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."
A BLIND man was battered with a brick in a sickening attack by two thugs .
LIFTING their heads high and bumping beaks, these aggressive pelicans clash over fish .
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 .
Fetching a tiny carrot and a head-shaped snowball, a red squirrel builds the perfect snowman .
This is the moment a nimble red fox and a lumbering Alaskan brown bear were locked in a tense stand-off .
MOUTH OPEN wide, this little stoat appears to be in mid-song as he belts out a tune for his onlookers .
A BABY-faced burglar is starting a seven year stretch in custody after being nabbed by a Jaffa Cake .
CCTV shows a dark figure dumping the dog- A pet dog suffering with cancer has been put down after being dumped at an animal rescue in what officials said is the worst abandonment of any animal they have witnessed .
This is the amazing moment two white-tailed kites take an in-flight meal - exchanging prey at 100 foot high in mid air .
A brave leopard kicks back and relaxes in the sunshine - just inches from an enormous crocodile .
An adorable little squirrel wakes from a nap and pops out his tongue for the camera .
HIDDEN in the middle of the Mojave Desert, a secret oasis awaits intrepid travellers .