Subject: [Tweeters] Snowy Owl etiquette
Date: Jan 9 11:39:51 2012
From: Cindy Ashy - tunicate89 at yahoo.com


Yes, laws exist but enforcement is the real issue.
Remember 2-3 years back the guy who was INTENTIONALLY using his vehicle to run over gulls on the beach on the south coast of Washington. He killed several and injured more. He also did this more than once. As a sidenote, I was told that "intent" was not technically part of the law but in my mind it matters.
I personally spoke with someone in enforcement at the federal level and they were intent on letting the state handle it....seemed to be mostly because they simply don't have enough people/time/money for enforcement. It also seems to matter a lot which region the offense takes place in as different people have different priorities/attitudes. I also talked with people in fish and wildlife (I was told the investigation was in their hands) and frankly came away without much hope that appropriate action would be taken.
Cindy Ashy

--- On Mon, 1/9/12, boomerdenune at aol.com <boomerdenune at aol.com> wrote:

From: boomerdenune at aol.com <boomerdenune at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Snowy Owl etiquette
To: tweeters at dartfrogmedia.com, lguy_mcw at yahoo.com, clsouth at u.washington.edu, tweeters at uw.edu
Date: Monday, January 9, 2012, 1:14 PM


? Marc, for federally protected species covered under the FMSA, I was directed to call the USFS number in the link below for violations. -A sign is not a bad idea, the USFS may be able to assist with that.



?http://www.fws.gov/wafwo/





?Darrel










-----Original Message-----

From: Marc Hoffman <tweeters at dartfrogmedia.com>

To: Guy McWethy <lguy_mcw at yahoo.com>; Christine Southwick <clsouth at u.washington.edu>; tweeters <tweeters at uw.edu>

Sent: Mon, Jan 9, 2012 10:39 am

Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Snowy Owl etiquette




Tweets,



Is there law protecting these birds against harrassment? I think there is. In that case, my suggestion is to include on the otherwise-very-friendly-and-informative sign "Report violators by calling (XXX) XXX-XXXX." I know this sounds harsh, but a lot of people who already know better will still do whatever the heck they feel like doing (this is based on my experience of trying all sorts of approaches to get folks to leash their dogs on on-leash areas including Marymoor Park; over 50% refuse). And so it might be necessary to remind them that they will be seen by everyone else as "the bad guys," and that there are consequences.



Marc Hoffman

Kirkland, WA

http://www.SongbirdPhoto.com





At 09:43 AM 1/9/2012, Guy McWethy wrote:

Well, as always, it only takes a few individuals to make a mess of things for the rest of us.

And many of these problems are due to simple ignorance.

If everyone going out there is aware of the issue, we may even manage to police ourselves ....

?

Any thoughts about placing a sign out on Damon Point??

All the folks viewing the owls have to walk out thru there, and would notice a big sign:

?

"Snowy Owls Present on Damon Point.

Please do not approach within 100 feet of the owls.

Please do not disturb or flush the owls.

If they are flushed, they burn extra energy, and can easily die of starvation.

Please allow the rest of us to enjoy the owls as well"

?

I bet we could get the folks on Tweeters to chip in some $$ to get a sign made up quickly.

I'll pledge $20 as a start ...

?

Heck, a sheet of plywood and some paint would be enough to start ....

?

Anyone out there have any ideas about who to contact for permission to post a sign?? Do we need any?

Heck, talk to the owners of the campground there, to place it on that edge.? They might be amenable to some good publicity ..

?

Instead of just complaining, lets do something.

?

Guy McWethy

Renton, WA

mailto: lguy_mcw at yahoo.com

From: Christine Southwick <clsouth at u.washington.edu>

To: tweeters at uw.edu

Sent: Monday, January 9, 2012 9:14 AM

Subject: [Tweeters] Snowy Owl etiquette



Saturday, I and some friends went to Damon Point at Ocean Shores --(parking is along a curve--with no good signage).? Walk was about two miles each way to where the owls were.

We saw three, but had been told that there were at least six seen that morning.



Two were heavily marked, one was almost white--maybe an adult?? But was hard to see because of all the people crowding around it.



It was great to see these beautiful birds;

it was not great to see the over-eager people who were vying for the best possible photo and crowding these owls.



As we were walking toward the area of these owls, I saw two different owls who had been pressured into flying, wasting valuable calories, to get away from people, who then moved toward where they settled.? One of these owls flew again, so it was obviously disturbed.



? The third owl decided not to move, so people kept moving closer.? Since I wouldn't go any closer because of my concern for the owls, I could only guess at the distance, but from where I stood, they (at least four, with three others about 100 feet) couldn't have been more than 50 feet from the owl, and maybe even closer. One of my friends said 25 feet...



If we, as the birding community don't monitor ourselves, and show by example, who will be loooking out for the welfare of birds out of their normal habitat?? Must we diminish their chances of survival by competition of who has the best picture?? Loving them to death is still death.





Christine Southwick

N Seattle/Shoreline

clsouthwick at q.com



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