Photograph by Musadeq Sadeq, AP Images

December 2012

Afghanistan—Overnight snowfall slows the pace of a Monday-morning commute in residential Kabul. The street is lined with flags heralding the opening of the Afghan parliament.

Photograph by Sergey Anisimov

December 2012

Russia—Rosy from the bitter cold, the children of reindeer herders pause during play on the windswept tundra of Russia’s Yamal Peninsula. Their coats, called malitsas, are sewn from reindeer hide, with the fur facing inward.

Photograph by Steve Mills

December 2012

United Kingdom—A merlin turns momentarily from the snipe in its grip after an attack on moorland near Whitby, in northern England. The raptor eats small birds, along with occasional mammals and insects.

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Photograph by Amer Hilabi, AFP/Getty Images

November 2012

Saudi Arabia—Flooded with light as dusk signals the near end of daylong fasting, Mecca’s Great Mosque brims with Muslims performing the umrah pilgrimage during Ramadan. As with the sacred hajj, they circle around the cube-shaped Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site.

Photograph by Jasper Juinen, Getty Images

November 2012

Spain—Heat engulfs a horse—dampened to prevent burning—as it races through a bonfire during Las Luminarias de San Antón in San Bartolomé de Pinares. The ritual, held the night before a festival for blessing animals, is thought to purify horses.

Photograph by Tamas Dezso

November 2012

Romania—On a rural stretch near Odobeşti, a teenager sets off at dawn to saw logs at the homes and farms of local residents. Wintertime brings demand in the area for woodcutters’ help in preparing fuel for heating and cooking.

Photograph by Michaela Rehle, Reuters

October 2012

Germany—High above Bavaria's Zugspitze mountain, Swiss tightrope artist Freddy Nock nears the end of his 2011 quest to walk a two-inch-thick, 3,264-foot-long cable without a balancing pole. He succeeded, as photographers looked on.

Photograph by Parivartan Sharma, Reuters

October 2012

India—Suspended in a hammock, a boy slumbers peacefully in the noontime heat of a summer day. His family relaxes nearby on a roadside in Uttar Pradesh.

Photograph by EPA/Corbis

October 2012

India—At twilight on floodwaters from the Brahmaputra River, a fisherman maneuvers a net on bamboo poles to catch fish for local consumption. The site lies near the city of Guwahati, a key river port in northeast India.

Photograph by Anup Shah, Nature Picture Library

September 2012

Indonesia—Empty-handed after a trip to a feeding area, Doyok the orangutan hangs out in Borneo's Tanjung Puting National Park. The rehabilitated primate was released into the wild some 20 years ago but occasionally returns for a bit of banana and milk.

Photograph by Ricky Alexander

September 2012

China—A Mongol boy's ebullience bubbles over on a traditional swing made of rope and a pillow seat. The afternoon flight takes place under his brother's steady hand in Hemu, a rural village in the northwest region of Xinjiang.

Photograph by Corey Arnold

September 2012

United States—A chocolate chip cookie tempts a wild raccoon from the forest to the steps of a bed-and-breakfast near the Oregon coast. In the Pacific Northwest the mostly nocturnal mammals typically range between 10 and 25 pounds.

Photograph by Seth Casteel, Tandem Stock

August 2012

United States—It's splashdown for Lulu, a Parson Russell terrier playing underwater fetch in a Phoenix, Arizona, pool. The clinching moment required familiarity with the photographer, about ten dive attempts, aquatic acuity, and perfect timing.

Photograph by Jody MacDonald

August 2012

India—Trees infused with sunlight dwarf an early morning visitor to the rain forest on Havelock Island. Rajan, an Asian elephant retired from logging, takes the stroll as part of his daily routine and occasionally swims in the Andaman Sea.

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Photograph by Chinafotopress/Getty Images

August 2012

China—On his way to second place in a bee-wearing contest in Hunan Province, a contestant disappears beneath a carpet of insects lured by a queen bee in a cage. A scale he was standing upon tallied his total take: about 50 pounds of bees.

Photograph by Lance Booth, Daily Herald

July 2012

United States—July means frolicking with goggles in a spray of firefighting foam in Lehi, Utah. The tradition, now in its fourth year, takes place this month to celebrate Pioneer Day, a state holiday honoring the 1847 arrival of Mormons in the Salt Lake Valley.

Photograph by Joel Sartore

July 2012

United States—Though more than a century old, these bird eggs retain a fresh palette at the University of Nebraska State Museum. The specimens, whose contents were emptied via shell holes, include a large one from a white-necked raven (far right) and five blue wood thrush eggs (far left).

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Photograph by Nick Ansell, Press Association/AP Images

July 2012

United Kingdom—On a snow-carpeted field in Essex County's Weald Country Park, a young fallow deer pauses to groom while foraging. Known as a pricket at this stage, he sports his first set of antlers—simple spikes of hard bone.

Photograph by Matthieu Paley

June 2012

Djibouti—Stamped into parched desert territory near the Somali border, patches of artificial grass provide tiny oases for teeing off at Golf Club de la Douda. Annual rainfall in the African republic averages around just six inches.

Photograph by Tessa Bunney

June 2012

United Kingdom—A "sea pool" constructed along a stretch of rocky coast invites refreshing dips in the Cornish village of Mousehole. Such pools, filled by seawater at high tide, were popular in the U.K. during the 1930s. Today some 30 of them remain in use.

Photograph by Kevin Kunstadt

June 2012

Italy—Sawtooth peaks in the Dolomites, part of the eastern Alps, give way to a bucolic field—a resting spot for hikers and, at times, grazing cattle. The towering pinnacles of Grosse Fermeda (front) and Sass Rigais (rear) rise more than 9,000 feet.

Photograph by Alvaro Sanchez-Montañes

May 2012

Morocco—Practice makes perfect, even for dogs. With a single bound, this one clears the gap in a beach wall in the coastal town of Essaouira. Takeoff was preceded by a running start, a tug of the leash, and several practice jumps.

Photograph by Jim Lo Scalzo

May 2012

United States—A dead athel tree, bathed in moonlight in a long night exposure, attests to former fertility on what is now a salt pan at the edge of the Salton Sea. Salinity at the California lake, 231 feet below sea level, is some 50 percent greater than the Pacific Ocean's.

Photograph by Michael Milicia

May 2012

United States—On Massachusetts's Plum Island, a piping plover plumps for one of its primary roles following the hatching of its chicks: warm cover. Though able to feed on their own within a few hours, the fledglings need help maintaining their body temperature.

Photograph by José Antonio Martínez

April 2012

Spain—A poppy's ardent color provides the perfect complement to a brilliantly hued Psilothrix beetle. Springtime foraging is common for the insect in the semidesert Bardenas Reales, a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

Photograph by Nancie Battaglia, Sports Illustrated/Getty Images

April 2012

United States—On Fourth Lake in New York's Adirondacks, a crush of 1,902 canoes and kayaks attempts to break a "largest raft" world record. Rules dictate that the mega­structure float freely for at least 30 seconds, held together only by hands.

Photograph by Andrea Gjestvang, Moment

April 2012

Greenland—Snow-covered ice saturated with winter twilight sets the stage for recreational soccer in the village of Aappilattoq. Athletic moves in bundles of warm clothing can prove more challenging than maneuvering on the frozen surface.

Photograph by Bruce Farnsworth

March 2012

United States—With aquatic tails plus full sets of legs, western spadefoot tadpoles display the magic of metamorphosis. Just days away from terrestrial life, these pollywogs will not eat until their tails are completely reabsorbed into their bodies.

Photograph by Jung Yeon-Je, AFP/Getty Images

March 2012

South Korea—Rings of smoke pierce the air during a military exercise near the Demilitarized Zone. The South Korean tank, loosely camouflaged with tree branches, fires smoke shells amid man-made mounds of dirt.

Photograph by Joel Sartore

March 2012

Uganda—On a lodge terrace in Queen Elizabeth National Park, a photographer's butter and roll prove irresistible to the local lunchtime crowd. East Africa is home to many species of weaverbirds, known for their skill in building nests.

Photograph by Kevin Frayer, AP Images

February 2012

Afghanistan—On drought-pocked earth near Marjah, in the restive Helmand Province, a lone shepherd leads his sheep through a mud wall's gap. Scenes of pastoral grace persist in this agriculturally intensive country, despite strife, insecurity, and dire food shortages.

Photograph by Carolyn Drake, Panos Pictures

February 2012

Tajikistan—Long hair flowing in the Pamir mountain air, two sisters prepare to bathe in a pond near Rushan. Several major ranges radiate from this region, providing water—some of it diverted for irrigation and a growing populace—to much of Central Asia.

Photograph by J. L. Klein and M. L. Hubert, Biosphoto

February 2012

France—On a bright summer morning a captive-bred male harvest mouse perches acrobatically in an Alsace wheat field. This species—the smallest European rodent—boasts a prehensile tail and builds a round nest that resembles a bird's.

Photograph by Muhammed Muheisen, AP Images

January 2012

Spain—At the Feria del Caballo festival in Jerez de la Frontera, an assistant to a rejoneador, or horseback bullfighter, stands in the arena wings with mules used to remove felled bulls. The mules are festooned in traditional Spanish colors.

Photograph by Luke Duggleby, Redux

January 2012

Thailand—Stretching across a temple plaza, seemingly into the infinite, thousands of robed monks are ordained at a ceremony on the Buddhist holy day of Magha Puja. The holiday celebrates a key sermon and a gathering of monks during Buddha's lifetime.

Photograph by Daniel Selmeczi, Steve Bloom Images

January 2012

Indonesia—A flurry of filaments helps camouflage the striated frogfish, a bottom dwelling predator often found in warm, weedy waters. Like its anglerfish relatives, it also employs a dangling lure to seduce fish and other prey into its lair—and gaping mouth.