Thanks, Mike, for the heads-up. It sounds as though our personal policy should be to share specifics of sightings only with those we know personally, and well enough to trust their ethics. I was of two minds about it, because I like to help others enjoy the birds. But it's not worth the chance of causing long-term imprinting on humans; I've seen the result of that at The Raptor Center, and it's unfair to the creatures we claim to love.
On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 5:05 PM, Michael Hendrickson <[email protected]> wrote: > Today while guiding two women from Texas at Sax-Zim Bog we encountered > something > very odd but also sad. Along one of the back roads in Sax-Zim Bog we saw a > Northern Hawk Owl perched at least 200 yards off the road. We got out and > viewed it through my spotting scope. We decided to walk into the bog on the > opposite side of the road to look for some Black-backed Woodpeckers. About > half > way down our path I saw something fly over my head quite low, it was the > Northern Hawk Owl. The owl stared at me at eye level and allowed my group to > watch it for a little bit but we were more focused on this terrible cold day > to > locate a Black-backed Woodpecker. As we left the owl at its perch we walked > another 100 feet down the trail and the owl again flew ahead of us and landed > above us and stared at us. We continue down the trail and yet again the owl > flew ahead of us and perched near us and staring at us as though it was some > sort of dog waiting for us to toss a treat. We ignored the owl and it kept > following us all the way to the end of the foot path and AGAIN all the way > back > to my parked vehicle! Yes I got flight photos as it flew towards us many > times > and yes we got some unbelievable photos so close to us and at eye level BUT > something about this event is not right! Northern Hawk Owls should not be > acting like dogs waiting for someone to toss a bone! This owl has been > fed/baited so many MANY DAMN times its following people now and practically > begging for a pet store mouse! > > This is not a fabricated lie nor is it elaborated and its the truth.. the owl > literally and factually followed us around at eye level! Tony's decision > yesterday is reason enough to stop posting owl locations anywhere in > Minnesota. > There are people who are NOT MOU members who are using this free MOU service > to > benefit themselves and only themselves! The truth is, is that it only takes > one > person to ruin it for everyone .. to bad to sad.. but its the truth. It took > only one person to ruin it for birders to be denied access to the Superior > landfill, it only took one person to ruin it for others when they trespass to > view a bird.. it just takes one person to ruin it for all. > > > So I totally support Tony and I hope everyone else will support Tony's > decision > not to share owl locations on the RBA but I also hope people will support me > and > not give out owl locations on the MOU listserv. I know this plea will most > likely land on silent ears but hey I tried. > > > > Mike Hendrickson > Duluth, Minnesota > Website: http://www.mikehendricksonbirding.com > > Blog: http://colderbythelakebirding.blogspot.com/ > > > > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
