Totally Thames Festival, London

Sep 1, 2024


Totally Thames Festival, London © Puthipong Worasaran/Getty Images

Welcome to the Totally Thames Festival in London, England. Each year, it brings together communities, artists, and nature enthusiasts in a month-long tribute to the river. Highlights for 2024 include the annual boat marathon, Great River Race, and the Clean Thames Challenge.

River Thames, England, United Kingdom

The River Thames, the longest river entirely in England, has more than 80 islands along its course. Starting in Gloucestershire and winding through cities like Oxford, Windsor, and in today's image, London, it flows for more than 340 kilometres before merging with the North Sea. With a range of freshwater and near seawater habitats, the river is a haven for an array of wildlife like mute swans and bottlenose dolphins. The lower stretches of the river, known as the Tideway, extend up to Teddington Lock, reflecting its extensive tidal reach. From Oxford to its estuary, the river descends 55 metres. Although the Thames flows through some of the drier regions of mainland Britain and is heavily tapped for drinking water, its discharge is relatively low compared to its size.

brown bear

© Bing /Getty

A photographer happened to catch these brown bear cubs in the act of stealing a boat. Patiently, he watched from afar, snapping photo after photo. Realizing what the cubs were doing, he knew he should document this event. Intent on getting the boat into the water, the cubs worked like they’d done this before. Lighting out onto the lake, the bears seemed to enjoy the ride.

Great cormorants

Mar 6, 2022 Bing

Great cormorants © Wilfried Martin/Getty Images

Great cormorants are among the great anglers of the avian world. Found in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and North America, they"re expert at diving under the water"s surface to catch bottom-dwelling fish.

Icelandic horses, Iceland

Mar 6, 2023 bing


Icelandic horses, Iceland © Rodrigo Lourezini/Shutterstock

The Icelandic horse is a small, unique breed that arrived alongside the first Norse settlers in this island country sometime between 860 and 935 CE. More than 1,000 years later, they remain purebred thanks to strict regulations prohibiting the importation of horses. And once exported, they can never come back—rules designed to stop the spread of disease.

Harbinger of spring

Mar 6, 2020 bing


Hello, harbinger of spring © Jason Savage/Tandem Stills + Motion

Welcome back, little mountain bluebird. Although this bright fellow may be enduring the last of this year"s snow in Yellowstone National Park, his presence means winter will soon be ending. The bluebird is a symbol of happiness and a welcome sign of spring in many cultures. Soon other migratory birds will arrive in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem—an 18-million-acre tract that includes Grand Teton National Park and surrounding national forests. It"s the world"s largest intact ecosystem in the northern temperate zone. What exactly does that mean? Since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone 25 years ago, all the animal species that were first documented by European explorers can still be found here.

It's superb owl Sunday

Feb 7, 2021 bing


It's superb owl Sunday © rollandgelly/Getty Images

These two great gray owls look like they're ready to play, which seems fitting on Super Bowl (or "superb owl") Sunday. Great grays are bigger than most other owls, with broad wings and long tails. But before you pencil them in at the offensive line, consider that most of their size comes from feathers—they"re relative lightweights, tipping the scales at under 3 pounds on average, less than most other large owls. They generally live in pine and fir forests with meadows nearby, hunting small rodents at night and avoiding areas with people. Great grays hunt by listening and watching from a perch, then swooping down on their prey—sometimes plunging into more than a foot of snow to make a diving catch.

Halo around the sun

Jan 30, 2022 bing


Halo around the sun © Martin Ruegner/Getty Images

What do you call a rainbow formed by ice? An icebow, of course. Others call the phenomenon a halo, and we'll admit it does have a mystical aura. Halos can occur when ice crystals suspended in the air refract light into a colorful ring around the bright sun. That's what's happening in the cold atmosphere here in the Ore Mountains along the Czech-German border. It's a perfect complement to the snow angels you"re yearning to make in this pristine blanket of white.