We enjoy having the wild birds in our garden and three years ago I built an upmarket nest box for the robins having seen them fail to build a nest in the garden hose reel. Having my model boat materials and tools available made this an easy task. They used the box the first year but not last and so were happy to see them showing interest again this year.

We've also had a box for the blue tits for a few years though it had only been used once and on one occasion it was taken over by bees!

We are very pleased to see that both boxes are being used and the respective parents are busy collecting food. The robin waits for us to dig in the border for tasty morsels.

An enchanted forest.
Very atmospheric👍

A few seconds of Zen while in the woods above the cabin. 😉

Amen to the DW! Our lake is catch and release, but relaxed during fun competitions…or late on the season. We are or primarily Largemouth, Smallie, and Pan; a bit less with Walleyes. Pickerall are a main predator, but alas it’s been 20+ years since a good sized Pike made it in despite the seven tributaries we have.
😉

Jumpugly,
I agree, panfish (i.e. sunfish and crappies) are the best eating fish. I prefer them over the popular walleye any day.
Dave B

Easter Sunday fishing...White Crappie (French Canadian "Crapet") at the Lake. Best eating fish on the lake, but let him go as it is spawning season for these guys.
😉

Cat on a hot, wood windowsill. Abandoned US Air Force base in Wendover, Utah, USA

This is Hudson.
He is our daughter's Morkie, but he gets to spend time with us when she needs "Doggie Daycare".
Dave B

Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California

Our old rescue Phoebe waiting for dinner. A Maltipoo that we thought was 8 years old when we adopted her, but some paperwork error showed us that she was really 12. She made it to 19 years old. She was a tough old gal and even though I think she just tolerated me most of the time, miss her all the same.

My two dogs, Lord Dexter and the Dowager Duchess Miss Millicent. Lord Dexter is a Yorkie Shitz-zu cross and Miss Millicent is a Border Terrier cross. Both of them are complete menaces...

Hello
Here are a few more pictures of Heligoland's nature. You can get as close as 30 metres to the seals. On the highest point of Heligoland you could watch the sunrise in the morning and the sunset in the evening. That was sensational.

At the moment I'm just enjoying it, it was a dream week with lots of sunshine and emotions.
I have to go again on Monday.

Wolle guten Tag, a good morning
It’s very quiet on your end i do have the feeling that you are really enjoying life as a married man. Or you have to much « to do »😂😂

In the late 1800s my great-great-uncle pulled his sixshooter & killed his parrot...who had just pooped in his hat. Uncle Jim had a very short fuse when he had been drinking out there in the Wild West

Cormorant rookery by starlight. Pismo Beach, California

He's reading my will...

So the question is, who gets him when your LAST WILL & TESTZMENT is read ??🤔 ..... the parrot i mean

Monarch caterpillar

WOW Wolle!!! Great pix! 👍

Hello
Here are a few more pictures of Heligoland On the "Lange Anna", the free-standing rock on Heligoland, "guillemots" and "basses" breed at this time of year. An incredible spectacle. You can get so close that one of the gannets bit me on the finger. Well, I was holding it out. So it was my own fault.

After a couple weeks of very Springlike weather, we were blessed with THIS on April 2nd.
It might be pretty, but quite unwelcome!
Dave B

Back to nature. Couple of flower heads in the garden before they disappear.

Chris

A few miles from me is Chesterton Windmill, which was built around 1633 and is of an usual design in stone and is called a tower windmill.

I've photographed it a few times over the years but not for the last few as the sails were removed because of safety concerns. However, they have been replaced in the last couple of weeks and as I was passing on the way back from the boat club and the sun was shining decided to take some photographs with its nice new sails. Great to see it as it should be again.

Chris

Psittacus erithacus timneh. He's a viscious begger, but sly with it. He looks at you all cute and inviting then strikes, I have had a few nasty bites. He is about 40 years old and has lived with me for the past 30 years or so..

Could it be a Psittacus Erithacus (Linnaeus, 1758), also known by the common (unscientific) name of African Grey Parrot or Congo African Grey Parrot or Greater African Grey Parrot?

Ollie is a Timneh African Grey... He is not a talker, but he mutters under his breath and whistles some amazing tunes. Every time I try and record him he stops so no tunefull videos...

How cute Ollie! He's beautiful!
What species is he?

Here's a photo of the works manager inspecting a newly built engine. His name is Ollie..

Nice photo Rob.
They are three specimens of "Trachemys scripta elegans" (Wied-Neuwied, 1839) which in Italy is commonly called the red-cheeked turtle (or red-eared turtle).
The common name of this species is due to the red stripes on the head immediately behind the eyes.
It is a species that comes from America but in Italy it was very popular as a pet. Before other species of turtles arrived on the reptile market, the Trachemys s. e. was the most popular among lovers of these small animals. I also had more than one.
However, although it was bought very small, most people were unaware of the size it would reach as an adult. So almost everyone got rid of it (no longer having suitable terrariums large enough) in artificial city lakes or, worse, in natural ponds. Since this species has adapted to the new environment, it has proliferated gradually supplanting our endemic species. Rightly or wrongly, its introduction is now prohibited in the EU.

The specimen in the center is a male. In fact, even if smaller than the other two on the sides, it has already developed the claws of its front legs. In males of this species, the front legs have much longer claws, to grab and hold the female during mating.

Nice Red-Eared Sliders Rob!!!

Three turtles looking over their shoulders at an RC schooner sailing a bit too near. Photographed on Sunday, March 30th, 2025 at William Mason Regional Park, Irvine, California, USA.

Big Andy Scott fan! Thanks for posting these DW!

Not quite "Nature", but they do represent animals. We saw the Kelpies in Scotland last year.
Allianz Field commissioned the same artist (Andy Scott) to do a Loon sculpture here in Minnesota.
Dave B

Sunrise over Lake Superior. View from Duluth Canal Park.

Results of overnight ice storm in Ontario Canada 🇨🇦 and eating a cold breakfast and lukewarm coffee since the electricity is off. Good thing we have a gas Bar b Que under a covered area.

Hello there

Our jackdaws are hungry too

Yes she has!!!!!!! Hail Bastet!!!!

Mela has assumed the pose of the Egyptian cat god.

Hello there

This morning in Stade.

Love the eye's 👀

This is our little willow and as mad as a box of frogs

That would have had the mrs running for the hills lol

A little jumping spider was posing for me so I had to oblige!

My boss measured the stones after the Bobcat left, and he came approximately at a hefty 40" long base of tail to head. Obviously a successful hunter...hopefully not on the local pet population!
😉

So sweet Alessandro

Our domestic felines.

Beautiful lynx, Jumpugly.

Not quite a bobcat, but our George by candle light 😁

Bobcat at my boss’s house. 👍🏻