A middle spotted woodpecker swoops into her nest and feeds her young in a forest in Trentino, Italy. Jacopo Rigotti, of Val Di Cembra, Trento, Italy, photographed the bird as she flew towards her nest, located in the trunk of a black pine tree, before feeding her hungry chicks a beakful of insects. The 25-year-old photographer says: "I decided to set up the camera on a tripod at the base of the tree, along with a flash that would help to prevent shadows in the photographs."
HIDDEN in the middle of the Mojave Desert, a secret oasis awaits intrepid travellers .
THIS alien-like bug would look more at home in outer-space but it can actually be found wriggling around here on Earth .
A project to create an underwater tribute to the stone Moai statues of Easter Island ended in disaster when 15 replica structures were destroyed after toppling from a boat and into the sea .
As sunlight cascades through its vibrant stained glass windows, every inch of the Nasir-ol-Mulk Mosque bursts with colour .
SAT ON top of a Brazilian turtle’s head, this little ladybird looks content as he studies his environment from a new height .
HUNDREDS of hot air balloons decorate the sky above Turkey as the rising sun illuminates the spectacular scenery below .
From vivid greens to glowing pinks, the colours of the aurora borealis fill the night sky above a snow covered Lapland .
DIVING down at a speed of 75mph, this is the moment a hungry osprey caught his prey .
A grey whale and her calf greet an audience of awestruck admirers on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico .
INSIDE Britain's last Naval hospital where scurvy was cured looks like an NHS time capsule .
A carefree bear cub reclines in the water with his feet raised in the air .
TOWERING 65 metres into the sky, this terrifying accent is a dream for climbers .