Nature's wonder captured at its most breathtaking in annual photography contest

An alert young fox stalks his way through long summer grass, bathed in the glow of a balmy evening.  A poppy field in full bloom, reminiscent of Monet's painting of the same name, and a fluorescent maple leaf, perfectly framed against a foggy woodland backdrop.

All of these stunning images made it through to the final round of the Nature Photographer of the Year 2013 competition, organised by the Society of German Nature Photographers (GDT). But this image of a red fox by Hermann Hirsch was deemed the quintessential portrait of wildlife, and won best overall image in all categories.

An alert young fox stalks his way through long summer grass, bathed in the glow of a balmy evening, in this image by Hermann Hirsch. It won best image in the Nature Photographer of the Year 2013 competition

An adult fox prowls through the misty woodland in Fox in cloudy forest, by Klaus Echle. Dozens of images made it through to the final round of the contest.

Pictures were submitted in the mammals, other animals, plants and fungi, landscapes, nature's studio, and this year's special category, animal portraits. This rodent anxiously making its way across a forest floor, pictured in 'When Night Falls' by Christoph Kaula, won third place in the mammals category

Landscapes category third place: 'Piano Grande' by Heinz Buls. Every year the GDT organizes the International Nature Photography Festival with slide shows by photographers from all over the world

Landscapes category third place: 'Piano Grande' by Heinz Buls. Every year the GDT organizes the International Nature Photography Festival with slide shows by photographers from all over the world

Animals portraits category winner: 'Capercaillie' by Klaus Echle. An exhibition of the photographs entered in the competition will run from May 23 until September at the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) in Bonn

Animals portraits category runner-up: 'Young Lion' by Carsten Ott

A penguin colony makes its way back across a sea sprayed landscape, in Returning from the hunt, by Michael Lohmann. The image won Birds category runner-up and prize of the jury

This icy tableau won Birds category winner: 'A Frosty Resting Place' by Bernd Nill

Dozens of images made it through to the final round of the Nature Photographer of the Year 2013 competition

A spider is given an eerie makeover in this image 'Spotlight' by Klaus Tamm. It was named winner in the 'other animals category'

Plants and fungi category runner-up: 'Maple leaves in Fog Forest' by Joachim Wimmer.

An image of bubbling mud from was named nature's studio category winner: 'Bubbling' by Sigi Zang