I have been trying to avoid jumping in on this but feel I must. As a birder, and photographer, I also find the vilifying of bird photographers a disturbing and personally offensive trend. There is no doubt that some photographers do things that are not within ethical bounds. In fact I was there at Breezy yesterday--at the same time as Phil Jeffrey--and saw that first offending photographer flush the bird from the dunes. And in fact, one of my party chastised the guy. I was on the same dune as Phil (although I didn't know it at the time!) and I could see immediately that I was not going to get any decent shot of this bird. Oh well--I was resigned. (As it turned out, we later walked down around the jetty and lo and behold, one owl was right on the top of the dune in front of me, so in the end I did get a decent shot, without having to enter the dunes or encroach on the bird. But now, I would be reluctant to post it for fear of being questioned/harassed about it. This is a sorry state of affairs.) But I have also seen birders doing equally inappropriate things--tromping through undergrowth to flush a bird, trespassing on private property, using tapes inappropriately, etc etc. There are jerks in every group. What we need to focus is on educating these people--photographers and birders alike--on appropriate, ethical behavior around owls and other birds. What bothers me is that witholding owl sightings because of this knee-jerk reaction to photographers punishes the many ethically-abiding photographers, and birders, and especially neophytes. How many have seen their life owls because of this list, and others like it? How many this season have seen their life Snowy Owl, and been forever changed by their magnificence? Just yesterday at Breezy we showed the owl to several beginning birders--and non-birders--through our scope, and they were awed. I doubt those birders would have been there if not for the lists. Without posting, only the elite birders--those "in the know" or in that "inner circle" of NY birders--get the opportunity to see these fantastic birds. And that would be a great loss. Janet Zinn Brooklyn, NY _www.janetzinnphotography.com_ (http://www.janetzinnphotography.com/)
In a message dated 2/6/2012 8:03:16 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, kopel...@optonline.net writes: I’ve seen the same kind of behavior with folks trying to photograph seals and getting too close, or trying to flush the, from haulout sites. Educating these folks and having the MMPA as a threat goes a long way to help reduce the offensive behavior. I thoroughly understand the pique we all feel at those who have absolutely no respect for the ecosystems upon which they trod and within which they are photographing, but let’s remember that these folks don’t represent the majority. I think that it would be a shame to stop posting information about owls, or other interesting birds/wildlife. Perhaps one could post the general vicinity (e.g., Jones Beach, Breezy Point, etc.) within posting the specifics, and your images are geotagged, perhaps you can post them with minimal EXIF data embedded. If one is interested in the specifics, they can email the poster and request that info. Artie Arthur H. Kopelman, Ph. D. President, Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island _president@cresli.org_ (mailto:presid...@cresli.org) _www.cresli.org _ (http://www.cresli.org/) 631-244-3352 ( e-mails scanned for viruses before sending) "When the last individual of a race of living thing breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again" ...... William Beebee P Be kind to the environment - unless you need to, please don't print this e-mail From: bounce-39535655-3714...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-39535655-3714...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Stella Miller Sent: Monday, February 06, 2012 7:14 AM To: nysbirds-l@cornell.edu; Gregory Fisher Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Knee jerk reaction to 2 guys that just didn't get it To jump into the fray here: I have personally witnessed more than just two people harassing snowy owls, in fact, I have observed, on several occasions, up to four or five photographers at a time deliberately flushing the bird, approaching it too closely, causing the bird to have to continually fly down the beach, paparazzi in tow. I have also had reports from friends who have witnessed this same behavior as recently as a week or so ago. In another example, just yesterday I was observing a screech owl near my house. Two photographers came over and started snapping away. I asked them to please be respectful of the bird, keep their distance and not disturb it. I then pretended to walk into the woods for a hike as they said they were leaving. As I entered the woods, I watched them go back to the owl, and heard their car horn go off several times. I cannot confirm, but it seemed as though they were trying to prompt the owl into opening its eyes. To their credit they did not approach closely, or stay long and did leave after 1/2 an hour. It is not just two guys, unfortunately there seems to be a growing rash of unethical behavior occurring, with boundaries being crossed that should not be. I agree with Seth, owls should not be listed on the listserv. Word of mouth has worked wonderfully in the past, in fact, I only joined the listserv a year or so ago and managed to hear about any and all owls that were being seen. Stella Miller President Huntington-Oyster Bay Audubon "Conservation is sometimes perceived as stopping everything cold, as holding whooping cranes in higher esteem than people. It is up to science to spread the understanding that the choice is not between wild places or people, it is between a rich or an impoverished existence for Man." Thomas Lovejoy --- On Mon, 2/6/12, Gregory Fisher <_gregoryfisher@sprintmail.com_ (mailto:gregoryfis...@sprintmail.com) > wrote: From: Gregory Fisher <_gregoryfisher@sprintmail.com_ (mailto:gregoryfis...@sprintmail.com) > Subject: [nysbirds-l] Knee jerk reaction to 2 guys that just didn't get it To: _nysbirds-l@cornell.edu_ (mailto:nysbirds-l@cornell.edu) Date: Monday, February 6, 2012, 6:19 AM All, I am a photographer and am very respectful of wildlife and the birding ethic rules. In no way do I want to bring harm or stress any wildlife including snowy owls. The opportunity to be able to see these magnificant birds this winter is an awesome one. The birding list have been an awesome resource in order to see not only snowy owls but other species as well. Just because there were 2 bad apples some people who think they are above everyone else trashes photographers in general. Then we have frequent birders say they are no longer going to post specific locations, which in my mind means people will have to look harder and possibly flush out bird looking instead of understand where they are and staying a good distance away to observe. Then we have others that say they will no longer post at all. If this is the case why not just band this whole concept of the birding list and we can all go back to the stone age. I understand the problem with a select few but come on people grow up and handle the situation responsibly. Greg -- NYSbirds-L List Info: _http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME_ (http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME) _http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES_ (http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES) _http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm_ (http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm) ARCHIVES: 1) _http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html_ (http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html) 2) _http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L_ (http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L) 3) _http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html_ (http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html) Please submit your observations to eBird: _http://ebird.org/content/ebird/_ (http://ebird.org/content/ebird/) -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: _Welcome and Basics_ (http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME) _Rules and Information_ (http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES) _Subscribe, Configuration and Leave_ (http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm) Archives: _The Mail Archive_ (http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html) _Surfbirds_ (http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L) _BirdingOnThe.Net_ (http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html) Please submit your observations to _eBird_ (http://ebird.org/content/ebird/) ! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: _Welcome and Basics_ (http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME) _Rules and Information_ (http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES) _Subscribe, Configuration and Leave_ (http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm) Archives: _The Mail Archive_ (http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html) _Surfbirds_ (http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L) _BirdingOnThe.Net_ (http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html) Please submit your observations to _eBird_ (http://ebird.org/content/ebird/) ! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
