March is the start of Florida’s sea turtle nesting season. 🐢  Female sea turtles leave the ocean to dig nests and lay golf ball-size eggs in the sand. Visiting a Florida beach? Do your part to help sea turtles – leave the beach as natural as possible by removing beach furniture and other obstacles before sunset each day. Photo of Loggerhead hatchlings by Tonya Long, Florida Fish and Wildlife.

An impressive mix of pine savannas and wetlands, Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge straddles the border of Alabama and Mississippi and preserves a uniquely southern environment. With only 5 percent of wet pine savanna remaining across its originally range, the refuge is home to many unusual plants, including 9 species of carnivorous plants. Discover these and other marvels as you explore this remarkable place. Photo by Tom Carlisle via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

It’s Manatee Appreciation Day! These gentle giants can grow to over 14 feet in length and weigh in at over 3,000 pounds. Also, known as “sea cows,” manatees feed on seagrasses and other aquatic plants. Today, the total population is estimated to be at least 13,000 manatees, with more than 6,500 in the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico. When aerial surveys began in 1991, there were only an estimated 1,267 manatees in Florida. Photo from Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge by David Schrichte, SUP Photographer. More fun facts about manatees: http://ift.tt/2o76yBe

Located about 8 miles north of I-10 at Desert Center, Desert Lily Preserve Natural Area in California was established in 1968 to protect 2,000 acres of prime wildflower habitat. Popping up in patches of purple desert verbena, yellow desert dandelion, and bright evening primrose and white desert lilies, these gorgeous wildflowers carpet the floor of the Chuckwalla Valley as far as the eye can see. The hike to the most dense bloom is a half mile from the Bureau of Land Management parking area, so be prepared for a short walk. Photo by Bob Wick, @mypubliclands.

Ice clings to the granite shoreline as the sun rises above Acadia National Park in Maine. As dawn turns to day, visitors can explore the park’s forests, wetlands, beaches, lakes and mountains. There’s so much to see and do, but be sure to leave enough energy to find the perfect place to watch the sunset. Photo by National Park Service.

Canyonlands National Park sits under the desert sun nearly every day, but in the early morning hours when the air is cool and the sun is rising, a majestic glow of indigo filled this Utah valley with mist. The iconic Airport Tower can be seen in the distance, standing just behind the Washer Woman Arch. Photo courtesy of Sam Koerbel. 

If you’ve never seen the sunset at Great Smoky Mountains National Park (located in both North Carolina and Tennessee), you’ve been missing out. If you have seen one, you’re probably dreaming of the next one. The gentle curves of the forested mountains, the rising fog in the hollows and the glowing colors painting the cloudscape create a scene so beautiful, you’ll never forget it. Photo by Rick Sereque (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).

Taking its name from one of the longest living trees in the Arizona desert, the 129,000-acre Ironwood Forest National Monument is a true Sonoran Desert showcase. 🌵 Keeping company with the ironwood trees are mesquite, palo verde, creosote, and saguaro – blanketing the monument floor beneath rugged mountain ranges named Silver Bell, Waterman and Sawtooth. In between, desert valleys lay quietly to complete the setting. The national monument also contains habitat for the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl and desert bighorn sheep dwelling, which makes hiking, wildlife watching and photography favorite activities in this desert jewel. Photo by Bob Wick, @mypubliclands.

Happy National Puppy Day! Did you know that dogs aren’t the only animals with pups? Other species, like the fox, have young that are also called pups. In the spring, a mother fox gives birth to a litter of 2-12 pups (also called kits). When the pups are about seven months old, they’re ready to strike out on their own. By winter the pup will find a mate and will stay with that mate for the rest of their life. Check out more photos of different pup species: https://on.doi.gov/puppies. 

Photo of a red fox at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey by Ashleigh Scully via U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

If you think the colorful landscape of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon is interesting, just wait until you see what’s hidden among the unique rock formations. The erosion that created the painted hills and deep ravines also revealed one of the longest records of evolutionary change on the continent. On the park’s 14,000 acres, scientists have uncovered fossils of plants and animals dating back from 5 million to 44 million years old. If each time period recorded here is a page in a book, John Day Fossil Beds holds an entire chapter of Earth’s history. Photo by Lucie Jiraskova (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).