It is disheartening to see wetland habitat being trampled in the selfish interest of listing. If the observers were doing something more important and thoughtful, they surely would not have done so in a public way. In this case the harm to these Nelson's sparrows is probably not a big deal--they simply abandoned this little marsh and continued their migration--but the site is degraded for other plants and animals. And a very public bad example is set. There are lots of followers out there. Nothing wrong with that, but too few learn what habitats certain species prefer, then locate some and explore them with care. Too many invent excuses why the check-mark or the photo matters more than the birds themselves. We hear a lot on this forum about what species people saw, but a lot less about what else they learned, if anything. Well, most folks know these things already, even if some find it too easy to ignore them in the pursuit of the check-mark. My question for readers is this: have you ever withheld news--in whole or in part--of an interesting find because you feared the bird or its habitat would be disturbed by other observers? If you haven't, might you do so in certain circumstances? I certainly have. I wouldn't bother if, say, a rare gull had showed up in a flock on a beach. Some selfish observer wanting a closer look might spook the birds, but damage to the habitat or the birds would seem to be a remote possibility. Of course it might deprive others of a look at the bird, too; we all have our opinions about how hurtful that might be, but it is at least selfish and impolite. A roosting owl can be another matter entirely, however, as is the chance that nesting rails might be disturbed by relentless interruptions, or scarce habitat degraded. It was not all that long ago that Ohio birders actually kept some sightings less than public for fear birds would be shot by scientists, and I guess this is still the case in other states. But as for fellow birders, do we instinctively trust them to behave responsibly? In what cases might we deprive them of information about locations of interesting species in the interest of the birds themselves? Only a bit crabbily, Bill Whan Columbus Sean Williams wrote: > Birders, > > Since last Wednesday, Sep. 22nd, I have heard no positive reports of the > Nelson's Sparrows, or even of any Ammodramus species.> > However, every day many birders (3+) have been present. What bothers me is > that every day I see one or more birders freely walking around in the marsh. > This is not how I originally found the birds, so you may not be improving > your chances. Admittedly, before I found the birds and before there were > other birders, I braved the cold wetness once every two weeks. I'd like to > caution birders that if multiple people tromp the marsh every day, there may > be no Nelson's Sparrow habitat left!! We're talking about a very small > marsh, possibly only an acre. There are now obvious walkways through the > cattails and wet grasses. Please be respectful of the birds on their great > migration to wintering grounds. I hope I'm not sounding too crabby! :P> > Thank you! > Sean ______________________________________________________________________ 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]