We are back and forth with thoughts about including photos in Conservancy communications. We do include them, and they truly do dress up documents. After all, they serve as a way for those interested in the Conservancy’s work to get a visual fix on the refuges and even some of the species covered by the NBHCP. But if we include a high resolution photo, lengthy download times are required. Sometimes, the download times are so long that visitors to the Conservancy’s web site likely give up, and discontinue downloading a document for viewing. That’s not good; we want them to see and read the documents! The Conservancy is not going to fix the challenges facing many with low bandwidth capacity to their home or office. But it is encouraging that it seems more and more people are getting larger bandwidth access, so can download more information, and do so more quickly. So, it’s about finding that happy medium.
A good example is the Conservancy’s 2009 Annual Report (Download the Conservancy’s 2009 Annual Report in PDF format). We placed into this report some truly beautiful photos. Some of them are what we might call “behind the curtains” looks at what the Conservancy does. But the file is nine megs. At one time, that was a file size that was so large that we’d never even consider releasing it. In years past, we’d downsize it. But we’d sacrifice resolution quality. So far, we’ve heard no complaints about the larger file size. Maybe we have found that happy balance. For now anyway.
Big bird
Photo taken by Conservancy staff at a Conservancy preserve, 2025. With this article is a photo of a Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) in flight. It’s on one of the Conservancy’s marsh complexes. While the Conservancy has prepared the preserves mostly for the benefit of the Swainson’s hawk (Buteo swainsoni), …