Are there any guidelines for this situation?

Perhaps it might be a good practice to imagine trading places with the owls, just to see how you might feel with strange critters sneaking up on you and pointing those large contraptions at you.
You'd have enough to deal with just finding enough food and surviving the winter......

My dos centavos,
Joe Meche
Bellingham




-----Original Message-----
From: seasprocket <seasprocket at gmail.com>
To: Tweeters <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sun, Dec 11, 2011 8:47 pm
Subject: [Tweeters] How Close Is Too Close? (Snowy Owl)



We were down at Damon Point today enjoying seven (!) gorgeous Snowy Owls. Aware that the birds may be quite stressed already, and have certainly been the objects of a lot of attention, we did not attempt to approach closely and just enjoyed nice looks from a distance.


Others, however, chose to approach more closely. Sometimes the birds seemed not to care, other times they seemed "on alert," and one bird may have actually been flushed.


It peeved me a little bit, but it got me to thinking that I really don't know what the "appropriate" distance is in this situation. In more isolated circumstances, I would have gradually approached, watching for any signs of agitation (and backing off). I didn't want to do that in this case. Others chose differently.


Are there any guidelines for this situation?


Phil Mitchell
Seattle, WA
--

Learn Bird Songs for the Planet: http://www.larkwire.com
Bikewise: http://www.bikewise.org


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