Tweets,? When I was?at Boundary Bay?on Saturday, the owls were most responsive and woke up from sleeping?when they heard distant gun shots.? That seemed to make them show the most response and they were not bothered at all?by those who were remaining on the dike.? Additionally, I was able to use my long lens to get excellent photos, however, all this controversy makes me uneasy to show the wonderful?images I was able to take.? I love to see photos and I think all this judgemental discussion is limiting sharing and not helping the owls and is polarizing the birding community.?


Ilene Samowitz
www.ilenesamowitzphoto.com
www.ilenesamowitz.com
http://blog.ilenesamowitzphoto.com/


________________________________
From: Barry Ulman <ubarry at qwest.net>
To: Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson at comcast.net>
Cc: TWEETERS tweeters <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, January 9, 2012 2:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Snowy Owl etiquette

Dennis,

??? Thanks again for your words of wisdom. I certainly hope that people respect the owls' welfare, but there's nothing wrong with enjoying them and even photographing them if one uses a little common sense.

??? As I mentioned in my posting of the Boundary Bay Snowy Owls last Friday, seven or eight of them were within 100 feet of the dike. Everybody I saw there at the time was well-behaved and stayed on the dike, as it was quite easy to get good shots of the owls that were roosting so close by. Most of the owls looked quite sleepy; some were looking around but did not appear to be stressed. Most of the photos I took were of owls looking at me, because I think that makes the best picture. Indeed, I often had to wait a minute or so for them to look my way before I clicked the shutter during the second or two when the owl was looking at me. Then I'd wait again while the bird was looking in another direction.

??? There is a sign on the dike at the end of 72nd St. telling people to keep a reasonable distance from the owls and avoid flushing them; I do think that sign should be there for the minority of people who don't think about such things as respecting the birds' space.

??? Barry Ulman
??? Bellingham, WA.


On Jan 9, 2012, at 12:56 PM, Dennis Paulson wrote:

> Thank you, Lee, for voicing a much more reasonable assessment of this issue. I think there has been too much inflammatory language and too many statements about the Snowy Owls at Damon Point and Boundary Bay that just aren't true. Today's discussion contained phrases such as "can easily die of starvation" that not only get people all fired up but misrepresent the situation. And it feeds the idea to put out more signs and more regulation, something many of us go out in nature to get away from for a while.
>
> What I wrote about this a few weeks ago is still true. The owls are all still there; the stress that is constantly imagined has not driven them elsewhere. They are not near starvation. They are not in an inappropriate habitat. Other than during occasional human misbehavior they are not stressed any more than they might be in a world without humans, where they had to watch out for wolves, coyotes, eagles, and other predators. They evolved to be alert and to fly if something disturbs them. I don't think that adds extra stress unless it happens too often.
>
> Having also spent part of a day out there, I didn't feel that it was happening too often. I agree with Lee that I saw much more respect than harassment. I walked so far around one owl and the people who were photographing it that I inadvertently scared up another owl that was out of my vision behind a log until it flew, and I suspect that happens sometimes. Of all the time I was there, there were owls in the air no more than 1-2% of the time (possibly as many as 10 times of less than 30 seconds each involving not even all of the seven birds that were there), and that would surely be evidence that there was not much disturbance. If an owl flies every once in a while, I truly don't think that is harmful to it. As soon as they go out to hunt in the evening, they are doing a lot more flying, and they are good at it! They fly around and chase each other as well as going after prey.
>
> It would be great if someone with avian physiological knowledge could come up with data to show exactly how much "stress" is involved in a 100-yard flight.
>
> I did notice that the owls were looking around quite a bit when I was there, even when no one was particularly close to them, and I wondered if that was something they would do if there were no people out there at all, but of course I don't know any way to find that out. We need a few wildlife cameras pointed at the area. Or perhaps if there is ever a time with no people, someone could observe them at a considerable distance to see if they all go to sleep then!
>
> Finally, about the owls' sleep being disturbed by us. My guess is that our owls sleep most of the night as well as whatever parts of the day they can. They are not hunting all night long. They go out and catch something and take it back to land and eat it. Then there's nothing to do but nap. The night worker who sleeps during the day has to be awake for their 8 hours at night. The Snowy Owl doesn't punch a time clock.
>
> I spent a summer with nesting Snowy Owls, when there was 24-hour daylight. The owls tended to hunt in the evening, when the sun was relatively low, but they also hunted during the day. They "slept" in between, but I never saw a time when they weren't alert to their surroundings. The female dozed on the nest but immediately opened her eyes if she heard a sound, which could just as easily have been a jaeger calling as it flew over as one of us clicking a camera shutter. They are well adapted to catch 40 winks whenever they can, and from anything I know about bird biology, those owls are getting plenty of rest.
>
> Dennis
>

_______________________________________________
Tweeters mailing list
Tweeters at u.washington.edu
http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters