I am very pleased to see this helpful discussion of the difficulties of
reporting rarities. While I understand that MOS has no authority in this
case, as a statewide umbrella organization, it would be useful for MOS to
have this discussion at the next meeting or conference and to issue
guidelines for good practices. Note that I write "guidelines," not "rules."
No one expects anyone to be able to adhere to a single procedure at all
times. But I do think it would be helpful to include the local bird club as
part of the recommended practice for the various reasons stated in the
discussion here. Apparently this worked well in Frederick, and I think it
would have worked very well with the Violetear.
I understand that in difficult cases it may be necessary to do the "slow
release" of information, but in contrary to what was suggested--to tell a
few people at the start and "let the word spread-- in the case of the
Violetear, the people who were first informed were specifically told *not*
to spread the word.
Establishing a list of local contacts who can coordinate with the homeowner
seems like a better practice that will serve the needs of the birds, the
homeowners, and the birding community.
Pat Valdata
Elkton
-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Marcia Watson
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 11:24 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Facilitating Access to a Rare Bird on Private
Property
Bill,
Great discussion of all the sides. Thank you.
Marcia
________________________
Marcia Watson
Bowie, MD
-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Bill Hubick
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 12:28 PM
To:
Subject: Facilitating Access to a Rare Bird on Private Property
Hi Everyone,
Facilitating access to a rarity on private property is an extremely delicate
and stressful job. This topic will be raised annually in most states, and I
agree with Maryanne that any discussion in this forum should be amicable and
intended to be productive.
There have been a couple references to guidelines, and we should start by
pointing out that neither MOS nor any club has formal authority in such
matters. Not only is it inappropriate to try to assume authority in matters
of private property access, each situation is so different as to render
application of strict guidelines nearly impossible. The best anyone can do
is make some general recommendations. Here are mine, based on involvement
with facilitating access to several state-level rarities on private
property. These concepts were applied, for example, to the Monrovia
White-winged Dove, which I think was a rare 100% success.
First, remember that we are now enjoying the luxury of hindsight. In real
time involvement, any mistake or slightly different set of circumstances
could end with a very different story. We're dealing with the "More people
should have seen it." ending, but it could have easily been a horror story
where 200 people stormed a now-furious community, trashed a few lawns, and
made the papers - a major black eye for the birding community. There are
simply a huge number of variables involved. Please indulge me by walking
through the process.
Please try to step back and put yourself in the position of someone who just
became aware of a major rarity on private property. Start the clock. With
every moment that passes, you are now somewhat responsible in the public eye
for whether the bird is properly documented for science, who gets to see it,
and the well-being of the homeowners, the neighbors, and the bird. Your
instincts are probably telling you that you are socially and politically in
a dangerous position, and you're totally right. And good news! Your final
responsibility in this stressful process will be to absorb a predictable,
but untold volume of animosity from the community. The rarer the bird, the
higher the stakes, and the more upset some of the first people who don't see
the bird will be. Has your pulse quickened yet? Mine is picking up again
even during my proofread.
So, let's come up with some basic guidelines. I'm sure we'll agree that the
well-being of the bird, the homeowners, and the neighbors is our #1
priority. Everyone agrees with that, but stop and think what that means. We
know in this case that the homeowners were awesome, friendly people, and
that the layout could have PERHAPS allowed more people to park and access
the site. This is certainly not always the case, and it takes time to make
contact, communicate with the homeowners about what they're in for, and see
how much they're willing to go through for a bunch of crazy strangers who
want to stand in their yard. Some homeowners are not nearly as flexible and
for various valid reasons want a much small number of visitors (or even no
visitors).
OK, you have a name, number, and an address. Maybe you even have a photo of
the bird. You think it's legit. There are two ends of the spectrum
option-wise:
Option 1) Post it immediately to the list-serve. Risk: The house is stormed
and chaos ensues. The homeowners are overwhelmed. A fence is damaged. The
police are telling people to move along. The birding community looks
terrible and you are publicly castigated for your insensitivity to the
community and the well-being of the bird. This does happen regularly. How
would you like for that to be considered your fault?
(Clock is still ticking. Did you e-mail anyone yet?)
Option 2) Keep it nearly entirely secret and arrange only enough access to
photograph it once and band the bird. Risk: Personal, permanent animosity
from birders who believe it was unreasonable to not try to help some people
see the bird. After all, in most cases, SOME visitation is easily arranged.
Many homeowners love sharing their visitor. Some have gone on to become
active birders and members of their local bird club. Are you going to
default to keeping it a secret?
I'll give you a hint. Don't do either of those. There's a galaxy of
compromises between those two bad options. Someone should go out there and
feel it out. Keep in mind that any tiny step in one direction increases risk
on the other end. The more people you tell, the higher the chance of
disturbance. The fewer people you tell, the more animosity from the
community.
Are we having fun yet? Enjoy the start of the 150 e-mails you'll be sending
over the next two weeks!
You've made contact. The homeowner seems nice and excited for you and
perhaps a couple others to come over.
During the initial visit, good facilitators should do all of the following:
- Be pleasant and informative
- Ensure the bird is documented with photo/video to establish the record
- Bring up the subject of banding, explaining the huge benefits to science,
but also ensuring they know there's a small chance the bird might depart
after the banding
- Prepare the homeowner for the level of interest and discuss options for
how to control the flow of information.
- Look for logistical goldmines such as a public place to view the bird.
Suggest possible options based on homeowner's interest.
Note: I recommend trying to have one main facilitator to avoid confusion and
undue stress to the homeowners. This is unofficial, of course, and the
homeowners should do as they please. However, imagine what a mess it could
be if you had competing forces disseminating information. One main POC is
best for a variety of reasons.
Sometimes, as in the case of the White-winged Dove, an ideal viewing
location exists. This is a gold mine, and is the best chance that the word
can be spread quickly. There are other special cases when the word can go
public immediately, but this is the exception. And of course, the rarer the
bird, the more chance of a nightmare situation. Even with a limited release
of information, this can quickly snowball into public knowledge. For a bird
like a Green Violetear, it would be chased not only by locals, but from
visitors from throughout (at least) the Mid-Atlantic and New England.
So some sort of "Slow Release" process is what we as facilitators settle on,
often with much discussion with the homeowners. This is more manageable
overall, and makes it easier to cut it off if there is disturbance to the
homeowners, the neighbors, or the bird. The concept is that you tell an
initial list and explain to them to tell a few people after they've seen the
bird. In many cases, the bird sticks around and everyone who cares to see
the bird hears about it over a week or two. It's a shame if the bird doesn't
stick around long enough, but no one can predict how long it will stay, and
there might be no way to increase the volume of visitors. You don't want to
be the one who causes these nice people to be over-run.
So, the "Slow Release" process emerges, and it's probably the best thing
we're going to get. You should start by getting some people over to get good
photos and fully establish the ID, and the banders should be alerted as
early as possible. Everything after this is a service you and the homeowners
are doing for the birding community. By the way, the banders here in
Maryland are Bruce Peterjohn () and David Holmes
(). Any hummingbird from this point forward this year
is likely to not be a Ruby-throated, and I'm sure they'd like to know about
it. Keep those feeders up!
Who gets told beyond that is up to you, and this is where you won't win. I
am 100% confident that there is no system that will satisfy even a narrow
majority of people. It will also please approximately 0% of the people who
don't get to see the bird. You might personally establish criteria based on
being a photographer, being a local, making regular field birding
contributions, membership on the records committee, being your friend, being
a serious lister, or others.
Now that you have your hopeless subjective criteria, try making a list of
people. If you are told to start slow (let's say 15-20 people) and let the
word spread, even the people who didn't hear about it directly from the
initial message might resent you. I typically get "why was I left off?"
e-mails even from the people who heard about it word of mouth within 24
hours. (I tell them that's just how it has to work.) The best you can do is
explain the situation, be sincere, and have thick skin. You're doing the
best you can. I will say that the local bird club can be an invaluable team
mate, and you might even choose to try to pass the facilitation to them.
When Tyler and I were working with Esther and her community in Monrovia, we
tagged in the Frederick club early and they helped a lot. When questioned on
"our" decisions, it was nice to say that everything in place was in
accordance with the homeowner, the community, (and the church!, in this
case), and the local bird club. We were covered, and I might have slept
well again after that.
There are no golden rules, however, and saying that locals should ALWAYS
control the situation is probably not correct. Many rare birds have been
suppressed locally over the years, probably to greater detriment to science
(i.e., documentation) and maximum possible access. Does a casual local
birder have more "right" to a bird than a passionate field birder who
contributes 100s of eBird reports and extensive rarity documentation
regularly? People will argue about these things forever, and this is the
part that will not be solved to everyone's satisfaction. Please avoid this
topic, discuss it off-line, or do so with great care. (This is the key
danger in starting a flame war.) I am typically exhausted by the end of the
process. In some cases I have ended up sending about 200 e-mails.
Wrapping up:
Whew! OK, it's over. Final steps.
- Recognize the homeowners for being awesome. Personally, I like to send a
print of the bird even if I was just a visitor. In other cases, we have
recognized them with MOS awards or gifts like bird club membership, a
hummingbird guide, and so on.
- Submit details to the MD/DCRC and eBird. (eBird reports should be
postponed until the bird is public knowledge.)
I really wish there were a perfect solution, but I think we've arrived at
the best possible approach through hard work. Yes, it would have been
awesome if more people had gotten to see the bird. That said, I believe that
this one was handled extremely well. Anyone facilitating access is
volunteering a lot of time to carefully share something special with the
community. I would encourage everyone to be supportive and empathetic.
Someday you might be hoping we are!
Good birding,
Bill
Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland
http://www.billhubick.com
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