Subject: [Tweeters] Bird Locations
Date: Dec 2 16:27:14 2017
From: mark girling - markgirling at yahoo.com




As you all know, it's now considered wrong to publicly report on vanbcbirds,
or anywhere else, the location of any roosting or lingering owl, as that
makes it easier for them to be approached/disturbed/harassed by unethical
bird photographers. Fortunately most bird photographers are very ethical and
do act in the best interests of the birds. Unfortunately however in recent
years, there has been a small minority of unethical ones, who have proven
they simply do not care about what's in the best interests of the owls, but
rather only in getting the best photo possible, by any means possible. I've
personally witnessed a few who have actually gotten very mad if someone
reminded them why their behaviour is unethical. Sad but true.



So at first it might have seemed contradictory to the rules of vanbcbirds,
that I reported a Snowy Owl being seen in West Vancouver the other day.
However the only reason I felt comfortable reporting it, was because after
the person saw it briefly at their private residence, they said it
disappeared after dark, never to be seen again. Therefore I knew it was
impossible for it to be re-found and subjected to any type of disturbance.
So my posting was just meant to let birders know a Snowy Owl had been seen
in the region, with no hint whatsoever about where it was seen in West Van.
I realize I should have added this explanation to my posting, otherwise it
could appear that a moderator of vanbcbirds is ignoring the group's rules.



If we do get an irruption of Snowy Owls this year, I hope you all get to see
one of these beautiful birds. However, even though most local birders know
where the Snowies usually show up during an irruption year, please do not
publicly report the location where you saw them.This was a post in the recent Vancouver Birds version of tweeters. This is a subject that has been eating at me as of late. Friday morning at Nisqually I met one such photographer who fits this profile and was totally unapologetic about getting the photograph as he mentioned he was NOT a birder but a photographer. Frankly I think we should go back to the word of mouth when describing specific locations. Texting and emailing the source allows the source to vet who or who does not get the information.?The Birding BritMark GirlingSent from Yahoo Mail on Android