YOU wait for one penguin and then three come along at once, as nature photographer Stefan Christmann discovered with this superb snap.

       It shows an Adélie penguin approaching an emperor penguin and its chick during feeding time in Antarctica’s Atka Bay - and now Stefan is hoping to p-p-pick up first prize.

       8

       An Adélie penguin approaches an emperor penguin and its chick during feeding time in Antarctica’s Atka Bay Credit: PA

       It is one of 25 photographs chosen by the National History Museum and an international judging panel from nearly 50,000 entries submitted to its Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice

       Award, now in its 59th year.

       All 25 of the images are currently on display at the museum in South Kensington and people can vote for their favourite image by visiting www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy/peoples-choice.

       Voting closes on January 31 and the winner will be announced on February 7.

       READ MORE WILDLIFE NEWS BUGS BUNNY If you spot the bunny hiding in the desert wildlife, you could have a high IQ

       FIELD DAY Free wildlife reserve in popular UK city has 'beast hunting' & nature trails

       Here, we select the pick of the pics from this year’s shortlist.

       8

       This shot by Brent Stirton shows a bull elephant kicking over a rubbish bin as it scavenges for rotten vegetables and fruit at a dump in Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka. Credit: PA 8

       Ofer Levy spent days squelching around mudflats in Roebuck’s Bay in Australia to get this shot of a mudskipper defending its territory from a crab Credit: PA 8

       A polar bear carves out a bed from a small iceberg before drifting off to sleep, off Norway’s Svalbard archipelago in this cool snap by UK photographer Nima Sarikhani. Credit: PA 8

       This wily fox takes advantage of a bin stacked high with rubbish before collection day on a street in London, taken by UK photographer Matt Maran Credit: PA 8

       Ayala Fishaimer captured the moment a hapless shrew locks eyes with a red fox just moments after the cub tossed it into the air, in the Judean Foothills of Israel Credit: PA 8

       Mark Boyd’s heartwarming snap shows a pair of lionesses devotedly grooming one of the pride’s five cubs in Kenya’s Maasai Mara Credit: PA 8

       This snap, taken by British photographer Andy Parkinson shows two courting mountain hares almost camouflaged as they come together to touch noses in the Monadhliath Mountains in Scotland Credit: PA