Dear group, My response to Mr. O'Connor was firmly grounded in the American Birding Association's first rule of birding ethics see: http://www.aba.org/about/ethics.html . It specifically details refraining from disturbing nesting birds: "Keep well back from nests and nesting colonies, roosts, display areas, and important feeding sites. In such sensitive areas, if there is a need for extended observation, photography, filming, or recording, try to use a blind or hide, and take advantage of natural cover." If one MUST observe nesting birds (which I've already mentioned is not necessary as there are other very reliable ways to document breeding) the ABA suggests the use of a blind so as not to disturb birds excessively.
This is certainly an appropriate forum in which to discourage birding behavior that is not in line with the the birding community's guiding principles which are based on the ABA Principles of Birding Ethics. Maybe we should all take a few moments to read or re-read them. Christine Guarino New Paltz, NY On Fri, Jul 2, 2010 at 11:44 AM, Curt McDermott <[email protected]>wrote: > > Group, > > In that "MidHudsonBirds" is viewed by hundreds of people of varying > knowledge and experience in birding, it is incumbent upon those with > experience to educate those newer to birding. With that said, I fully > support Christine Guarino's post to the group and must admit, that had she > not posted first, I would have and may not have handled it so eloquently. > Christine's contributions to birds and birding in the Hudson Valley are > well documented and are always in the best interest of birds. I do believe > that Mr. O'Connor is also well intended but found the pictures labeled with > the words "defending" and "alarmed" to be a bit disturbing as well. I also > found it quite obvious as to what/who was doing the alarming and being > defended against. > > > > What new birders should take from all this banter is that there is a > better time than during incubation to verify nesting of a species. Although > you may find fledged birds, you can still verify by maturity and time of > year that the juveniles were born where you found them and are not a result > of migration. This will verify nesting with much less disturbance to the > birds. So... if you desire to see these birds for yourself, please wait > several weeks. > > > > If anyone wishes to continue this conversation, feel free to e-mail me > direct or give me a call. > > > > Good Birding, > Curt McDermott > > 845-392-3289 > > > > > > > To: [email protected] > From: [email protected] > Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2010 08:23:34 -0400 > Subject: [MidHudsonBirds] Bitterns and rails not to be disturbed > > > > > > Hello Tim and Christine, and All, > > It seems to me, Tim and Christine, that each of you has a > passion for birds and bird-watching. That's great. > > And I think this website can be a good forum for dialogue > about birding methods, etc. > > Christine, I haven't heard a "dressing down" like yours to > Tim since Mrs. Tuinstra tried to scold and shame some of us 7th grade boys > back in the late 1950's. To use a phrase from your own playbook , there are > other ways to get your point across. > > I would just hope that we can dialogue in constructive ways > on this website. > > Carroll Arkema > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your > inbox. > > http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_1 > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > To visit the Mid-Hudson Birds web site go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MidHudsonBirds > Post message: [email protected] > Subscribe: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: [email protected] > List owner: [email protected] > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > -- Chrissy [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
