PERCHING on top of a gate, this young barn swallow waits patiently for his mum to return with dinner .

OFFERING a glimpse into the past, a mash-up of old and new photographs show how the world’s biggest cities have changed .

HOPPING onto the scales, these adorable baby Humboldt penguins are ready for their first weigh-in .

PRANKSTER Dom Joly was so livid when he was slapped with a parking ticket that he took to Twitter to vent his anger – only to discover he was the victim of his own gag! The comic got a taste of his own medicine when he was tricked by a fellow joker for the first time in a decade .

This starling and prairie dog will not back down an inch as they have a fearsome stand-off over who gets to eat a nut .

A pair of adorable polar bear cubs play-fight with each other in the Alaskan snow .

A hypnotherapist filmed himself sexually abusing a 19-year-old patient while she was in a trance-like state .

Southern England, the south-west and west Wales have been warned to expect more wild weather, with heavy rain and high tides possibly leading to coastal flooding and travel disruption over the weekend .

What lies beneath this building site? Britain's great hope of winning the pre-WW2 arms race against Nazi Germany .

AN ARRAY of colours, from pinks to blues and oranges, fill the night sky to create an amazing collection of interstellar patterns .

This cheeky macaque gets up close and personal as he examines the dental hygiene of his fellow primate .

Say cheese! This cheeky chappy isn’t in the mood to live up to his scary reputation as he is pictured here cracking a killer smile as he goes about his daily business .