Hello,

I can offer brief reply (or opinion) to Michael's question.

One problem is the public's perception that the Audubon Society is the
local authority in matters involving birds. In a few cases it may be that
the local chapter is the authority, but more often than not, it isn't.
What will happen is exactly what your step-sister encountered, a good
intentioned member of the public calls a local Audubon Chapter staffed by
good intentioned volunteers, who may or may not know the best thing to do.

I don't have a solution to this problem, perhaps Audubon Chapters should
prepare there volunteers (and professional staff) better for such things.

Personally I would do like you did with the person at the lake. As
individuals, I think that is the best we can do.

Russell

--------------------------------------------------------
Russell Rogers
4510 Glenn Way SW
Seattle, WA 98116
(206) 935-6280
rrogers at halcyon.com
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On Mon, 9 Feb 1998, Michael Patrick wrote:

> Good Monday all,
>
> I've recently had two encounters where people have looked to the
> "established" bird-watching community for help. I've felt pleasantly
> obligated to live up to a perceived responsibility, and am asking tweeters
> about their feelings in these matters. I'll relate them both:
> 1) Local homeowner saw me counting ducks at suburban Martha Lake
> (Snohomish County, WA.) and asked if I was doing this for the Audubon
> Society - I modestly declined the complement, then ran down the list of
> ducks seen, good field guides, reasons for keeping notes about
> observations (particularly for a homeowner on a suburban lake!), etc.
> Quite a pleasant interchange for a normally quite lunch-hour.
>
> 2) Heard the story of a young woman working for a Sam's club in San
> Bernadino California. They had a "small hawk" fly into the warehouse
> pursuing the House Sparrows. It was apparently trapped inside the
> warehouse. This young lady (I'll confess - my step-sister :-) called the
> local Audubon Society four times, asking for help getting the hawk out. It
> ate all the sparrows and eventually died. I was distressed to hear that
> the local Audubon did no more than offer advice (which didn't work - "open
> the doors and it'll fly out"). Here, I know that there are many banders
> who would have gladly trapped the bird (and banded it ;-) and released it.
>
> So, what do tweeters think our obligations are? If she had asked me while
> the hawk was still alive, I would have taken the initiative to contact the
> local banding community and get them involved. On the other hand, are we
> now so complacent that we feel no obligation to help? Basically, I think
> this is a very poor public relations event for the "established"
> bird-watching community.
>
> Michael H. Patrick ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> mpatrick at eskimo.com + diversity is essential for healthy systems +
> Seattle, Washington ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>
>