As was pointed out by sb, the changes will have nothing to do with reducing protections on the grizzly, alligator or any other species that have shown that recovery is occurring or has occurred. Remember, the bald eagle, a species that primarily generated the passage of ESA was recovered AND de-listed in 2007 under the existing Act. The current changes allow those with wealth and political clout to determine the application and enforcement of species protection. It provides that economic costs to be a primary factor to determine protection as the federal government weighs protecting a species, whether currently listed or not. Such a change would allow the logging industry with its money and lobbyists to push to block protections for a forest-dwelling animal on economic grounds; the oil and gas industry to block protections on species affected by the increase in exploration and production through political means and inaccurate economic projections.

True, the Act has its faults and the environmental community has in some cases overplayed their hand using it for other purposes than simply species protection but, all-in-all it has worked in many cases. The recovery of the grizzly in the Yellowstone ecosystem (that you apparently refer to) is a good example. In the early 1980s, when I was a member of the Border Grizzly Technical Committee, the grizzly population there was significantly less than 200. Today there are over 600. There are currently 312 wild California condors and a total population of 488. There was less than 50 when I was on the Recovery Team in 1980; and there are now over 3,000 sea otters on the California coast, up from the remaining 50 found in the 1930’s.

As the effects of global warming continue to alter environments, more and more protection of wildlife species world-wide will be necessary. This is not a time to reduce elements of an act that has been successful in so many cases. You might check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNrg4tXPWCA

Into the 2nd half. I hope everyone sees how important these refuges are, especially since the current administration has just gutted the Endangered Species Act.

Hooded merganser


Peregrine falcon


European wigeon


Song sparrow


Green heron


Snow goose


Burrowing owl


Green-winged teal


Western grebe


Eared grebe

#3 in a series of 6. Responses on the past series discussed NWR policies regarding access for photography. As I have been photographing in these areas for the past three decades there has never been a time when it was allowed to be pedestrian access except on designated walking trails (which most have). All have auto tour routes and along them specific areas where you can stop and get out to stretch. Recently a number of refuges have installed very nice photo blinds that are available by drawing prior to the winter season. ALL of my images were either taken from my vehicle or from within these blinds.

Belted kingfisher


Red-winged blackbird


American wigeon


Sora rail


Killdeer


Northern shoveler


Tundra swan


Tree swallow


Common goldeneye


Snowy egret

RE. Downloading
I don’t sell my images. If someone wants one I’m more than happy to provide a JPG file to them at their request, just send me an e-mail. But, after noting one of my wapiti images on a sweatshirt a tourist in Yellowstone was wearing several years ago (he said he paid $35 for it) I’ve since been a bit cautious about just opening the door to easy access (I didn’t even get a credit line on the shirt). Probably with all the ways to copy images now I should just quit worrying.

Moving along with more of the rich birdlife of California's National Wildlife Refuges

Bufflehead


American coot


Great blue heron


Black phoebe


Double-crested cormrant


Yellow-billed magpie


White pelican


Pied-billed grebe


Barn swallow


Common merganser

Predominantly managed for wetlands and waterfowl values, the National Wildlife Refuge system has 32 refuges in California. Many of these are within the Central Valley and were less than an hour from where I lived for the past 18 years. These areas are rich in wildlife species and I visited them regularly in my photography efforts. So many species, so many images, I’ll cover them in six posts over the next week or two. Here is the first:

Northern Pintail


Blue-winged teal


American avocet


Great egret


Ruddy duck


Black-crowned night heron


Canada goose


Wood duck


Yellow-headed blackbird


Lesser scaup

No flash. I rarely use it and then only for shots of owls at night. I had been getting poor DOF results plus not stopping movement so I upped my ISO to 1600 and shot this at f8 at 1/400.

Moving from Paradise where after 20 years I had an established cadre of birds using my feeders, things here on the northcoast have been slow. After 4 months I finally have a few using the feeders, especially a family of chickadees that show no fear of my presence. Here's an image I took yesterday.

Very nice!

Yes, with Tropical Birding.

All I can say is THANK YOU to all for the encouraging comments and support. Now I have an answer when my wife asks me, "So what are you going to do with all those photographs?"

Red-headed barbet (female)


Blacvk flowerpiercer


Black-cheeked woodpecker


White-winged brush finch


Speckled whitestart


Stout-billed cincloides


Black-collared jay


Cinnamon flycatcher


Slaty-backed chat-tyrant


Moustached antpitta

I'm too old, too tired to go it alone anymore. Guides/photo tours take the pressure off of transportation, accommodations and meals so the focus is on the photography.

Moving from Central to South America along the Pacific Coast into Ecuador. Due to it's being bisected by the Andes Mountains one could surmise the word "flat" wasn't invented when Ecuador was assembled. But, that makes for a very diverse birdlife. In addition to the hummingbirds (published earlier) here are some of the other birds:

Pale-billed acari


Red-headed barbet


Torrent duck


Masked flower-piercer


Chestnut-collared sparrow


Toucan barbet


Carnaculated caracara


Crimson-rumped toucanette


Yellow-breasted antpitta


Masked trogon

Wish I could come across a deal like this for my grand-daughter. Your lighthouse is outstanding.

Very nicely done