Images

Dave is the Program Manager of the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) at the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center in Laurel, MD.

Shannon Skalos is a Biologist with the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) at the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center.

Allison Sussman is a Biologist with the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Team (RSGAT) at the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center in Laurel, MD. 

Allison Sussman is a biologist with the USGS EESC in Laurel, MD                

Dave is the Program Manager of the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) at the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center in Laurel, MD.

A conceptual box-and-arrow diagram of avian influenza transmission. In each box, the first letter indicates low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) infection status (susceptible, infected, recovered) and the second indicates highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) infection status.

Diana is a Biological Science Technician at the Eastern Ecological Science Center Patuxent.

A flock of Evening Grosbeaks at a feeder during the winter. 

Photo shows the fall colors along the east side of the river road passing through the riparian hardwood forest dominated by the American beech (Fagus grandifolia) at the Patuxent Research Refuge.

Laurel, Maryland

Fall 2024 Photo Contest Winner: Serguei Drovetski, Honorable Mention

EESC's Fish biologist, Aaron Heisey, holds a shortnose sturgeon (acipenser brevirostrum) caught and released on the Merrimack River outside Lowell, Massachusetts.  This freshwater fish was captured as part of a 2024 population dynamics study.

These tiny balls of energy are sometimes referred to as mice with the way they scurry around the forest floor. During the breeding season, males will sing one of the more complex songs out of North American bird species. Each song lasts 5-10 seconds and consists of unique bubbly notes which the individual will combine and modify over time.  

One can really see how a Golden-crowned Kinglet got their name! This bird was handled and marked at the EESC Bird Banding Lab's Fall Migration Station. 

The sparrows pictured here represent the main sparrow species the EESC Bird Banding Lab’s Fall Migration Station sees each year. And last year, the White-throated Sparrow was the most numerous species banded at the station.

Cassia Busch is a Geneticist at the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center in Kearneysville, WV.

A member of the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory attaches a band to a bird during the Fall Banding Station. 

Sydney is a Biologist and Lab Manager of the USGS Bee Lab at the Eastern Ecological Science Center in Laurel, MD.

Cheyenne Smith (4th from left in front row), a post-doc researcher in Vicki Blazer's lab group, participated in the FEBS (Federation of European Biochemical Societies) Summer School on Advanced Fish Immunology from September 22-28 in Spetses Island, Greece. 

An EESC Intern working with Paula Henry conducts crayfish research at the Eastern Ecological Science Center in Laurel, MD

The hoophouse is where the crayfish research is done at Eastern Ecological Science Center in Laurel, MD

The crayfish in the picture is a New River riffle crayfish (Cambarus chasmodactylus)
 

What’s so cool about this bird? Check out that large seed-cracking, grasshopper-chomping bill, that helps us ID this as a Blue Grosbeak. Based on its plumage, the banders were able to determine this bird was born this year and was caught in the same net as two other young Blue Grosbeaks.