Love is in the air as Valentine"s Day arrives! These red-crowned cranes, seen in the reed marshes and frozen lakes of Hokkaido Island, Japan, know how to turn on the charm. The graceful birds call in unison and bow to each other as part of their captivating mating dance. Once a mate is chosen, the pair develop a lifelong bond, a trait that has helped make them a symbol of longevity, fidelity, and good fortune in Japanese culture. These gentle creatures were also the inspiration for the traditional origami crane. According to legend, folding a thousand cranes can grant wishes.
Valentines Day
Today in History
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Spring comes to the Palouse
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Racing toward history
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Berlin Festival of Lights
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Valentines Day
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Tokyo welcomes a futuristic new art museum
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World Water Day
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A tree amid the Tetons
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International Day for Monuments and Sites
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Happy Mother s Day
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Nursing the world to health
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Cherry blossom season in Tokyo
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Daiichi Tadami River Bridge, Fukushima, Japan
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All eyes on moths
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Nazar amulets, Goreme National Park, Cappadocia, Turkey
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The Bahamas as seen from the ISS
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San Francisco Bay salt flats
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Hezké svátky
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It s harvest time on World Food Day
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Wayag Islands in the Raja Ampat Islands of Indonesia
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Bridges to the past
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Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona
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Vote!
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Travel Sunday: San Francisco
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National Llama Day
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What s better than a smile?
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Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
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Cloudy with a chance of enlightenment
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A long winter’s nap, perhaps?
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Dragon dance performed in Chenzhou, Hunan Province, China