Bing Images archive 2025/12

2025-12-01Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska, United States

On 2 December 1980, the United States passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), a landmark law that reshaped America"s conservation history. With one sweeping law, more than 40 million hectares of Alaska"s wild lands gained lasting protection, like the Wrangell–St Elias National Park and Preserve, seen here, now the largest national park in the country. ANILCA balanced preservation with tradition, safeguarding ecosystems while honouring rural subsistence rights.
2025-12-02Sandhill cranes, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

Every December, as morning unfolds, a chorus of rattling calls fills the marshes of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. This 231 square kilometres sanctuary in central New Mexico prepares to stage one of nature"s most stirring performances as sandhill cranes return from their seasonal journey. Soon, tens of thousands of snow geese and other migratory birds join the scene, filling the sky with movement and sound.
2025-12-03Indian Navy Day

Indian naval ships once moved across the Arabian Sea under cover of night in December 1971 during the Indo-Pak War. Their course led toward Karachi, a crucial port for fuel and supplies. Indian missile boats carried out a carefully planned mission and returned home unharmed, shifting the tide of the conflict and marking a defining moment at sea. It remains one of the most significant chapters in India"s maritime story.
2025-12-04Maya site of Copán

In a quiet valley of western Honduras lie the ruins of Copán—a city of the ancient Maya civilisation. Its sky served as both compass and calendar, guiding celestial events and shaping temples, rituals and the rhythm of life. Around 426 CE, K"inich Yax K"uk" Mo", a warrior from the Maya heartland, founded Copán and established its royal dynasty. The city became a centre of Maya art, astronomy and power.
2025-12-05Everglades National Park, Florida, United States

On Florida"s southern tip lies one of the United States" most unusual landscapes. The Everglades is not a typical swamp or river. It is a slow, shallow sheet of water that drifts south across flat grasslands toward Florida Bay, linking forests, marshes, mangroves and coastal prairies. This subtropical wilderness supports hundreds of species, including alligators, manatees and the endangered Florida panther. Spanning over 6000 square kilometres, it is one of the largest wetland ecosystems in North America—a place where land, sky and water meet in constant motion.
2025-12-06A pine forest in Alsace, France

In December, the forests of Alsace, in France"s Grand Est region, wrap themselves in a veil of fog, as if nature were holding its breath before winter. Between Scots pines and silver firs, the moss-covered ground muffles every step, and silence feels almost sacred. These woodlands, which cover nearly 40% of Alsace, shelter a rich biodiversity: roe deer, wild boar, black woodpeckers, and sometimes the elusive lynx, which has returned after decades of absence.
2025-12-07Christmas lights on buildings of Domaso, Lake Como, Italy

When the twinkling reflections on Italy"s Lake Como outshine the stars, you know Christmas has docked in Domaso. Once a fishing village, this lakeside town now transforms each winter into a glittering display of holiday cheer, where pastel houses, old churches and waterfront villas are wrapped in ribbons of light. The result? A picturesque Christmas scene.
2025-12-08Guanaco, Punta Norte, Valdés Peninsula, Argentina

If llamas are the laid-back stars of the Andes, their cousins, the guanacos, are the free spirits of Patagonia. Guanacos are part of the same camelid family as llamas, alpacas and vicuñas. But unlike their domesticated relatives, they keep things wild. Found mainly in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia, they"re built for life at high altitude. Their thick coats help them handle chilly winds, while their padded feet give them the grip to trek across rocky terrain that would make even mountain goats nervous.
2025-12-09Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Andalusia, Spain

The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba is a chronicle of Spain"s layered history. It began as a church built by the Germanic Visigoths, before being transformed into a mosque in 784 CE by Abd al-Rahman I, founder of the Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba. Its vast hypostyle hall, a space supported by rows of columns, features the famous red-and-white arches shown here. Today, it contains more than 850 columns, many reused from Roman and earlier Visigothic structures.