Lmst

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

Female sparrowhawk plucking a woodpigeon

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

Another artisan bakery with a wonderful chocolate croissant, downtown #Comber #Ontario

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

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

Mushroom in leaf litter with signpost in the background

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 photo of a mediterranean moray eel (muraena helena) looking out of its hole. It's curiously looking what is happening outside, with a slightly open mouth that shows its teeth. It's far enough out of the hole to show off its yellow-blue-gray spotted pattern.

A photo of a spiny lobster (palinurus elephas) looking out of its hole. The whole head with its dark purple-spotted pattern and the eyes are visible, and the white-red-striped antennae are poking out of the hole.

Above the entrance of the hole there is a big orange sponge, and various others all over the rocks.

A photo of an octopus hiding in its hole. Its eye is slightly open and its curled up with one of its tentacles. At the entrance of the hole are some rocks and a black sponge (Chondrosia reniformis).

A photo of an octopus walking across rocks covered with black sponge towards its hole to hide. In the foreground are a two-banded seambream and a painted comber looking at it.

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 photo of a sea cow nudibranch grazing on sponge-covered rocks. Its antennae are slightly visible in the front.

A photo of a wrasse between rocks and yellow sponges, with a sea urchin and various shells around it. The wrasse has a greenish grey/brown color and its dorsal fin is standing up.

A photo of a dorid nudibranch (felimare picta) grazing on sponge-covered rocks. Below it in the shadows a second one is visible. Its antennae are clearly visible. Its upper side is dark blue with bright yellow patterns, the bottom is light blue.

A photo of a painted comber swimming above coarse sand and rocks. The ground is covered with peacock's tail algae and various shells. The stripy pattern on the side of the comber is nicely visible, as is its spotted pattern on the upper side of the head.

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