Two rosy-faced lovebirds, found holding hands. Their name comes from the parrots' strong monogamous pair-bonding and the long periods which they spend sitting together. Native to the Namib Desert, they also now thrive naturally in Arizona, where this picture was taken.
Desert bighorn sheep in Colorado National Monument at sunset.
These bighorn sheep were common in Native American rock art, an indication of their presence and prominence in indigenous cultures. Accounts from European explorers in the late 1600's estimate that more than two million desert bighorn once roamed the southwest. However, by the late 1800's bighorn sheep had disappeared or declined in many areas. Extremely vulnerable to diseases from European livestock, wild sheep were decimated by pathogens like scabies and anthrax introduced by domestic sheep. Bighorns were also killed by early explorers, settlers, and trophy hunters. Increased human activity and development continue to threaten the desert bighorn sheep.
A small population was reintroduced to Colorado National Monument in 1979. While more than 230 sheep have been sighted and monitored across the public lands of the Grand Valley, only 40 bighorn thrive in and around Colorado National Monument.
A fogbow off the coast of Maine.
America the Land
2016