Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023 winners revealed: Air guitar kangaroo takes top spot

Category Winners and Highly Commended Winners included a nose-diving heron, a dancing otter and an owl with a serious case of the Monday blues.

By BBC Wildlife Magazine

Published: Thursday, 23 November 2023 at 00:01 AM

The results are in for this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. And the winner is… Jason Moore, for his humorous shot of a western grey kangaroo, entitled ‘Air Guitar Roo.’

The image of the rock and roll kangaroo fought off another 5300 entries from 85 countries around the world, including a striated heron taking an ‘Unexpected Plunge’ and a charming ‘Ballerina Otter’.

Jason took his winning photo on a trip to the outer suburbs of Perth in Australia.

“I had been out with my camera photographing some waterfowl at a nearby lake. I had been up at sunrise to take advantage of the “golden hour” light, but it turned out to be a disappointing morning on the water. After leaving the lake, somewhat dejected, I decided to swing past an area of open bushland that I know of, because there are often a “mob” of Kangaroos feeding and sunning themselves in a field close to the road (it’s on my way to and from work so I drive past it every day).

“When I arrived, there were a number of kangaroos in the field. The morning light was still favourable so I grabbed my camera and headed off to a spot where I could get down to eye level with my subjects, amongst the biting ticks (the lengths we go to, just to get that perfect image.) I ended up shooting about 40 or 50 frames of the kangaroos with various content including Mum’s, Joey’s and also some action shots of them bouncing along through the yellow field.

“The shoot turned out to be a great session, and I am quite fond of several images that I captured. Not many people know that kangaroos are normally fairly docile and even a bit boring most of the time, if I’m honest. However, when I saw this roo striking the air guitar pose, it immediately brought a smile to my face, and I knew that I had captured something really special.“

Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023 winners

Air Guitar Roo, Jason Moore (Overall Winner)

Air Guitar Roo: “I was driving past a mob of western grey kangaroos feeding in an open field that was filled with attractive yellow flowers. I had my camera with me, so I stopped to grab a few photos. I suddenly noticed this individual adopt a humorous pose – to me it looks like he’s practising strumming on his air guitar”/Credit: Jason Moore

How many legs does a kangaroo have?

Unexpected Plunge, Vittorio Ricci (Creatures of the Air Winner)

Striated heron — Unexpected Plunge: This shot of a striated heron was taken in Zimanga Private Game Reserve, South Africa/Credit: Vittorio Ricci

Otter Ballerinas, Otter Kwek (Underwater Category Winner)

Smooth coated otter — Otter Ballerinas: A smooth coated otter strikes a pose in Singapore/Credit: Otter Kwek

The Rainforest Dandy, Delphine Casimir (Highly Commended)

Monkey — The Rainforest Dandy: This picture was taken in the monkey forest in Ubud, Bali/Credit: Delphine Casimir

Monday Blahs, John Blumenkamp (Highly Commended)

Great Gray Owl in Grand Teton National Park in USA — Monday Blahs: “This great gray owl spent most of the afternoon posing majestically and looking, well, wise. But for a moment or two after doing some elegant stretching, he/she would slump and give a look of ‘is Monday over yet?” This shot was taken at Grand Teton National Park, USA/Credit: John Blumenkamp

British owl species: how to identify, diet and where to see

The Happy Turtle, Tzahi Finkelstein (Highly Commended)

Swamp turtle at Jezreel Valley in Israel — The Happy Turtle: This shot of a swamp turtle with a dragonfly on its nose was taken at Jezreel Valley in Israel/Credit: Tzahi Finkelstein

Boing!, Lara Mathews (Highly Commended)

Eastern Grey Kangaroo — Boing!: “Taken at Westerfolds Park, a beautiful and surprisingly wild pocket of land in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, famous for its kangaroo population. The mob was enjoying some morning sunshine when this joey decided to get silly and try his hand at boxing.”/Credit: Lara Mathews

Look at Right Bro, Pratick Mondal (Highly Commended)

Look at right Bro…: “I was searching for a jackle in the jungle which was at an isolated place. I sat at a place and waited for the jackle. Then I saw a macaque come out of the jungle and started itching its armpit keeping its’ hand straight and at the same time, a deer also appeared behind the Macaque.” The shot was taken at Nagpur, India/Credit: Pratick Mondal

Snowball, Jacques Poulard (Highly Commended)

Snowball: A white grouse during a very cold winter, Svalbard/Credit: Jacques Poulard

Don’t Look Down, Brian Matthews (Highly Commended)

Atlantic Puffin — Don’t Look Down: “A puffin does an inverted snoopy impression while watching jelly fish”. Shot taken on the Farne Islands, Northumberland, UK/Credit: Brian Matthews

More about the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

The competition was founded in 2015 by Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, both professional photographers and passionate conservationists to create a refreshing, fun and free to enter photography competition unlike any other, showcasing seriously funny images of the earth’s most amazing wildlife.

As the 2023 Comedy Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Jason wins a once in a lifetime safari in the Masai Mara, Kenya, with Alex Walker’s Serian plus a unique handmade trophy from the Wonder Workshop in Tanzania and a fantastic photography bag from the fabulous THINK TANK.