck pouch to attract the female in hot summer season. Here is the female lizard standing upright to escape the summer heat.”
“You're not my mother” by Randy Herman. Highly Commended.
“This female Red-bellied Woodpecker had been investigating this Screech Owl nest for a couple of days; perhaps it was her nest last year? This little owlet was definitely startled, and didn't seem to know what to make of this intruder. The woodpecker moved on, and the owlet fledged with its two siblings about an hour late.”
A record number of funny wildlife photos were entered into this 10th edition of the contest.
“Alright Mate Back off- this is my bird” by Andy Rouse. Highly Commended.
“This image was taken in South Georgia, it really does show a male king penguin trying to make a move on a female who has already paired up with her male. The body position and wing posture make the message clear—”back off!””
“I'm too sexy for my love” by Artur Stankiewicz. Highly Commended.
“One of the ‘lazy' mornings we have decided to stop by the pool with hippos while in Mana Pools NP. My idea was to try and catch fighting hippos, yet, they all were quite peaceful. I have positioned on the bank, safely from the potential charge and waited. Some of them raised their heads in curiosity or when proximity to the other individuals was too close. Then I got this idea to catch the portrait with water plants decorating he head, It looked like the guy just got our of the hairdresser with a big smile on his face.”
“I'll tell you a secret” by Jan Piecha. Highly Commended.
” A tiny raccoon is telling a secret to its mum while whispering in her ear.”
“Hide and seek” by Leslie McLeod. Highly Commended.
“We were on safari in Kenya and happened upon this beautiful female who was looking for a mate. A group of topi were also keeping a pretty close eye her as she left messages for a potential partner on various trees. This shot makes me think that the cheetah is just about to shout out, “ready or not, here I come!””
“Are you kidding” by Marti Phillips. Highly Commended.
“Two Cape Fur seals having a laugh.”
“Mafia Boss” by Takashi Kubo. Highly Commended.
“It looked like he was sucking a cigar, and he looked like a mafia boss.”
“Gang of four” by Ralph Robinson. Highly Commended.
“On the penguin highway, these rockhoppers are moving into town, and this town ain't big enough for all of them! I set up my camera a good distance from this ridge, where rockhopper penguins were returning from feeding in the southern Atlantic ocean in the Falkland Islands. The long lens pulled them into the frame without disturbing their return to nests on the hill. I love photographing penguins after they've been in the water as they are cleaner! These birds look like they are ready to kick some penguin ass!”
“The Contemplative Chimpanzee” by Arvind Mohandas. Highly Commended.
“Shot in the jungles of Uganda, following a group of around 50 chimpanzees. This one was obviously comtemplating an important issue, on a day of realization and reaffirmation of how close chimpanzees are to humans!”
