Hi Ruth and Tweeters;

It seems to me that the real issue here is not about reporting bird sightings, but policing those birders that do not follow the policies of ethical birding and in this case those of the National Park Service. I'm sure many birders have gone up to see/hear these owls in responsible ways, but that there are a few people that have not, people who feel that the ends justify the means to get a bird on one's list. Heard birds are acceptable for one's life list according to the ABA.

As for the situation at Mt. Rainier, playing of tapes is against National Park Policy, as has been posted on Tweeters. This policy is to protect the natural resources of the National Parks, such as Boreal Owls. If one is aware of anyone using tapes, you can report them to the National Park Service. If these are organized groups, commercially run tours, then these people must have a commercial use permit issued by the park service to run tours in a National Park and these tours must abide by all National Park policies, including no tape calls. By reporting such violations the NPS can pull the permits. If there are no rangers available (the sad state of reduced staffing at our National Parks) or the person is unknown, sometimes we can do nothing . Overall I believe that 98% of the birders out there can be trusted with information about the birds in our environment without fear of disturbing the subject of our affections. Sadly every group has that 2% we could do without.

I believe that the posts about the owls to date have both helped us understand more about the Boreal Owls and at the same time vague enough to protect individual owls from harassment. I believe that the posts allow individuals to seek the bird on their own, and with more birders out there, we can keep an eye on those you choose not to follow the rules. Without witnesses, rule breakers will run amok.

Mt. Rainier can be contacted through their website: http://www.nps.gov/mora/pphtml/contact.html

OK, I'm off my soapbox now - back to enjoying the birds....

Good Birding

Steve Nord
Olympia, WA
Rangersteve AT comcast.net