I was one of the persons stopped by not just the local police, but also by military police on 29th. We had followed Mike Hendrickson's directions and found the owl with no problems. We found it on top of the snow piles near the FedEx building. The reason why we were asked to not be in the area and to spread the word to other birders is for security reasons - i.e. the up and coming Iraq elections and all the issues after September 11. They just didn't want pictures taken of the airport and with the jail near by I would think of that too. Also for those that do not know there is a military base on the airport, and of all the people the military, regardless if they are in Baghdad, have had a high security status since 9/11. Plus all of the business that are on the airport probably get a security screen themselves.
