So, without further ado:
Plum blossom, 2/19:

Plum blossom, 2/20:

Starting blocks, 5/29:

Airborne, 5/29:

Baton pass, 5/29:

Runner, 5/29:

Lane markers, 6/26:

Wedding bears, 7/20:

Spiny Devil, 9/8:

Emu, 9/10:

Uluru, 9/10:

Frogmouth, 9/12:

Wallaby and joey, 9/12:

Opera house tiles, 9/13:

Bee and flowers, 11/6:

Koishikawa Korakuen, 11/6:

Tokyo Metropolitan Building at night, 11/6:

Monkey, 11/9:

Grooming time, 11/9:

Mantis, 11/11:

...And that's it. If you'd like to see the rest of the pictures that didn't quite make the cut, you can go look at the "Better and Best" set on Flickr.
ETA:
Special bonus picture -- Eye-chan, 9/10:
