In their element
Peekaboo
This is one of the four little owls that fledged from the campus of the University of Navarra last summer. The photograph was taken a few days before it set off on its journey in search of new territory. At the time, it was hiding nervously among the foliage to avoid the adults, which had become highly aggressive toward the juveniles in their final days on campus.
Night adventurer
Under the cover of darkness, tiny creatures of the forest venture out into the open to forage, such as this wood mouse.
Flying through fire
A nap on shimmering water
Under the harsh midday sun, I searched for a creative composition when I came across a flock of flamingos dozing in the heat. Instead of avoiding the intense light and reflections, I chose to embrace them, deliberately overexposing the shot and using a small aperture to create a sunburst effect. While this resulted in a technically incorrect exposure and may not be for everyone, I feel this image best conveys the atmosphere of that afternoon.
“Welcome to my forest”
Singing by the silvery moon
King of the mountain
Hangin’ by a song
A Eurasian treecreeper is singing at the start of the breeding season, in March. Every so often, it gave off high-pitched calls as it hopped methodically along the tree trunks.
A silky moment of stillness
Among the rapeseeds
Calmness
On a foggy morning, I was delighted to find out that the forecast had perfectly predicted the conditions I craved for my envisioned shot. My destination was Guenduláin, home to a group of wild mallards. Although these birds are common all across Europe, they are remarkably wary of humans at this very location.
Knowing this magical condition can change quickly from one minute to another, there is no time to lose. I cycled to the location as fast as possible and settled quietly by the lake’s edge.
As I stood there, slowly but surely melting into the surroundings, watching the world come to life, the mallards gradually grew accustomed to my presence; they stopped perceiving me as a threat and swam around me with ease, though still maintaining a safe distance. With patience and stillness, I captured this image—one that, to me, best conveys the serenity and calm of that magical morning. Knowing this magical condition can change quickly from one minute to another, there is no time to lose. I cycled to the location as fast as possible and settled quietly by the lake’s edge.
Lost in the landscape
Look closely, a pyrenean chamois is standing amidst this landscape.
At the edge of dusk
Two hunters
On a warm summer evening, I was strolling along my local river near Pamplona, Spain. Damselflies filled the air. They differ from dragonflies in that they fold their wings vertically when resting, rather than holding them horizontally.
After a while, I noticed one resting on the tip of a rush, with a spider hanging beneath it. It was a quiet reminder of two predators living side by side, each adapted to a different niche, each equipped with its own superpower.
Nest engineer
On one quiet morning, while trotting along my local river, something stopped me in my tracks, a male Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) darting back and forth from one spot to another. Every so often, he would perch boldly on a branch and unleash an astonishingly loud, elaborate song, surprising from a bird no bigger than a chicken egg.
It wasn’t long before I realized what all the fuss was about: this little bird was building its nest under a tree fork, ferrying tiny tufts of moss at a time.
During the breeding season, which typically spans from April to July, male wrens establish territories and construct several dome-shaped nests, though not all will be used, this plays a strategic role in their mating system: As Eurasian wrens are polygynous, males may attract several females, each of whom inspects the available nests and selects her preferred one for raising her brood.
I returned to the same spot for several mornings, lying among the vegetation, quietly observing and photographing his construction routine. I watched him “shop” for nesting materials—bits of moss here, some feathers there. Occasionally, he’d get tired of the task and disappear for a snack, then resume his work with the same intensity. This went on for a couple of days. But the story took an unexpected turn. One morning, I arrived to find two wrens in a frenzied aerial chase. I only caught a fleeting glimpse of this scene of feather and fury. After that, the nest was abandoned. Whether it was a territorial dispute or an argument with its partner, I’ll never know.
Love display
During the courtship season in February, male and female flamingos gathered in enormous flocks, each seeking a sweetheart. Their breeding display is nothing short of spectacular, consisting of a variety of maneuvers: most of the time, they wobble their heads left and right, necks stretched upward, but occasionally they perform uniform marching and wing spreads, all the while making a loud honking noise. Conflicts are common among the males of the flock: suitors don’t hesitate to give their competitors a hard peck to the head, and they sometimes get entangled in neck wrestling.
Foraging among the leaves
Life on the edge
Eurasian griffon vultures inhabit the steep cliffs of canyons and gorges where, out of reach for most predators, they rest and breed. It’s an extreme adaptation in this hostile world.
Time for a scratch
A red squirrel is rubbing his face on a mossy tree trunk, depositing scent from glands around his mouth, as a form of communication among squirrels. It sometimes will also spread itself out on the branch and scratch the way along, depositing body scent over a wider area.