Re: Birding ramblings
Ellen Paul (epaul@dclink.com)
Fri, 22 Jan 1999 06:02:05 -0500
Lest anyone have the mistaken impression that I'm some paragon of
virtue, let me hasten to correct that notion. If I won the lottery,
you'd be getting e-postcards from me from all over the globe, detailing
my birding
adventures. (in this particular fantasy, we always fly first class, too
- wasting precious space that could be filled with more people, so I'm
using up more than the minimal amount of fossil fuel needed to move my
body through the air). And I've done my share of driving for birding
and will no doubt continue to do so. So, I wasn't trying to set myself
up as the saint of bird conservation. However, as my long-suffering,
ex-twitcher husband can tell you, I do always consider all the costs of
birding, including the costs to others and to the habitat and to the
birds. And, like Darius, I try to cut my consumption of fuel and other
materials in every other way possible.
Someone suggested that perhaps I had "struck a nerve" with my suggestion
that we all consider the external costs of our activities. Maybe I
did. I know that for me, the pure joy of birding is always followed by
intense sorrow, knowing that it is getting harder and harder to find
these birds. Having a mental picture of the East Coast, as seen from a
plane, and wondering how there can be any forest species left on the
East Coast. (yes, I know that the northeast is more heavily forested
now than at anytime since pre-colonial times, but it is still a highly
fragmented, second-growth scenario at best). Knowing that my mere
existence on this planet is contributing to the demise of habitat, the
demise of species.
Greg Miller's post expressed it better than I ever could (and nearly
brought me to tears). With each beautiful bird, there is a bit of
agony.
Ellen