Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 13:52:38 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Greg Downing Subject: Re: Snowy Owl Situation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To All, I still have much to say about this issue. I am usually pretty quiet around here but this is important and I want to get involved and make something positive out of it. I have a question; Is there a written code of ethics for birders somewhere? Admittedly much, if not all, of what might be contained in one should be common sense. But not all of us, including myself, have common sense at all times, especially when we are excited about seeing a life bird. In fact people jeopardize their own safety and later may say "I wasn't thinking". As bad as things are with situations such as the snowy owl fiasco things CAN get worse, much worse! I hate to even speculate the many things that can happen from people getting shot to getting hit by cars, causing accidents etc. Frankly we are lucky that something like that hasn't happened. If no such "Code of Ethics" exists then I suggest right now that we collectively create one and either post a link to it on the front page of the MOS site or even distribute copies of it in the field where there is a concentration of birders(perhaps this part is a stretch as I can just see some ending up on the ground) We all can pitch in and print copies to have posted in wild bird stores, entrances to refuges(with permission) etc. I will be happy to volunteer to be the person who can compile and summarize the information and lead the ongoing discussion of this. While trying to make it as comprehensive as possible we should keep it short and to the point. General guidelines should include obeying traffic laws, posted signs, don't assume that if you don't see a sign that you can walk on someone's property, guidelines on treatment of the birds themselves, etc. etc. I just think something like this may benefit new birders as well as refresh things for experienced birders. When I said I was an in-experienced birder I want to clarify that I have been birding for about four years, very seriously and often, but still see myself as not a veteran. Perhaps after ten years I will consider myself relatively experienced. Birding is always a new experience so who really is "experienced" totally? Anyway lets keep the discussion of this going and try to make a difference. As soon as the first sign of something like this begins we should take action immediately to keep this sort of thing from happening again. I also like the suggestion that when we know there is an ongoing presence of birders in one area that we volunteer to try to take control of the situation by reminding people of proper ethics if they are doing something they shouldn't. I'm willing to bet that among every crowd that was out there looking at the snowy owl that at least one person was a member of MDOSPREY. I suggest that all of us who subscribe here agree to take an active role in trying to keep people under control in the field. As far as trying to control the amount of people that is another problem. Carpooling and limiting your attendance to view a bird that has drawn a crowd is about all you can do there. Let's all try to take an active part in this. Your criticism, comments to this posting are strongly encouraged! Greg Downing Parkton, MD gregdowning@mindspring.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Downing" To: Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 12:10 PM Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Snowy Owl Situation > Norm, > > I strongly agree with all that you say here, in fact I was thinking the same > thing about the repeat visitors. I myself have visited the snowy and had the > opportunity to photograph the bird. I have been there once and decided not > to go back since there was such a crowd and it reminded me of a media > circus. I will have to admit the following: > > When I arrived on the scene I drove around for about an hour before I was > waved toward the barn on Oland Road where the owl sat atop a telephone pole. > I was so excited that I pulled over and immediately pulled out my camera and > tripod and set it up in front of my car. After a moment I inched closer to > get a better shot and was actually at the mouth of someone's driveway. In my > excitement I was not thinking what I was doing. At one point a school bus > stopped and scolded me and another person for trespassing while we were > standing at the end of the driveway. I immediately moved back to the > shoulder of the road (about ten feet or so) and the driver moved on. I felt > pretty stupid actually and realized the error of my ways. > > From this experience I have learned to be more conscious of what I am doing > and not let the excitement cloud my thinking. I am an in-experienced birder > and now realize that there is more to birding than just the birding part. > One has to try to contain the excitement for a moment and think about where > you are going and what you are doing. I won't do this again. > > My Point here is this; I can understand how some inexperienced birders, such > as myself, as well as experienced birders can get caught up in the moment > and lose sight of what they are doing whether it be wandering onto someone's > property without permission, standing in the middle of the road oblivious to > traffic, or anything else. Perhaps when another birder sees this happen they > should speak up immediately before things get out of hand. I think we should > police ourselves and other birders before things get out of hand as they > have here. > > Norm, this site is an invaluable service and we can use it to our advantage > to try to educate people on these ethic issues. Perhaps we should even have > to read a birders code of ethics before joining such lists just to keep us > in check. > > Happy, Safe, Exciting and Ethical Birding to ALL! > > Greg Downing > Parkton, MD > gregdowning@mindspring.com > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Norm Saunders" > To: > Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 3:24 AM > Subject: [MDOSPREY] Snowy Owl Situation > > > > Part of the problem, as Mr. Mumford himself noted, is that people are > > going back, over and over, to see the owl. I believe Mr. Mumford said > > it was his eleventh trip? Yes, go see a rare bird. Enjoy it. But once > > you've seen it--stay away so as not to overtax the sensibilities of the > > folks that live there. > > > > The rest, not trespassing, not blocking the road, all of that should be > > common sense. Sadly, birders I saw up there were almost arrogant in the > > way they stood in the road in the face of oncoming cars. It is indeed a > > sad situation, one that when it arises makes me wonder at the ultimate > > value of MDOsprey and lists like it. Communication is wonderful but > > when it results in irresponsible behavior perhaps it is time to think > > about curtailing that communication. > > ======================= > > Norm Saunders > > Colesville, Montgomery County, MD > > marshhawk@worldnet.att.net > > > > ======================================================================= > > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > > ======================================================================= > > ======================================================================= > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================