Subject: Re: Wildlife Monograph - Skagit Bald Eagles
Date: Apr 21 06:07:56 1998
From: Don Baccus - dhogaza at pacifier.com


At 11:41 PM 4/20/98 -0700, Michael Price wrote:

>The Brits have invented a wonderful device which allows birders to look at
>birds without the birds knowing they're being watched--it's called a
>'blind'.

I thought it was called a "hide".

> Several of these devices, each at a strategic viewing location and
>each allowing up to ten or fifteen birders at a time to view, can handle all
>but the most dense non-boat traffic. They're even more efficient at
>rendering birders invisible and therefore even less disturbing to the birds
>if they're at the end of concealed approach paths, i.e., the approach path
>parallels a dike. The Brits have also discovered that if the 'blinds' are
>built sometime in the ten or eleven months of the year when the birds aren't
>there, there's even *less* disturbance.
>
>Perhaps there's funds available to study the use of these devices based on
>the British experience, and their possible application to North American
>viewing situations.

As I'm sure you know, blinds are used extensively in American refuges and
other wildlife areas. Bald eagles tend to be quite sensitive to disturbance,
though, and that sensitivity to disturbance during the nesting season isn't
always blindingly obvious. There have been studies of the effects of rafting
on bald eagle behavior along the Yellowstone River which are interesting.



- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net