Hi Bill,
Here here!� While I've not always been a saint I couldn't agree with you more with what you've said below.
Thanks for the reminder!
Jason Berry
Washington, DC
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From: Bill Hubick <bill_hubick...>
To: MDBirds <mdbirding...>
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 10:53 AM
Subject: [mdbirding] Old Legislative Road - Thoughts on Sensitive Species
Hi Everyone,
The recent attention received by Old Legislative Road suggests a couple of interesting things. First, it points to just how uncommon HENSLOW'S SPARROWs and GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLERs have become in the state. The range of HENSLOW'S SPARROW has been stable since I've been birding in Maryland, generally restricted to a few localized sites (mostly reclaimed strip mines) that still support them. However, the species' presence in the state is just a shadow of its former breeding range. GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER has shown a precipitous drop even in my ten years or so of birding in Maryland. Just a few years ago, one could reasonably hope to encounter a Golden-winged Warbler over a long weekend of birding in Garrett Co. Not long before that, one might say the same about wandering around in Allegany and Washington Counties. With such a decline, more birders are taking an active approach to ensuring they see them and visiting sites like Old Legislative Road. Of course,
with a rapidly growing number of birders, powerful new communications technology, and a drastic reduction in range and numbers, the potential to stress these breeders increases.
The power of modern communications tools in birding cannot be overemphasized. Just a couple years ago, almost no one had heard of Old Legislative Road (and countless other remote sites). eBird has quickly changed that, especially with the recent addition of so many types of alerts to which one can subscribe for discovering state/county/year "needs". I'm confident that this increased awareness is a good thing overall. We are gathering more data, spreading awareness, and recruiting new birders because of it. These new additions to the community, who by the way can now post here (woohoo!), will support conservation causes and contribute valuable data. That said, I think that we really must be proactive in considering ethics with this new technology. There is certainly more risk involved with dozens (if not hundreds) of new visitors to sensitive nesting sites.
Here are some things I recommend to offset the footprint of increased attention and to ensure we don't love these species to death:
1. Please, please do not use audio playback on sensitive breeding species. Golden-winged Warblers and Henslow's Sparrows are now firmly on this list. As more people visit a site, the impact of harassing these birds must rapidly increase. Do not kid yourself into thinking "just this once" is OK. The problem is that it's not just you. We all have to adopt a firm line on this. Let's also not start a war on tape use. I understand the pro-tape arguments about limiting destruction caused by a bunch of birders trampling the habitat vs. using tape for 10 seconds. This might apply in some cases. Limited playback is a matter of personal preference that probably has limited, if any, impact. While the nuances of tape use are highly debatable, I think there are some cases where it is clearly inappropriate. This is one of them. As the species becomes more threatened and the site becomes more popular, tape use has to be clearly off-limits. The same has long been true
about other sensitive sites, such as for Black Rail in the lower Eastern Shore marshes.
2. Self-police on the subject of playback use and other birding ethics. Politely discourage others, when possible, from disruptive behaviors. With more birders learning from an on-line community, we have to use outreach in this electronic medium. Not everyone has a mentor out in the field.
3. Include notes on appropriate behavior in species comments when using eBird. Here's a sample of a sample report of a Golden-winged Warbler from Old Legislative Road:
"Singing male visually confirmed as an apparently pure Golden-winged Warbler. This is a sensitive breeding site. Playback use or
any disruptive behavior here is inappropriate."
4. Report your data to eBird!� The value of increased visitation is that we have very active monitoring of sensitive sites. Increased coverage can also mean better community awareness of threats to the habitat (e.g., new development plans).
5. Support the Important Bird Area (IBA) program. This program is an awesome, highly focused effort in Maryland to identify and protect the most important sites for birds, especially breeding species, in the state. When better to show your support than after a visit to one of these wonderful sites!� (http://iba.audubon.org/iba/viewState.do?state=US-MD)
Thanks, and good birding!
Bill
�
Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland
<bill_hubick...>
http://www.billhubick.com
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