LATEST NEWS

Check out the Winter Edition of The Peregrine

Winter is here and so is the latest edition of the Endemic Newsletter, The Peregrine, hot off the e-presses! This time we explore our work with Blunt Nosed Leopard Lizards, the latest in staff development, and our support of the International Rhino Foundation’s Sumatran Rhino Project.

ICRE Ask an Expert Series Talk with Ari Martinez

This month we will have Ari Martinez who is an Ornithologist at CSULB and he will be sharing his research on the bird community in the Peruvian Amazon.

Dr. Ari Martinez is an ecologist who’s research interest lies at the intersection of behavioral and community ecology. For example, how does sociality among species influence the organization of animal communities? To answer this research question (along with others) he has spent over 10 years living and working in Latin America, using birds of the Amazon rainforest as a study system. In order to do so, he has slept in everything from a bed, a tent, a hammock, and on a village sidewalk, and travelled in everything from an ox-cart, a motorcycle, a dugout canoe, to a logging truck. In 2018, with funding from National Geographic, he organized a research team to re-census an entire Amazonian bird community after an initial census 35 years earlier, and which included three of the original team members. The talk is about the challenges of surveying Amazonian bird communities and the results of this particular re-census. This talk was recorded on Saturday, October 8, 2022 and is available to watch on our YouTube channel.

ICRE Ask an Expert Series Talk with Dr. Rachel Wigginton

This month we are joined by Dr. Rachel Wigginton, a Senior Environmental Scientist at the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy, one of the State of California’s ten conservancies. As part of the Delta Conservancy’s mission to lead efforts that protect, enhance, and restore the Delta’s environment, Dr. Wigginton facilitates the Delta Interagency Invasive Species Coordination (DIISC) Team. The DIISC Team seeks to foster communication and collaboration among California state agencies, federal agencies, research and conservation groups, and other stakeholders that detect, prevent, and manage invasive species and restore invaded habitats in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Before coming to the Delta Conservancy, Rachel completed her PhD in Ecology at UC Davis studying the impacts of invasive plants in tidal wetlands. This talk was recorded on Saturday, September 10, 2022 and is available to watch on our YouTube channel.

Check out the Fall Edition of The Peregrine

Although it might not feel like it, Fall is on it’s way and Endemic Newsletter, The Peregrine, has arrived hot off the e-presses! Learn about our work with the Port of Los Angeles as well as a recap of ICRE’s “Ask an Expert” video lecture series.

ICRE Ask an Expert Summer Series Talk with Anita Arenas

ICRE continues its expert summer series talk with Endemic Environmental's own Anita Arenas, discussing the effects of Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus) on the invertebrate communities in southern California estuary environments. This was recorded on Saturday August 13, 2022 and is available to watch on our YouTube channel.

ICRE Ask an Expert Summer Series Talk with Calvin Won

ICRE's first expert summer series talk with Endemic Environmental's own marine biologist Calvin Won giving his Master's thesis presentation “Moonlit Summer Love: Exploring the Lunar Effect on Barred Sand Bass Spawning Aggregation Activity Using SONAR Technology” was recorded on Saturday July 9, 2022, and is available to watch on our YouTube channel.

Check out the Summer Edition of The Peregrine

It’s summertime and the Endemic Newsletter, The Peregrine, has arrived hot off the e-press! Learn about our continued work with infrastructure projects and employee spotlights, as well as the concept of “Friluftsliv”

Invasive Sonoran Spotted Whiptail (Aspidoscelis sonorae) Expanding in Southern California

Gregory B. Pauly, Ph.D. - Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

We wanted to call your attention to the ongoing expansion of the non-native Sonoran Spotted Whiptail (Aspidoscelis sonorae) in Southern California. It is quite likely that this species will show up in western Riverside County (or may already be there) so those doing lizard surveys, especially in urban areas or on the urban-wildland interface, should be on the lookout.

This species looks very similar to the native Orange-throated Whiptail (A. sonorae), and it could also be mistaken for the native Tiger Whiptail (A. tigris). Attached is a short guide to help people correctly identify native and non-native whiptails. This guide is supplementary info in an open-access paper authored by Sam Fisher, Robert Fisher, and me that was published on Monday.

Sonoran Spotted Whiptails are native to Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent northern Mexico. They have been in Orange County, CA since at least 2010 and are continuing to expand in Southern California. Our new paper discusses a new population in Oceanside, San Diego County, approximately 50 km south of the nearest known individuals in Orange County. On April 20, Dr. Jim Parham of CSU Fullerton posted an observation to iNaturalist of a Sonoran Spotted Whiptail in Fullerton, a little more than 20 km north of the known range in Orange County.

The appearance of Sonoran Spotted Whiptails in Oceanside and Fullerton highlight that human-assisted jump dispersal is ongoing. This could be from within-region movements of this species, or new translocations of individuals from their native range. This species has also shown up in Northern California, and we know from genetic analyses that the Northern CA and Orange County populations are from separate genetic stocks (i.e., separate introduction events). We have observed spotted whiptails at several tree nurseries in Orange County, and we suspect that movement of larger plants in the nursery and landscaping trade is an important source of human-assisted translocations (e.g., by movement of eggs in the soil around the plants and by movement of juveniles and adults in larger shipments).

Sonoran Spotted Whiptails are a triploid parthenogenetic species (i.e., all are female), so a single individual is all that is necessary to establish a new population. Although triploids, this species is known to hybridize with the native Tiger Whiptail, and we also advise being on the lookout for possible Sonoran x Orange-throat hybrids in areas where these two species are increasingly co-occurring in Orange County. In addition to hybridization, competition with native Tiger Whiptails, Orange-throated Whiptails, and other native lizards seems likely given their overlapping diets.

To date, much of our knowledge of the expanding range of the Sonoran Spotted Whiptail comes through observations posted to iNaturalist. For example, the initial discovery of the Oceanside population was through iNaturalist observations. However, because these non-native lizards are morphologically similar to Orange-throated Whiptails, the first observation of the non-native in Oceanside went unnoticed on iNaturalist for 26 months because it was misidentified as a native whiptail. All this to say, whether you are in the field, or checking observations on iNaturalist, please keep an eye out for the Sonoran Spotted Whiptail.

The open-access manuscript is linked above, but you can also find it here: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2022.846431

Range-wide Persistence of the Endangered Arroyo Toad (Anaxyrus californicus) for 20+ Years Following a Prolonged Drought

Ecology and Evolution - Volume 12, issue 4, April 2022

Prolonged drought due to climate change has negatively impacted amphibians in southern California, U.S.A. Due to the severity and length of the current drought, agencies and researchers had growing concern for the persistence of the arroyo toad (Anaxyrus californicus), an endangered endemic amphibian in this region. Range-wide surveys for this species had not been conducted for at least 20 years. In 2017–2020, we conducted collaborative surveys for arroyo toads at historical locations. We surveyed 88 of the 115 total sites having historical records and confirmed that the arroyo toad is currently extant in at least 61 of 88 sites and 20 of 25 historically occupied watersheds. We did not detect toads at almost a third of the surveyed sites but did detect toads at 18 of 19 specific sites delineated in the 1999 Recovery Plan to meet one of four downlisting criteria. Arroyo toads are estimated to live 7–8 years, making populations susceptible to prolonged drought. Drought is estimated to increase in frequency and duration with climate change. Mitigation strategies for drought impacts, invasive aquatic species, altered flow regimes, and other anthropogenic effects could be the most beneficial strategies for toad conservation and may also provide simultaneous benefits to several other native species that share the same habitat.

Read the full article, co-authored by Endemic Environmental’s Barry Nerhus, here

Condors Will Soon Fly Over Northern California’s Redwoods for the First Time in More Than a Century

Klamath, CA – May 2, 2022

At 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 3, the Yurok Tribe and Redwood National and State Parks will facilitate the release of the first two California condors to take flight in the center of the bird’s former range since 1892. Prior to their release, the condors must voluntarily enter a designated staging area with access to the outside world. If the birds do not enter the transition zone by 4pm, a second attempt to release the birds will occur at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 4. The carefully designed release procedure is one component of a comprehensive management plan for the reintroduction.

“For countless generations, the Yurok people have upheld a sacred responsibility to maintain balance in the natural world. Condor reintroduction is a real life manifestation of our cultural commitment to restore and protect the planet for future generations,” said Joseph L. James, the Chairman of the Yurok Tribe. “On behalf of the Yurok Tribe, I would like to thank all of the individuals, agencies and organizations that helped us prepare to welcome prey-go-neesh condor back to our home land."

Read the full article here

Check out the Spring Edition of The Peregrine

Spring has arrived and so has the Endemic Newsletter, The Peregrine, hot off the e-press! Learn about the open roads passing through our deserts and how populated they are with diverse wildlife.

Check out the Winter Edition of The Peregrine

Seasons Greetings! The Endemic Newsletter, The Peregrine, is hot off the e-press! Learn about the many ways in which our drone services are utilized to respond to a variety of ecological challenges as we wrap up another year.

Endemic Environmental Services Uses Thermal Drone to Identify Oil Spill in Huntington Beach, CA

Huntington Beach, CA – October 4, 2021

On the morning of Oct. 4th, 2021 at 7:00am, Endemic Environmental Services’ drone operations team identified the reminiscence of the recent oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach, Ca. using a thermal camera attached to their drone, a new utility that hasn’t been done. The oil spill was caused by a leak from a pipeline from an offshore oil platform that is owned by a company in  Houston, Tx,  Amplify Energy. The flight survey area was conducted on the Northside of the Huntington Beach pier at 100 ft. over the surface of the water. “The use of thermal imaging to identify the spill location via drone provides a large area to be surveyed from an aerial perspective quickly and not invasively, allowing us to see what our naked eye cannot.” States the Endemic Environmental Services drone operations team director and FAA licensed drone pilot, Kent Nerhus. Kent was the pilot in command of the Oct. 4th thermal survey at the Huntington Beach Pier. “Endemic Environmental Services is committed to assisting the local environments in which we live and work. As local residents of Huntington Beach, Ca., we know the importance of assisting in any capacity as possible. We need to overcome this ecological catastrophe, as quickly as possible. I believe drones and the discovery of having the ability to identify oil in the ocean is an important step to getting our beautiful coastline back to normal as quickly as possible, so we can save as much wildlife as possible.” Endemic Environmental Services’ Founder and Owner, Barry Nerhus further adds “Huntington Beach is my hometown, it is an absolute tragedy to hear that oil spills anywhere. This spill in Huntington Beach hits close to home as my hometown and also as a biologist. Huntington Beach has 1,000s of acres of unique and endangered wetlands that I love and cherish. I am glad that we have a drone team that helps add this technology as a tool in environmental management. Earlier this year, Endemic Environmental Services’ drone team worked with the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach and OC Parks, conducting ecological surveys for possible avian botulism, in Also Creek and Victoria Pond in South Talbert Park. 

For more information, pictures, videos, or statements about the oil spill in Huntington Beach from Endemic Environmental Services, please contact Kent Nerhus Director of Drone Operations 

Email: Knerhus@endemicenvironmental.net

For more information on how you can donate to the clean up efforts here is a donation link: 
https://wetlands-and-wildlife-care-center.snwbll.com/giving-portal

Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center Website:
https://www.wwccoc.org/

Newland And Talbert Marsh:
http://www.hbwetlands.org/

Bolsa Chica Wetlands:
https://bolsachica.org/

Check out the Fall Edition of The Peregrine

The Endemic Newsletter, The Peregrine, is hot off the e-press! Learn about eelgrass restoration projects up and down the west coast, habitat restoration in the Prado Basin, and how the Endemic team worked to relocate rare cactus species.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Endemic Drone Operations Assists with Response to Avian Botulism

Huntington Beach, CA – August 27, 2021

On Thursday, August 26th , the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center along with Professional Drone pilot Kent Nerhus of Endemic Environmental Services and Park Rangers with OC Parks, embarked on further surveys to try and locate the origin of the current suspected Avian Botulism Outbreak. “We met up at 7:00 AM, but weren’t able to start right away due to a communication breakdown” stated Matthew Gula, WWCC Development Director. But thanks to Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, the drone survey was able to resume at 11:00 AM. “We started planning this drone Survey on Monday. There are a lot of forms and other things that have to be completed before such surveys can be performed. And, it was rushed through. What typically takes 10 to 14 days, this survey was approved in 3 days since it’s a wildlife emergency” explained Debbie McGuire, WWCC Executive Director.

The survey team concentrated in a portion of the Aliso Creek and surrounding ponds in the city of Lake Forest. Eight sick Canada Geese were located along with one sick Mallard hen and one deceased Mallard drake. The geese were in a body of water and residents are monitoring them. As soon as they are able to capture them, they will come into care at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center. The Mallard hen was rescued by boat from a pond with the help of local residents and the OC Animal Control responding officer. She was nearly drowned. And at first, the rescuers were not sure she was still alive.

The drone used is a very high tech device, equipped with high resolution cameras, infrared and thermal cameras along with many other features. The drone survey identified a concentration of birds in heavy vegetation along the creek in section 13 on the map. This area will be further inspected by other agencies. The purpose is to locate sick and deceased birds and remove them from the area in an effort to slow down and halt the progression of the outbreak.

Unfortunately, many birds have lost their lives to this very toxic disease. Many have been captures alive, but pass away on their way to the hospital. “The quicker these patients can arrive at WWCC, the better their chances of survival” stated WWCC Veterinarian Dr. Elizabeth Wood, DVM. We currently have 10 Mallards and 2 Canada Geese receiving the intensive care this outbreak is requiring. We expect this outbreak to be on-going due to the drought and receding water levels throughout Orange County.

Contact:

Debbie McGuire
Executive Director
Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center
(714) 374-5587 Business Line
(714) 713-1155 Cell

Kent Nerhus is the Director and Chief Pilot of sUAS Operations for EES. He has many years of experience in the sUAS industry, he has been involved in numerous different segments of the industry. Including, aerial photo/video, transmission and distribution tower inspections, Infrared via thermal, search and rescue, water way inspection, vegetation identification, UAV manufacturing, raptor survey, topography mapping, 3D mapping, 2d mapping. Tel: 714-418-8953

Eelgrass Restoration Synthesis

Eelgrass is an important foundation species along the U.S. West Coast, supporting a suite of ecosystem services and functions while providing food and shelter for many fishes and invertebrates. In 2018, the Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership (PMEP) published Eelgrass Habitats on The U.S. West Coast: State of the Knowledge of Eelgrass Ecosystem Services and Eelgrass Extent and compiled a geodatabase of eelgrass presence/absence and current and historic extent of eelgrass in 444 estuaries along the U.S. West Coast. In 2020, PMEP commissioned a report to synthesize eelgrass restoration project successes along the U.S. West Coast to identify best practices for eelgrass restoration and mitigation. The authors of the report (including Endemic’s own senior biologist Melissa Ward) reviewed and synthesized data from 51 eelgrass restoration (non-mitigation and mitigation) projects from California, Oregon, and Washington. They identified those methods and approaches that resulted in successful restoration. The findings of this synthesis are summarized here, as well as a data search tool here to look at specific restoration projects within the database they generated.

Check out the Summer Edition of The Peregrine

The Endemic Newsletter, The Peregrine, is hot off the e-press! Learn about projects that use Bonded Fiber Matrix, how Endemic uses drones to provide environmental services to the city of Costa Mesa, CA, and meet the newest members of the Endemic team.

Endemic Environmental Services Drone Survey

How can drones help the environment? Endemic Environmental Services is answering that question by offering drone services such as photography/videography, 2D & 3D mapping, vegetation health surveys, thermal & infrared imaging services, and more. This presentation shows the results of a year’s worth of implementation at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa, CA.

CU Talk: The Conservation of Southwestern Pond Turtles in Southern California

In this presentation founder and president of Endemic Environmental Services, Barry Nerhus, discusses his ongoing research and conservation efforts regarding the Southwestern Pond turtle and its habitat in Southern California as a guest of the Humboldt Wildlife Society. Watch the presentation here.

Check out the Spring Edition of The Peregrine

The Endemic Newsletter, The Peregrine, is hot off the e-press! Learn about marine mammal monitoring, invasive species management, erosion control methods and how to get your UAV license.

Sea Otters at Moss Landing Harbor

The purpose of this project was to dredge and recontour the harbor channel of Moss Landing Harbor. The project area consisted of estuarine and intertidal harbor habitat, with sea otters and other marine mammals being abundant throughout the site. We developed and implemented a marine mammal monitoring program, where biologists from EES would be present on the dredge barge daily to monitor and protect marine wildlife. Dredging activities would be halted whenever a sea otter was observed within 50m of dredging activities, and would not resume until safely away from the action area. The assessment of marine specific wildlife activity guided our implementation and adaptation of our monitoring program, which led to a successful completion of the project with no harm to wildlife having occurred.

Endemic Environmental Services Conducts Emergency Wildlife Survey

Following the Bobcat Fire in the summer of 2020, Barry Nerhus and the Endemic team were brought in to find and relocate a variety of species effected in the area including western pond turtles, endangered herps and endangered fish species.

Chinook Salmon at Simmerly Slough

Trinity Pineda

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have been spotted in the stream at our Highway 70 Simmerly Slough project site in Marysville. Chinook salmon are anadromous fish, meaning they migrate from the sea up to fresh water in order to spawn. From November to August each year, winter-run Chinook salmon make their way back from the ocean to the freshwater streams where they hatched.

As of early November 2020, these salmon have been present in the project area. The majority of the salmon pass through the site and continue upstream to other spawning locations, but some salmon have been seen exhibiting spawning behavior and holding (stopping) under the newly constructed bridge.

The Sacramento winter-run Chinook salmon population is currently listed as endangered. This status gives protection to the fish that spawn in the Sacramento river, its tributaries, and the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery. Most salmon navigate back to their natal streams, but others, especially those raised in hatcheries, are known to stray into new areas to spawn. This is likely the reason we are seeing salmon at Simmerly Slough, as there are no available records of adult salmon using this site in the past.

The discovery of Sacramento River winter-run Chinook Salmon was made by one of our biological monitors. Our monitors are at this work site every day due to suitable habitat for other listed species, including giant garter snake (Thamnophis gigas), being present on site. Having our biologists closely monitor sites like this allows us to learn more about the ecology of our project sites and actively protect the wildlife found within the project areas.

A Rescue of Rare Turtles Followed the Bobcat Fire

Locating "... the last remaining reproductively viable population of southwestern pond turtles" after the Bobcat Fire swept through a sizable area of the San Gabriel Mountains in September 2020?

A few intrepid biologists, with the backing of several major nature and conservation groups, recently did just that, all with the goal of saving the small reptiles and giving them a new if temporary home at San Diego Zoo Global.

The mission proved to be a success, with eight of the endangered turtles found over two weeks.

But the shell-sweet critters won't be have a permanent residency in San Diego. Rather, the hope is to return the turtles, which are rare around Southern California, to their wilderness habitat.

That will happen once biologists assess the situation, following the winter rains and any potential mudslides or debris flows.

If the area is secure, the turtles will head home.

Read the full article here

Endemic Supporting the Institute for Conservation Research and Education (ICRE) with the first Community-Based Restoration Fall Native Planting

The Endemic Team and ICRE worked together with the City of Costa Mesa to successfully plant native habitat with the local community

Native habitat is gaining ground at Fairview Park! Endemic Environmental Services, Inc. supported the non-profit, Institute for Conservation Research and Education (ICRE) with efforts to plant native habitat and continue the ongoing enhancement of wildlife. The Endemic team prepared the site by pre-drilling (augering) 75 holes in the ground at the edge of the expanding coastal sage scrub habitat in the lower 40 acre wetlands restoration project.

“The City values parterships with organizations like Endemic and ICRE, and all the volunteer hours they contribute. Their efforts are an essential part of successful management of our parks. Not only are they contributing to restoring nature, they also build a great element of community spirit.” said Cynthia D’Agosta, Fairview Park Administrator, City of Costa Mesa.

Fairview Park is a 208 acre Nature Park that is part of the City of Costa Mesa. This park contains very rare habitat, such as coastal sage scrub, riparian, freshwater marsh, grassland, and vernal pools, including the largest remaining vernal pool in coastal Southern California. The park has over 28 sensitive plant and wildlife species that call Fairview Park home.

Read the full press release here

Endemic Environmental Services Conducts Southern California Coyote Survey

On October 13, 2020, the Endemic drone operations team came upon a pair of wild coyotes during a routine inspection.

The pair of coyotes were found through the use of infrared and RGB sensors.

The Endemic drone flight crew observed from an eagle eye view the pair's natural movements through their habitat. Undisturbed, we saw how these animals interact with one another naturally.

Being able to view these animals in their natural habitat allows us to understand how to do mitigation efforts.

Endemic Environmental Services has found the use of drones to be a great tool in doing these type animal surveys.

Application to the Field: Performing Field Monitoring with clean water for wild streams and wildlife

This workshop encompasses applying the 401 and 1600 permits to onsite conditions. Keeping these permits in mind, we go through the process of conducting field water quality sampling and wildlife protection.

Kent Nerhus, Director of Drone Operations, gives you 5 quick tips on how to fly your drone safely around wildlife.

Visit our YouTube channel for more videos.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Innovative Drone looks for wildlife impacted from local fire

Huntington Beach, CA – August 3, 2020

Kent Nerhus from Endemic Environmental Services called the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center last week to ask if his innovative drone program could help with finding injured wildlife from the Bolsa Chica Wetlands fire. “What a fantastic idea,” said John Villa, CFO with the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center. “The infrared and zoom features of the drone will help pinpoint injured wildlife,” John added.

Last week, the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center’s Field Response Team traversed heavy and difficult terrain searching for wildlife possibly impacted by the fire. Fortunately, they did not encounter any wildlife in need of care. “The areas where wildlife might be found is covered in thick, head high brush, which creates quite a challenge,” stated Debbie McGuire, Executive Director of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center. “With Kent’s state of the art drone, we will be able to see where the wildlife are concentrated and if any need assistance,” she added.

Planning this encompassed meetings and gaining permission from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as well as the Bolsa Chica Land Trust. “I can see the information gathered from the drone survey to be beneficial for the restoration of the Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve,” said John. The survey flight is planned for 8 a.m. Wednesday, August 5th.

The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center is there for our community and the local wildlife. Every day, our dedicated staff and volunteers are prepared to help recover and care for any injured wildlife. The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center is a 501c 3 Non-Profit organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of our native wildlife. Please visit our website at www.wwccoc.org for further information.

Contacts:
Debbie McGuire
Executive Director
Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center
(714) 374-5587 Business Line
(714) 713-1155 Cell

Kent Nerhus
Director of Drone Operations
Endemic Environmental Services, Inc
(714) 418-8953