This is the moment a puffin delved into the ocean and bit off more than he could chew to collect a beak full of fish. The stocky bird used its huge red and orange beak and strong tongue to grab the sandeels for a quick bite in the North Sea. Also known as the sea parrot, the animals were pictured earlier this year during the breeding season when their colours are even brighter. The pictures were captured by wildlife photographer Ron McCombe on the Farne Islands off the coast of Northumberland where they breed in large colonies. Puffins select a partner when three to five years old and then mate for life in season when they can be seen billing, a bonding ritual that forms a greeting or a form of puffin kissing. On land at breeding time is the only time the birds are vocal, living much of their lives out at sea in silence.
HOTSPOT MEDIA - FUNKY BUMP: FROM MIRROR bellies to rainbow bumps these pregnancy casts of stone and bronze could be the funkiest way to preserve your bump for posterity .
THIS incredible shimmer of silver fish mirrors the image of that of an underwater tornado .
HOTSPOT MEDIA - BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH AR' KID: A POSTAL SORTER has perfected the art of time travel by delivering images that are from the past .
A group of otters put on a show of aqua aerobics, as they raise their flippers perfectly in sync .
A pair of adorable polar bear cubs play-fight with each other in the Alaskan snow .
CLIMBING, falling and tugging on his weary mum, this little orangutan is up to all kinds of trouble .
THIS is the shocking moment a clumsy radio newsreader plunged into a freezing canal while texting her boyfriend instead of looking where she was going .
A trout manages to escape the jaws of a hungry cormorant - only to find itself back inside the bird's long beak .
PERCHING on the edge of a flower, these loved-up caterpillars can't resist each other as they enjoy a romantic moment together .
AT first glance these images could easily be mistaken for photographs, but they are in-fact real life drawings created using nothing but coloured pencils .
NEW DELHI, A woman activist of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party crosses a police barricade near the residence of ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi during a protest against the recent rape of a five-year-old girl in New Delhi, India, April 21, 2013 .
