Images

A mountain bluebird eats a giant mistletoe berry in an ash tree in Sedona, Arizona (Oak Creek).  These bluebirds, and many other types of birds, rely on mistletoe berries for sustenance. As a result, they also help distribute the mistletoe seeds.

During a research snorkel trip at Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, Dr. Margaret Hunter comes face to face with a manatee.

Native westslope cutthroat trout swim in the north fork of the Flathead River in northwestern Montana. This region is recognized as a range-wide stronghold for genetically pure westslope cutthroat trout. However, rainbow trout invasion and hybridization threatens these populations. 

Native westslope cutthroat trout swim in the north fork of the Flathead River in northwestern Montana. The region is recognized as a range-wide stronghold for genetically pure westslope cutthroat trout. However, rainbow trout invasion and hybridization threatens these populations. 

School of trout. 

Former Kanab North uranium mine on the edge of Kanab Creek, north of Grand Canyon.

A native bull trout swims in the cool waters of the Flathead River near Glacier National Park, Montana. The tail end of a native Westslope cutthroat trout can be seen below.

Native Westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout swim in the cool waters of the Flathead River near Glacier National Park, Montana.

A school of native bull trout swims in the cool waters of the Flathead River near Glacier National Park, Montana.

Modified Parshall Flume on Heart River near South Heart, North Dakota. For more information on the use of flumes to aid in the determination of streamflow, see volumes 1 and 2 of the USGS Water Supply Paper, Measurement and Computation of Streamflow.

Scientists sample fish in Lake Michigan near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

A healthy, banded little brown bat hangs out in a cave. Photo credit: Paul Cryan, USGS.

An aerial view of coastal marshes along Bayou Dufrene, southwest of the town of Dulac in Louisiana's Terrebonne Basin.

A bull elk with chronic wasting disease at Wind Cave National Park.  The emaciated appearance and drooping ears are characteristic of latter stages of infection.

Picture of a dead Green Winged Teal (Anas carolinensis) covered with algae in Chesapeake Bay.

Algae near the shore of Poplar Island-a 3-mile-long (4.8-kilometer-long) island located on the Chesapeake Bay, part of Talbot County, Maryland.

Dendronotid nudibranch on hydroids - Scuba divers from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Fisheries Research Center, Washington Sea Grant, EPA and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe collected data and images from a long-term study of the Elwha River dam removals and the resulting effects on the nearshore ecosystem.

A tree had fallen into the Marsh River near Shelly, Minnesota, and a new shoot took off right over the river.

In this image, a Gunnison prairie dog eats a bait laden with the sylvatic plague vaccine. Prairie dogs in the wild are less likely to succumb to plague after they ingest peanut-butter-flavored bait that contains a vaccine against the disease.

Aphanizomenon is a common bloom-forming cyanobacteria, AKA, blue-green algae.  Many strains produce saxitoxin and cylindrospermopsin.

Scientist taking environmental samples during white-nose syndrome surveillance activities. Lawrence County, OH. August 2012.