PERCHED on a branch, this Little Owl plays third wheel to two love birds. Clearly not bothered by their uncomfortable onlooker, the owls pucker up and put on a very public display of affection. This trio of Little Owls were photographed by Uzbek photographer Ilia Shalamaev, 36, after he spotted the scene on a trip to the town of Kiryat Gat, Israel. “Here you can see a family of owls playing and having fun on a branch, not far from their nesting place,” says Ilia, now of Beit Hashmonay, Israel.
POWERFUL bolts of lightning illuminate the night sky in an incredible autumn storm over the Sardinian coastline .
A young otter wades through a lake with his eyes set on an older rival’s fish .
CONTRACT CANCELLED - DO NOT SYNDICATE!! .
A young girl has been forced to stay indoors this winter because a rare allergy to the cold could kill her .
A survivor of abuse has bravely waived her anonymity to tell how she was sexually assaulted from the age of nine - by her depraved grandad .
THIS is the moment one irritated pelican nearly swallows the entire head of his unlucky competitor .
From vivid greens to glowing pinks, the colours of the aurora borealis fill the night sky above a snow covered Lapland .
A blanket of fog is lit up by the colourful glowing lights of the city below .
A young mum has told how a phantom pregnancy almost destroyed her dream of having a second child .
FISTS fly as two gorillas take each other on in a dramatic battle .
BEHIND the doors of this building, with its stacks of mattresses and discarded remains of wheelchairs, lies another victim of austerity cuts .
AN expectant mum suffered crippling contractions lasting a gruelling two months, due to complications from a rare condition .