Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 12:38:10 EDT Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Gail Mackiernan Subject: Re: Disrespectful Behavior of Sandhill Crane Watchers In-Reply-To: Message of Wed, 2 Aug 2000 19:59:49 -0400 from Hi Les -- A couple of things. The owner may wish to post an obvious sign at his gate outlining the rules "Park ONLY on ROAD, walk ONLY on driveway!" so that no one can plead ignorance (although how anyone could think they were allowed to drive on someone's lawn or peer in his windows boggles the mind.) Secondly, take a page from British birders' book -- a place where twitches after rarities have a real possibility of getting out of hand -- and if you see someone acting inappropriately, for Heaven's sake SPEAK UP. EVERYONE THERE SPEAK UP -- and LOUDLY! "Hey you, get off the grass! Park on the road!" Whatever. Don't be a wuss. If everyone who is present joins in, the offender will almost certainly retreat. Unless birders behave responsibly, we will not learn about rarities. In Britain many rare birds are "suppressed" because the site simply cannot handle the number of twitchers who show up, and with so many birders, even a very small percent of bad apples is a substantive number. It would be good if we do not end up with the same problems -- and neighborly behaviour is the first step! Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper ========================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ========================================================================== ==========================================================================