Fortunately for the locals at Martha's Vineyard, the Red-Footed Falcon was on the local  airport property.  Most people didn't drive to the island, they took the ferry across from the mainland and then took cabs or walked to the airport from town.  I shared a cab with birders from Maine.  The cabbies knew where to drop us off.  There was generally no problem lining up on the side of the road by the airport.  

Some of the locals at the airport decided to make a few bucks and run the birding tourists out closer to the falcon in their golf carts for $20 per person.  For a community already covered with tourists in August, the influx of visitors was no big deal.  I think a bigger fuss was made over President Clinton, who was also visiting the island the day I was there.  His presence closed down some of the local streets in town.


But, there were some very similar rural considerations taken in Minnesota for the owl invasion this year.  Gawking at bird feeders in local country yards to admire the Pine Grosbeaks and Red Polls was not a good idea.  Fortunately, there were lots of owls at lots of locations to help minimize the impact to any one area.  There were a few public bird feeding stations at a rest area and at a restaurant that satisfied my quest to add a few new life birds on the trip.

Denise Ryan
Washington, DC

-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Mary LaMarca
Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2005 2:04 PM
To: 
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Testing, one, two, three


Hi - I'm a new MOS member from Montgomery County.  This is the first list-serve I've ever used.
I've enjoyed reading the archive.

I have been up to see the Lapwing, and agree with everything Mr. Huy had to say. The two times I
went up there, I noticed deep ruts both on the road shoulders AND in the fields themselves, as
though some birders had the lack of consideration to actually drive their vehicles into a private
field.  This is unconscionable!

How were these issues handled with the invasion of birders hoping to see the Red-shanked (?)
falcon on Martha's Vineyard (or was it Nantucket?).  Did the local birding organization make
arrangements with private property owners?

On a more pleasant note, on a walk at Old Angler's on Saturday, my husband and I saw a pair of
Pied-billed grebes (his comment was "Look! Ducks that aren't mallards... ) on the river channel
south of Widewater, a large flock of juncoes bathing and foraging with a Golden-crowned kinglet
flitting above them near the Billy Goat Trail, and a very large, very active mixed flock of turkey and
black vultures circling over the river and roosting on small islands near the kayak pull-out.