The week in wildlife – in pictures

Some of the estimated 1.2 million snow geese take flight at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri during the annual summer migration to Arctic tundra in Greenland, Canada, and Alaska. Blocks of birds numbering between 100 and 1,000 can make the journey together, creating large swathes of sky blotted out by their swooping mass Photograph: Doug French/Barcroft India

Long-tailed mayflies (Palingenia longicauda) mate on the surface of the Tisza river near Tiszainoka, 84 miles southeast of Budapest. Millions of these short-lived mayflies engage in a frantic rush to mate and reproduce before they perish in just a few hours during 'Tiszaviragzas' or Tisza blooming season from late spring to early summer every year Photograph: Laszlo Balogh/Reuters

A cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) in a field near Mariental, Germany Photograph: Julian Stratenschulte/Corbis

An American black bear cub hides in a tree at Parc Omega in Quebec, Canada. Parc Omega is a safari park consisting an 8-mile nature route with lakes, meadows, small valleys, forests, and rocky hills. The park has two female American black bears with cubs, living in semi captivity. They have a big territory with forest and prairies, but are controlled by a fence Photograph: Mircea Costina/Rex Features

This red bird is the unusual ‘Cock-of-the-rock bird’, Peru’s national bird. The Crees’ team of researchers, wildlife photographers and biologists, based at the Manu Learning Centre in Manu, Madre de Dios region of the south eastern Amazon of Peru, have recorded more than 650 different species in the centre’s vicinity. The list includes jaguars, giant river otters and 13 different types of primate. The work carried out at the centre helps to chart changes and problems that are causing the destruction of the rainforest and the biodiversity within it Photograph: Bertie Gregory/CREES

A male Cambodian tailorbird, which scientists say is a new bird species unique to Cambodia and discovered in Phnom Penh, is seen in an undated photo provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society. The wren-sized Cambodian tailorbird lives in dense, humid lowland scrub in Phnom Penh and other locations just outside the city Photograph: AshishJ.I.John/AP

Two deer stand in the grounds of Studley Royal Park, Ripon, north Yorkshire as fine weather continues across the UK Photograph: Anna Gowthorpe/PA

A snail crawls over a leaf covered with rain drops in Potsdam, Germany Photograph: Ralf Hirschberger/Corbis

A wildcat explores her enclosure near Schlangenbad, Germany. The enclosure is designed to prepare the cats for their reintroduction to the wild in the Rheingau Mountains. The cats were found as babies by forest workers near Rüedesheim in March 2012 Photograph: Fredrik von Erichsen/Corbis

This undated photo provided by the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute shows a spotless comma, in Davis Mountains state park, Texas. The butterfly, found only in Mexico, has been spotted in the US for the first time. It was found by researcher Cathryn Hoyt while she was studying pollinators of rare plants in the region in late May Photograph: C. Hoyt/AP

A great crested grebe takes care of its newly hatched chicks in Sihwa Lake in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Photograph: Jeon Heon-kyun/EPA

Alpine azalea flowers blossom in a valley in Tibet Photograph: Purbu Zhaxi/Corbis

Parrots and macaws at the Clay Lick in Manu, Madre de Dios region of the south eastern Amazon of Peru Photograph: Bertie Gregory/CREES

An otter attacks a pike its own size in Norfolk, England. The aquatic mammal seems untroubled that the 3ft predatory fish is the same length as itself and easily pulls it to shore Photograph: Dean Eades/Barcroft Media

A Gulf fritillary butterfly comes to rest at the butterfly house at Sarett Nature Centre in Benton Township, Michigan, US. The net structure, open through September during the nature centre's regular business hours, houses approximately 10 varieties of butterflies Photograph: Don Campbell/AP