Subject: [Tweeters] animals moving closer to humans - stories from Tony
Date: Dec 14 21:41:34 2011
From: Barbara Deihl - barbdeihl at comcast.net


Tony shared these moments and thoughts with me today and is happy to
share them with you.

He is a local well-seasoned naturalist, birder, artist, author, and
environmental educator and advocate.

If you wish to respond to him, you can do so through me. I will pass
on any and all responses to him.

Barb Deihl

North Matthews Beach - NE Seattle

barbdeihl at comcast.net

-----------------------------some excerpts from Tony A's email:

... some individual owls (particularly first year birds) may be
approachable as they are naive and totally inexperienced with humans.
They're not sick or injured, just unacquainted with the potential
threat that humans possess. As you might imagine, there are
energetic advantages in not getting stressed when seeing some shapes
and forms rather than taking flight when approached by anything that
might come your way. A great grey owl in the Cascades actually flew
directly towards me and, believe it or not, I touched its underside as
it swooped low over my head to alight in a tree behind me. My photos
of the bird, with a 150 mm lens, are very up close and personal not
because I stalked the owl, but rather the owl seemed curious about
me. Another great grey in Yellowstone hunted voles alongside me in an
open field surrounded by pine. Several times the owl pounced into the
grasses some thirty or forty feet from me becoming momentarily
submerged in the vegetation. The owl seemed oblivious to my presence
and finally caught a vole, flew to one of the pines and ate it. I
retired to the woods filled with the memory of a "Peaceable Kingdom"
moment.

The above is not a hypothesis I suggest anyone test, but my
experience in the field over the years suggests that sometimes while
wandering indifferently in the field (not aggressively pursuing a
subject), we may be approached ourselves or at least find ourselves in
company with them. This has been particularly true with fish and sea
lions, both of which have harmlessly gotten in my face when diving.
As I pointed out a northern shrike to Gavia [Tony's then 3-yr-old
daughter], the bird suddenly flew, landed next to our feet where we
were posted on the dyke [at Padilla Bay] and grabbed a fat meadow
vole. In this case it's likely we disturbed the mammal and the sharp
eyed shrike spotted it. I'm still seeking to sculpt [in stone] that
intimate conversation in nature. ...observant birds will sometimes
leverage a human's presence to their own advantage. We disturbed the
vole and the shrike took advantage of it. I think think in the case
of the sea lions I was intruding on their territory and looking like
another 'sea lion' in my wet suit. They came out and did a swim by to
check me out. Nothing hostile, more inquisitive.

Without question, the general rule should be keep one's distance from
wildlife and learn to observe them from a distance. These highly
resolved and magnified images of snowy owls (or for that matter any of
the abundance of waterfowl and raptor images appearing of late) give
one the impression that this is the way the casual bird observer
should be able to see the subject or you're not seeing them as you
should. I think the greatest satisfaction can come from seeing these
wintering subjects "in context", so to speak -- indescribably lovely
and vital, thereby giving a crowning touch to these natural habitats
we still have intact here in Washington.








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