I just received the following polite request: >With the influx of owls along St. Louis County Highway 7, county 133 and county 52, in the Cotton, Kelsey, Sax, Meadowlands area, we who live here are having to deal with birders who are, in our opinion, rude.
>It is very unpleasant to be eating breakfast at your own table, and notice a large binocular staring at you or a camera set up on a tripod. >We who live in rural areas, live here because we like the privacy, etc. If we are feeding birds, it is for our pleasure, not the viewing of any one who comes along and wants to set up their camera or use powerful binoculars. It makes us wonder...are you "casing" our place for a future robbery.. or just what. Would these people like it if we came to their homes and set up the same type of equipment to "observe" their activities. >Please ask the birders to look at birds, owls, only in public locations, not at private birdfeeders on personal property. If you must observe these bird feeders, at least have the courtesy to come knock on the door, tell us who are, what you are doing etc. >Thanks for your help. *** I really think professional guides and photographers who are profiting financially from this owl invasion, and birders whose lists are profiting from this invasion, need to be making a concerted effort to cooperate with the locals to make this a kinder, gentler season. Maybe we could start by working out some way we can identify ourselves when observing birds right near people's yards? Perhaps some of the guides could actually approach houses with feeders ahead of time and work out with homeowners the best way to respect their needs? Think about it--there are more birders in a day descending on some of the feeders in the bog than there were descending on my house when I had the Rufous Hummingbird, or on Silver Bay when the Clark's Nutcracker appeared. I'm a birder, so my family was very tolerant, and my neighbors found our situation amusing. And a really nice effort was made in Silver Bay to work with the homeowners who had the nutcracker. Don't we owe at least as much courtesy to the people of bog country, who are putting up with a heck of a lot of cars stopped or going slowly or even erratically on slippery roads, and strangers looking into feeders that are right in their windows, setting their dogs barking, and all that? Duluth, MN Producer, "For the Birds" radio program <http://www.lauraerickson.com/> There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. --Rachel Carson
