This reminds me of something similar that occurred in Texas when I was
attending the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival.
Wed. night had been rainy, and Thursday was windy, keeping most birds down
in cover. One of the King Ranch tours was scheduled for Thursday, with the
primary target bird being the ferruginous pygmy-owl. All birds were
hunkered down in the wind, the owl no exception. Finally, the guide lured
one in with tapes, and asked that no one approach it until all had had the
opportunity to view it in the scope. A photographer felt that she was the
exception, approached the owl, which fled. Almost half of the group never
saw the owl. This was relayed to me by one of the group who didn't get to
see the owl. ("My" scheduled day to see the owl, the guides made an
announcement on the bus, and there was no repeat of that incident.)
I'm all in favor of photographing birds. I've considered getting some good
equipment myself. However, like Mary, I've witnessed some poor behavior,
and not limited to photographers.
ABA has ethics guidelines, which I'm sure if followed would curb such
behavior. I encourage everyone to review these at the link below:
http://aba.org/about/ethics.html
Beyond that, I'm not sure what the options are.
Margaret Bowman
Licking Co., OH
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2011 8:54 AM
Subject: [Ohio-birds] Cross Post from MI list; behavior at GGO site
>I find this report disturbing as while it is an isolated incident I think
> it may be the beginning
> more frequent such reports. No one is pointing fingers at any particular
> group. (Not everyone seems to have been there when there were unruly
> types,
> either that or people's threshold for bad behavior is significantly
> higher)
> My intent in cross posting is simply to provide information for
> consideration and thought
> about what do we do to try to head this off? Humans I think typically poo
> poo reports
> of problems till it's a crises. Wouldn't it be nice for the birds if that
> didn't happen
> as birdwatching and wildlife photography gains popularity?
>
> I had the choice of posting the entire post or cutting off part. I
> debated
> and cut off the last part of the post as the thread
> had become part of a discussion that is not relevant to the info I'm
> trying
> to convey. Which is regardless of fingerpointing, is the birding
> community prepared to protect birds from poor behavior as the 'sport'
> grows
> and the internet reveals the precise location of every find?
> Efforts to grow birding as a sport in order to support conservation must
> also consider these issues before they become an issue.
>
> Marie, Dayton
> P.S. here is the link if you feel the need to read the entire thread
> http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/MICH.html
> -----------
> Great Gray Own in Kingston, posted on SE MI listserv
> I was there Thursday, and it was pretty disturbing. When the owl faced
> left,
> ten strobes flashed (from ten to twenty feet away); when it turned right,
> the rest of them flashed. If the bird flew a hundred feet down the road,
> the
> whole group chased it.
>
> Whether these people are photographers or birders or just curiosity
> hunters
> with cameras, I don't know. But the spectators with binocs only were not
> the ones crowding the bird, shouting to each other or running to follow
> the
> owl. I wouldn't have gone if I knew what an awful scene awaited me. I
> have
> to think there's something wrong with this owl, stuck hunting along this
> very busy road during the day with forty people racing after it.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
> Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
> Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at
> www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
>
> You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
> http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
> Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
>
______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
|
