[obol] Re: Burrowing Owl harassment: Please take care when posting reports on eBird
- From: Joel Geier <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx>
- To: Oregon Birders OnLine <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 20:26:53 -0800
I'm glad to hear from Mark that there are still more Burrowing Owls
around Linn Co. than are being reported.
But about the idea that the eBird report might have come from someone
who stayed in their vehicle, go back and read it again:
> > Burrowing Owl
> > 1 Saw local wintering one along [____] laying on
> > the ground,
> > flew around a few times, last saw on intersection
> > between [____]
> > and [____]. Got at least six feet away from it! Have
> > iphone
> > photos.
>
>
Flew around a few times? That means the owl was flushed several times.
Last saw it at the intersection between X & Y roads? That means it was
chased over a long enough distance that specific road intersections
count (and road intersections are pretty far apart in that part of Linn
County).
Got within six feet of it? I don't see any hint here that the the
observer means slowly creeping up in a vehicle.
Let's not get ridiculous in our knee-jerk defense of bad birding
behavior. When this stuff happens, we can't just let it go.
My own reading of this posting is that this was a neophyte who might
perhaps be forgiven for irrational exuberance in chasing after the owl
on foot. But there are lots more neophytes like this out there, who are
coming into birding through digital channels, without ever birding
alongside someone who will give them the proverbial whump upside of the
head, as many of us received from our seniors when we got carried away.
How do we handle this, as a community, in the digital age? Cornell isn't
providing any solutions, it's up to us.
Joel
Other related posts:
