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Apr 4, 2018Mexican giant cardon cactus

In the world of cacti, they don’t get any bigger than the cardon. Also known as ‘elephant cactus,’ this species can grow upwards of 60 feet and weigh in at 25 tons, with squat trunks and many branches. Despite the cardon’s massive size, it’s quite sensitive to frost, a trait which limits its range. The cardon primarily grows in the Baja Peninsula, where its night-blooming flowers attract species like the lesser long-nosed bat.Desktop Version

Apr 3, 2018The village of Castelluccio above the Piano Grande, Umbria, Italy

Welcome to wildflower season on the magnificent Piano Grande (Great Plain) in Central Italy. For some geographic perspective, we’re in the calf region of Italy’s boot, nestled in the Apennine Mountains. Perched on the hillside is the little village of Castelluccio, where you can purchase the crop that made this region famous: lentils. The tiny, thin-skinned lentils cultivated here are considered delicacies.Desktop Version

Apr 2, 2018Seven Magic Mountains art installation, Jean Dry Lake, Nevada

It’s easy to see how this brightly colored art installation near Jean Dry Lake caught the eye of photographer Renz Alfonso Dela Pena, the winner of the Bing #Amplifyingenuity photo contest. The installation, created by artist Ugo Rondinone, includes seven towers of boulders that reach up to 30 feet high. Its bold colors are meant to contrast with the stark landscape here in the Mojave Desert, where the piece will remain on display at least through 2018.Desktop Version

Apr 1, 2018Happy Easter from the ‘peeps’ at Bing

These lavender marshmallow chicks—and their siblings of other colors—are destined to arrive in Easter baskets around the country today. Lots and lots of Easter baskets. On average, the Just Born factory in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania produces 5.5 million PEEPS® every day, or more than 3,800 per minute. And all those PEEPS® have lots of company. According to the National Confectioners Association, Easter is a top-selling candy holiday in the US, second only to Halloween. This year there’s a twist on the holiday: Easter Sunday falls on the same day as April Fool’s Day. Whatever you have planned–we hope your day is a sweet one.Desktop Version

Mar 31, 2018Cherry blossoms at the National Mall, Washington, DC

This week marks the start of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which commemorates the gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Japan to the city of Washington, DC, in 1912. The National Park Service says that during a two-week period each spring, the festival draws more than one million visitors to the National Mall, aka America’s Front Yard. In Japan, the custom of picnicking under the cherry blossoms is known as ‘hanami,’ and it’s said to be more spectacular at night, when revelers hang lanterns from the tree branches to illuminate the blooms.Desktop Version

Mar 30, 2018The Vestibule at Diocletian s Palace, Split, Croatia

You’re looking at the view from the Vestibule inside Diocletian’s Palace, an ancient landmark in the city of Split, Croatia. Built in the early 4th century, the building served as the beachside retirement home for Roman Emperor Diocletian. As much a fortress as a palace, it also housed Diocletian’s military garrison. Built mainly of limestone and marble, the palace also features Egyptian granite columns and originally contained several 3,500-year-old Egyptian sphinxes, three of which remain today. Look familiar? The site was a filming location for the fourth season of the TV series ‘Game of Thrones.’Desktop Version

Mar 29, 2018It’s Opening Day for Major League Baseball

Our photo today shows a late September home game for the Oakland Athletics, going up against the Texas Rangers near the end of the 2017 Major League Baseball season. A new Major League season begins today, and this year marks the earliest Opening Day for MLB in the history of the organization. To top that, every team in the league is scheduled to play today—something that hasn’t happened on Opening Day since 1968. Which team do you root for?Desktop Version

Mar 28, 2018Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve in Layton, Utah

There are at least 27 private reserves along the shores of Utah’s Great Salt Lake. This one, owned by the Nature Conservancy, stands in a marshland that’s an important rest stop for birds migrating on the Pacific Flyway path. The Pacific Flyway runs from Alaska all the way down to Patagonia in South America. It’s one of four major north-to-south migration routes for birds. Nature preserves like this keep important points along the flyway intact and undeveloped.Desktop Version

Mar 27, 2018Macro photograph of a migrant hawker dragonfly

Adult migrant hawkers like this one are usually found near water, where they’ll look for a mate and find plenty of mosquitos and midges to eat. This photo was taken using macro photography techniques—the camera’s macro lenses get clear images of small subjects like insects and flowers.Desktop Version

Mar 26, 2018The Unfinished Obelisk near Aswan, Egypt

This massive carving was to be larger than most other obelisks of Egypt 3,500 years ago. But because the nearly 140-foot creation developed a significant fissure in the stone, it was abandoned, inspiring the current name: The Unfinished Obelisk. The stone quarries here in Aswan, a city in southern Egypt, offer a glimpse of the industry that once fueled the region’s economy.Desktop Version

Mar 25, 2018Jan van Eyckplein in Bruges, Belgium

Float down Spiegelrei canal in Bruges, Belgium, and you’ll arrive at the town square called Jan van Eyckplein. Sometimes referred to as the ‘Venice of the North,’ Bruges has numerous canals that once fueled the historic city’s shipping economy. Jan van Eyckplein is named for the influential 15th-century Belgian painter, Jan van Eyck. A statue of him stands in the middle of the square.Desktop Version

Mar 24, 2018Crimson-rumped toucanet in the Refugio Paz de Las Aves, Ecuador

A small patch of red quills in its tail feathers earned this smaller cousin of the toucan its common name. That ‘crimson rump’ provides striking contrast to the deep green, gold, and blue feathers on the rest of the toucanet’s body. Our specimen was photographed in the Refugio Paz de Las Aves (Peace of the Birds Sanctuary), a private nature reserve nestled in the foothills of the Ecuadorian Andes near the equator. Visitors there can spot many neotropical bird species, including antpittas, hummingbirds, and tanagers.Desktop Version

Mar 23, 2018Happy World Meteorological Day

On this World Meteorological Day, celebrated each year on March 23, we climb far above the Earth for a view of the southern Peruvian coast courtesy of the Landsat 8 satellite. Below the clouds, at the bottom of those canyons, are the Yauca and Acarí Rivers, which drain into the Pacific. As any good meteorologist taking a break from today’s celebrations will tell you, warm air from the equator forms a layer over the cool coastal air here, pushing the clouds into the deep river canyons and covering the Pacific Ocean shore.Desktop Version

Mar 22, 2018Join us in celebrating World Water Day

The theme of this year’s UN-sponsored event, observed on March 22, is nature-based solutions for managing water resources. Organizers say that strategies like reconnecting rivers to flood plains and restoring wetlands have the potential to rebalance the water cycle and improve human health and livelihoods. Today we are proud to highlight the efforts of the Nature Conservancy, a global nonprofit working to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. Your support of their work makes a difference for people and nature.Desktop Version

Mar 21, 2018Celebrating the International Day of Forests

The March 21 observance highlights the important role that trees and their forest ecosystems play in creating a healthy environment. Here at the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in California, giant coastal redwoods—plus a variety of other trees, shrubs, bushes, flowers, ferns, mosses, and lichens—provide a haven for many creatures, even the small and slimy. This is banana slug territory, and visitors are likely to encounter the bright yellow banana slug—the largest slug in North America—as they journey through the park.Desktop Version

Mar 20, 2018Celebrating the first day of spring

March 20 marks the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning that for the next six months daylight hours will outlast nighttime darkness, and we’ll see plenty of beautiful blooms like the tulips shown here. They were photographed in Drenthe Province of the Netherlands, a country that’s been famous for tulips since the 17th century. That’s when the price of tulip bulbs climbed to astronomical heights and then dramatically collapsed in what’s since become known as the first economic bubble, dubbed ‘Tulip Mania.’Desktop Version

Mar 19, 2018Sanxiantai Dragon Bridge in Taitung, Taiwan

This unique footbridge on the east coast of Taiwan connects visitors to the ‘Island of the Three Immortals,’ a small uninhabited island known for dramatic rock formations and ocean views. According to legend, the rocks were left behind by immortal saints who took a reprieve here centuries ago. The bridge itself was built in 1987 and was designed to resemble the mythical dragons of Chinese folklore.Desktop Version

Mar 18, 2018Christmas Tree Point Road and Twin Peaks, San Francisco

Panoramic views await at the dual peaks of Noe and Eureka, which rise nearly 1,000 feet above San Francisco. Known as Twin Peaks, this landmark provides habitat for a special species--the Mission blue butterfly. Only a handful of places in the world support these endangered little blues, and all are here in the Bay Area. Most of their grassland habitat has been destroyed.Desktop Version

Mar 17, 2018Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

‘Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit!’ That’s what you might hear if you find yourself in Ireland on March 17. And if you do, be sure to join in the celebration, because it means ‘Happy St. Patrick’s Day!’ The holiday originated as a religious feast in the 17th century, but today it’s better known for parades, festivals, and green attire. And, for some, green beer. Here in County Galway, St. Patrick’s Day is an official public holiday. That means residents have time to enjoy the local surroundings, like the medieval ruins of Ross Errilly Friary, shown here.Desktop Version

Mar 16, 2018Celebrating National Panda Day

This giant panda seems content to be indulging in his favorite snack at the Wolong National Nature Reserve in the mountains of Sichuan, China. Bamboo makes up 99 percent of a panda’s diet, and it must consume upwards of 30 pounds of the woody grass each day to meet its dietary needs. This presents a predicament, as human development continues to encroach on the bamboo forests of pandas’ natural habitat. National Panda Day, celebrated on March 16, aims to spread awareness about this iconic species.Desktop Version

Mar 15, 2018The Colosseum of Rome, Italy

A photographer who goes by the name Paperboyo (real name Rich McCor) took this photo, and many more like it. Using paper cut-outs placed at just the right angles, McCor’s photos add an element of whimsy to the world’s famous landmarks. The project began when McCor was thinking of ways to photograph the iconic landmarks of London ‘in an original way.’ Spurred on by the enthusiasm of those who saw his photos, he quickly added more like these to his portfolio. As of this writing, there are no known incidents of a giant octopus taking over Rome’s Colosseum.Desktop Version

Mar 14, 2018Happy Pi Day!

To celebrate Pi Day this March 14 (or 3/14 or 3.14), we visit the balmy waters of Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas. Two Atlantic spotted dolphins were photographed here blowing a bubble ring, also known as a toroidal ring. And if they were to calculate the circumference of their bubble ring, they’d need to use our favorite irrational number, π.Desktop Version

Mar 13, 2018Wayag Islands in the Raja Ampat Islands of Indonesia

The Wayags are part of the larger Raja Ampat Islands off the coast of Indonesia’s West Papua Province. These small, uninhabited islands are popular with divers and snorkelers eager to explore the vast and diverse reef system surrounding them. The Wayags are part of the Coral Triangle, which covers only 1.6 percent of Earth’s oceanic region, but contains 76 percent of every known coral species on the planet.Desktop Version

Mar 12, 2018It’s Napping Day

Despite this group-nap pose, sanderlings are active birds that migrate extremely long distances every year. In spring they fly from South America and Africa to the High Arctic beaches and river banks of North America, Europe, and Asia. Once they’ve laid eggs and raised their young, they head back south again, stopping on beaches along the way to stitch their needlelike beaks into the sand for insect-sized crustaceans. Having lost an hour due to the start of daylight saving time yesterday, these sanderlings are celebrating Napping Day by sleeping on a beach in Terschelling, Netherlands.Desktop Version

Mar 11, 2018Daylight saving time begins

To mark the start of daylight saving time today, we venture off to Olomouc, a city in the Czech Republic. In the city’s Upper Square, next to the tower of the 15th-century Town Hall, is Olomouc’s famous astronomical clock. The clock doesn’t just keep the time of day, but tracks the phases of the moon, days of the year, and even has a star map to indicate what might be visible in the night sky. In this photo, you can see the buildings of the square reflected in the clock’s face.Desktop Version

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