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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
Feeling lazy? Today s your day.
Feeling lazy? Today s your day.
Isn"t it odd that many of us don"t have to work on Labor Day, but International Sloth Day is just another Wednesday? If you"re moving slowly today, that"s just fine: You"re outpacing today"s homepage subject, which spends 90% of its time scarcely moving a muscle.Desktop Version
Welcome to Scotland s garden
Welcome to Scotland s garden
Today, we"re in the "Garden of Scotland," better known as the East Lothian region, to pay homage to the area"s agricultural roots on Lammas Day. Also known as Loaf Mass Day, it"s an observance that marks the beginning of the harvest season and is traditionally celebrated on August 1. The holiday is descended from the ancient British tradition known during the Middle Ages as the Gule of August and was gradually incorporated into the Christian liturgy celebrating Holy Communion. It gets its name from loaves of bread baked from the first harvested grain of the season each year.Desktop Version
A toast to California!
A toast to California!
Today we"re celebrating the 169th anniversary of the Golden State"s admission into the Union with an appropriately golden image of a Central Coast winery and landscape. In 1850, just 14 months after the peace treaty ending the Mexican-American War ceded most of California along with a large portion of western territory to the US, the former self-proclaimed California Republic became the 31st state. California is one of only six states admitted to the Union without first being recognized as a US territory. Some link this to the California Gold Rush, which began in January 1848 and rapidly increased the California population by more than 1,000 percent.Desktop Version
Just another day in paradise
Just another day in paradise
It takes some effort to reach the stunning Nā Pali Coast on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Located on the island"s northwest side and stretching about 16 miles, Nā Pali isn"t accessible by car. You have to hike in, fly in by helicopter, or come at it from the sea by boat. In the summer, when the waves are calm, you can explore the rugged coast by kayak, but you"ll need a solid supply of muscle power for the sometimes-grueling paddle. If you seek a gentler approach—and if COVID restrictions allow—book a boat trip to explore the interiors of the sea caves that dot the shore. Today, we"re looking down on the Bright Eye sea cave, one of several caves on the Nā Pali Coast that lost their ceilings to the pounding of the sea.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
Juniper Springs, Florida
Juniper Springs, Florida
Yes, the water here is as inviting as it looks: clear as glass, the shade of a precious gem, and a perfect 73 degrees every day of the year. Set within a subtropical forest, Juniper Springs is one of Florida"s oldest and best-known recreation areas, established in the 1930s as a place to camp, hike, and swim. Long before Disney arrived, natural springs like this one were the big draw in the Sunshine State.Desktop Version
From garden to table?
From garden to table?
Depending on where you live, you may know these snails as Burgundy, Roman, or edible snails. Yes, that last name acknowledges that these garden dwellers are often prepared as a food item, usually called ‘escargot’—the French word for ‘snail.’ In late spring and early summer, the adult snails will lay eggs and cover them up, leaving the young to hatch and survive on their own. Given that the adult snail in our photo is 1.5 inches tall, it puts the juvenile snail’s size into perspective.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
In praise of the old…the very old
In praise of the old…the very old
What better way to honor National Fossil Day than with this amazing dragonfly! It"s rare to find one in such exquisite condition, but this one was discovered in Solnhofen, Germany, where limestone deposits preserved some of the most detailed fossils ever found—including the birdlike dinosaur called Archaeopteryx. This dragonfly was preserved in the Solnhofen limestone about 150 million years ago in the Jurassic Period. It measures about 5.5 inches across.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
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
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
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
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
Monarch butterflies migrate south
Monarch butterflies migrate south
Fall sets in motion a journey of some 3,000 miles for these monarch butterflies, which migrate from southern Canada to their wintering habitat in central Mexico. There, they cluster together in fir trees, creating the illusion of orange, fluttering foliage. They’ll remain in their winter roosts until March, when the journey back north begins. But no one individual monarch will complete the full roundtrip, which exceeds the normal monarch lifespan; instead it will take four generations of monarchs to complete the full migration, each individual seemingly driven by an internal compass that guides its flight path.Desktop Version
Kangaroo family for National Hugging Day
Kangaroo family for National Hugging Day
Whether you call it a hug or an embrace, there is something about the power of touch that all mammals can relate to. Take this mommy kangaroo and her joey for example—no words are needed to convey what is going on in this image. Not only does this cute pair give us the warm and fuzzies, it"s also a perfect visual for National Hugging Day, which we are celebrating today. This warm-hearted occasion was created in 1986 by a man named Kevin Zaborney, who chose Jan 21 because it fell after the run of year-end holidays, landing right in the middle of winter when spirits tend to be low. That makes perfect sense to us! After all, hugging has been an essential part of the human experience for thousands of years. And studies have shown that it reduces stress, too. So find yourself a willing partner today and hug it out. You"ll feel better, we promise.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
Water colors
Water colors
Xiechi Lake in Yuncheng, China, has such a high level of salinity, it"s sometimes called China"s Dead Sea. But unlike the Dead Sea in the Middle East, Xiechi Lake supports abundant microscopic life: algae and other microorganisms that have a high tolerance for the salt. In summer and autumn, the lake temperature is high enough to spark algae blooms, bringing a variety of intense colors to the lake water.Desktop Version
Take this for a spin...
Take this for a spin...
In 1851, when French physicist Léon Foucault performed his pendulum experiment in Paris, he became the first to prove what many scientists of his day already suspected—that the Earth spins on an axis. He conducted his first experiments 170 years ago, in early January 1851, with a relatively small prototype in the cellar of his home. Just a month later, Foucault performed his most famous pendulum demonstration, using a 62-pound spherical weight attached to a 220-foot wire, which was hung from the dome of the Panthéon, a Parisian monument. As the pendulum swung back and forth in a fixed plane, the pointed end of the weight traced lines in a compass-like circle of sand below it. As time passed, the angle of these lines began to change, demonstrating to onlookers that the Earth itself was rotating underneath the pendulum, and by extension, everyone watching was rotating as well, spinning on the surface of the great blue marble around its axis.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
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
Mont-Saint-Michel
Mont-Saint-Michel
Rising majestically out of the bay, Mont-Saint-Michel is once again a true island, at least during high tides. A crude, elevated causeway built in the 19th century once connected Mont-Saint-Michel to the mainland, allowing visitors to walk across to the spectacular rock. But in 2014, the causeway was removed and replaced by an elegant, curving bridge above the tidal flats. Now water flows freely around the monument at high tide, making the tiny island fortress a real island for the first time in more than a century.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