A grey heron (Ardea cinerea) standing beneath a restaurant’s “Open” sign on an evening canal walk in Tokyo, looking straight up as if reading the opening hours. It had been fishing in the shallow water and happened to glance up just as I passed, holding the pose for a good ten seconds.

A sika deer (Cervus nippon) falling in step with a football team heading to practice in Nara. Looks like they found their twelfth player.

Two cockchafers (Melolontha melolontha) mating while dangling upside down from a clothesline in Lower Austria. Not the most private spot, but they did not seem to mind.

A colony of spotted garden eels (Heteroconger hassi). They live with their tails anchored in the sand and rise up to their shoulders to feed in the current, then vanish into their holes the moment a diver drifts too close.

A European mantis (Mantis religiosa) claimed the best sun lounger by a pool in Portugal, striking its signature pose. All it is missing is a cocktail.

A yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis) moonwalking along the marina edge in Italy, mid-stride in perfect form. Michael Jackson would be proud.

A mute swan (Cygnus olor) tipping forward to reach the weeds at the bottom of an Austrian lake, leaving only its rear end above the water.