This week's Big Picture features, not the work of the Echo's photographers, but some of our favourite images from the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year. An exhibition featuring the winning images from the competition is running at Moors Valley from this Saturday - but we've got a sneak peak.

We're allowed to choose five images to show you - and we've made sure to include Terns in a Dive Queue, by Winchester photographer Paul Sansome. Paul's been a fan of the competiton for years but isn't really a wildlife photographer so is over the moon to be included.

Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year is owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine. You can see all the images, and buy prints of your favourites, here . Or click here for more information about the exhibition and how Paul Sansome came to take his "accidental" photo.

And don't miss Saturday's Daily Echo for five more images from the exhibition, including an incredible wave of starlings. It also features the controversial original overall winner, The Storybook Wolf, which has now been disqualified.



Bournemouth Echo: Jan Vermeer (Netherlands)/ Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009. NOT FOR REUSE

Puffin in the snow, by Jan Vermeer (Netherlands)/ Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

Jan timed his visit to Norway's remote Varanger Fjord to coincide with the arrival of thousands of seabirds flying back to the cliffs to breed. On his first day, he was surrounded by kittiwakes, auks and fulmars, coming and going or taking to the sky in shrieking, spiralling flocks. On the second day, the first puffins arrived. 'I glanced out over the sea and saw them coming. At that very same instant, it began to snow. There are golden moments in your life you never forget - this is one of them.' Five minutes later, the snowstorm ended.

Taken with: Nikon D300 + 500mm lens; 1/800 sec at f7.1; ISO 400.


Bournemouth Echo: Footprints, by Robert Friel (United Kingdom)/ Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009. Not for reuse

Footprints, by Robert Friel (United Kingdom)/ Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

Walking along the beach at Gold Harbour, South Georgia, Robert became fascinated by the footprints left by the king penguins as they returned from the sea to feed their chicks. 'When I'm walking, I always take time to stop and look back - it gives a different perspective, and I always see something different,' says Robert.

This time, he saw a chick approach his own footprints. 'It stopped and gazed at them intently. It's a quirky moment, but it's also a reminder that, however brief and well-managed our visits, our presence leaves a mark.

Taken with:Canon EOS 5D + 24-105 f4 lens at 105mm; 1/250 sec at f4; ISO 5


Bournemouth Echo: Ethiopian mountain king, by Joe McDonald (USA)/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009. Not for REUSE

Ethiopian mountain king, by Joe McDonald (USA)/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

Hairstyle and looks are part of a male gelada's repertoire - the more magnificent the mane, the more impressive the male. His huge canines are weapons of threat (geladas eat grass), and part of everyday messaging are a range of expressions involving eyebrow-raising, eyelid-flashing, mouth-opening and lip-curling.

Posing on a cliff edge high up in Ethiopia's Simien Mountains (geladas are found only in Ethiopia), he and the rest of the band are about to retire to their sleeping ledges. In the evening light, his mane appears like a golden shawl. 'He was compellingly, strikingly beautiful,' says Joe.

Taken with: Canon EOS-1D Mark III + 500mm lens; 1/200 sec at f4; ISO 640.


Bournemouth Echo: The hyena squad, by Lorenz Andreas Fischer (Switzerland)/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009. NOT FOR REUSE

The hyena squad, by Lorenz Andreas Fischer (Switzerland)/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

Emerging from their den at dusk, the youngsters sniffed the air, turning their heads from side to side as they picked up Lorenz's scent. It was the 'blue hour', when the sun had dropped below the horizon, draining the sky of reds, yellows and oranges and leaving it saturated with indigo. These hyenas, in the remote Liuwa Plain National Park in western Zambia, were used to Lorenz. He'd already spent more than two weeks gaining the confidence of the clan, and by now the cubs would happily play close by. So when this curious squad of youngsters worked out who it was lying on the ground near their den, they relaxed, knowing he posed no threat.

Taken with: Nikon D3 + Nikkor AF-S VR 70-200mm lens; 1/125 sec at f5.6; ISO 800; flash.


Bournemouth Echo: Terns in a dive queue, by Paul Sansome (United Kingdom)/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009. NOT FOR REUSE

Terns in a dive queue, by Paul Sansome (United Kingdom)/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

Jökulsárlón in the southeast of Iceland is a landscape photographer's dream location, with a mountainous backdrop from which flows the dramatic Breidamerkurjokull Glacier, calving icebergs into a huge lagoon. But what distracted Paul were the Arctic terns breeding around the lagoon.

When fishing, they hover around the entrance, and as the tide comes in and the lagoon fills with small fish, the birds target their prey, screeching, swooping and diving. What caught Paul's attention were four terns lined up for a dive. Suddenly, the grey-cloud backdrop was replaced by a blue iceberg sliding silently behind them. Paul had just a minute or so in which to photograph the group. 'I'm sure I could return a hundred times and never witness this composition again,' says Paul.

Taken with: Canon EOS-5D + Canon 500mm f4.5 lens; 1/4000 sec at f4.5; ISO 400.