Subject: [Tweeters] RE: Article: Birdwatchers behaving like paparazzi
Date: Apr 4 07:17:22 2012
From: Russ Smith (MSN - wrsmith at msn.com


I received an email from a person quoted in the article who sought to
clarify a few points. He asked that I post his entire email to me on
Tweeters, as follows:



Hi Russ,



I noticed your post to TWEETERS recently regarding that McLean's Mag
article, and I totally agree with you. Just wanted to clear up a few things
since I was pretty disappointed with how things played out.



When I was interviewed, we talked about a wide range of topics, from crazy
birders, photographers, Snowy Owls, citizen science, conservation, and the
pros and cons of birdwatching growing in popularity. So you can image I was
shocked to see that my two "contributions" to the article was as an example
of the single-minded crazy lister, and the divisive statement about
birders/photographers.



To be clear:

--The Cranbrook sewage lagoons comment was in reference to people doing a
"big year," not MY every day routine



--Most importantly, I hate seeing sweeping statements about birders and
photographers, and I feel like this article put words in my mouth.
Throughout the interview, I stressed that birders and photographers have
similar interests, and in many cases are one in the same. Many of the recent
controversies come from "bad apples, "inexperienced shooters, or
misconceptions between the two groups. We, as a collective of nature-lovers
need to work together to insure that our activities have a minimal impact on
the environment, while also promoting habitat conservation and bird study.



All in all, it's not a very well-informed article, and as you say, lacks a
photographer's perspective. Hopefully no one takes it too seriously, as the
last thing we need is more animosity between the two "groups"--I despise
having to categorize but that's how it goes.



All the best,



Russ Cannings (Crazy birder YES, but also other things too!) Penticton, BC



P.S. Please post this on the TWEETERS group as I am not a member.