I guess you missed my post about BGE denuding the power line right of way at
Soldiers Delight of critical habitat for at least one critically declining
Maryland species, Edwards' Hairstreak, this despite the fact that an effort
had been made by several people (myself included) to work with DNR to
identify the critical habitat so that it could be managed in cooperation
with the utility. All for naught.
Nor would it have been that big a deal for DNR to rope off the area around
the owls and alert the public AND the utility to steer clear of the roost.
Should it matter that Long-eared Owls aren't threatened?
Tom Stock
Silver Spring, Md.
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Mark Johnson" <mj3151...>
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2013 7:29 PM
To: <altomomatic...>; "MDBirding" <mdbirding...>
Subject: Re: [MDBirding] The Soldiers Delight Problem
> I don't think peole have really thought this issue through very
> thoroughly. Situations like this tend to shut down peoples' left brains
> and the resultant by-products are a lot of hand wringing and finger
> pointing. Have you considered that the owls probably wouldn't even have
> selected that spot to roost if not for BGE? It's not by coincidence that
> owls and raptors roost and build their nests along the edges of wood lots
> that interface with open fields...it's where they make their living. They
> like to set up shop in an area that will provide shelter, but be close to
> their hunting grounds. Power line cuts that are created and maintained by
> these utilities provide ideal habitat for these guys. If the open area
> were allowed to return to dense woodland, the edge that's so attractive to
> these birds wouln't exist and the birds would go elsewhere. Long-eared
> Owls aren't an endanged species. There are lots of them and they have a
> very broad range globally. They're just really good at hiding from people.
> We call them a "sensitive species", but it's really a misnomer. They're
> not as sensitive as the people who churn their intestines into knots
> trying to protect them. The difference between us and the owls is that we
> have a conscience and actually feel compassion for them, sometimes more
> than is warranted, some would say. We worry about them more than they
> worry about, say, a vole that they're in the process of skull-crushing for
> breakfast. We focus on these situations when they present themselves,
> because they so infrequently present themselves. Every year thousands of
> these situations happen daily, out of our view, while utilities like BGE
> go through their routine pruning activities. It's anybody's guess how many
> owls are potentially or actually disturbed in the process, but they seem
> to manage to get by in spite of the commotion.
>
> I love nature, and even a few of the people who are, undeniably, part of
> it. In my perfect world, people would just take a deep breath and think
> for a few moments before they organize a lynch mob for some hapless
> photogropher or BGE-contracted tree trimmer.
>
> Mark Johnson
> Aberdeen
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <altomomatic...>
> To: "MDBirding" <mdbirding...>
> Sent: Friday, February 08, 2013 5:06 PM
> Subject: [MDBirding] The Soldiers Delight Problem
>
>
> I'm puzzled. Many subscribers to this list were full of sound and fury
> over a report of an owl roost tree being disturbed -- presumably by a
> photographer, but then fell silent when the actual culprit was identified.
> That actual culprit being an ineffective DNR and an over-zealous utility.
>
> Of the two -- photographer versus a state agency and a utility -- isn't
> the fact of the latters' actions far more disturbing? (I think so.) And
> what should we do about it? Must the sound and fury elicited by the
> original report of a disturbance signify nothing? I would hope that DNR
> and BGE be held responsible for their lack of effective communication.
>
> This is a recurring problem and it's not going away.
>
> Tom Stock, frequent visitor to Soldiers Delight
> Silver Spring, Md.
>
>
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
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