Subject: [Tweeters] Environmental impacts of bird watching seems a
Date: Feb 4 12:14:08 2010
From: Edna J. Glenn - techsvcs at u.washington.edu



Hi, Rob, and thanks very much for this topic.

I enjoy reading Tweeters, but I very rarely contribute as I am an
accidental backyard bird-watcher. I haven't yet embarked on any solo
long-distance or group convoy bird-watching trips. But I aspire to
becoming a more intentional bird-watcher after retirement.

The topic of the environmental impacts of bird-watching fascinates me.

I perceive bird-watchers to be more closely connected to the fragility of
nature than the general population. Yet they too inadvertently may damage
wildlife habitat by merely inserting themselves in it, and especially by
getting out there via the use of private vehicles which burn fossil fuel
and which may harm wildlife habitat if taken off-road. Of course this
same dilemma exists for other pro-environment interest groups--hikers,
ramblers, researchers, photo-journalists, etc.

I will be reading this thread with interest.

Best regards,
Edna J. Glenn
Seattle [Wallingford], WA

> On Thu, 4 Feb 2010, Rob Sandelin wrote: 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