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A picture-perfect day on Trillium
A picture-perfect day on Trillium
Today we"re out on Trillium Lake, a manmade lake in the shadow of Mount Hood, Oregon"s tallest peak. Formed in 1960 by damming a tributary of the Salmon River, Trillium Lake"s a popular spot for fishing, camping, and boating. In springtime, the surrounding woods are filled with trilliums, the native flowering plants the lake"s named for. Take the flat, 1.9-mile loop trail around the lakeshore for stunning views of Mount Hood. But don"t stop there. Mount Hood National Forest has more than 1,200 miles of hiking trails, not to mention year-round skiing at higher elevations. Wrap up your day at the Timberline Lodge, built during the Great Depression by the WPA and now a National Historic Landmark. Bonus fact: Timberline Lodge was used for exterior shots of the Overlook Hotel in the horror movie "The Shining." But don"t let that scare you off visiting.Desktop Version
Freeze frame
Freeze frame
A lot of work goes into taking great photos, as this emperor penguin can attest. The best photographers find the right location, have mastery over their equipment, and ensure they"re ready when the magic happens. Of course, it helps to recognize a chance at an unusual shot, like when curious emperor penguins in Antarctica invite themselves to your shoot.Desktop Version
Dashing through the snow
Dashing through the snow
While many associate reindeer with the wonder of the holidays, these animals are magical in their own way. Known in North America as caribou, reindeer are well adapted to live in cold, rugged Arctic regions, like northern Norway where this herd was photographed. They"re built to withstand frigid temperatures with the help of thick, dense fur and noses that warm the air before they breathe it in.Desktop Version
Hohenzollern Castle near Stuttgart, Germany
Hohenzollern Castle near Stuttgart, Germany
For the charming Hohenzollern Castle, the third time really was the charm. Constructed on the top of Hohenzollern Mountain in the 11th century, the castle was largely ruined by a 10-month siege in 1423, only to be rebuilt a few decades later. It then served as an important strategic stronghold before again falling into disrepair. In the 19th century, King Frederick William IV of Prussia, best remembered for his commitment to building great works across Germany, had a new castle built on the grounds, replacing almost all the 15th-century construction. Today, Hohenzollern Castle is an open-air museum that hosts more than 350,000 visitors per year, making it one of the most-visited castles in Germany.Desktop Version
Wild scene on the Merced River
Wild scene on the Merced River
This stretch of the Merced River has been officially designated "wild and scenic" by the federal government. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was signed October 2, 1968, by President Lyndon B. Johnson to preserve rivers with "outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations." It covers 13,416 miles of streams and protects parts of such natural treasures as the Allagash, Salmon, Snake, Trinity, and Missouri, which is the longest river in the US.Desktop Version
Ancient storage in the Grand Canyon
Ancient storage in the Grand Canyon
Around 1100 CE—a good 400 years before Spanish conquistadors would first glimpse the Grand Canyon—Ancestral Puebloans tended terrace farms along the banks of the Colorado River. In order to store their crops during the rainy season, when floods might destroy food stores, and to keep animals from eating the harvest, they created the Nankoweap Granaries high up in the canyon walls.Desktop Version
A national icon
A national icon
If ever there was an animal that deserved some recognition, it"s the bison. Since 2012, National Bison Day has been observed on the first Saturday of November to acknowledge the animal"s cultural, historical, and economic significance—as well as its remarkable comeback. Bison were once plentiful in America. Tens of millions strong in the 1800s, they roamed in great herds, helping to diversify and maintain the prairie habitat. They also played an important spiritual role in Native American cultures. Settlement of the American West caused habitat loss and that, combined with overhunting, nearly wiped out the species altogether, until ranchers, conservationists, and politicians teamed up to save them. In 1907, 15 bison from the Bronx Zoo were shipped to a wildlife refuge in Oklahoma to revive the population. Fast forward to today, and around 20,000 bison roam on public lands in the United States. In 2016, President Obama named the bison the National Mammal of the United States.Desktop Version
Deep in the North Woods wetlands
Deep in the North Woods wetlands
To celebrate American Wetlands Month, we"re flying over Norcross Brook, which snakes through the wetlands of Maine"s North Woods near Moosehead Lake. Wetlands like these are an often underappreciated natural resource. They act as vital links between the land and our planet"s watersheds, playing a crucial role in protecting healthy ecosystems. In addition to providing indispensable habitat for the many species that call them home, wetlands filter our drinking water and cycle nutrients. They also provide a natural buffer from storms, absorb flood waters, and capture carbon from the atmosphere—all of which help to mitigate the impact of climate change.Desktop Version
In honor of those we ve lost
In honor of those we ve lost
Today we"re featuring the view from the Empty Sky memorial in Jersey City, New Jersey, across the Hudson River, to where the World Trade Center"s Twin Towers once stood in New York City"s lower Manhattan. The Empty Sky memorial honors the 749 people from New Jersey who were killed on September 11, 2001. Their names are etched on two massive steel walls that form a tunnel directing the visitor"s gaze to one of the sites of the deadliest terrorist attack in history. The name Empty Sky comes directly from a song by New Jersey"s favorite son, Bruce Springsteen, about the "empty sky" where the Twin Towers once stood before they were destroyed in the 9/11 attacks.Desktop Version
Vote!
Vote!
It"s Election Day, so if you"re eligible to vote but haven"t already voted, stop reading this and go cast your ballot. In 1845, Congress decided that general elections of federal public officials would be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Why a Tuesday? In the 1800s, most citizens worked as farmers and lived far from their polling places, so they needed a day or two to travel. Many Americans went to church on Sunday, and Wednesday was their day at the market. So, Tuesday was the most practical.Desktop Version
The Hermitage of Santa Justa
The Hermitage of Santa Justa
Today"s image brings us to Cantabria, a rugged region on the north coast of Spain. To reach this isolated stone hut, you"ll need to wait until the frothing waters of the Bay of Biscay hit low tide, then traverse a silty path to the structure"s façade. Peering in the windows, you"ll see a cavernous room adorned with shrines—the long-abandoned living quarters of a religious hermit who dwelt here in the 8th century. Not your typical waterfront condo, but hey, it"s cozy.Desktop Version
What kind of bird laid these eggs?
What kind of bird laid these eggs?
These colorful little eggs are the progeny of the hoary redpoll, also known as the Arctic redpoll because of its extreme northern habitat. This hardy finch spends much of its time, including breeding season, in the brushy tundra of the northern polar regions. Because of the extreme cold, the female will often line her nest with feathers, particularly white ptarmigan feathers, as these appear to be. Sighting a hoary redpoll is a rare treat. The bird doesn"t exactly migrate, but in winter it will sometimes fly short distances farther south in search of food, so if you live in Minnesota, North Dakota, or Montana, you might get a peek at one on your bird feeder. You’ll recognize a hoary redpoll by its small yellow bill, red cap, dark face, and "frosty" white underbody streaked with brown. Or listen for the "chif chif chif" of its call.Desktop Version
3,000 years of history
3,000 years of history
These massive temples—known today as Abu Simbel—were built in the 13th century BCE by the pharaoh Ramesses II. He left a legacy of monuments and temples across Egypt, many of which, like Abu Simbel, featured Ramesses II himself as the star attraction. But over the centuries, these temples were almost completely buried in sand and forgotten. It was not until the early 1800s when an explorer saw the heads of the colossal statues poking through the sand that the temples were again discovered. Then in the 20th century, construction of a dam on the Nile River formed Lake Nasser, a massive reservoir that would have flooded the site where the temples stood. To save them from inundation, the temples were disassembled and relocated to a nearby hill. The process took almost five years and required that workers cut the temples into pieces and reassemble them exactly as they were built 3,000 years ago. We think Ramesses II would approve.Desktop Version
Playa del Amor, Marietas Islands, Mexico
Playa del Amor, Marietas Islands, Mexico
This gorgeous shot was taken at Playa del Amor—aka Hidden Beach—a remote destination off the coast of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, known for its pristine beauty. To get to it, visitors need to take a boat toward the mouth of Banderas Bay at the base of the Marietas Islands. Once there, they swim through a tunnel at low tide to reach the beach. The walls hide a sandy cove, where the turquoise waters contrast with flora-laden cliffs that perfectly frame the blue sky overhead. Playa del Amor (Lovers" Beach) is popular among tourists, but the number of visitors is limited to preserve its natural beauty and ecosystem.Desktop Version
Ready. Set. Snow.
Ready. Set. Snow.
Far above the clouds, an adrenaline-seeking skier glides past the jagged Crater Rock on Oregon"s Mount Hood. He"s practicing a relatively young sport known as speed riding—similar to paragliding but with more emphasis on high velocity than altitude. Skiers with parachute-like "wings" launch downslope at high speed, navigating runs partly on skis and partly in the air.Desktop Version
Bird s-eye view on World Environment Day
Bird s-eye view on World Environment Day
For World Environment Day today we"re in northeastern Costa Rica, a nature lover"s paradise. The UN established World Environment Day in 1974 to encourage awareness and action for the protection of the environment. It begins with research, which is exactly what happens in this pristine corner of the planet. The misty canopy of forest pictured here is part of La Selva Biological Station, an internationally renowned center for tropical forest research that"s associated with universities and research institutions in the United States, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico.Desktop Version
A Portuguese fort takes a star turn
A Portuguese fort takes a star turn
Perched on a strategic hillside, high above the hot, dry plains of eastern Portugal, the Nossa Senhora da Graça Fort has been called a masterpiece of 18th-century military architecture. The thick walls that surround the fortress are shaped in a star pattern, with pentagonal bastions jutting out from the curtain wall at the corners. We"re looking at one of those bastions coming to a point in the lower center of our image.Desktop Version
Merry and bright
Merry and bright
Germans began decorating Christmas trees with candles as far back as the 1700s, but people wouldn"t begin stringing trees with electric lights until the late 1800s. Thomas Edison created the first practical incandescent lights and used them to decorate his Menlo Park laboratory for Christmas in 1880. Then three years later, the vice president of Edison"s company, Edward H. Johnson, had Christmas tree bulbs especially made, which he used to decorate the tree in his New York City home. Nevertheless, electric lights didn’t catch on as a holiday decoration among the general public until 1895, when President Grover Cleveland asked that the White House Christmas tree be illuminated by hundreds of multicolored electric bulbs.Desktop Version
Birds of the Drömling
Birds of the Drömling
Common cranes (aka Eurasian cranes) often gravitate to wet open fields, bogs, and marshes. This flock is congregating in the Drömling wetland in Germany. The most widely distributed of all the 15 species of cranes, its native range covers a wide swath of Europe and Asia, with the largest breeding populations in Russia and Scandinavia. As winter approaches, common cranes make the long journey south, often in large flocks of about 400 birds, to North Africa or parts of southern Europe and Asia in search of more civilized temperatures.Desktop Version
Behold the perfect cone
Behold the perfect cone
How far would you have to travel for the "perfect cone"? Well, probably not too far if you"re talking ice cream. But if volcanoes are what you"re looking for, you"ll have to make your way to Mount Mayon on the Philippine island of Luzon. The glowing lava you see is on the tip of what many consider to be the world"s most perfectly shaped, symmetrical volcanic cone. Mount Mayon has erupted dozens of times in the past 400 years, and there was a significant eruption as recently as 2018. Even this year, white steam plumes and a faint crater glow are sometimes visible. Mayon is the most active volcano in an island nation full of active volcanos. It"s located inside the UNESCO Albay Biosphere Reserve as well as in the Philippine"s Mayon Volcano Natural Park. Despite its active status, tourists still flock to the park to view the unique beauty of this cone-shaped spectacle.Desktop Version
A sea of swirling stone
A sea of swirling stone
By showing you this coveted sight, we"re saving you a bit of an ordeal. For a close-up view like this of "The Wave," a whorled sandstone formation in the northern Arizona wilderness, you"d have to navigate a rugged and mostly trail-free route with a permit in your pocket (only a small number are available, offered via a daily lottery). But that"s just one day hike of many in the expansive Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, which encompasses almost 300,000 acres of Arizona and Utah canyonland.Desktop Version
Old man s whiskers growing wild
Old man s whiskers growing wild
The three-flowered avens is one of those lucky plants known by several common names, including prairie smoke and, yes, old man"s whiskers. The hardy perennial blooms across North American prairies in the springtime, setting off purple-tinged, closed bell-shaped buds that hang downward in clumps of three. After bees go to work pollinating the buds, the fertilized flowers open and turn skyward transforming their pistils into soft swirling tendrils that are said to resemble an old man"s whiskers. Take a good look at our image and decide if that"s what comes to mind for you. As summer marches on, the plants continue their spectacular show as the fuzzy seed heads take on a pink-tinged cast resembling low-lying prairie smoke.Desktop Version
It s ∞ Day!
It s ∞ Day!
Gustave Flaubert wrote that "an infinity of passion can be contained in one minute." So, if you have boundless passion for contemplating the immeasurable, a full day should offer plenty of time. August 8 (8/8) is Infinity Day since the numeral 8 looks like a tilted ∞, the common symbol for infinity first popularized in 17th-century math books. But the concept of infinity itself represents an idea much older, inherent in the countless spiritual traditions that revere eternal gods or outline endless life cycles.Desktop Version
Eye of the cave
Eye of the cave
Many sea caves and rock formations line the alluring Algarve coast in the south of Portugal, and today we"re shedding light on Benagil Cave—one of the region"s most spectacular and famous natural landmarks. Just east of the small fishing village of Benagil, the cave was formed about 20 million years ago from the pounding waves that sweep in from the Atlantic. Rainfall has caused the softer segments of limestone to erode, creating a giant hole in the cave"s roof, which is what we"re looking down through in our photo.Desktop Version
Cheese! We ll go somewhere where there s cheese!
Cheese! We ll go somewhere where there s cheese!
Ahh, the pastoral countryside of the Yorkshire Dales in Northern England. Dewy mornings, grazing farm animals, hand-built dry stone walls, and…cheese? Well, if you"re a fan of the beloved British claymation series "Wallace & Gromit," you may have first heard of this area of the Dales, Wensleydale, because of its local cheese. In fact, the animated duo"s notorious affinity for the local curd—which Wallace likes because producers thought saying it makes his face look "nice and toothy"—became so widespread that it helped the Wensleydale cheesemakers stave off bankruptcy.Desktop Version