Avian Visitors

From USFWS Pacific Region:

Far in the remote Pacific Ocean, thousands of miles from a major city, Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial's most frequent visitors are the over three million seabirds that call this place home. For those of us without wings, virtual tours and videos can help bring the magic of Midway Atoll to life. Visit our virtual tours page to experience Midway for yourself, http://bit.ly/2kETJx2

#midwaymonday

Photo credit: Megan Nagel/USFWS 




031317

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

From USFWS Pacific Region:

#USFWS #Animal #Bird #Scavenger

MIGRATION ALERT: This turkey vulture may not be a looker, but worth looking at as it passes through our region. After all, worth is much more than feather-deep. Turkey vultures are raptors — dustbins of the desert and open landscapes. Turkey vultures like other raptors are scavengers, cleaning up after more picky eaters. Unlike most birds, these opportunists find a meal using smell, with a sense so keen that just a few parts per trillion tip them off. And, when it's time to eat, they keep clean while cleaning up thanks to a bald head.
When you're out in open country next, look up. See a large bird riding the thermals with a noticeable wobble with wings raised in a “v” shape? It’s a turkey vulture serving its landscape, one carcass at a time.
Photo credit: Roy Lowe/USFWS 





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Little Fire Ant

From USFWS Pacific Region:

Sometimes, a name is all it takes to know what something is all about. A name like “little fire ant” doesn’t leave much to the imagination. This critter may be tiny, but it’s definitely no fun. Meet todays invasive species villain, the little fire ant, as part of our National Invasive Species Awareness Week campaign. 
From the ant’s native home in Central and South America, berths on potted plants have brought it to the Pacific. Populations on Guam and the Hawaiian islands now harm humans, their pets, and other native insects. A sting from one e of these ants brings an acute pain, with intense itching lasting two weeks or more. Encounters with large infestations only multiplies the experience. These ants are difficult to detect on or under clothing and are easily dislodged from trees and plants while gardening. Multiple stings in pets’ eyes can eventually lead to blindness. And of course, like other invasives, they outcompete and displace their native counterparts. To learn more, including ways to prevent their spread: http://bit.ly/2m5cjND
Photo credit: Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources
#NISAW 

The Greater Banded Hornet

From USFWS Pacific Region:

When it comes to disposition, the greater banded hornet makes other wasps seem like gentle butterflies and their stings feel like a pat on the back. It’s a mean one alright, and folks beyond the wasp’s native range of Southeast Asia are being painfully acquainted.
With two populations recently discovered on Guam, the greater banded hornet is a new invasive species to be reckoned with. These large, quarter-sized wasps are very aggressive with a particularly painful sting. They can be identified by a distinct,bright yellow band around the abdomen. Because invasive species out-compete their native counterparts and destroy native plants and habitat, the greater banded hornet stings in more ways than one.
So that’s another villain in our National Invasive Species Awareness Week campaign. #NISAW
Photo credit: Chris Jacobs

022817

Who Do You Tern To On Valentine's Day?

From USFWS Pacific Region:

Who do you tern to on #ValentinesDay?

This pair of white terns are just two of the many different seabirds that rely on Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge, part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. The Refuge provides a safe place for seabirds to rest, forage, or raise their chicks. Learn more:http://1.usa.gov/1V9TIsC
Share with someone you care about <3
Pacific Islands Fish & Wildlife Office

Quilcene National Fish Hatchery in Washington State's Olympic Peninsula

From USFWS Pacific Region:

Happy #Fryday everyone! These coho fry come to you all the way from Quilcene National Fish Hatchery in Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. And, #FunFact, did you know that Quilcene has been in operation since 1911?! That is more than a century of producing the next generation of fish for the next generation of Americans! 
Photo credit: Ron Wong/USFWS 

Sandhill Cranes ||

From USFWS Pacific Region:

Whether it’s their sleek silhouettes overhead, or their caps of crimson in the field on yonder that draw your eyes to them, it’s difficult to find a bird on migration that surpasses the sandhill crane’s elegance. Listen for their low and rattling bugle as they pass through our region soon. Find a audio example of their calls here: http://bit.ly/2jo3hfb
Photo credit: Justine Belson/USFWS 




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Green Sea Turtles |

From USFWS Pacific Region:

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is the newest co-trustee of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument! The Monument is the largest, contiguous, fully protected conservation area in the U.S. and encompasses 583,000 square miles of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The Monument is managed by OHA, Hawaii DLNR (Department of Land and Natural Resources), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Click here for the press release from Governor David Ige:http://bit.ly/2isibPa or here, to learn more about the Monument: http://bit.ly/2jEw5LV

Green sea turtles bask on the warm beach of Midway Atoll Refuge and Memorial within the Monument. Photo credit: Dan Clark/USFWS 




011317

Habitat Conservation

From USFWS Pacific Region:

On the eleventh day of #Fishmas, collaboration gave to us sagebrush conservation in ELEVEN states! The 11 western states with sagebrush-steppe habitat and sage grouse are: Oregon, Washington, California (northern), Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, North and South Dakota. The sagebrush ecosystem is one of the most imperiled in the U.S. At one time, it spread over 62 million hectares (240,000 square miles) of the west, but today has shrunk to almost half, with 56 percent remaining. Today’s focus on saving sage grouse strongholds represents a historic opportunity to conserve and revitalize what remains, working cooperatively to achieve win-win solutions for people and wildlife.
Photo credit: Rick McEwan




12-23-16 

Threatened Oregon Silverspot Butterfly

From USFWS Pacific Region:

Imagine walking through an open meadow along the Oregon coastline and you are surrounded by butterflies with wings of yellow-orange fluttering all around you. This enchanting scene is closer to becoming a reality as the Service and partners are proposing to re-establish two populations of the threatened Oregon silverspot butterfly. The locations identified for potential reintroduction are Saddle Mountain State Natural Area and Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Read all about it at http://bit.ly/2i5CFeK




12-22-16

Nine Million Baby Salmon

From USFWS Pacific Region:

On the 9th day of #Fishmas Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery in Washington State gave to us nearly NINE million baby salmon! There are thousands of hatcheries in the United States, including those run by state, local, and Tribal entities. Each of these hatcheries make a vital economic, cultural, and recreational contribution to our country and ensure that future generations of Americans enjoy future generations of fish. Get behind the scenes at a National Fish Hatchery here:http://bit.ly/fishhatchmap 
Photo credit: Florian Granie




12-21-16


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The Burrowing Owl

From USFWS Pacific Region:

While owls conjure imaginative scenes of bright-eyed birds hooting at the moon and swooping from the stars, some species are daytime denizens. The burrowing owl pictured is one such bird, running across open fields for insects in the sunshine when not otherwise tending to its burrow. 
Right now, birders in Portland, Oregon are seeing a burrowing owl at Metro's Broughton Beach, a stretch of Columbia Riverbank across the Portland International Airport. Today’s #100BirdWalks adventure is a leisurely walk along the trail heading east towards the Sea Scouts Base for those who prefer early bedtimes but want to see owls. Park info: http://bit.ly/2hRS1G7
Photo credit: William Radke/USFWS




12-20-16

5th Day of Fishmas

From USFWS Pacific Region:

On the 5th day of #Fishmas partnership gave to us nearly FIVE million sagebrush seedlings for sagebrush habitat restoration! The U.S. Forest Service's Lucky Peak Nursery, based near Boise, Idaho, is making a difference to agencies’ efforts to restore sagebrush habitat. Since fall 2015, the nursery has grown 4.7 million sagebrush seedlings that are being replanted at the U.S. Army Yakima Training Center in Washington and USFS andBureau of Land Management managed public lands in Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon. Lucky Peak Nursery will be growing the seeds for the South Fork Boise River Post-Fire Restoration Project. Planting of sagebrush and bitterbrush will occur in FY17, benefitting sage-grouse habitat as well as big game winter range in the sagebrush steppe. Partners on this project are Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG). #SagebrushSaturday#350Species
Photo by Jeremy R. Roberts, Conservation Media

#USFWS 





12-18-16

4th Day of Fishmas

From USFWS Pacific Region:

On the 4th day of #Fishmas, National Wildlife Refuges gave to us FOUR marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean, including the world’s largest marine protected area, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. With the expansion of Papahānaumokuākea, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now manages the largest system of lands and waters set aside for the conservation of wildlife and wild places - over 852 million acres. 
Photo: Mark Sullivan/NOAA
Read the full story here: http://bit.ly/2hPEoYu

Amakihi

From USFWS Pacific Region:

Head up-country this weekend. Just a day away from #AlohaFriday, it’s time to start thinking about it! The upland Maui forests on the slopes of Haleakala take cool to a whole new level at the foot of the “House of the Rising Sun”. Today’s walk in our series of #100BirdWalks brings you to the Waiakoa Loop Trail off of Highway 37 past Pukalani to see incredible Hawaiian forestbirds. 
Shaded by native plants and trees, Haleakala’s flanks are home to Amakihi and Alauahio - brightly colored forestbirds unique to Hawaii. Time and isolation have made these birds uniquely distinctive. Now that’s cool! Find trail information here: http://bit.ly/2hLkApj
Photo; Amakihi, Noah Kahn/USFWS

#USFWS #Bird 




12-15-16

Second Day of Fishmas

From USFWS Pacific Region:

On the second day of #Fishmas, collaboration gave to us TWO National Wildlife Refuges working together to downlist the Columbian white-tailed deer from endangered to threatened. The combined efforts between the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, states of Washington and Oregon, conservation groups, volunteers and the Service have reduced threats and secured populations of deer. The announcement took place at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, illuminating the essential role that Ridgefield NWR and Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer played in the recovery of the deer. http://bit.ly/CWTDEvent
Photo credit: USFWS

#USFWS 

Trumpeter Swans

From USFWS Pacific Region:

Trumpeter swans are the feature of this walk in our series of #100Birdwalks. At the foot of Idaho’s Picabo Hills sits Silver Creek Preserve, 15 miles south of Bellevue, 
Begin at the preserve’s visitor center, and take a self-guided walk along Silver Creek. As many as 150 species of birds have been identified along this trail, but right now, trumpeter swans easily take center stage. At six feet in length from bill to tail, these birds really stand out, Trumpeter swans are America’s biggest waterfowl, at twice the size of tundra swans. Learn more about the preserve here: http://bit.ly/2hiSpgs
Don’t forget - share your experience by using the hashtag #iBirdBecause on social media for all to see.
Photo credit: Tom Koerner/USFWS

#USFWS


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Dusky Canada Geese

From USFWS Pacific Region:

Whether the weather is #snowpocalypse or #snowmageddon to the human residents of northwest Oregon and southwest Washington, the dusky Canada geese at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, call today’s snow flurries “business as usual”. Despite the chill, Winter is a great season for birding at the refuge. Come see these rare and special geese, and so much more! Learn more: http://bit.ly/1QGnd1x
Photo: dusky Canada geese, George Gentry/USFWS

#USFWS #Goose 


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Endangered Meadowfoam (Limnanthes floccosa ssp. grandiflora)

From USFWS Pacific Region:

This little flower has a large name. the large-flowered woolly Meadowfoam (Limnanthes floccosa ssp. grandiflora). Did you know that this endangered species is getting new habitat in Oregon's Jackson County, to help it thrive? The Rogue River Recovery Land Acquisition Project received a $500,000 grant from the USFWS to help acquire a 352-acre property, including two miles along the Rogue River. Our partners at theSouthern Oregon Land Conservancy will use this grant, funded under the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund, to ensure the areas exceptional natural characteristics will be protected and enhanced in perpetuity. This acquisition will permanently protect habitat for more than 100 species of birds and 300 plant species like the endangered meadowfoam. Learn more about this project and others at https://www.fws.gov/pacific/highlights_archive/Feature.cfm?id=14291

#USFWS


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White Tern

From USFWS Pacific Region:

Are you a Honolulu resident wanting to become a #BirdNerd but wondering how? Check out this great opportunity on Dec. 10 from 7-8:80am at Kapiolani Park; Introduction to Birding with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’ Keith Swindle in partnership with the Hawai‘i Audubon Society.
Learn how to watch for birds and become acquainted with some of the common birds of Honolulu. Get familiarized with using binoculars and identifying birds using field markers such as shape, size, color, habitat, and behavior. This will be a good opportunity for kids, novice and casual birdwatchers, and people new to the Honolulu area. More experienced birders wanting to share their expertise are also welcome to join. This slow-paced walk will last about an hour over flat ground. Contact hiaudsoc@pixi.com for more information and to RSVP.
Happy birding! #BirdYear #100BirdWalks
Photo: white tern, Kydd Pollock

#USFWS


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