Bing wallpaper for mobile

Hottest Latest
Welcome to the Ring of Fire
Welcome to the Ring of Fire
Today we"re visiting the pair of volcanoes known as Tolbachik—the flat-topped Plosky (Flat) Tolbachik on the left of our image, and the majestic Ostry (Sharp) Tolbachik on the right, which soars 12,080 feet above the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia. These are just two of roughly 300 volcanoes scattered through the region; 29 of them, including the Tolbachik complex, are still active. In fact, there is so much volcanic activity here that UNESCO calls the peninsula "one of the most outstanding volcanic regions in the world," and has designated it a World Heritage site.Desktop Version
Aerial view of a heart-shaped field in Trittau, Germany
Aerial view of a heart-shaped field in Trittau, Germany
Happy Valentine’s Day—perhaps unintentionally—from the pastoral fields of Trittau. The small town is less than an hour’s drive east from the industrial port city of Hamburg. An aerial photograph of farm fields here revealed this spot plowed in the shape of a heart. How are you celebrating, or perhaps avoiding, today’s holiday?Desktop Version
Meandering through Patagonia
Meandering through Patagonia
Squiggling east from the Andes Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, the mighty Santa Cruz River in Argentina"s Patagonia region flows over some of South America"s sparsest terrain. Over the centuries, some of history"s most notable explorers have been drawn to the winding waterway: Ferdinand Magellan"s 1520 expedition discovered its coastal delta, and Charles Darwin (on the same voyage that took him to the Galápagos Islands) studied the area"s ecosystem during a grueling 1834 side trip up the river. Even now, very few settlements exist along the 240-mile course of the Santa Cruz, considered the last major free-flowing river in Patagonia.Desktop Version
A day of service for Dr. King
A day of service for Dr. King
This statue is ‘Stone of Hope,’ part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial that opened in 2011 in West Potomac Park, Washington, DC. The title of the 30-foot granite sculpture comes from a line in King"s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech: ‘Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.’ Across the country today, volunteers will spend their day giving back in honor of Dr. King. His birthday was made a federal holiday in 1983, and in 1994 Congress designated the event as a national day of service, inviting citizens to observe the holiday by improving their communities.Desktop Version
A midsummer twilight s dream
A midsummer twilight s dream
The Russian language classifies light and dark shades of blue as separate colors—which comes in especially handy if you venture north to Saint Petersburg in midsummer. The seaport metropolis sits less than 500 miles outside the Arctic Circle, so at the height of summer, the twilit "blue hour" coveted by photographers lasts virtually all night long as the sun hovers just below the horizon. It"s a phenomenon also dubbed the "White Nights" and it usually lasts for around 80 days, starting in May and lasting until July.Desktop Version
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park turns 103
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park turns 103
Let"s light some candles today—103 of them—for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the island of Hawaii. On this day in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill to establish the park in what was then the US Territory of Hawaii. (Hawaii wouldn"t become a state until 1959.) The park contains a rich array of biodiversity, important historic sites of Native Hawaiians, and the glowing stars of the show—two of the world"s most active volcanos, Mauna Loa and Kīlauea.Desktop Version
Manhattan
Manhattan
Ahhh, New York City. Well, Manhattan specifically, one of New York"s five boroughs. This aerial view is of lower Manhattan, what New Yorkers consider the heart of the city. That"s New Jersey sparkling across the Hudson River in the distance. And that"s the Brooklyn Bridge pictured at the bottom, linking the island of Manhattan to the borough of Brooklyn.Desktop Version
Overlooking the Douro
Overlooking the Douro
Welcome to Porto, the second city of Portugal. Known on some English-language maps as Oporto (the Portuguese call it "o Porto" in conversation, meaning simply "the Port"), this attractive, ancient city is most famous today not for the port itself but for what"s shipped out of it.Desktop Version
New Zealand s loneliest mountain
New Zealand s loneliest mountain
According to the legends of New Zealand"s Indigenous Māori people, the lonely Mount Taranaki wasn"t always lonely. Taranaki, the story goes, once lived among other mountains in the North Island"s center. But Taranaki feuded with the powerful volcano Tongariro over the love of the pretty peak Pīhanga. In their epic battle, the now flat-topped Tongariro lost his head but emerged victorious. The vanquished Taranaki wandered west, cutting trenches as he trudged to the shore and filling them with lovesick tears to create the region"s rivers.Desktop Version
An oceanic valentine
An oceanic valentine
Just off the coast of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia, the surf crashes over this cluster of rocks, sending an oceanic Valentine"s Day card to a lucky bird—or photographer—flying overhead. We"ll take nature"s love letters wherever and whenever we can find them. But what makes February 14 the day we celebrate love? Some claim Valentine"s Day has its roots in an ancient Roman fertility festival called Lupercalia that included goat sacrifices and a lottery that paired off eligible men and women. Others argue that the holiday began with early Christians celebrating a martyr named Valentine. Chaucer romanticized the day with a poem about two birds mating for life. No matter its pagan or Christian origins, in the modern world, Valentine"s Day is celebrated most everywhere as a day devoted to love.Desktop Version
White dunes, blue lagoons
White dunes, blue lagoons
From the air, the mesmerizing tapestry of sandy dunes and lagoons you see here gives Lençóis Maranhenses National Park an otherworldly, desert-like appearance. Located in the sparsely populated northeast corner of Brazil, this park gets far too much annual rainfall—nearly 50 inches—to be considered a desert. In fact, heavy rain is part of what makes this place unique: Nearly 70% of its annual rainfall comes between January and May, filling the park"s nearly 40,000 lagoons to the brim with fresh rainwater. Why doesn"t the water sink into the sand? A layer of impermeable bedrock beneath the dunes prevents that from happening.Desktop Version
Porcupine
Porcupine
Psycho quiller? Nope, this is no homicidal rodent. Act friendly and keep a tail"s length of distance, and you should be safe from a spiny fate. (That thing about porcupines launching their quills at you like darts? Yeah, total myth.)Desktop Version
Penguins can t fly!
Penguins can t fly!
Unlike most other birds, penguins can"t fly, though this one sure looks like it"s trying—or jumping for joy since today is Penguin Awareness Day. Actually, these gentoo penguins on Danco Island, just off the Antarctic Peninsula, were photographed leaping out of the water as they returned to their nests for breeding season, which starts in November.Desktop Version
It s Star Wars Day
It s Star Wars Day
Does this place look familiar? If you"re a "Star Wars" fan you might recognize it as the planet of Crait, featured in "The Last Jedi." In reality it"s Salar de Uyuni, the world"s largest salt flat, found in southwest Bolivia. This otherworldly landscape is near the crest of the Andes, about 12,000 feet above sea level. The salt flat was formed when prehistoric lakes dried up over centuries, leaving behind a salt crust several feet deep. After a rare rainfall, a thin layer of perfectly still water will transform the salt flat into a giant mirror 80 miles across.Desktop Version
A bird of beauty
A bird of beauty
As its name suggests, the Mandarin duck comes from East Asia and is arguably one of the most beautiful ducks in the world. The ornate waterfowl became established in other regions following escapes from captivity, and a handful of small, isolated populations exist in the US. This fall, a Mandarin duck made headlines and blazed across social media when it appeared in New York City’s Central Park. The bird attracted crowds of onlookers hoping for a glimpse and a photo, while debates raged on how the bird may have ended up so far from its native territory. But Paul Sweet from the American Museum of Natural History"s Department of Ornithology explains on the Gothamist blog that ‘the black cable tie on its right tarsus clearly mark it as an escapee.’ Well done, lovely Mandarin!Desktop Version
Isla del Pescado on the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia
Isla del Pescado on the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia
Isla del Pescado is one of many ‘islands’ on the high Andean salt flat called Salar de Uyuni. This unusual landscape in Bolivia draws in many curious visitors who explore the plain’s 4,086 square miles. Isla del Pescado translates from Spanish to English as the Island of Fish, a reference to the isle’s appearance on the horizon when viewed from a distance. If the thick crust of salt on the Salar seems familiar, it may be because you’ve seen it recently on the big screen: Salar de Uyuni appeared as the planet Crait in the climax of the recent ‘Star Wars’ installment, ‘The Last Jedi.’Desktop Version
Belgium celebrates its independence
Belgium celebrates its independence
On July 21, Belgium celebrates its independence from the Netherlands and the anniversary of the establishment of the Kingdom of Belgium in 1831. The holiday brings us to the bank of the River Meuse across from the Collegiate Church of Notre Dame de Dinant, the best-known landmark in the Belgian town of Dinant in Namur province. For such a small city (population about 14,000), Dinant has a rich history. It"s the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone, and has a museum dedicated to his life and instruments. The Charles de Gaulle Bridge, which crosses the Meuse, is lined with 28 saxophone sculptures, each one representing a different country in the European Union. Namur province is also the birthplace of Leffe beer, which was brewed by monks in the abbey of Leffe starting in 1240.Desktop Version
Clouds over the River of Grass
Clouds over the River of Grass
It"s the beginning of the wet season in the Florida Everglades, where it"s typically hot and humid from May through November. Afternoon thunderstorms are common, bringing heavy rainfalls that subside quickly. The largest subtropical wilderness in the US, the Everglades is essentially a slow-moving river, 60 miles wide and over 100 miles long. The water flows during the wet season from Lake Okeechobee southward across a limestone shelf to the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula. The complex ecosystem here is not found anywhere else on the planet.Desktop Version
Seasonal lights dazzle in Japan
Seasonal lights dazzle in Japan
This is just a glimpse of the elaborate light display at Nabana-no-Sato, a flower park located in the garden of Nagashima Spa Land in Kuwana, Japan. Millions of LED light bulbs are used here to illuminate the grounds and create shimmering pathways, tunnels, and patterns. Winter illuminations like this have grown in popularity at Japan’s parks, and they often stay up long after the holidays, providing a bright distraction from winter’s long nights.Desktop Version
Preservation Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana
Preservation Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana
To celebrate Mardi Gras today, we venture into Preservation Hall, the legendary performance space in the French Quarter of New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. The former art gallery at 726 St. Peter Street isn’t the oldest music venue in New Orleans, but it’s one of the most important. Since it opened in 1961, Preservation Hall has become a premier showcase for traditional New Orleans jazz and a performing space for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which plays here most nights when it"s not on the road.Desktop Version
Rock of ages
Rock of ages
We"re here at Sigiriya, or Lion Rock, in Sri Lanka, for the South Asian nation"s Independence Day, celebrated annually on February 4. Sigiriya towers 600 feet off the ground, jutting dramatically out of the heart of this island country and serving as a formidable monument to the past. The king of Sri Lanka himself, King Kashyapa, who ruled from 473 to 495 CE, once made this the site of his new capital. He ordered that his palace be constructed atop the rock and about halfway up, he had a large gateway carved into the side of the outcropping in the shape of a lion (hence the name). His fortress was abandoned when he died, and the site later served as a monastery. These days it"s a tourist attraction and a UNESCO World Heritage site.Desktop Version
Great horned owl near Lake Tohopekaliga, Florida
Great horned owl near Lake Tohopekaliga, Florida
No, those aren’t really horns on the great horned owl, shown here blending in nicely with its surroundings in central Florida. The distinctive tufts of feathers on top of its head are known as ‘plumicorns.’ They have nothing to do with hearing—instead, they’re thought to be used to show expression and for camouflage. Feel free to impress your friends with this bit of trivia during the Great Backyard Bird Count, a four-day event in February that invites participants to help monitor bird populations.Desktop Version
A tale of almonds and bees
A tale of almonds and bees
Every February in California, the almond trees bloom, sparking a massive migration of commercial beekeepers to the Golden State. With box hives stacked high onto semi-truck trailers, they transport their honeybee colonies to almond orchards in the Sacramento and San Joaquin areas of California’s Central Valley, renting the little workers out to farmers. In recent decades, this practice has grown to become the largest managed pollination effort in the world, sometimes called the ‘Super Bowl of beekeeping.’Desktop Version
A wassailing we go
A wassailing we go
Somewhere under that dense fog, the people of Somerset county in southwest England may be marching from house to house, singing songs and dancing, and asking for a drink or snack in return. If that sounds like Christmas caroling, you’re right. But it’s the English tradition of wassailing—a practice that usually takes place on Twelfth Night, which marks the coming of the Epiphany and takes place on January 5th or 6th. So why do the people living in this farmland moor wassail on January 17? Because in Somerset, the locals observe the pre-Gregorian calendar Twelfth Night, which falls on January 17. They may even stage an ‘apple wassail’ with a trip to a local cider orchard, to sing and make noise for a good harvest in the new year.Desktop Version
All hail the king of shrubs
All hail the king of shrubs
Often called the "king of shrubs," rhododendrons are prized by gardeners for their glossy green leaves and brightly colored flowers. Depending on the variety, the blooms can emerge anytime from late winter into summer. Either evergreen or deciduous, rhododendrons make up a large and diverse genus of woody plants in the heath family, with over 1,000 wild species and scores of cultivated options. Rhododendrons are native to temperate areas of Asia, North America, and Europe, as well as some tropical parts of Southeast Asia and northern Australia. Our image today captures "rhodies" in full bloom in March along a path at Semper Forest Park of Rügen, Germany.Desktop Version