A female great horned owl returns to her nest cavity with a fresh kill and finds three downy chicks staring back at her. The owlets are maybe three weeks old, still in their grey-white down, eyes locked on the incoming meal. She's brought what looks like a small mammal — likely a ground squirrel ...

Colorado's state flower blooms between 6,000 and 12,000 feet in elevation. The white inner petals and blue outer sepals evolved to attract long-tongued pollinators like hawk moths and hummingbirds. Each plant produces 3 to 15 flowers during its 3 to 4 week bloom period in early summer.

June 8th is World Ocean Day, and this image hits differently knowing what's at stake. Polar bears are marine mammals, their survival is tied directly to sea ice, which is collapsing as ocean temperatures rise. Less ice means fewer hunting platforms, longer swims, and bears burning calories they c...

This juvenile common black hawk sits motionless on a branch, watching the forest floor below. The mottled brown plumage will darken to solid black as it matures over the next two years. Yellow feet grip the moss-covered branch while it waits for crabs, frogs, or fish to move within striking dista...

California quail males wear that single feather plume like a question mark. This one perched on a fence line, completely unbothered by the vineyard flowers growing through the wire. The plume curves forward when they're calm, stands straight up when they're alarmed.

The moon rises over Islas Secas in the Gulf of Chiriquí. Clear skies and minimal light pollution make the Pacific coast of Panama one of the better places to photograph celestial objects without heading to a proper dark sky reserve. The craters along the terminator, the line between light and sha...

Air plants grow on nearly everything in the cloud forests — branches, power lines, fence posts. This bromeliad anchored itself in a fork 15 meters up, pulling moisture directly from the fog that rolls through twice a day. The tree doesn't seem to mind the passenger.

This grey kingbird holds perfectly still on a curved branch, watching for insects in the canopy above. Kingbirds are aggressive flycatchers. They'll chase hawks and crows out of their territory despite being a fraction of the size.

Each petal curves upward like a question mark, still locked together before the flower opens. Leucospermum cordifolium blooms in tight spirals, the structure holding until pollinators arrive. This one was photographed in a at the San Diego Zoo.

This fawn stood perfectly still for about thirty seconds, deciding whether to bolt or keep browsing. The ears tracked me the entire time, rotating independently like radar dishes. She chose browsing.