Jostein, the way Larry has set things up does not seem to be bothering the birds or interfering with their natural behavior. As he points out, they keep returning to that spot year after year.
I had some sparrows build a nest under one of the eaves of our house, on top of a floodlight. Unfortunately, the position made it impossible to look into the nest, or even attempt a photograph, without getting up on a ladder right next to it, which I would never consider doing. BTW, at almost all of the eagle cams, the naturalists go in to tag the nestlings, before they are able to fly away. It is interesting to learn that some of our local chick from here in New Jersey found their way up to New England. Raptor protection groups claim to gather important information about the birds from studying both the nests and the later travels of the birds. My reference to whales goes back to when I visited you in Oslo, many years ago. Among many other things, we discussed the Nordic and America views on Wale conservation. You pointed out the importance of the wales in the Scandinavia cultures, and I remarked that even in the US we recognize the native cultural needs of the Northwest Alaskan peoples, who are for the most part exempt from the bans on hunting and eating wales. On our first trip to Hawai'i, back in the 1980s, my son was enthusiastically looking forward to riding jet skis in the pacific. Short visits to the Sierra Club and the Pacific Wale Foundation put a quick end to that, and converted him to an avid conservationist. Maui has a lot of coast watchers, who sit on the lanais (balconies) of their condos peering through binoculars hour after hour, and reporting any boats who approach the wales too closely. The wales their are most sensitive, as there are many newborn calves. There is nothing near Maui for the wales to eat, so they fast from the time they leave the Alaskan waters, 3,000 miles away, until they return months later. Like many mainland tourists, all they do during their Hawai'ian vacation is breed, give birth, and teach the young to swim. Yes, the "Russian spy" beluga received extensive coverage in the US. Belugas are among the most frequently mistreated of marine animals, because their size, intelligence and friendliness makes them easy to exploit. The recent NatGeo article on animal tourism covers that (and other travesties). Sea World and similar operations are quite controversial today. Under great public pressure, Sea World ended its Orca breeding program, and has promised to phase out the "Shamu" type circuses. We will see. Dan Matyola http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola On Sun, Jun 2, 2019 at 7:26 AM Jostein Øksne <p...@alunfoto.no> wrote: > Nest cameras are a different kettle of fish, Dan. They are automated and > can be set up before the birds settle in. Especially with the large > birds of prey which conveniently return to the same nest year after > year. It is the photographer's presence by the nest that cause the > disturbance more than the picture-taking itself. > > It seems that the same rules of engagement, if one can call it that, is > recommended by some concerned parties in the USA too. Have a look: > https://nestwatch.org/connect/news/nest-photography-guidelines/ > > Interesting comparison to whales. Bit of a paradox with Sea World, isn't > it? > > Btw, did you read about the "tame" beluga whale with a harness that > showed up on Norwegian shores this winter? It was clearly seeking > contact and being very accustomed to taking food from human hands. Rumor > has it that Russians have a programme to train belugas for underwater > recon and scooping up mines, among other things. > > > https://www.dw.com/en/mystery-whale-found-near-norway-fuels-russian-navy-speculation/a-48536688 > > There's some added photography relevance there in that Audun Rikardsen, > the professor quoted in the article is himself a champion of the BBC > Nature Photo Contest a few years ago. > > Jostein > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
