Subject: Police Encounters and Hoopoes
Date: Jan 10 12:48:01 2004
From: Gary Bletsch - garybletsch at yahoo.com


Dear Bill and Tweeters,

Bill is right on with the field guide advice. The beautiful pictures charm just about everyone, police included. In the Middle East, almost any situation can be lightened up by showing the policeman, customs agent, coast guardsman, or soldier a picture of a Hoopoe (Upupa epops), believe it or not. They invariably start laughing at this rather ridiculous looking bird, with its dandyish erectile crest.


SandBMaule at aol.com wrote:
I have had the good fortune to bird in many parts of the world, thanks to my career abroad. I have noted one very important defensive procedure -- if you are out in the field with binoculars, make certain you are also carrying a field guide. Especially in countries where you are not fluent in the language, showing the field guide may be the only way to communicate what in the world you are up to peering so intently into the bushes! Sometimes the cops even get a bit interested in looking at pictures of birds they know and can suggest birding hot spots.

It also helps to understand a little about local culture and prejudices. My wife and I were once stopped on a remote road in Spain. My wife tried to explain our motives in her excellent Spanish - mine was nearly nonexistent. The police officers, however, would not listen to a mere woman. Things were a bit tense until the officer and I discovered we both had a very limited knowledge of German, facilitating an explanation of what we were up to. Then the officers were most courteous and helpful, but still ignored my wife! Ah! Spain!

Bill



Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

near Lyman (Skagit County), Washington

garybletsch at yahoo.com


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