Subject: [Tweeters] Caracara yesterday
Date: Jul 5 09:02:35 2015
From: Chris McNally - mcpoodle2 at comcast.net


Yesterday morning Blair Bernson, 3 others and I were spending a nice quiet 4th of July morning searching for the Caracara in Mill Town. Around 9:30 am this beautiful bird was found in the goat pasture searching for food. We all were able to get a few pictures of the bird stalking it's prey on the ground. He then flew up into the fir trees in the back of the pasture allowing us great looks and picture opportunities.

One of our group (did not get his name) asked his wife to bring the spotting scope and pull the vehicle up the road closer. As soon as the vehicles pulled off the side of the road across from the goat pasture the home owner came charging off his deck spewing a verbal assault of F-bomb fireworks telling us we could not park on the side of the road and to get the bleep, bleep off his property and stop pointing our cameras and scopes into his house. I have been dealing with you bleep, bleep birders for 3 weeks now and I am tired of it. He went and got his son who also threatened to take our gear and throw it in the woods. At one point the homeowner actually grabbed the spotting scope. Fireworks could have started, but cooler heads prevailed from our group. The homeowner during his tirade even told us he was going to shoot the bird so he could get rid of all the bleep, bleep birders. I certainly hope it was just a comment in the heat of the moment and he does not take such a drastic measure to get rid of the birding community.

Through all of this confrontation, our group calmly tried to explain to them that we had the right to stand on a public road and take pictures or view the bird with our binoculars or scopes. You can't reason with someone like this.

As we all were leaving the homeowner and his dog walked out into the pasture and scared the bird out of the tree. Thankfully he chased him my direction and I was able to get a few pics of him in flight. I do not have a Flicker or other site, but I posted a couple on my Facebook page if you want to check them out. https://www.facebook.com/chris.mcnally.984

I can understand the frustration this guy and his family must have with all of these people invading his small backwater town looking into his pasture, bird this bird has chosen this place to hunt and rest. We the birding community can't control this, we just need to be respectful of his property. I am sure we have been.

I talked with the homeowner with the front porch that has the cutoff skis on his deck railing as I was heading back to my vehicle. He told me that the neighborhood has been dealing with them for years. He has always been the problem neighbor and an odd duck. He said, having this bird is western Washington is extremely odd and maybe that's why he is hanging in this guys pasture. We both laughed!

If you go look for this bird today or in the coming weeks, please be aware this guy could subject you to a verbal assault as we did yesterday. I would park your car down the road near the main part of town and walk the road towards the goat pasture and red building. This is a good vantage point to view the pasture and trees where the Caracara hunts.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness is what we all were experiencing yesterday!!!

Happy, respectful birding!!!

Chris McNally
Lake Stevens, WA
mcpoodle2 at comcast.net