Images

Spring wildflowers captured on California's Channel Islands.

The USGS Western Ecological Research Center's Dr. Kathryn McEachern studies plant ecology and restoration on the Channel Islands. Learn more here.

Biological Technician Laura (Laney) White adjusts camera settings during a survey.

The Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is conducting aerial photographic surveys of the ocean off central and southern California to create comprehensive maps of seabird and marine mammal distributions.

View of the ocean off the central California coast at the start of a flight.

The Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is conducting aerial photographic surveys of the ocean off central and southern California to create comprehensive maps of seabird and marine mammal distributions.

Pilot Barry expertly flies the plane at the correct survey speed and altitude to obtain crisp, clear images.

The Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is conducting aerial photographic surveys of the ocean off central and southern California to create comprehensive maps of seabird and marine mammal distributions.

Passing Morro Bay during an aerial photographic survey.

The Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is conducting aerial photographic surveys of the ocean off central and southern California to create comprehensive maps of seabird and marine mammal distributions.

Low clouds over land, but clears skies over the ocean during a test flight in March 2019.

The Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is conducting aerial photographic surveys of the ocean off central and southern California to create comprehensive maps of seabird and marine mammal distributions.

Photograph of museum specimens of the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, Bombus affinis

Camera set-up in the plane before belly port doors are opened for an aerial photographic survey.

The Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is conducting aerial photographic surveys of the ocean off central and southern California to create comprehensive maps of seabird and marine mammal distributions.

Scientists collect carcasses at a wind energy facility to estimate total wildlife mortality at a site.

Mount with black-out curtain used to hold a wireless monitor. This set-up allows technicians to interface with four mini-PCs in real time, allowing them to check data and image quality, and make adjustments when necessary.

Blended photo of a wind and solar energy facilities.

Preparing the Partenavia aircraft to leave Oxnard Airport for a survey.

The Seabird Studies Team at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center is conducting aerial photographic surveys of the ocean off central and southern California to create comprehensive maps of seabird and marine mammal distributions.

 USGS field biologist Andrea Mott displays a recently marked Lesser Snow Goose.

Biological Technician Laura (Laney) White and Research Biologist, Josh Adams install a newly modified camera mount for in flight testing. This mount tilts forward and back to minimize glare and improve image quality.

Two young golden eagles fight in the snow. In the winter, eagles tend to scavenge for food as prey become scarce.

A Basic II bald eagle on the left fights with a golden eagle. A Basic IV bald eagle flies away.

This is a young golden eagle in its third winter. Golden eagles generally don't reach adulthood until about their fifth year.

There are two juvenile golden eagles. Golden eagles are one of the largest birds in North America. They have a wingspan from 72.8 to 86.6 inches.

Who's who?  These are print casts of front and back paw prints of a grizzly bear (top) and black bear (bottom). The casts on the right are the front paws of each species; the casts on the left are the back.  How do you tell? 

After Hurricane Michael obliterated Fish Inn, the sea turtle research team's field station, team members salvaged some of the building's floor tiles and made this sea turtle mosaic, which they plan to eventually install in a new field station.

Root nodules are a symbiotic relationship between a plant and nitrogen-fixing bacteria. A symbiotic relationship is one where both organisms benefit. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria change inorganic nitrogen from the air into ammonia, a form of nitrogen most organisms can use.