Dear Tweeters,

Howard Armstrong and I also witnessed the foolishness
on Saturday at Fir Island, where numerous vehicles
parked in the narrow roadway to view the Snow Geese,
ignoring signs prohibiting such parking. I would
concur with Dennis that none of the people were
birders.

For me, the worst part of this is the danger to
drivers and pedestrians. It stresses the geese, but
it's going to stress everybody if there is an accident
there and somebody gets hurt, or worse.

Tweeters not being the venue for this issue, the
Skagit Valley Herald might be the best place to voice
concern, both for the stressed birds and the
endangered humans. Another possibility is to contact
the Skagit County Sheriff's office--they are the ones
who have to patrol Fir Island (and all the rest of the
county's hinterlands, birdy or not).



--- Martha Jordan <swanlady at drizzle.com> wrote:

> Hello,
> Today, Saturday, was great weather for getting
> out to bird. Apparently
> so did a lot of people. A few on the Fir Island
> Road have my ire. No less
> than 6 cars were parked in the area marked No
> Parking, No Stopping. The
> people were out of their vehicles and at least 4
> seperate couples or
> individuals walked several hundred feet into a
> farmers field to get a closer
> look and photo the snow geese. Many of the geese
> were flying in response to
> this disturbance. This flight disturbance happened
> 6 times in just 30
> minutes.
> These people not only were breaking several laws
> regarding parking and
> harrassment of wildlife, they were also tresspassing
> on private property. I
> called the local law enforcement to patrol the area
> and deal with this
> thoughtless people.
> Please remember: these birds need to feed to
> replenish their body fat
> for the long migration and breeding season ahead.
> People who go out to bird
> or photograph for the most part are careful and
> considerate of the rules and
> the wildlife. Please remind your friends about
> birding etiquette. Those
> that break this etiquette need reminders or more.
>
> Martha Jordan
> www.swansociety.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
>
http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>



Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

near Lyman (Skagit County), Washington

garybletsch at yahoo.com


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