Happy 75th anniversary, Coleman National Fish Hatchery!

From USFWS Pacific Southwest Region:

#TBT: Ever caught an adult salmon? They are big! Fish didn't always return to the hatchery, workers used to have to harvest them in the creek and river. Imagine having to pull live fish out of a net. Hard work! Happy 75th anniversary, Coleman National Fish Hatchery! 




020217 

California Least Tern Chick

From USFWS Pacific Southwest Region:

What?! It's February already? Even this California least tern chick is giving this flying year the side eye.😒 Learn more about the California least tern:http://bit.ly/2kodjfP. 

Photo courtesy of USFWS. 




020117 

Tule Elk (Not Quite Reindeer)

From USFWS Pacific Southwest Region:

Think Santa will let these babies drive his sleigh tonight or nah? Not quite reindeer, but those antlers are surely nice!

Can you count how many Tule Elk are in this photo? Full disclosure: I don't know the answer. That's why I'm asking you. ;-) #HappyHolidays

This photo was taken at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex by Steve Martarano. — at San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex.




12-24-16 

Ross' and Snow Geese | Dec. 16, 2016

From USFWS Pacific Southwest Region:

No December snow at Merced National Wildlife Refuge. I guess we'll have to settle for a mix of Ross' and snow geese instead. We'll take it! Thanks for the photo, Tara. Happy Friday, folks! 





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Seabird Restoration on the Baja California Pacific Islands

From USFWS Pacific Southwest Region:

Cassin's auklet chicks on Todos Santos Island 2016. Photo courtesy of Grupo de Ecologia y Conservacion de Islas

Cormorant and chicks. Photo courtesy of Grupo de Ecologia y Conservacion de Islas.


Starting in 2012, the Luckenbach and Montrose Settlements Trustee Councils provided funding to several partner groups to undertake seabird restoration on the Baja California Pacific Islands. These islands off the Pacific coast of Mexico are crucial nesting and breeding grounds for numerous species of birds including California brown pelicans, Scripps’s murrelets and ashy storm-petrels. This effort just received an enormous boost on December 5, when the Government of Mexico announced the creation of the Pacific Islands Biosphere Reserve – a 2.8 million acre reserve off the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula. The reserve protects the islands as well as surrounding waters. Read more details: http://bit.ly/2g6tH3j. Photos courtesy of Grupo de Ecologia y Conservacion de Islas.


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Biological Survey Expedition to Death Valley, California

From USFWS Pacific Southwest Region:

Thowback Thursday: Don't let the rifles fool you. These men are on a biological survey expedition to Death Valley, California (1891). They were leaders at the Biological Survey (precursor to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). From left to right: Biological Survey Chief C. Hart Merriam, Vernon Bailey, Theodore Sherman Palmer, and A.K. Fisher. 

#throwbackthursday #usfws #naturalists#deathvalley #biologicalsurvey #merriam #wildlife#conservation

Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Museum/Archives.

Monarch Butterflies

From USFWS Pacific Southwest Region:

"On warm fall days on the California coast, it’s not uncommon to see the iconic monarch butterfly flitting through the sky. In some places, so many butterflies are present that it makes an impressive display. “The air is filled with orange,” says Samantha Marcum, the monarch butterfly coordinator for the Pacific Southwest region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife." Here's the story→http://buff.ly/2bJEGdY