At 07:54 AM 5/18/98 -0700, Charles Swift wrote:
>Tweets:
>
>Thanks to all the good information on Tweeters, especially Mike Patterson's
>great web page, we saw the 2 Bristle-thighed Curlews on Saturday morning at
>the South jetty of the Columbia R. We were able to study both of them
>closely for at least 30 minutes. Only minor complaint was a small group of
>photographers (w/ mostly insufficient lenses) that felt the need to cross
>the small stream to get very close (within about 100') of 1 of the birds.
>Since these birds were actively foraging and preparing for another long
>flight north, I didn't think this was such a good idea.

There's no lens that allows one to get good photographs of a bird this
size from 100 feet. So if you think this is a problem, keep in mind that
every bird photograph results from actions you don't think are a good idea.

In reality, shorebirds are often among the most approachable birds if one
takes care. The major problem I have is that often folks will see me
sitting 10-15 feet from feeding shorebirds that I've allowed to come up
to me on a rising tide, and presume that they then can just walk up and
join me without flushing them - not realizing the amount of time and care
that's gone into making such a close approach possible.

If you see a photographer sitting close to a bird, obviously the bird's
not flushed or otherwise fled. There's usually a good reason for this,
i.e. a great deal of care taken by the shooter.

Of course, there are insensitive photographers out there who act
irresponsibly. Those of us who shoot for publication realize, though,
that flushing birds off simply means we won't get anything salable for
our efforts and most of us work hard to get what we get.

A bunch of people have reacted with surprise when I've told them I've
made no effort to chase and photograph these curlews. Your note exactly
captures why I didn't over the weekend. I knew there'd be a lot of
folks looking for them, and any effort I might make to get a decent
photograph would result in at least one complaint that I'm insensitive
to the needs of these birds, etc.

>ps. I'll be in and out doing field work for the next few months so am
>postponing my Tweeters subscription for the time being. Hope everyone has a
>great spring/summer!

Hmmm...I band raptors semi-professionally each fall and nothing I do as
a photographer is nearly as intrusive as the field-work I do in the name
of science.



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