It seems to me, the environmental costs of our passion, especially on the
more obsessive side, seems to me a very reasonable topic for a list of
birders. It might make some people uncomfortable but I have confidence we
can talk to each other in a respectful way and look at what we do in our
hobby and maybe even share resources in how to do with with less
environmental impact. I recall some useful conversations about this in the
past. I once met a man who had flown 2,000 miles, driven 150 miles to add a
single bird to his list. He walked up, spent 15 minutes looking at it,
talked briefly to me, then had to leave to drive back, catch a flight and
get to some job requirement. As birders perhaps we can recognize this kind
of obsession, but I imagine for many of us, had his travel been after say,
acquiring a baseball card, we might be a bit less complacent about the
climate, energy and other costs of such obsession

Rob Sandelin
Naturalist, Writer, Teacher
Snohomish County