A black-winged stilt patrols a reservoir in Jezreel Valley in Israel early April 2023. Their eggs are a golden colour mottled with brown. (Photo by Itamar Procaccia/Solent News)

Tasmanian devils play on May 31, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. Creatures living at the zoo welcomed the arrival of winter with snow and an array of treats. Many of the zoo's species would naturally experience seasonal changes within their wild ranges. With the support of the SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium's sub-Antarctic penguin team, snow is predicted to hit the Darling Harbour-based attraction on Wednesday morning. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

The body of an unidentified man lies on a road barrier near a village recently retaken by Ukrainian forces on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. Ukraine's second-largest city, has been under sustained Russian attack since the beginning of the war in late February. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

A man dives into a canal during a hot day in Larkana district of Sind province on July 20, 2023. (Photo by Ahmed Raza Soomro/AFP Photo)

Three workers prepare to paint some traditional umbrellas in Bogor, Indonesia in the second decade of October 2023. The daily wage is the equivalent of the cost of selling one umbrella to a tourist. (Photo by Achmad Mikami/Solent News)

A participant of the Delhi Queer Pride Parade poses for a photograph during the march in New Delhi, India, Sunday, November 26, 2023. This annual event comes as India's top court refused to legalize same-sеx marriages in an October ruling that disappointed campaigners for LGBTQ+ rights in the world's most populous country. (Photo by Shonal Ganguly/AP Photo)

A participant takes part in donkey racing, during the 21st edition of annual Lamu Cultural Festival, in Lamu, Kenya, Saturday December 2, 2023. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

“Eye of a toad”. Animal Portraits, Łukasz Bożycki, Poland. Early spring sees a pond near Łukasz’s home city of Warsaw, Poland, full of mating frogs and a few toads. On this March day, Łukasz shared the pond with them for an evening, sitting in the icy water in his chest-high waders, keeping as still as possible, despite the numbing cold, so that the amphibians could get used to him. “I wanted to find a fresh way of portraying the amphibians”, he says, “at water level”. Using a telephoto lens, he focused on one lone toad and waited for the sun to dip almost below the horizon before pressing the shutter, using flash to bring out the details in the shadow. His prize was “the glorious pool of sunset colour” and fiery glow of the toad’s eye. Nikon D80 + 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens + extension tube; 1/125 sec at f9 (-2.3 e/v); ISO 100; built-in flash. (Photo by Łukasz Bożycki)