Stuart:
>My first reaction to this is that it is likely to be highly illegal
>and certainly outrageously immoral.

>So please, somebody email me and say I have it all wrong - however
>the evidence so far suggests otherwise.

Why bother flying a falcon when one only has to wait a couple
of hours to see one hanging out in the area coming bombing
through on its own?

Not only is this needlessly stressful and harmful to the
feeding shorebirds, but part of the whole point of
having the festival during the highest tides is so
folks can get a close-up view of them. What good
does spooking them do? All of a sudden there won't
be a shorebird with hundreds of yards - screwed viewing.

If they intend to bring out a bird on the fist or on a
perch to educate folks about falcons as well as shorebirds,
that's OK. This can be done in a manner which will not
stir up the flock needlessly.


- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>