This topic is going on in most States right now because of the number of Snowy Owls moving down. I think singling out the photographers is wrong but honestly at least three quarters of the time when I see a "birder" make a dumb controversial decision he/she usually has a camera present. Not even just with owls but with birds in general. Here is my one quick example. A few weeks back I visited a house in Madison, CT to see a Yellow-throated Warbler. Most birders stood back and to the side and waited for the Warbler to come in but we had to move our positions to see the feeders because two photographers showed up, walked 8-10 ft from the feeder, and set up right in front of us. (a) no consideration to the birders present, (b) no consideration to the tenants that lived there and (c) no consideration to the bird itself. All they cared about was getting that shot. I read a posting somewhere from a birder/photographer who was upset at what he witnessed while trying to photograph an Owl. I guess someone showed up and released a mouse so that they could get a few flight shots. This person wasn't mad because it might result in hurting the Owl itself BUT instead went on to talk about how this kind of action was causing the value in his flight shots to drop. Glad to see that his priorities were in order! Most birders that I know don't report Owls and it's been that way for years and I have to say that I'm more surprised when I see people reporting Owls because 90% of the time it turns into a mess. Whether it's photographers or birders the fact is owls atract and when that happens nothing good ever comes out of it. Over the past two weeks I have been watching Barred, Saw-whet, and a Snowy Owl here in Connecticut and all have remained in the same areas because nobody knows about them and nobody bothers them. My attitude is if your serious about photographing owls and your serious about observing them then spend more time out looking for them and less time checking online for other people sightings. Mark Barriger Wallingford, CT
From: [email protected] To: [email protected] CC: [email protected] Subject: RE: [nysbirds-l] Knee jerk reaction to 2 guys that just didn't get it Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 10:38:29 -0500 Hi all, I was going to stay out of this thread because it’s an impossible situation. I come from 3 directions. I’m a long time birder, a professional wildlife photographer and a listowner of Metro Birding Briefs. As a listowner I’ve always discouraged posting of specific owl locations. Letting people know there’s a Barred Owl in Central Park is fine but saying it’s at lamppost 7902 isn’t. Likewise, a Snowy Owl is being seen at Breezy Point, OK but telling people it’s in the third dune back, not as good. I personally believe that self-policing is the best solution. Just a week or so ago, I was at Jones Beach photographing the white Snowy Owl when somebody started approaching the owl in a quick herky jerky manner. Of course, the owl flew. I was the first to get to its new location and kind of set up a line where the owl wasn’t disturbed but close enough to take photos. The offending photographer arriver shortly after and started doing the same thing again. I told him he needed to stop and explained what he was doing was wrong. He listened, stayed a few more hours and never abused the bird again. There are ways of making your point without being confrontational that are effective. There are also ways of approaching an owl or any other bird without alarming it but it requires a lot of patience. I won’t go into the technique but I took over 4000 images of “Whitey” and the bird always seemed quite serene. I haven’t really post many images but if you’re on Facebook I’m sure you can find a few. Educating new birders and photographers is essential as well as self-policing. Just my 3 cents. All the best, Lloyd Lloyd Spitalnik Photography www.lloydspitalnikphotos.com From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sam Stuart Sent: Monday, February 06, 2012 10:19 AM To: david speiser Cc: NYS Birds Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Knee jerk reaction to 2 guys that just didn't get it All, We are responsible for the sightings we make and the people we share those with. It is important to balance the need for documenting rare and irregular species vs. our desire to share these excellent sightings with others. This is especially true when dealing with sightings of territorial and sedentary species that are more susceptible to disturbances. These species should probably be documented on eBird (www.eBird.org) and the NY State Avian Records Committee (http://nybirds.org/NYSARC/nysarcform2.htm) rather than the list serve. Thanks, Sam Stuart On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 10:08 AM, david speiser <[email protected]> wrote: I too agree with Cindy's summation. The birding community as a whole should not turn into insular cliques that make it easy not to report when you know you will hear about the bird anyway. Do we want this board to only report Herring Gull's except of course when a Ross' Gull shows up! That would need to be kept secret. Good birding, David Speiser www.lilibirds.com Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 06:14:22 -0800 From: [email protected] Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Knee jerk reaction to 2 guys that just didn't get it To: [email protected] To echo Janet's post and in response to Stella's - I too have seen photographers being insensitive to snowy owls, on other ocassions. I remember one time there was a fantastic photo op for one particular owl at Jones Beach a few years ago.... I even took one of my kids out of school so he could see this beautiful bird. (there were actually TWO owls at the beach that day! We saw both of them!). The first, "poster bird" was sitting on a dune, with at least a half dozen photographers snapping away at a distance of about 15 feet. Maybe not even that. Unbelievable but true. The second bird was more skittish and was sitting by itself, closer to the beach. However, as my son and I were watching it, a jogger running along the beach passed it too closely (not seeing the bird) and the owl flushed, flying overhead and away. You just can't win! I disagree, however, that owls should not be mentioned on these birding listservs. I would think that's just the beginning of a slippery slope....first owls are kept secret, then perhaps a first-of-state nesting, or other rare bird.... who's to say an inconsiderate photographer, or birder (yes, those exist as well, I had the experience of one in my own back yard!), will get close enough to ANY noteworthy bird to shoo it off and ruin the experience for everyone else (not to mention stressing the bird!)? Keeping sightings limited to "word of mouth" severely restricts who sees what, turning birding (or the viewing of certain species) into a private club of sorts - with only the elite "inner circle" allowed to participate. I for one don't go birding regularly in winter, preferring to just go out for rarities, and am not in anyone's cell phone contact list. I usually don't like birding in a crowd. I know a few "key" people but nobody really well. Word of mouth wouldn't work for me and wouldn't work for many other respectable, but more casual birders who might come from out of the area just to see an owl, or any other noteworthy bird. There's no way to completely eliminate the problem. There will be clueless joggers, dogs and their owners, and kids flushing the birds in addition to the photographers and selfish birders who show up. You can't put a fence around these birds. I believe that by posting photos or names (or even license plates) of the perpetrators, they will eventually learn that it's not worth their while to do what they're doing. Or they won't care and the occasional bird may suffer an uncomfortable moment or two. I still think that's better than a whole lot of decent, good folks losing out on something really special. have a great day! Cindy Wodinsky -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- -Sam (917) 209-2566 @surfbird917 http://www.flickr.com/photos/pasurfbird/ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to eBird! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net Please submit your observations to 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/[email protected]/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/ --
