If anyone reading this message subscribes to the Pennsylvania list serve please forward it there.

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Bob Ringler 
Eldersburg MD 


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   Here is the rest of the story which I received from the owner of the vehicle in question. This is a lesson to all of us not to jump to conclusions until all the facts are in.

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Bob Ringler 
Eldersburg MD 



I saw your post this morning from the PA list serve and I wanted to set a few things straight before this wild speculation gets totally out of hand.  I was the driver of the red 4-Runner that a PA poster wrote about on the PA list serve.  However, much of the information was incorrect.  I had initially observed the falcon on its perch in a tree which was very, very far away from the road.   Wanting to get a little closer look at the bird I turned down a gravel driveway, proceeded about 100 yards and stopped.  I stopped at this point because I felt that this was a safe distance so as not to spook the bird.  By saying that "a vehicle parked in front of the 'usual' perch of the PFRA" the PA poster makes it sound as if my vehicle was sitting right under the tree.  This was a total misrepresentation of the facts as I was still quite a distance from the bird.  At no time did I step outside of my vehicle, and I observed the b ird for no more than two minutes before I backed out of the dri
veway.  The PA poster also states that "this knucklehead in the vehicle couldn't resist driving ACROSS a landowner's field to get a better look".  This is totally wrong!!  At NO TIME did I leave the gravel driveway, and I DID NOT and WOULD NOT drive across someones field to look at a bird or for any other reason!!!   One final note.  The PA poster states that he "didn't get a chance" to say something to me "since they rapidly exited the area".  This is also incorrect.  The PA poster's vehicle was blocking the road so that my vehicle could not get out.  There was plenty of time to say something to me if they really wanted to do it in person rather than railing in an email blog.  Also, I did not "rapidly exit" the area.  In fact, I drove slowly around the area for about another hour looking in the fields for snow buntings and longspurs.

Also, the post mentions a "pa thetic display of birding ethics", yet goes on to list the make and model of my vehicle, a description of the driver and passenger, along with the license number.  The post then goes a step further to suggest that someone might want to contact the Maryland DOT to identify the driver.  That I must say is extremely unethical behavior that should not be tolerated in these birding list serves.

Bottom line -- it was a decision made at the spur of the moment and I felt that I was a safe distance from the bird and not violating "birding ethics".

Thank you for listening.