hello:

with regard to the secrecy surrounding the merlin location, i really think
it's silly. the supposed reasons i've heard so far don't hold up to
scrutiny. one: some 'dishonest' falconer will trap one. come on: how is a
falconer, dishonest or not, going to set up a trap in northgate or end up
rent limb from limb by mad birders? if a falconer can get a license and
arrange with a landowner to set up a trap, so be it; if (s)he can't, it's
hard for me to see how such trapping could be pulled off in a seattle
neighborhood. over the years, i suspect falconers as a group have had a
much more positive effect on raptor populations than many birders would care
to admit, and they represent one more constituency when laws or rules are
debated by the gov't. two: it'll result in disruptive attention. again,
come on. the falcons at snoqualmie falls probably see several hundred
thousand people during the time they're on the scrape and hanging around
after fledging with no noticeable effects that i've seen in four years of
watching them. those northgate birds probably see even more total people or
people artifacts given where they are.

reason two is legitimate when examined from the reference point of the
neighborhood around the nest. having a whole raft of folks clogging the
roads and stomping around yards is a real concern to them and probably is
enough to merit non-broadcasting of the location. but that's for them, not
the birds. birders, not birds, are the reason for secrecy.

i suspect the main reason for most secrecy is so the ins know something the
outs don't, not for the birds. neener, neener, neener. seems to me
birdwatching, like governance and the courts, work better when out in the
open.

regards,

t

--
dave templeton
fall city, wa

crazydave65atgmaildaughtcom

"The highway of life is full of flat squirrels that couldn't make up their
minds." ____unknown