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Wiltshire in Pictures: Animal encounters

News imageJon Durrant Three small juvenile kingfishers - already colourful with blue and bronze feathers - sit on bramble branches with the bright green leaves behind them.Jon Durrant
Jon Durrant captured these three young kingfishers in Bradford-on-Avon

It's all been about the natural world this week, with animals from current times and ancient history.

There's a new resident at Longleat, and an extensive dig at Cerney Wick has come to an end.

Wiltshire's farmers have been in the focus this week as part of a national campaign to tell the stories of rural life.

All this is mixed in with the usual scenes of beautiful landscapes from across the county.

News imageTom Anders/Longleat Two zebras standing together in a grassy field. A third zebra, closer to the camera stands alone.Tom Anders/Longleat

Stripy summer: Longleat has welcomed male zebra at Zigzag at the safari park. He is there for a summer holiday from Hamerton Zoo park in Cambridgeshire. It is hoped he can help start a new bloodline with their three mares - although they have been seen to give him a telling off from time to time.

News imageWiltshire Council A group of people - four women, two men - stand together, with some exhibition posters on a white wall behind, in the middle, they hold a big blue sign saying 'Community Conversations Exhibition'Wiltshire Council

Beaming for Bemerton: Wiltshire Council has been celebrating the numerous community projects that have been happening at Bemerton Heath, Salisbury. The initiative currently has an exhibition on display at Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre, but there has also been a community garden, new groups and supermarket transport started.

News imageWarminster Town Council A large vehicle street sweeper. White, with the Warminster Town Council logo on the side and Meryl Sweep on it's door. It is on the park path on a sunny day, with the lake behind it.Warminster Town Council

Democratic naming: 'Meryl Sweep' has appeared around Warminster after residents helped name Warminster Town Council's new sweeper - the name got more than more than 47% of the votes.

News imageA display at night, which has lighting from underneath and a wire in a heart shape with white tinsel and small coloured lights. On either end are two wooden red arrow planes fully painted red with RAF insignia.

Best of British: the themed trail is on around Malmesbury at the moment - Shakespeare and Postman Pat are on the list to spot, but there's a night-time look for the red arrow display outside the Old Bell Hotel.

News imageA large old bone, which would once have belonged to a mammoth, is being held by two people, one holds a small piece that had broken off. Can only see the hands of the people and their tops, including orange high-viz vests.

A mammoth task: a three-week palaeontology dig has just come to an end at Cerney Wick, at Cotswold Water Park. Involving more than 200 volunteers, the site is known as the mammoth graveyard, but also yields numerous other ice age giants, Neanderthal tools and 160 million years old fossils. This bone is from a mammoth.

News imageTwo women stand on Salisbury Plain with Stonehenge in the background. One of the women is wearing a mayoral outfit with a red top and official gold chain, and has black hair. The other woman is wearing a white dress. It is a sunny summer day

International ties: Amesbury has now been officially twinned with a town of the same name in Massachusetts in the USA. The Wiltshire town's mayor Monica Devendran, was joined by her US counterpart Kassandra Gove for the celebrations.

News imageRobin Aird smiles at the camera, wearing a black polo top. he stands in a golden wheat field, with the huge yellow combine harvester to the right.

Farmwatch: Wiltshire had a star role in the BBC's Farmwatch day on 7 August as Robin Aird - a farmer near Malmesbury - had his work on show for combine cam. The day saw lots of insights into the farming community.

News imageWeatherWatchers/Angie sun A moody sky is punctuated with patches of light, with the brown fields of crops below in shade. In the foreground, long grass blows in the wind, providing a contrast to the deeper colour of the crop fields.WeatherWatchers/Angie sun

Moody skies: Weather Watcher Angie sun caught the changeable weather at Porton with this snap of golden crops below some menacing cloud.

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