Subject: [Tweeters] long, inane comments re: rare bird ethics
Date: Oct 9 20:16:33 2004
From: Gary Bletsch - garybletsch at yahoo.com


Dear Tweeters,

Thanks to Gene Hunn and others for giving voice to
reason here.

I recall a long birding trip with a Buddhist friend of
mine. With many miles to drive, we talked about many
things, including nihilism and whether or not his
faith be a form of such.

My friend has a habit of gently deriding himself
whenever he gets excited about finding some rare bird.
As I understand it, such a find does not lead him to
that sense of non-selfness which he seeks.

After that trip, we parted amicably, and both my
friend and I continued on our merry life-paths. Both
he and I continue to look for rare birds.

Well. Almost all of us could pursue our birding hobby
with less of an impact. For example, we could stay
home, bird on foot, or bird on horseback--or by
bicycle. We could stay in our yards and local
neighborhoods, and avoid driving anywhere. Thoreau
would have advocated such a practice.

That would help the birds, I believe, since every
motor trip means more pollution. We could also forgo
all those trips by aeroplane to far-off lands, since
jetliners pollute so much--to say nothing of the
environmental destruction wrought by airport
construction.

Come to think on it, maybe we shouldn't go by bicycle,
either. The bicycle is made of steel, rubber, and
plastics, the production of all of which result in
environmental degradation.

This sort of argument eventually leads to absurdity,
at least in the eyes of most birders.

If I read him rightly, my Buddhist friend would say
that chasing the birds is the absurdity, and that not
chasing them leads us in a more correct direction. Be
that as it may.

In almost all of the cases I have heard for
"protecting the rare bird from the birders," I have
sensed a cabalistic desire to keep the bird within an
elite group, to exclude the hoi polloi and maintain
the purity of the elect.

There have been times when I have found myself within
such a cabal. Finding myself in this position always
affords me at least a soupcon of disgust.

About the only exception would be Spotted Owls. My
students up in Concrete used to brag about how many
Spotted Owls (probably Barred Owls) their dads had
shot. I still keep my SPOW sites pretty quiet, even
though I suspect they have all been wiped out by
logging since my last visits....

The other day I shelled out some big bucks and bought
a gallon of organically produced milk. It was twice
the price of the brand I normally buy. I almost never
do this. It's too expensive. However, I walked out of
the store feeling good.

I think such small acts do more good than any cloak of
secrecy thrown over an already secretive bird like the
Boreal Owl.





=====

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

near Lyman (Skagit County), Washington

garybletsch at yahoo.com





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