British Wildlife Photography Awards 2014 winners announced

Lee Acaster scooped the top £5,000 prize for his shot of a Graylag Goose

'Urban Tourist (Grayling Goose)' by Lee Acaster won top prize at the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2014 (Lee Acaster)

The British Wildlife Photography Awards winners have been revealed, with Lee Acaster from Suffolk taking home the top prize for his shot of a Graylag Goose in London.

Acaster, who received £5,000, photographed the animal against an ominous London skyline, with The Shard clearly visible in the background.

“I was set up for shooting a stormy cityscape with a manual focus wide angle lens on when I came across the Greylag Goose sat on the river wall,” he said of the “technically incredibly difficult” piece.

“Expecting it to fly away as I got nearer, I was surprised to find that it was very happy to stay where it was, even when I got very close. I ended up being just a few inches away from him.

“He was still happily stood on the wall as I left, probably wondering what on earth the strange man with the flashing light had been doing.”

Other winners included a close-up of a seal's furry claw, an otter preying on a puffin, a decaying telephone box in a wood and some striking shots of sharks.

'Big Blues - Shark' by Alexander Mustard (Alexander Mustard)

The prestigious awards were established five years ago to recognise the talents of wildlife photographers working in Britain and highlight the diversity of our country’s natural history.

'Spring is in the Air' by Andrew Parkinson (Andrew Parkinson)

The winning images, from thirteen categories including Portrait, Black and White, Botanical, Habitat and more, will be displayed at London’s Mall Galleries this week before a nationwide tour to Gloucestershire, Bristol, Luton, Hampshire and North Yorkshire.