#2 looks the way I have seen it when visiting the area!

I was a wildland fire fighter for twelve years in southern California and I can tell you it doesn't matter a tinkers dam who owns the land involved! I didn't read every word of every rambling statement of this whole thread, but I didn't see much about the real cause of the devastation. The biggest problem is the hot dry winds that we call santa ana's. The relative humidity can be in single digits for several days with winds often reaching 60-70 miles per hour. I have witnessed fires burning through pine and oak trees as fast as they would through grass and light brush. When you see something that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up you don't tend to forget it. It seems to me that this years weather pattern has moved north taking these winds away the south end of the state, sparing us for the moment.

Do you have to be a NANPA member?

There are a few images that really grab my attention and I will put this at the top! Well done.

My experience with Nikon service has left me with no complaints. I had a focus problem with my 200-500 and they asked me for a sample image. After they checked the image they told me to send the lens to them. It was returned in a reasonable time and has worked well since. When I had the misfortune of allowing my D810 to drop (with body cap on) face first on a concrete floor, cracking the case, I chose to use the Nikon authorized repair service here in San Diego. I was given a repair estimate and told that because of the particular time of year the parts delivery would be delayed, and it was. When I picked the camera up it was accompanied by a plastic bag with broken parts and a list of test results on the cameras shutter. It works fine! The only unfortunate thing was that because of the repair delay time I had to go to Nelson Photo in San Diego and get on their list for a D850. I had the D850 before the D810 was done and at a time when a lot of people were complaining about the long wait on mail order lists for the D850. BUY LOCAL!!

Some days are harder now!!

Looks like an immature Red-shouldered Hawk in extremely bad shape. If you can't get help for it soon it will die! If you have animal control officers or fish and wildlife people in your area give them a call. If they won't pick up the bird they should be able to refer you to a rescue program. Good luck.

The bright yellow of the cere (base of the beak) and the legs let you know that this is an adult bird. Since there is no clear shot of the tail we don't know the actual color. The rest of the bird looks like a Red-tailed. Accipters, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned, have a look in their eyes like they were mad when they woke up and nothing has changed during the day!

Another great shot Regis. If you don't mind, which lake do you go to for your work? I used to go to the Sandpoint area to fish for Kokanee in the 80's.

Did you squish it??

Very nice! I really like the last one. When I see images like this, which is very good, I like to imagine how I might have taken advantage of several different parts for other shots. Of course I can't even guess how quickly the scene changes.

I have a Stokes field guide that is good for bird ID nation wide. It just took a while to find your Ruddy Turnstone on page 252.

It's called a melanistic.

A real grabber that caused a stop for a longer look!