Dear Tweeters:

While I agree that the police eventually seemed downright friendly and helpful in most all the situations that other birders have shared on this thread, it still comes down to one thing, as I see it: innocent citizens being confronted by government officials. This ought to rub against any American's grain. We should not necessarily feel happy when we are stopped in the middle of a legitimate pursuit, on public land on US soil, to explain our action--to anybody. This is why we don't have the Queen (God bless her) on our money. It's why we have so many elections, and why we set so many criminals free when we are ninety-nine percent sure of their guilt. It's why so many citizens of other lands give their all to leave those lands and come here.

All these stories bring me back to the times when I lived in countries where I had to give up some of my cherished rights, albeit temporarily.

When I was living in Pinochet's Chile, I never got used to the "no cameras" signs. The Carabineros made me nervous, especially as I strolled past a certain Olympic stadium, so the binoculars stayed under wraps.

That was nothing compared to my time among the Arabs, however. It was they, of course--mostly Saudi Arabs--who attacked us, giving us a shove down this dangerous road toward Total Security. I find it ironic that we seem to be getting more like them nowadays. Saudi Arabia is one of the "safest" countries in the world. Step out of line, and a citizen is liable to lose a hand, or find himself beheaded in the public square one Friday. People tend to behave themselves there, at least out in public.

Must we emulate their level of "safety?"

After four years of birding in Saudi Arabia, I am definitely a Twitcher--but not in the British sense.

Every birding trip in Saudi Arabia was like the preparation for a commando raid, or a bank robbery, or an attempt at smuggling. That was because the police, coast guard, and other law-enforcement units were utterly ignorant of bird-watching, and profoundly suspicious (and ignorant) of foreigners, optical equipment, and just about anything that wasn't either draped in white, red, and black (a Saudi man), or swathed in black (a woman).

After a few protracted run-ins with Saudi police and Coast Guard officials, I developed ways of avoiding them, but it left me with a permanent t-t-t-t-twitch. I don't know if I will ever stop looking over my shoulder for big brother now while birding.

Is it good that the police in America are stopping birders to check for terrorist threats? I don't think so. I have spent too long in a place where my rights don't exist to give them up again here at home.

The right to go about one's business, free from government meddling, is what "pursuit of happiness" is all about--whether or not it includes optical devices!

Respectfully yours,
Gary Bletsch
near Lyman, Skagit County

PS Interesting birds here during the storm: two Fox Sparrows at the feeder; a Wilson's Snipe flying by; a flock of confused American Wigeons trying to find a non-frozen pond.


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