Favoured Photographs

Find seven nature of your best nature photos said the challenge.

So I looked through my photo files from the last few years and here they are in one place with some 'runners up'.

Might cheer up a wet and windy February!

First the 'runners up'.

Mother and pup grey seal play in the seaweed: Bardsey Island

New Zealand: Spotted shags - parents with two large (and demanding) chicks

UK: Watersmeet in Devon: Dipper

Galapagos Islands: Blue-footed booby.

Floreana, Galapagos Islands: Giant tortoise has a snack 

Floreana, Galapagos Islands: Marine Iguana basking

Bath, UK: my backgarden: Starlings in the Hawthorn

Stourhead, UK: young mute swans in the Autumnal reflections

And the seven I chose (in no special order):

Bardsey Island, UK: grey seal newborn pup.

New Zealand, Banks Peninsula: Hector's dolphin (an endangered species)

New Zealand, Kaikoura: a sperm whale sounding

UK, Exmoor coast in Devon: Eurasian wren

Galapagos Islands; Santa Cruz: Giant tortoise

Galapagos Islands, Santa Cruz: Sally Lightfoot crab

Galapagos Islands, Santa Cruz: diving brown pelican

I have been very fortunate to see so many amazing animals and one lesson from this is that there are fantastic animals neat to home too - if we take time to look.