To add a tangibly scary observation to further elucidate Pat’s point, yesterday
afternoon hunters were actively shooting at parts of the Riverhead goose herd
(which often have held rare, sought-after species in the past, and may or may
not this year as well) as they made short flights shuffling between farm
fields.
While there are always going to be hunters out there in general, the ideas Pat
mentioned are just a small change of something us birders on Eastern LI can do
to make it a little safer on these birds - especially given the ease that the
micro-location specificity of eBird and other reports can allow for hunters in
that area.
Best,
Mike McBrien
Amityville, NY
On Friday, January 14, 2022, 06:26:11 PM EST, Andrew Baksh
<birdingd...@gmail.com> wrote:
This morning, I shared your post to NYS birders on Facebook immediately after
reading it and also crossed posted to Phil Jeffery’s group, which is more local.
Additionally, I also tweeted this AM that no rare Geese or Ducks will be
reported from either my account or the NYRareBirdAlert Twitter account.
Many Twitter users have pushed that tweet out to other social media sites and
groups.
Best,
--------“Tenderness and Kindness are not signs of weakness and despair but
manifestations of strength and resolution” ~ Khalil Gibran
"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of
others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." ~ Frederick
Douglass
風 Swift as the wind林 Quiet as the forest
火 Conquer like the fire
山 Steady as the mountainSun Tzu The Art of War
(\__/)
(= '.'=)
(") _ (")
Sent from somewhere in the field using my mobile device!
Andrew Bakshwww.birdingdude.blogspot.com
On Jan 14, 2022, at 6:04 PM, Patricia Lindsay <gelocheli...@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks to everyone for your support and understanding of this sensitive issue.
Ronnie, Thank you for pointing this out, absolutely, in fact I neglected to
mention this in my original email and was intending to send a second email
asking anyone who agrees and is willing, to cross-post to the various other
social media outlets (none of which I belong to).
Elliot, As far as the eBird control is concerned, this is out of my purview,
but I would ask the eBird folks reading this whether this is something they
consider important enough to consider.
Darlene, YES, I believe keeping the lists hidden from public will work.
All, I encourage everyone to call DEC if they see anything illegal going on.
Long Island is DEC Region 1. The general number is 631-444-0200. They can at
least direct you to the enforcement number, which I seem to have misplaced
after calling them a previous year when we saw hunters gunning down dozens of
Canada Geese coming in to their decoys from their perch in a field. Turned out
it was legal at that time. The hunters just piled them all up and left them
there, not sure what happened to the carcasses later.
Patricia Lindsay
On Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 10:02 AM Ronnie Almonte <batresalmo...@gmail.com> wrote:
Thank you Pat, can I post a version of this on social media, in order to spread
the word?
On Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 8:12 AM Patricia Lindsay <gelocheli...@gmail.com> wrote:
With the hunting season now upon us, and the Waterfowl Count starting on
Saturday, we would like to make a serious plea that birders and photographers
not post reports of rare geese from Riverhead and the East End of Long Island
on eBird, Facebook, this listserv, or any other social media platform until the
end of the season.
It has become very clear here on LI that hunters have caught on to eBird, the
listservs, and social media, and are targeting the rare geese (and ducks also)
using information obtained from birders. One of the only Pink-footed Geese in
the Riverhead area last winter was shot this way, and we personally know of
other cases involving Ross's and Barnacle Geese (and King Eiders, etc.). A
Greylag Goose, very likely of wild origins and if so, extremely rare, was also
shot in this area a few years ago.
The problem is most acute in the Riverhead area and on the South Fork, from
November to the end of hunting season (9 Feb for Canada Goose, 6 Mar for Snow
Goose). We understand that the birding community does not want war with the
hunters, but the situation here is very sensitive--everybody knows the very
limited number of specific fields used by the geese, and it seems a shame that
the rarer species are being exposed to this level of danger.
We would suggest Cackling, Ross's, Barnacle, Pink-footed, and Greater
White-fronted Geese, and of course any mega rare species, seen in these areas
not be reported until hunting season ends or at least until the geese seem to
have moved on.
Cackling and Greater White-fronted Goose may be taken legally as part of the
Canada Goose bag limits. Snow and Ross's Geese may be taken as part of the Snow
Goose bag limits. The others are not listed as game species on the DEC website
so apparently were taken illegally.
By making this one small sacrifice, we might just be able to save a few birds
and get to enjoy them longer.
Thanks for your consideration.
Best,
Shai Mitra and Pat LindsayBay Shore
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