Images

Little blue herons are a species recorded in the historical bird phenology cards.

Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) patient from a BEN village in Romania. The photo was taken at a dialysis clinic in Romania where the patient traveled every 2 to 3 days to receive dialysis, the principal treatment option for people with BEN. This patient died from complications of BEN within a year after this photo was taken in 2000.

Nikola Pavlovic, a kidney specialist and a USGS collaborator on Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) studies from Serbia, is shown exposing a small Pliocene lignite bed near a BEN village in the Vratza area of Bulgaria. The Pliocene lignite seams vary greatly in size and extent. BEN villages are always close to these Pliocene lignite deposits.

Deschauensee's Anaconda (Eunectes deschauenseei). The snake pictured is a representative of a species discussed in the USGS snake risk assessment. This snake was photographed in its native range.

Brutus, a wolf being studied by USGS scientists, separates from his pack mates and appears to be heading back to the den. He stops at the head of the fiord and howls for 2-3 minutes. The scientists track his progress with binoculars past the river where they cannot go. They suspect that his mate has returned to the den, and that Brutus will join her there.

Brutus, a wolf being studied by USGS scientists, is chemically immobilized, measured, ear-tagged, and fitted with a radio collar near the Eureka airstrip on Ellesmere Island in the High Arctic, Nunavut, Canada.

Massachusetts inner continental shelf bottom photograph showing seafloor life.

Collecting sediment to look for evidence of forage fish (sand lance and/or surf smelt) spawning (eggs) in Liberty Bay - Puget Sound.

An American Alligator in Everglades National Park. The species was once listed as Endangered, but was removed in 1987 after a successful recovery.

American crocodiles are restricted in their range within the USA to southern Florida. Decisions on restoration of the Everglades must incorporate protection for this threatened species.

Coast Salish Canoe Journey 2009 landing in Pillar Point.
The journey pulled a water quality probe to measure salinity, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen.

Frog in the woods in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.

A prairie wetland at Ordway Prairie near Aberdeen, South Dakota.

USGS microbiologist Maren Tuttle counts hatched northern pike fry.

A male northern pintail duck in Japan.

Chicks and eggs of piping plovers. The piping plover is a small migratory shorebird listed as endangered in Canada and the U.S. Great Lakes, and threatened throughout the remainder of its U.S. breeding and winter range.

An adult piping plover. The piping plover is a small migratory shorebird listed as endangered in Canada and the U.S. Great Lakes, and threatened throughout the remainder of its U.S. breeding and winter range. Recent surveys indicate that there are only about 8,000 adults in existence.

California condors are one of the most endangered birds in North America. In the early 1990s, captive-bred condors were reintroduced into the wild in California. As of January 2010, about 190 condors now live in the wild and more reintroductions are being considered.

Plains bison in winter at Yellowstone National Park.

A distinctive feature of the Bristle-thighed Curlew is its cinnamon-colored rump and tail. This feature helps distinguish curlews from similar species like the Whimbrel (N. phaeopus), particularly in places where the two species overlap in Alaska and Oceania. These curlews migrate long distances each year.

Curlews migrate long distances each year. Captured birds are quickly removed from mist nets and transported to the care of a veterinarian, who performs the implant surgeries to outfit the bird with a tracking device. In June 2007, USGS scientists tagged 13 curlews with satellite transmitters at their southern breeding area in Alaska.