Darren Harries captured these amazing images and submitted them to our BBC Wales Nature Flickr group.

Foxes can swim, but will normally only take to the water when strictly necessary - either to escape danger or to seek out food e.g. swimming across a lake to reach nesting ducks and eggs on an island.

It's a mystery why this particular animal was swimming but perhaps it's developed a taste for the local shellfish or was trying to reach a spot where wading birds were feeding on the shore.

In 2010 a fox cub was rescued from the sea off the Sussex coast after people on a boat spotted it as they came into the harbour and notified wildlife experts.

The cormorant and the roach by Tony Llewellyn.

Criccieth castle in black and white by Peter.

A heron fishing for eels in the late afternoon sun by Karlentwm.

A rabbit and green woodpecker by Clive Davies.

A short-eared owl by Mike Warburton.

Blaen y Glyn falls by Ian Dyer.

Two young cormorants in the nest by Hefin Owen.

Hefin Owen snapped these two young cormorants on the nest. Cormorant chicks feed once a day by sticking their beaks up inside their parents mouths and swallowing the regurgitated fish.

It's no easy task photographing kingfisher as they're so fast in flight but this one sat still long enough for Emil Pix.

A kingfisher stretches its wings. Image by Emil Pix

Not particularly rare but rarely seen, this smooth or common newt was captured by Jeff Cohen. Smooth newts are normally found lurking in the murky depths of garden ponds but if you're patient enough - you can watch and wait as they will eventually come up for air.

Smooth newt by Jeff Cohen.

A colourful stonechat in full song by Suzanne Padden.

A lovely, backlit plant taken at Penrhos coastal plant by Nicci Walker.

A superb portrait of a grey seal on Anglesey by Top Sausage Lobber

It's not easy photographing turns in flight as they are so fast and agile in the air but Linda Edwards has done a great job with this sandwich tern at Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey.

Danny Linton took this lovely landscape shot down at Three Cliffs Bay on Gower. I particularly like the wild flowers which are as much a part of the view as the sea and cliffs at this time of year.

A grey squirrel tries out life on the other side of the lens. Image by Eddie Evans.

I think this last shot, sent in by Eddie Evans deserves a caption comp just for fun! So leave your best efforts in the comments area below:

A Lesser redpoll by Dave Hill

Here in the UK these birds are in decline and on the red list which is probably why I've never see one...

They tend to winter in the south where it's warmer but could turn up anywhere these days as our climate becomes milder.

This one photographed by Jeff Cohen in the same reserve in January shows what they look like in full breeding plumage - with a bright red chest and crown.

Lesser redpoll in full plumage by Jeff Cohen.

Blossom by Belinda Evans.

An adder basking in the sun at Parc Slip by Steve Gunter.

Frog spawn by Angela Roberts.

Fox cubs at the back of the house. Image by sandra 45 near Carmarthern.

A female goosander in Snowdonia by Jeanette Cohen.

Conwy Castle and swans by Ian Owen

I've been reliably informed that we have around 427 castles in Wales - not bad for such a small country but then again castles were built for a specific purpose and we all knew about King Edward I and his "iron ring of castles"...

Take a look at the new gallery and feel free to send in some more either via the Flickr group or by email to wales.nature@bbc.co.uk

Please send in hi-resolution versions of your digital photos or we can't use them online.

To find out more about castles in Wales, take a look at the BBC Wales History website.

Gull

Keith Evans from Llangollen spotted this swan out for stroll on the pavement, racing the locals to the bingo hall:

There's a very good reason why people come from all over the world to go hikiing in North Wales and Christian Roberts has shared one of them with us.

Llyn Anafon is a mountain lake approximately 510m above sea level in the Carneddau mountains in North Wales:

It's a great time to see wading birds currently, especially after the big tides we've been experiencing over the last few days. Did you see the size of the moon on Saturday night?!

The next shot is unusual in that it shows a sparrowhawk attempting to take on much bigger prey than normal - in this case a greenshank. Forget sparrows, this bird of prey was super sizing his meal!

Moses Davies captured this incredible scene which somehow saw the greenshank escape unscathed:

I've witnessed peregrine falcons dive bombing flocks of wading birds before but I've never come across a sparrowhawk attempting it?

Great pics everyone. Keep them coming!

Gull

I've put together a fungi gallery featuring some of the more amazing looking mushrooms and fungi that have been submitted to our Flickr group.

I'll add more soon, so don't despair if yours hasn't been featured yet. I've had to be quite picky as there are so many fungi images to choose from so keep them coming and remember - I can only use landscape style shots in the gallery (horizontal rather than vertical).

Thanks

Gull

We get both grey and common or harbour seals off the Welsh coast and during a brief, long range encounter from the shore - it can be a bit tricky to tell them apart.

The general rule of thumb is that common seals are cuter looking and more dog like with rounder faces and v-shaped nostrils.

Swimming in for a closer look:

Grey seals on the other hand have flatter foreheads and wider nostrils and generally look a bit tougher!

I've had both types surface alongside me whilst I've been out surfing and the big bull, grey seals definitely appear more menacing - especially the dark black ones with large heads.

The other big difference between the two seal species is the pupping season. Common seals are a bit smarter in that they give birth to their young during the summer months when there's plenty of food available and generally calmer, warmer seas.

Phil Ray took this shot of a grey seal off Strumble Head recently which illustrates well, the difference in nostril and face shape:

Grey seals however are a tough bunch and give birth to their young in autumn from September through to December so their pups are literally thrown in at the deep end during the start of our winter storms.

You're more likely to sea common seals closer to man too, in areas such as harbours - hence their other name - harbour seal. Greys on the other hand prefer the relative safety and sanctuary of our rugged cliffs and coves but you'll also find common seals sharing the rock space here too.

We must be doing something right in this country though, as roughly half of the world's population of both grey and common seals are found right here in the British Isles - so that's something we can be proud of.

Find out more about seals on the BBC Wildlife Finder

If you've got any meteor shots you'd like to share, feel free to submit them to our Flickr group or you can e-mail them to me at wales.nature@bbc.co.uk.

Thanks

Gull

Shrews as you can see from this photo are tiny creatures, only around two to three inches long and weighing between 0.2 - 0.4 ounces. To put that into perspective - a small apple weighs around 3.7 ounces.

Shrews have a very fast metabolism and as a result need to consume a staggering 200-300% of their own body weight each day in order to survive, so dieting is not an option.

Hardly surprising then that they only live for around two years - the poor things must be completely burnt out by then.

A shrew can literally starve to death within a few hours if it doesn't find food, so this plump caterpillar would have provided some vital calories.

Shrews have very poor eyesight so rely on their long snout, acute sense of smell and excellent hearing to hunt down their prey.

Find out more about shrews on the BBC Wildlife Finder.

Gull

This next amazing macro shot shows what I believe to be a harlequin ladybird about to devour an aphid - something to help raise gardeners spirits during this dry spell.


You can currently take part in a UK ladybird survey.

Charles Dawson has been visited by a hedgehog recently. It seems slightly bizarre to feature hedgehogs as 'unusual' when you consider how common they once were?

Let's hope they can claw their way back. There's plenty you can do to help though.

Modern gardens and fencing make it tough for our little prickly friends to move around so consider leaving a gap or a hole for them in fence panels. An adult can travel up to two miles a night so they like to stretch their legs.

Old piles of logs and leaves in a wild area of the garden will also provide a nice home for them.

Avoid using slug pellets as hedgehogs will often eat dead or dying slugs and snails by mistake, thus ingesting the poison. You could also consider using eco-friendly pellets.

A healthy hedgehog will be far better for your garden than any pesticides.You can even looking at getting one for your garden.

And finally a baby smooth or common newt was spotted by Joy in Carmarthenshire recently.

It's around this time of year that the adults begin to leave the water and hide out in long grasses and under stones near to the water. This is known as the 'territorial stage'.

That's it for now. Keep the photos coming and take a look through our beautiful butterfly gallery if you haven't already done so.

Gull

These birds originate from Australia so migration is unlikely! It's obviously escaped from somewhere, so hopefully we can reunite bird with owner soon or perhaps it's been living in the wild for some time?

Could North Wales become home to a new kind of exotic/local hybrid?

Escaped parakeets are already breeding successfully in parts of London and the surrounding areas.

Gull