A wee treat on the Ballydrain Road in #Comber this morning!
(A treat for the #sparrowhawk and me, not for the partially disassembled #WoodPigeon 😏)

#nature #naturephotography #wildlife #bird #birds #birdphotography #birdofprey #hawk #kill #predator #behaviour #stopthecar #roadside #CountyDown #NorthernIreland @RSPB

The #MarshMarigold in #bloom in the water treatment beds at #WWTCastleEspie this morning, each #flower with its own #hoverfly.

#nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildflowers #comber #CountyDown #NorthernIreland #wwt

Caterpillar of a #LargeYellowUnderwing #moth just out for a stroll on an icy path at #WWTCastleEspie this morning.
Rescued and placed in nearby undergrowth 🐛☺️

#nature #naturephotography #wildlife #invertebrate #insect #lepidoptera #moths #mothsmatter #larva #caterpillar #winter #ice #frost #naturereserve #comber #CountyDown #NorthernIreland @savebutterflies

My #birding highlight of 2023 - a #hoopoe, and it was just down the road from me!

#nature #naturephotography #wildlife #lifer #rarity #bird #birds #comber #CountyDown #NorthernIreland #bestof2023

Lots of #fungi in the #woodland at #WWTCastleEspie today.

#nature #NaturePhotography #shotoniphone #mushroom #fungus #FungusAmongUs #FungusPhotography #forestfloor #LeafLitter #sign #wwt #comber #CountyDown #NorthernIreland #FungiFriday

A first set of diving photos with animals in holes, from the second June weekend this year near Ammouliani island in Halkidi, Greece together with @vivia.

We're finally slowly catching up with our photos!

Featuring: a mediterranean moray eel looking curiously out of its little hole, a spiny lobster also looking out of its hole with a nice orange sponge at the ceiling, an octopus hiding in its hole and carefully peeking out of it, and another octopus that is walking towards its hole for hiding, in the foreground a two-banded seabream and a painted comber looking towards the octopus.

#ScubaDiving #UnderwaterPhotography #Photography #MarineLife #Moray #MorayEel #Lobster #Octopus #Comber #PaintedComber #TwoBandedSeabream #Seabream #NaturePhotography #Ammouliani #Chalkidiki #Greece

A couple of pictures from diving with @vivia two weeks ago at Nea Peramos.

Featuring: A sea cow nudibranch grazing on sponge-covered rocks, a wrasse between rocks and yellow sponges with a sea urchin and various shells behind it, a dorid nudibranch (felimare picta) grazing on sponge-covered rocks with a second one right below it in the shadows, and a painted comber swimming above coarse sand and rocks covered with peacock's tail algae and shells.

#NeaPeramos #Kavala #Greece #UnderwaterPhotography #ScubaDiving #Photography #Nudibranch #SeaSlugs #SeaCow #Wrasse #Fish #FishPhotography #Comber #PaintedComber #Seashells

A small selection of the pictures from Sunday's dive near Ammouliani with @vivia. First dive of the year but it was already surprisingly warm! 23°C and sunny, 18°C surface water temperature and still 16°C at 25m depth. We saw a lot of interesting animals.

Featuring: a yellow nudibranch (phyllidia flava) grazing on seaweed next to red finger sponge, a painted comber swimming on top of rocks covered with some black sponge, a biscuit sea star in a little cave surrounded by colorful sponges, and in the top-left a nudibranch ("sea cow", peltodoris atromaculata) and some yellow sea anemones, and last but not least two starfishes, one red one with five arms and another orange one that once had six arms plus some bonus mermaid's cup at the bottom.

#ScubaDiving #Photography #UnderwaterPhotography #Ammouliani #Chalkidiki #Greece #SeaSlug #SeaCow #Nudibranch #Starfish #BiscuitStarfish #Fish #PaintedComber #Comber