Hi Tweets,

I'm sometimes feeling uncomfortable about the use of tapes when a rarity
shows up. I'm not a purist; I have been on a lot of field trips where
leaders have used tapes to call in a bird and I've been very happy to see
the bird. I guess my question is do we, as a birding community, have any
agreement on when using tapes becomes excessive? I was recently out to see
a fairly rare bird, and wasn't surprised to see people use a tape, but
became uncomfortable when it seemed that although people had already seen
the bird, a tape was still being used to pull the bird out for better looks
and more photos. I realize that what seems excessive differs widely between
people. I also don't want to put myself in the role of a self-righteous
policeman. Do I even have a right to let someone know that I'm uncomfortable
when I feel they are playing tapes over and over? Am I interfering with
right to see a bird? Perhaps I'm anthropromorphizing, but sometimes I wonder
how I'd feel if different people kept showing up and ringing my doorbell
over and over again, all day long.



Megan Lyden

Bellevue, Washington