While this debate seems to be reaching a nice equilibrium, I want to express gratitude for the grace afforded those who make errors, but also the relief I felt to learn of the standards to which most photographers adhere. After birding Pt. Pelee and seeing "photographers" shove thousands of dollars of photography equipment into the faces, literally, of exhausted and traumatized birds, I had lost interest in bird photography. I will now enjoy it more--viewing it less as a self indulgence as the expense of the subject. Maybe as a group, we should undertake a way to spread this knowledge, certainly to new birders, but also to ask those who sell photography equipment to take this on?
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: William Schmoker <[email protected]> Date: Sun, Jan 17, 2010 at 11:11 PM Subject: [cobirds] Owl thoughts To: Cobirds <[email protected]> *Folks- I wrote this yesterday morning but looking at the archives I don't think it went through despite being in my "sent" box to Cobirds. My own posts don't get mailed back to me so I didn't realize it never made the list until this evening when I got an email from another birder expressing concern about going to see the owl. I was originally responding to Becca Reid's posted concerns about seeing the Snowy Owl. Since then Skot has addressed his actions regarding the van "incident" (if it even warrants that label), something I addressed at the end. I would guess that Becca and my other correspondent aren't alone in their concerns and I'm saddened that anyone is having second thoughts about seeing the bird or getting turned off to birding in general because of the **culpatory** tone some recent Cobirds posts have had. If anyone is getting the following again please accept my apologies and hit delete now.* Hi Becca- Good to have you in the birding community! I appreciate your request for positive opportunities to learn more. I like to assume the positive in folks, and my experience with other birders has been positive in nearly all cases. Sharing information in arenas such as Cobirds can vastly speed the learning curve (yet to the delight of even long-time birders, a learning curve that never ends!) I would encourage you to go try for the Snowy Owl if you have a chance. It is a majestic bird, rarely (if ever before?) this accessible for viewing in Colorado, and extra special as a nearly adult male and thus extra white! If nothing else, it is a lot closer than a trip to the Dakotas, probably the nearest region where they are more reasonably expected. Certainly use common sense and courtesy, but in my opinion you won't be harming the bird to go look at it. In fact, awareness, excitement, and interest in birds can be one of the most powerful ways to protect habitat and the bird populations that depend on it. Most people I know who have been birding for a while contribute back in some way including financial and membership support of birding organizations (e.g. ABA, CFO, DFO, etc.) conservation organizations (e.g. Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, etc.) and participation in citizen science efforts (e.g. eBird, CBCs, Great Backyard Bird Count, etc.) For example, I pulled this quote from a recent post on the Western Slope Birding Network about some good news (finally!) regarding Greater Sage-Grouse with a lot of help from Audubon Wyoming: In a landmark victory, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which > manages nearly one third of Wyoming's land and is responsible for mineral > rights on nearly two-thirds, announced this month that it is making major > changes in its leasing policies. This change, largely based on work done by > Audubon Wyoming and the Wyoming Governor, offers fresh hope for the > survival of Greater Sage-Grouse, enhanced protection for other wildlife > that share the western sagebrush ecosystem, and an innovative model to > advance wildlife-friendly energy development nationwide. > As for this Snowy Owl, the bad news is that it probably flew this far south out of desperation- most northern owls that irrupt this far south of their normal ranges are starving due to population crashes of their prey base. Many don't survive and if found are often emaciated. The good news is that this bird appears to be finding food in its adopted neighborhood. It has definitely been around since late December, and according to one local farmer "since November." It could have and almost certainly would have moved on if it was finding slim pickings there. I suspect this is why nearly all of the few Snowys that turn up in Colorado can't be found the next day- they move on in search of better hunting until they find it or starve. I'd suggest that there have been three main themes to consider in most of the recent "ethics" posts about this owl, though they've been confusingly swirled together. First (& foremost), keep the bird's welfare in mind. I think that viewing it from the neighborhood roadsides (if it is in the fields a case where spotting scopes really help) doesn't significantly bother the bird. I watched the owl from 10 am to almost 5:15 pm last Monday. Folks who had been there since about dawn said it had been out in a field resting all morning. During the first 6 1/2 hours I held vigil (OK, I took an hour off to go get lunch,) its activity consisted of <yawn> sleeping in a field or slowly gazing this way and that with one eye open and the other shut, flying once to a fence post around 11:30 and then <yawn> sleeping or slowly gazing this way and that until about 4:30. During this time I'd estimate 75 or more people watched it without any undue stress or energy wasting on the part of the bird. When it started hunting from the house tops at 4:30 its pattern seemed uninfluenced by the evening shift of birders along the road watching it. If it wanted to, a two-minute flight would have taken it well away from any of us (pretty insignificant compared to the thousand+ miles it likely flew to get here.) Secondly, keep other birders in mind. Flushing the bird into a distant field a minute or two away by owl wings may not matter much in the big picture to the owl but can majorly dent someone's day who has come a long way to see the bird. (Yeah, flushing the bird repeatedly all day long would be pretty bad but I really don't see that happening out there unless you chased it on an ATV and brought wire cutters along for every time you encountered a fence.) Finally, it is a good idea to have positive relationships with non-birder residents if you are birding near private properties from public access such as roads or greenways. I always smile, wave, and chat with locals whenever possible, and virtually all of the time they are very interested in the bird. I offer scope looks when possible and if I have pictures I'll show them on my camera screen and offer to send them by email. I've been invited into yards, lots, onto boats, and even into houses for better viewing and photo opps. On the occasion (very rare) when I encounter a negative property owner I thank them and move on. Parking in or blocking driveways, walking on lawns without permission, etc. certainly aren't ways to engender love and cooperation from property owners but I'd cut the infamous van a little slack. They weren't broadside across two lanes of I25 at rush hour. I'd guess that the road has about 2 non-owling cars an hour, and if a resident is road-raging because they had to drive around the van, causing them a 5-second delay in getting out to the highway then I think they have bigger emotional problems than those brought on by some birders watching a celebrity owl. At most I think the van driver was guilty of the thrill and excitement of seeing this majestic bird close by after a long drive plagued with the ever-present possibility of dipping or just getting distant heat-hazed views. Yeah, would probably have been better to pull over more but it's not really that big a deal in the big scheme of things, is it? If you've made it this far, thanks for wading through it all! And thanks to everyone for the updates on the neat birds that have been around this winter. Enjoy- Bil Schmoker, Longmont ______________________ • Bill Schmoker • ______________________ http://schmoker.org http://brdpics.blogspot.com [email protected] 720/201-5749 ______________________ -- Betsy Rumely 829 Detroit St. Denver, CO 80206 303-393-1973 (h) 720-217-4718 (m)
