Look at the sunset: Winter Solstice 2014 Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve

Los Angeles DOES have seasons! Subtle, but specific.

View the stunning sunset at the Winter Solstice for 2014 at the 

Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve.

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 Hikers can get access to the park at the Victory Trailhead at the western terminus of Victory Boulevard in West Hills, CA.

Keri and Michael from The Earth Minute have been here many times. 

 But what a sunset!

Take a walk through the Los Virgenes Open Space from earlier in 2014.

 

Visit us every week to watch more at: TheEarthMinute.com

 

Click For more on the Las Virgenes Open Space.  

In Hot Water - Yellowstone Basin - Visiting Yellowstone National Park

Look and listen to the hot water coming up through the geothermal vents in Yellowstone National Park.

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Yellowstone is constantly changing and singing different songs. 

Take a minute to warm up with some hot water from underground.

Old Faithful Geyser

 See more of Yellowstone at TheEarthMinute.com

Meet a Channel Island Fox

The endangered Channel Island fox (Urocyon littoralis) is only found on six of California's Channel Islands and no where else in the world. To survive on islands with limited resources, the island fox is an opportunistic omnivore–he eats a wide variety of insects, small animals, and native fruit.

Watch this San Clemente Island fox (Urocyon littoralis clementae) hunting for beetles and beetle larva.

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Recent research on island fox diet reveals differences in primary foods between the six subspecies of island fox (more on island fox diet). Each island habitat offers different food resources and the various island fox subspecies have adapted to survive on what their island home has to offer. All island foxes, however, rely on insects.

Their keen sense of smell and hearing helps them locate even the tiniest prey, while their small teeth function like precision tweezers to pick up grubs and beetles.

Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park

See where island foxes live on Santa Cruz Island and San Nicolas Island. Find out more about Channel Island foxes and conservation efforts at islandfox.org.

More Earth Minute animal close-ups
 

Visit The Earth Minute each week to discover other wild places and wildlife.

Take a Wildlife Cruise on the Yellow Water, Kakadu, Australia

There are few places in the world with the primal feel of Kakadu. Take a cruise along the Yellow Water at sunset; Discover the birds and crocodiles that call it home.

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forest kingfisher (Todiramphus macleayil)

Kakadu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory is an area of humid forest and extensive wetlands. It is a sacred place to the Aboriginal people and a World Heritage Site.

Here thousands of birds shelter in the wetlands and forest, while saltwater crocodiles lounge along the river banks and fiercely protect territory.

female saltwater crocodile

In a two-hour cruise with an Aboriginal guide, we saw thirty-five species of birds, including: five species of heron/egrets and three species of kingfishers.

little kingfisher

 The little kingfisher (Ceyx pusillus) is the smallest kingfisher in the world. This tiny hunter is only the size of a hummingbird, yet it plunges down into the water to grab minnows with the same skill as its larger relatives.

Kakadu is a special wild place, one not to be missed. We planned our whole visit there using their amazing website http://www.parksaustralia.gov.au/kakadu/

More Earth Minutes with Australian birds:
Seabirds on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

More Earth Minutes in Australia

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