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Feb 17, 2021The persistence of Perito Moreno

Yes, it"s true that glaciers are shrinking, but not all of them. Perito Moreno, a low-lying glacier in southern Argentina, accumulates ice at about the same rate that it melts into chilly Argentino Lake. This equilibrium makes it one of the few glaciers worldwide that aren"t losing mass to climate change.Desktop Version

Apr 25, 2020Rockin with the rockhoppers

For World Penguin Day, we"re featuring a jaunty group of southern rockhopper penguins on a Falkland Islands beach. Most penguins slide over ice on their bellies, but these small penguins opt for more aerobic locomotion—they hop. Of all penguin species, rockhoppers are among the most numerous. But pollution, overfishing, and climate change have taken a toll: Their population has declined by about 30% over the last 30 years. Today, there"s an estimated 1.5 million breeding pairs of rockhoppers. About 1 million of those are southern rockhopper couples, like these, with the northern and eastern subspecies accounting for the rest.Desktop Version

Sep 18, 2021Hanging out on a limb

For International Red Panda Day, we"re hanging out on a tree limb with this cutie in the Chengdu Panda Base of Sichuan, China. If you spot a red panda in the wild, consider yourself lucky. Not only will you have to travel far (they live in the mountain forests of Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, and India), but there are fewer than 10,000 wild red pandas, and they"re rather elusive, hanging out up in trees. They also spend more than half their day asleep, conserving energy for—you guessed it—eating bamboo leaves. They spend a whopping 13 hours a day eating.Desktop Version

Jan 11, 2021At the gates of the ksar

At the eastern edge of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, Aït Benhaddou stands suspended in time. The mud-brick "ksar" (fortified city) was first built roughly 1,000 years ago, catering to travelers along the former caravan route between the Sahara desert and the city of Marrakesh. As a prime example of Moroccan earthen clay architecture, Aït Benhaddou has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. It"s no longer teeming with the large numbers of people who once lived there. But there are small markets and a few families within the city who cater to the visitors who come to walk its historic streets. As a symbol of Morocco"s enduring history, Aït Benhaddou would be a fine place to reflect upon the events of January 11, 1944, when Moroccan nationalists issued a public proclamation calling for the independence of their country, an audacious action that sparked the movement that would end colonialism by 1956.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 11, 2022We stand with Ukraine

Ukraine grows so many sunflowers they"ve become regarded as the country"s national flower—and recently, as a symbol of resistance. Just like sunflowers standing tall against a blue sky, the people of Ukraine are holding strong while an unlawful invasion threatens their democracy. As Ukrainians battle for their nation"s existence, millions of people have been forced to flee their homes to an uncertain future.Desktop Version

May 31, 2020Welcome to the pack

This fuzzy pup is a young gray wolf, the largest member of the dog family (Canidae). Gray wolf pups are born between March and May, blind and deaf, but after about three weeks they"re ready to leave the den and begin exploring their surroundings for the first time. It doesn"t take long–around six months–before they"ve grown enough to join their pack on hunts.Desktop Version

May 17, 2018Celebrating Norwegian Constitution Day

If you have Norwegian roots, May 17 is a day to celebrate. It was on this day in 1814 that the Constitution of Norway was signed, declaring Norway an independent kingdom. This historic neighborhood in Trondheim, Norway, would be an ideal place to celebrate. Trondheim is the Norway’s third-largest city, founded by Viking King Olaf Tryggyason in 997. Today, its colorful wharfs and waterways charm visitors from around the world.Desktop Version

Jul 23, 2019A state-of-the-art lookout on the Rock of Gibraltar

Make your way up the trails of this monolithic rock promontory to the Skywalk, an 8,000-square-foot glass platform that soars more than 1,100 feet above sea level. On a clear day, you can see three countries and two continents from here. These epic views draw tourists, as does the Rock’s legendary history. A British Overseas Territory since 1713, Gibraltar has long been a strategically important military outpost located near the southern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Far below the Skywalk, visitors can take in military relics that date back to the first years of British rule here.Desktop Version

Mar 3, 2020All eyes on sustainability

We don"t need an excuse to highlight and celebrate wildlife, but as it turns out, today is the UN"s World Wildlife Day. This year"s theme is "Sustaining all life on Earth," focusing on biodiversity. The UN and its partners are producing a series of programs and social media activities, including an event at UN Headquarters in New York, a film festival, and an international youth art competition.Desktop Version

Apr 8, 2021I m here! Take a look at me!

Spring is lekking season for the black grouse. In the early morning, the male birds, like this fancy fella in Finland, gather on lek sites, often a patch of open ground, to put on a show for the ladies in the audience. The guys flash their white tail feathers, utter cooing and hissing noises, flutter-jump, and pick fights with each other—all to demonstrate their dominance to the watching hens. (Hens are smaller and have gray-brown feathers.) When a hen picks out the male she likes, the two fly off to mate and then go their separate ways. Love connections are brief in the black grouse world.Desktop Version

Sep 5, 2020Beaver achievers

Don"t get distracted by the awesome top half of today"s photo. The postcard appeal of Idaho"s Sawtooth Range is undeniable, but our focus today is on the humble structure at the bottom.Desktop Version

Jul 10, 2021Celestial Spain

Today we"re in the Extremadura region of western Spain, in the beautiful Monfragüe National Park near the border with Portugal. This 18-mile long, 4-mile wide stretch of nature in the province of Cáceres is framed by the Tagus and Tietar Rivers (it"s the Tagus that"s in our image today). The mountainous Peña Falcon rock face defines its western side. Much of the park is covered by a thick Mediterranean forest full of wildlife, making this place a destination for outdoor lovers of all sorts. It"s especially notable for the many birds: Over 280 species are found here, including storks, kingfishers, cormorants, and eagles, as well as one of the world"s largest reserves of black vultures and their tawny vulture cousins. Other wildlife routinely spotted in Monfragüe include otters, deer, wild boar, and Iberian lynx.Desktop Version

Jun 13, 2020A gorge-ous mill in the Causses

It may look peaceful now, but on warm days the river below this mill attracts swimmers, kayakers, and the occasional sport fisherman. Moulin de Corps (Corps Mill) connects to a stone bridge that spans the Dourbie River in a gorge deep within the Grands Causses Regional Nature Park of southern France. Built by a French lord in the 14th century, the mill originally produced flour. But by the 20th century it had been converted to the private residence we see in today"s picture. The Grands Causses Regional Nature Park is home to hundreds of mills like this one, examples of a cultural heritage that can still be found throughout the Mediterranean agro-pastoral landscape.Desktop Version

Oct 7, 2020The circular castle of Cornwall

Many generations watched fog roll over this countryside long before the bellicose Norman visitors who built this fortress got the chance. The peninsula of Cornwall has been populated since the Mesolithic period 10,000 years ago, and is one of the traditional Celtic nations—areas of the British Isles and France where the Celts" culture survived Roman, Norman, and other outside influences despite repeated attempts at incursion.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

May 9, 2018Longtailed widowbird at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa

With a name like ‘widowbird,’ you’d expect this dusky male to have a low-key love life. But those 20-inch-long tail feathers are highly favored by females, even though they can make it difficult for the males to fly on windy days. The display has been the subject of much study regarding sexually selected traits and the tradeoffs between physical constraint and attracting a mate, since the tail feathers don’t seem to aid in flight and may even cause a hinderance. Ah, the things we do for love.Desktop Version

Feb 18, 2020Too awesome to be a planet

Pluto was first spotted on this day in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh, a 23-year-old astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Because it"s so far away—about 40 times as far from the sun as Earth is—scientists knew relatively little about Pluto until the New Horizons spacecraft reached it in 2015. In a flyby study, the craft spent more than five months gathering detailed information about Pluto and its moons. What did they find out? There’s a heart-shaped glacier, blue skies, spinning moons, mountains as high as the Rockies, and it snows—but the snow is red.Desktop Version

Jul 23, 2020At the foot of Dubrovnik s Gibraltar

The stairs in today"s photo lead to Fort Lovrijenac, an 11th-century fortress jutting out into the Adriatic Sea just outside the western wall of Dubrovnik, Croatia. "Game of Thrones" fans will recognize these doors as entrances to a dwelling in the fictional city of King"s Landing. Legend claims that when the fort was built on this rocky coastal outpost, it took just three months to construct. The locals of what was then Ragusa knew they had limited time before their rivals, the Venetians, would arrive to build their own outpost and rule over them. According to "The Chronicles of Ragusa," the plan worked—the fort was completed just as the surprised Venetians arrived in ships heavy with supplies.Desktop Version

Mar 5, 2020The desert blooms

It"s getting to be wildflower season in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. That means it won"t be long before we see blooms from the big daddy of the cactus world—the saguaro. Our homepage pic shows just a glimpse of this amazing succulent. The saguaro is the largest of them all, with some of the oldest specimens reaching more than 50 feet tall. It can hold huge amounts of water—after plentiful rains when it"s fully hydrated, a saguaro can weigh between 3,200 and 4,800 pounds. In the right conditions, it will live more than 100 years, growing arms as it ages, creating that classic cactus profile that"s associated with the desert and Old West.Desktop Version

Feb 16, 2018Dragon dance performed in Chenzhou, Hunan Province, China

This bird’s-eye view of a traditional Chinese dragon dance shows how teams of performers use poles to manipulate the long figure of a dragon, weaving its body in different positions in time with music and loud drumming. Dragons are associated with good luck in China, and dragon dance performances like this are common during Lunar (aka Chinese) New Year festivities, which begin on the first day of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar, or February 16 this year. This will be the Year of the Dog, according to the Chinese zodiac.Desktop Version

Jul 22, 2021Singing praises of the oceans

In Japan, mid-July brings an excuse to head to the beach. That"s because this time of year marks Marine Day (aka Ocean Day), an observance recognizing the close bond the island nation shares with the seas and ocean that surround it. Because Marine Day roughly coincides with the end of the rainy season, it has, over the years, become a sort of unofficial kickoff to the hot summer season. One place sure to attract visitors is the picturesque Minokake-Iwa rock formation seen here, lying off the island of Honshu and its mountainous 31-mile-long Izu Peninsula.Desktop Version

Dec 4, 2018A viewer with a view

The Sphinx Observatory isn’t the highest astronomical observatory on Earth, but it might feel like it to the lucky travelers who visit. To reach the observatory, they take a train up into the Alps, alight at Europe’s highest railway station, and ascend in an elevator tunneled inside the mountain. Once on top, stargazing is the academic focus, but visitors can take in sweeping views from the Sphinx’s 11,716-foot vantage. On either side are the Jungfrau and the Mönch, both members of the ‘four-thousander’ club—mountains that tower at least 4,000 meters (that’s 13,123 feet) above sea level.Desktop Version

May 8, 2021World Migratory Bird Day

For World Migratory Bird Day, we"re looking at a flock of black-tailed godwits in the Netherlands. These shorebirds breed in parts of Europe and Russia, and then migrate to areas in Western Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. A large percentage of the godwit population breeds in the Netherlands, which is why the country voted to make it the national bird in 2015. It"s also captured in paintings by Dutch artists Vermeer and Rembrandt, making the black-tailed godwit as "Dutch as they come," according to the Dutch newspaper Trouw.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

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