The California Wildlife Photo of the Year 2025 came to an exciting end in early November. Judges were faced, again, with the daunting task for selecting the winning images from strong field of contenders. Finally, the decisions were made and the results are amazing. These last four winners are now in the running for California Wildlife Photo of the Year which will be announced in early January.
Photographer: Lee Greengrass
Leucistic Acorn Woodpecker
Bishop Ranch Open Space Regional Preserve
Nikon Z8 camera w/800mm f6.3 VR S lens. Photographed at f/6.3 aperture, 1/3200 shutter at 800 ISO.
This is one of two leucistic woodpeckers I routinely see whenever I visit this neighborhood park, and because they’re leucistic, they’re fairly easy to spot. I was able to capture this photo because the woodpecker repeated its routine multiple times. After a few attempts – these woodpeckers are very fast – I was able to follow the woodpecker in flight.
Photographer: Doug Gillard
Gray Fox with dinner
Ragle Ranch Regional Park
Camera: Canon EOS R5 Mark ii Lens: Canon EF 600mm f/4 IS ii
Settings: f/5, iso5000, 1/1000s
A mother gray fox returning to her den with two rats clenched in her jaws at once, one of them frozen with wide-open eyes. I had been staking out a narrow forest trail that was often used to transport food into the den. While waiting, in full camouflage, I positioned myself, so I could observe without disturbing her routine. It remains one of the most unexpected and compelling wildlife moments I’ve ever documented.
In 2023, Doug’s photographs of the now-famous story of Tuffy the Eagle-Hawk—the remarkable account of a baby red-tailed hawk that was snatched by a bald eagle and brought to the nest as prey, only to end up being raised for weeks by the eagle family.
Photographer: Kevin Lohman Photography
Anna’s Humming Bird
UC Santa Cruz Arboretum
Nikon Z9, Nikkor Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens, f/2.8, 1/1250 sec, ISO 2500
I visited the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum in the evening, looking for good backlighting and hoping
I visited the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum in the evening, looking for good backlighting and hoping for a hummingbird in that light. I spotted an Anna’s Hummingbird at a Grevillea and chose one flower that lined up well with the background glow. Handholding my long lens, I waited; when the bird circled back, it hovered just long enough for me to capture the light through its wings and the soft bokeh behind it.for a hummingbird in that light. I spotted an Anna’s Hummingbird at a Grevillea and chose one flower that lined up well with the background glow.
Photographer: Douglas Croft Images
Sea otter with mussel
Moss Landing Harbor
Nikon Z8, Nikkor 28-400, 1/500, f8, ISO2500
While I was getting the boat ready for a whale-watching tour, I heard the unmistakable crunching of an otter breaking and eating mussels. This southern sea otter had found the mother lode on the dock pilings and kept popping up with one mussel after another in an empty slip nearby. I grabbed my camera and sat on the dock next to our boat to watch it for a while.
