This was published on Friday, March 11 in the Frederick News-Post. I found
it interesting and BALANCED and received permission from the author and from
NORM to post it to OSPREY for your reading pleasure, hopefully.

Jim Speicher
Jspeicher-at-niaid.nih.gov
Rockville @work :(
Broad Run_S. FRED Co @home :)


By Karen Gardner 
News-Post Staff 
Copyright Frederick News-Post, all rights reserved.
Published on Friday, March 11
 	
CREAGERSTOWN -- The Eurasian shorebird that has taken up temporary residence
in a pair of local farm fields has drawn flocks of bird lovers to the site,
creating some goodwill -- and some hard feelings.

Birders have eaten in local restaurants and patronized other businesses,
mostly in nearby Thurmont. But residents along Graceham Road, where the bird
has frequently been spotted, say they've had to put up with constant traffic
and other nuisances.

The bird, a northern lapwing, lives in Europe and parts of Asia and is
rarely spotted in the United States. They usually find their way to the East
Coast when blown off course in a storm.

This male is the first lapwing known to inhabit Maryland. He often occupies
a field on the east side of Graceham Road, where standing water has provided
him with a food supply. 

Cars have parked on the road's narrow shoulders, giving birders a good
vantage point to see the lapwing in its colorful breeding plumage, as well
as Killdeer, a native species.

Residents on the narrow country road say cars have blocked driveways and
used them to turn around.

Dawn Wood, who lives a stone's throw away from where the bird has been seen,
said traffic has been heavy since the bird was first discovered Feb. 12.

"Somebody about hit my grandmother head-on because they blocked one lane of
traffic," she said. "They have no consideration." 

Two out-of-state birders spoke to her as though she were a child, showing
little respect, Ms. Wood said.

Many birders have worried about the effects of the lapwing on the local
populace. Barbara Gearhart, a Frederick birder, said she hadn't been back to
the site since she saw the bird in mid-February. "We're trying to minimize
the number of people up there."

Marcia Balestri, president of the Frederick County chapter of the Maryland
Ornithological Society, said the birders are worried about angering local
residents.

"We don't want to make the locals mad," she said. "We're local too. I just
hope we haven't caused hard enough feelings, that people don't get over it."

She said she could understand the frustrations of the neighbors. "When
you're used to being in the country by yourself, you don't want to have a
lot of people wandering around your area."

Many birders have posted on the Maryland Ornithological Society's Web site,
saying they sympathize with those who live along Graceham Road.

They also sympathize with the parishioners at St. John's Evangelical
Lutheran Church on Black's Mill Road, the other site where the bird has been
spotted. Birders have walked through the church grounds and cemetery to see
the lapwing. Tire tracks were spotted in the cemetery.

Birders do accept responsibility. "We try to police ourselves to make sure
we're not causing people to get angry with us," Ms. Balestri said. Many
birders have fretted on birding Web sites about how to appease local
residents.

Jan and Kristen Lawyer own a farm across from where the lapwing has been
spotted. They have created and roped off a parking area behind their barn on
the west side of Graceham Road. That has considerably eased parking problems
on the road.

The Lawyers put up a sign: "Parking for Lapwing observers." Mr. Lawyer said
the birders are using it. "I fenced in a pretty large area that they can
park in without getting stuck in the field. You see people every day with
binoculars."

Janet Millenson, president of the Maryland Ornithological Society, collected
a list of states from which birders have journeyed. She has documented
visitors from 17 states and the District of Columbia, mostly from Maine to
Florida, as well as Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee. There have been rumors of
visitors from California and England, but those haven't been corroborated,
Ms. Millenson said.

"What we're struggling with is who should be in charge," she said. "We're
all volunteer, and a few of the people who want to see this bird don't
necessarily have people skills."

Most of the birders are considerate, Ms. Millenson said, but there are
always some who are not.

"I know all these birders have added a lot to the local economy," she said.
"I spent more than $100 on meals and purchases."

Another birder wrote on the Maryland Ornithological Society's Web site that
she spent money on breakfast for two in a nearby restaurant, a fill-up of
gas, soft drinks at a convenience store, dinner for two at a local
restaurant and "a rather large purchase in an area antique store."

These comments might ease concerns of residents like Ms. Wood, but she said
the sound of cars creeping up and down Graceham Road is annoying. About
midday Wednesday, at least two cars, both bearing conservation license
plates, drove slowly up the road.

Ms. Wood said her neighbor has a parrot and a dog, which both start making
noise when they hear cars stop or slow at the end of the driveway. An orange
cone blocks one local driveway, with no trespassing signs on either side.

"When you get hundreds of people flocking to a country road over a period of
time, there's going to be an impact," Ms. Millenson said.