Images

A three-lined salamander (Eurycea guttolineata) discovered in Prince William Forest Park, VA.

Barred Tiger Salamanders and fathead minnows in amphibian type funnel trap, Kidder County, ND. 

Spectacled Eiders nest along Arctic coasts of Alaska and Russia and on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Alaska. Spectacled eiders arrive on the breeding grounds as pairs in late-May or in June. 

The European green crab (Carcinus maenas), has invaded fisheries in Northern California and in British Columbia, where it may compete with the much more valuable Dungeness crab.

USGS and Virginia Tech scientists captured female northern bats and fitted them with tiny radiotransmitters and numbered armbands. The bats were then released and tracked to determine what roosts they were using. 

Eastern Swallowtail butterfly in a flower garden.

A Gray-cheeked Thrush perched in a shrub. This photo was taken on the Seward Peninsula as part of the Changing Arctic Ecosystem Boreal-Arctic Transition Zone program.

Male Lapland Longspur in the tundra. This photo was taken on the Seward Peninsula as part of the Changing Arctic Ecosystem Boreal-Arctic Transition Zone program.

Eggs collected from pallid sturgeon spawned in hatcheries are placed onto an artificial rock substrate.  Pallid sturgeon eggs are extremely sticky after fertilization and adhere to the artificial substrate, even in a current. 

Lesser black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus) seen during field work in Iceland in 2012.

Roza Dam, on the Yakima River, in Washington State.

Wetlands Reserve Program site in Sabine Parish, Louisiana.  Landowner restored his often-flooded cattle pasture to its natural wetland state by creating shallow water areas, establishing food plots and pollinator plots, and installing wood duck nesting boxes.

Map of historic and current sage-grouse range in 2000, provided as a download from the old USGS Sagemap website.

Researcher lowers an ichthyoplankton sampling net into the Missouri River. 

View of the Green River near New Hradec, North Dakota.

Biologist Dave Combs, holds female pallid sturgeon PLS11-007 recaptured on March 15, 2012.  This female is in reproductive condition and will spawn in the spring of 2012.

Barred owls (Strix varia) have expanded their geographic range from eastern to western North America. Their newly expanded range now completely overlaps that of the federally threatened northern spotted owl (S. occidentalis caurina).

This female Burmese python broke the records for her length -- 17 feet, 7 inches – and the number of eggs she contained: 87. She was first captured in Everglades National Park by USGS researchers in the spring of 2012, when they followed a "Judas snake" -- a male python with a transmitter -- and found her nearby in the bushes.

Fungi growing from soil collected in a cave. Arrow points to Geomyces destuctans, the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats.

Amount of soil (about 200 mg) from which Geomyces destructans was cultured. This shows the small amount of soil needed to harbor live fungus and the threat that humans might pose in moving it around from cave to cave on their gear, boots, and clothing.

A boar of about 260 pounds near Pecan Island, Louisiana, with LOTEK tracking collar attached and ready for release.