Excellent response Sparky. I couldn't agree more. And incidentally NONE of
those in my owl gallery were shot with bait or live or dead mice.
--
Bernard P. Friel
Web Pages - http://www.wampy.com ;
http://www.wampy.com/bn Owl Gallery
http://www.wampy.com/bn2 Songbirds
http://www.wampy.com/GalapagosGallery
http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=1113
> From: sparky stensaas <[email protected]>
> Reply-To: sparky stensaas <[email protected]>
> Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:58:13 +0000
> To: <[email protected]>
> Subject: [mou-net] Unethical Photographer? My two-cents
>
> My two-cents on Mike Hendrickson's post about another birder's run-in with an
> owl photographer.In full disclosure, I am a wildlife photographer, birder,
> bird guide, MOU member and good friend of Mike's (for almost 25 years!). I
> make part of my living from guiding, writing and bird photography. I have
> baited owls with live mice and thawed dead mice. (E-mail me personally if you
> have a problem with this)I totally agree that if the photographer in question
> really was teasing the owl with a piece of brown fur on a string or some such
> thing, then, yes, this would be unethical. Why? Because the owl is expending
> crucial energy (that is important for surviving the winter) without getting
> any nutrient (caloric) reward.I find the birder's response of "yelling at him
> to knock it off" unethical. Go over and have a conversation with him. Nobody
> responds well to being yelled at. Explain the caloric reward concept. Be a
> birding ambassador. And let's face it; Most birders are also photographers.I
> agree in principle with the above birder and Mike: IT IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA TO
> TEASE AN OWL WITH A NON-EDIBLE LUREBut let's look at this issue with a level
> head.Baiting/Feeding Issue:During the owl invasion of 2004-2005 I fed and
> photographed several owls with both wild-caught mice and Petco white mice.
> Before doing this I checked with several owl researchers who had no problem
> with this. In fact, they raise white mice themselves to feed to injured
> raptors. Everyone benefits; The owl foremost gets a caloric reward (which can
> be a life saver to a starving bird) and the photographer/birder gets a
> memorable view of a rarely witnessed behavior. This was done on little
> traveled side roads or in fields.By the way, these photos have been widely
> published and no doubt have been of great educational and inspirational value
> to folks who have never seen an owl, let alone a Great Gray, N Hawk Owl or
> Boreal Owl. Could I have gotten all of them with patience and not feeding?
> Some? yes, All? no.Should we quit feeding our backyard chickadees, redpolls
> etc because they might hit our picture window and die?...Or because a N Shrike
> may be attracted to the abnormal concentration of birds and target them?
> Because, yes, that's what happens in our backyards nearly every day. But the
> greater good is that many birds are helped (once again with caloric reward)
> and we get great and selfish enjoyment from it.Disturbance Issue:Just two days
> ago I guided a group of birders from southern Iowa in the Bog. Some had never
> seen a N Hawk Owl. We watched the Sax-Rd bird from the road and didn't
> approach since we knew other birders would want to see it. But we found
> another bird on Owl Avenue. Two birders wanted a closer look. We waded through
> the deep snow to just under the spruce it was perched in. Were we disturbing
> this bird? You wouldn't think so from the behavior of the bird...it never even
> looked at us! I've seen 100s of Hawk Owls and they are mostly oblivious to
> humans. Great Grays are a little more skittish. Use common sense.Danger
> Issue:Sax Road sees about two cars per hour. Many side roads see less than
> that. Let's get real. Yes, it would be a bad thing to bait from the shoulder
> of a major, heavily-trafficked highway. Owls aren't "conditioned" to feeding
> on roadsides since one person feeds one bird once.Undue Pressure:Yes, if there
> was ONE Great Gray...or ONE Hawk Owl that everyone was going to see, then any
> undue "harassment" would be UNETHICAL. But when there are many owls around
> then this "disturbance" (which I don't think it is) would be spread
> around.Roadside Issue:Baiting on the opposite side of the road the owl is on
> would be irresponsible. Getting off the road and feeding on the same side
> would be better. Nearly always, they grab prey and return to the same perch or
> a nearby perch.Bottom Line:BIRDING ITSELF IS BASICALLY A SELFISH ACT;
> PHOTOGRAPHY ITSELF IS BASICALLY A SELFISH ACT. The birds do not benefit from
> us looking at them through binoculars or from pointing a camera lens at them.
> But what we do with these experiences is what can benefit birds: Most of us
> take our birding experiences/photographic images and do something with them:
> We show others cool birds for the first time...We teach kids about birds....We
> donate photos for interpretive signs...We feed the birds themselves (whether
> it is suet, sunflower seeds, a deer carcass or Petco mice)...We write
> educational articles...We join conservation clubs...We volunteer at a nature
> center. These are the important things.Let the debate begin!Sparky Stensaas
> 2515 Garthus Road Wrenshall, MN 55797 218.341.3350 cell
> [email protected]
> www.stoneridgepress.com
> www.kollathstensaas.com
> www.sparkyphotos.com
>> Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:53:37 -0800> From: [email protected]>
>> Subject: [mou-net] Unethical Photographer at the bog> To:
>> [email protected]> > Hello:> > I received a email from a Minnesota birder
>> who reported this to me today "I birded the bog Sunday and had a run-in with
>> a photographer who was> baiting the hawk owl at Sax road and cty 7. We were
>> stopped along with> another car of birders when this guy in a truck with
>> North Dakota platesstops about a hundred yards away. He's out monkey around
>> picking stuff> up and putting something on the ground, and when he does the
>> owl comes> streaking in full bore right at the guy. He must've been yanking
>> the> bait away because it didn't look like the bird got anything. I yelled>
>> at him to knock it off and he stopped. Later after I got in my car he> drove
>> up and confronted the guys from the other car, so I got back out> to talk to
>> him. His excuse was "well, the road is where they hunt> anyway." I told him
>> no, he didn't need to condition the bird to the> roadside and if he was
>> patient he'd get good shots anyway. Frustrating. "> > Here is another story
>> of how a Northern Hawk Owl has apparently died this year due to over
>> aggressive photographers:>
>> http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0901b&L=birdchat&X=373893429F745
>> 1F5D2&Y=richditch%40earthlink.net&P=2632> > I been following several
>> photography forums: Camera Talk Minnesota, Fishingminnesota.com,
>> Naturephotographers.net and I can honestly say many photographers are using
>> the MOU-listserv to look for owls and all other bird sightings and go after
>> them for photos. Now bear in mind the majority of photographers are very
>> ethical and then there are some who do not care one bit about anything other
>> than getting the "money shot". Just like there are a ton of birders who
>> follow the ABA guidelines for observing birds and then there's those who do
>> not follow any ethical guidelines and gives the rest of us birders a bad
>> name.> > Also I am not against photographers at all, its just the small
>> minority of them like the guy from North Dakota who makes me very angry that
>> they think this is ethical to tease a owl with prey to get a photo. I am
>> sure most photographers would not support this type of strategy to get a
>> photo of a owl. > > I ask any birder who visits Sax Zim Bog or if you see
>> anyone teasing owls this winter in Minnesota to get their license numbers and
>> report them to the DNR. If you have a camera take photos of them or take a
>> video of them as proof of what they are doing is plain wrong! > > > > > >
>> Mike Hendrickson> Duluth, Minnesota> Website:
>> http://webpages.charter.net/mmhendrickson/> Blog:
>> http://colderbythelakebirding.blogspot.com/> > > > > ----> Join or Leave
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