The only "inconsiderate" person that walked under the tree the owl was on yesterday was the home owners son, which we cannot very well tell where to stand on his own property (although a few of us did tell him that he was a little too close). I was there from 8am - 3pm and nobody else went anywhere near that close. Every photographer there had at least a 200mm lens or a point and shoot with a decent zoom where there was no need to even attempt it. In fact the closest I saw anyone was 15-20 feet away, and that was when the bird itself flew up into a tree at the side of the road TOWARDS the 40 or so people standing by the tree at the time. Twice the owl flew from one side of the field to the other........closer to the people and caught mice just feet away.I myself had the bird fly from a tree over 50 feet away from me directly at me and about a foot over my head (and there's pictures to prove it). So really, you need to get your facts straight and do your research. These birds are tolerant and almost fearless of people. Today this bird has been sitting 2 feet off of the ground just roosting, maybe 20 feet from the actual road. There's been over 100 people stop so far, everyone just across the ditch from it and it is not bothered at all. Had it's eyes closed most of the day, with a few occasions where it began preening itself and yawning now and again. Everyone has been very patient and respectful of this amazing bird. You make it sound like it's being severely disturbed by the human presence and that's just not the case. If it had been disturbed, it would not still be here or be CHOOSING to roost/hunt near where people can get close to it, or where there are groups of people already standing. There's plenty of ditches/fields with abundant food supply for it away from the road.
Most of the people out there are wildlife photographers......and most of us (like myself) do actually research the species/breed and act accordingly as not to scare or disturb the animal/bird we are photographing. We take care to watch for any form of behavioral/postural change and will back away if any such change occurs. We also caution others if they do something that may cause the owl to react negatively. If you were one of the birders viewing the bird through binoculars from the road, it's possible it just appeared that people were closer than they actually were. There were times I saw people that appeared to be really close to the owl, but upon moving and looking from a different angle, they were in actual fact a fair distance away. This is a rare and spectacular bird to see (especially in this area), so don't think that anyone is or will do anything stupid enough to risk it moving elsewhere. > Message: 8 > Date: Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:34:11 -0500 > From: "Bruce Wilson" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Subject: [Ontbirds] Great Gray Owl Kingsville > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > At 14:55 > > Seen west of McCain Road on north side of Road 2. Unfortunately some > inconsiderate photographers are getting too close. > > Take Main Street west from Kingsville to McCain Road and turn north to Road > 2. Turn west on Road 2 for about 300 to 400 m. Owl was in trees along a field > on north side. > > Please respect the bird and keep a distance from it. There is no need to walk > up under it. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
