#National Wildlife Refuges

[jadafitch]

Petit Manan Lighthouse, Petit Manan Island, Steuben. Possibly my favorite lighthouse. In the summer, this island is home to hundreds of birds. Including Atlantic puffins, arctic, common and roseate terns, as well as black guillemots and many more. Decided I couldn't draw them all, but here's a couple attempts to try and capture the island's vibes. Can you spot the oystercatchers? MERCH

[ambermaitrejean]

August in Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. Commerce City, Colorado. Photos by Amber Maitrejean

[admiralgiggles]

An ode to sunset

Sometimes I have to break my own arbitrary rules.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Bison graze in the snow at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, near Denver.

© Michael Levine-Clark / Flickr

[rafefar]

Red-tailed hawk

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

[vandaliatraveler]

Huge win for conservation in Central Appalachia - The Nature Conservancy has protected another high-value tract of wildlands in the Dolly Sods-Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge complex, including a large expanse of sphagnum bogs, critical to the health of high elevation, headwater streams. Along with recent acquisitions for the national wildlife refuge and Allegheny Front Preserve, TNC is steadily stitching together a patchwork quilt of biologically-diverse tracts into a single, intact landscape that will not only preserve unique and endangered species but serve as a buffer against climate change in Central Appalachia.

[wandering-jana]

Assateague Lighthouse.

Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia

2021

[rateducates]

I won't stop sharing this. I simply can't. The American people need to know.

https://e360.yale.edu/features/open-for-business-the-trump-revolution-on-public-lands

[vintagecamping]

A float plane arrives at the Nowitna River fishing camp.

Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

1967

[asterwild]

Whooping crane (Grus americana), a large crane species native to North America. Populations decreased after European settlement due to hunting and habitat loss, and in 1941 there were only 15 adults remaining in the wild. Thanks to decades of conservation work there are now over 500 in the wild and additional birds in captivity. You can read more about them from the USFWS here.

[jadafitch]

Matinicus Rock Light, Penobscot Bay, Matinicus, Maine. Hunting and eating puffins was common practice in Maine over 100 years ago. The first lighthouse keepers on the rock were also wardens, hired by The American Ornithologists Union. They were tasked with protecting The United State's last remaining pair of Atlantic puffins, as well as many other commonly hunted seabird species. Today, Matinicus Rock is owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge, and is cooperatively managed by the National Audubon Society and MCINWR. Thanks to their work and the work of Project Puffin, there are over 500 pairs of nesting puffins, plus 400 pairs of razorbills, 1,000 pairs of terns, about 700 pairs of laughing gulls, and more.

[ambermaitrejean]

October in Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. Commerce City, Colorado. Photos by Amber Maitrejean

[admiralgiggles]

Great Blue Heron

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Crabeater seal at Palmer Station

A crabeater seal lounging at Palmer Station, Antarctica. Despite their name, crabeater seals only eat Antarctic krill and use their specially shaped teeth to filter out the seawater.

Credit: Mike Lucibella/NSF

[rafefar]

American Kestrel