[Birdtalk] Re: [IBLE] Hawk Owl, Northern Shrike

[Cliff and Lisa Weisse]

Chad Adams wrote:
"On 11/23 I went to Beaver Dick park to see the hawk owl. It was there,
being photographed (harassed) by three photographers who followed it
from tree to tree, making owl and rodent sounds and otherwise bothering
it. It was neat to see the owl, and to watch it hunt voles (very
successful at that), but not so neat to see the people chasing it
around, including one young person whose parents had the kid climb the
tree the owl was in. One photographer approached the owl in a tree as
it landed next to Hwy 33, causing it to fly out in the road, nearly
getting hit."

Thanks a lot folks.  The reason I originally posted a reminder to use 
caution and consider the welfare of the bird first is because I watched 
someone walk right up to the bird and flush it, with camera pointed at 
it, presumably to capture a flight shot.  That person is well know and 
highly regarded among birders and he knew better.  When he realized that 
I was there to look at the bird he apologized, saying that he didn't 
realize I was a birder.  Would it have been OK if no one had seen him?  
It's not about the birders and I don't care about my lost opportunity to 
view the bird on an advantageous perch.  I was concerned about the bird 
being constantly harassed.  Maybe that point wasn't made obvious 
enough?  It's not about someone not seeing the bird it's about 
protecting the owl.  I was disappointed that this sighting got posted in 
a public forum in the first place but it was already too late at that 
point.  Owls generate a huge amount of interest as evidenced by the fact 
that someone has seen this individual almost every day since it was 
first reported more than two weeks ago, and the four or five carloads of 
birders every weekend for two months looking for the Rexburg Snowy 
Owls.  If only one or two people went to see it flushing it wouldn't be 
that big a deal for the bird (just for the record I wouldn't flush it on 
purpose then either).  But with all the pressure this bird is receiving 
it's a whole different story.  Can we afford to continue to flush this 
bird over and over?  Just for a stupid photograph?  I too enjoy taking 
photos of birds so I understand the desire to get close.  But that's not 
a good reason, in my opinion, to flush a wintering bird like this over 
and over.  And what really pisses me off is that this bird is 
exceedingly cooperative.  You can get very close and capture excellent 
photos, even with point and shoot digital cameras, so there's no need to 
push the bird to the point where it flushes.  If you want a flight shot 
that badly then just wait for the bird to fly on its own.  Let's use a 
little common sense and let this bird do its thing without unnecessary 
interference from us. 

I propose that we collect names (or make/model of car and license 
plate-someone will know who it is) from people exhibiting such behavior 
and post them on this forum so everyone knows who not to tell about 
vulnerable birds in the future.  I'll bet the same people that cause 
these problems by showing a total disregard for the welfare of the bird 
will be the first ones to bitch when they find out about the next Snowy 
or Hawk-Owl long after it's left the area. 

Cliff

-- 
Cliff and Lisa Weisse
Island Park, Idaho
cliffandlisa at octobersetters.com

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://secureserver.securesites.net/pipermail/birdtalk/attachments/20071126/b0a99f08/attachment.htm