Leatherman Bio Consulting, Inc.

Biologists at Leatherman BioConsulting, Inc. participated in the annual bird count this past weekend by documenting the diversity and abundance of birds in the Santa Ana Mountains (in upper Silverado Canyon). The weather was perfect and we recorded several montane species that are not found elsewhere in Orange County.

Happy fall from Leatherman Bio #populustremuloides

This is the desert iguana, a common lizard in SoCal deserts. It has a very high tolerance for heat and is often active long after other desert lizards retreat into their burrows. It is an herbivore that sits up in creosote bushes where it feeds. The barring pattern on the tail matches the pattern of the branches of the creosote making it difficult to see, but it is easily found in the ground.

California newt in the San Gabriel mountains. Shot by @atomdeluna

@atomdeluna took some great pictures of desert tortoise while working in Trona

Some days at work are easy, today was not!

A few of our finds this week. California kingsnake and intermediate mariposa lily

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mothers out there from all of us at Leatherman BioConsulting

Leatherman BioConsulting’s new website was launched this week. Check it out when you have a minute https://leathermanbio.com Thank you Designs by Dani http://www.danibydesign.me/ for the logo and Intergate https://intergatedesign.com for the website.

Our botanist @sandyleatherma found her first wildflower of 2019 this week, Padre’s shooting star (Dodecatheon clevelandii ssp. clevelandii)

Leatherman BioConsulting Inc. biologists conducted a burrowing owl survey on this cold winter morning. LBC has conducted thousands of hours of burrowing owl surveys throughout southern California, including solar facilities, construction projects, and a base wide survey on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Pictured here is our biologist scanning the field for burrowing owls while conducting parallel belt transects, and a couple photos of our biologists inspecting an old owl... pellet found at the base of a fence post along with whitewash (excrement) in the background. An owl pellet and whitewash both indicate burrowing owl presence at some point of time. Burrowing owls will often perch on fencepost, rocks, and debris piles to roost, digest their food, or scan for prey (which includes arthropods, small rodents, reptiles, and amphibians). Photos by @atomdeluna See more

In 2018, Leatherman BioConsulting, Inc. conducted surveys for the cactus wren on nearly 50,000 acres of conserved land in Orange County! The work was part of a long-term study to evaluate population trends in response to management actions and the devastating Canyon Fires that swept through portions of the conversation lands. Although large tracts of cactus habitat were severely burned, resulting in significant losses in some areas, wrens in other areas were showing signs of recovery. Photo by Adam DeLuna.