Davide Bottacini

The profile of a she-merganser at the end of a winter day at Lake Garda.

There are about 28 species of anemonefish in the world and they are all native to the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Some can be found almost across the whole Indo-Pacific but some, like the Mauritian anemonefish (Amphiprion chrysogaster), are endemic to small areas around specific islands or archipelagos.

Invaders helping invaders. Red-whiskered bulbuls are native to Asia and became invasive in many tropical areas around the world. In Mauritius they are invasive too and they have contributed to the spread of invasive plants.

Here is one that I have seen for the first time a few weeks ago: the spotted boxfish, Ostracion meleagris. The one in the video is a male, much more colourful than females.

For me, this will always remain THE photo of my trip to Mauritius. Extra excitement because I saw this little guy make the scratch on the leaf close to its finger...

A scene that I already had in mind while travelling to Mauritius: village weavers building nests. It's amazing to see them busy weaving!

An endemic I did not have to look for in Mauritius: the Mascarene paradise flycatcher. This male just came to us while we were walking up a trail and posed for a while. In this species, the tail is much shorter than in other paradise flycatchers.

This is an endemic from Mauritius that I thought I would have to leave the island without seeing: the Mauritius ornate day gecko. I managed to find quite a few in the end and I think that their upright posture complements their smiley face perfectly!

I have never tried too hard to pick a favourite fish; there are just too many. When I am forced to pick, though, I often think of the Moorish idol (Zanclus cornutus). I wonder what it feels like to be the only member of a family...

It's a tough world out there, but animals are amazing. While I was watching it, I was too focussed on the amazing details of this beautiful rock crab to realise that it was completely missing a leg. Its agility was not compromised either and he seemed to be the boss among many other smaller ones...

Oriental garden lizards are an introduced species in Mauritius, so they were often not what I was looking for. I still enjoy it when I can see all those details on an animal through my lens, though.

I was lucky during my trip to Mauritius: many birds were sporting their breeding plumage and had incredibly vivid colours. In case you are wondering, in the red fody the main colour is red!

They fly and they are endemic to the area too, but they are mammals: Mauritian flying foxes. Very entertaining to watch around sunrise and sunset, when they are very active and start looking for fruit.

Another endemic from Mauritius: the Mauritius kestrel. The only bird of prey on the island. I had never been that close to a raptor in the wild!

I have recently visited Mauritius, where I was constantly looking for animals that I had never seen before (both in the water and on land). The pink pigeon is one of the few endemic birds that you can see there. They were almost extinct in the '90s and are still pretty rare in the wild.

The other day I thought I lost a few thousand flamingo pictures due to sloppiness during a back-up. It took me a while to find them back, but they are safe now. I think this beautiful youngster is happy too...

Yes, peer-reviewing can take a while...

Two shots, just 180° apart. About a year ago, after a long day out in the field, we found ourselves in a very privileged position: right between the Moon rising and the Sun setting.

I've recently been at a large aquarium event and it was very cool to see four-eyed fish there. I had seen them before, but only from above. They actually have two eyes, but they are shaped in a way that allows them to see above and below the water surface without changing position.

I am in Monaco for a meeting on lionfish and I had to visit the local public aquarium. Seeing a live nautilus was a treat! It might be the first in my life.

Predator and prey. A common buzzard showing us her nictitating membrane, a structure that birds of prey use to protect and moisturise their eyes.

From a rice paddy in... Greece! The last place where I was expecting rice paddies...

Unusual friendships at the water surface.

A memory from last year in Santorini, Greece. Not much wildlife over there, but I could entertain myself watching a group of chukar partridges (Alectoris chukar) feeding at sunset.

By far, my favourite grouper in the Mediterranean Sea: Mycteroperca rubra. I hadn't seen them in a decent size for a while and the other day we had three checking us out from the blue, as they usually do.

An Eleonora's falcon from my last trip to Crete; a common sighting there in the right season.

A (sleeping) Mediterranean parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense). This species is typical of the warm waters of the southern and eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea but has been expanding its distribution to more northern locations as part of a phenomenon called 'meridionalisation'.

A sea becoming tropical: we are used to seeing more non-native fishes than native ones here in the eastern Mediterranean, but the yellow bar angelfish (Pomacanthus maculosus) is a first for me too. Kudos to our students that spotted it first.

A very, very special encounter the other day, one that I was not hoping for anymore...

Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus).

I like diving the most when it gets sciency...