[va-bird] Re: Wilson Snipe @ Dyke Marsh

I read the Post article Barbara Farron cited in her earlier post. Thanx for passing this on. The officer that stopped me today had a well read copy of today's Washington Post on the front passenger seat of his cruiser. Based on the encounter, the date of the article, the paper's presence in the cruiser, I can't help but wonder if the officer read the article today and then stumbled across me in a dazzling display of fine police work. But, I still don't object to playing 20 questions with the officer. He was a nice enough fellow, with a job to do.

I looked up the CFR at issue. It deals with commercial photography, not birders carrying tripods, or tripods and digital cameras. Based on my reading of the CFR, within the language of the code, I don't even know what the definition of a commercial photographer is. Surely, this can have nothing whatsoever to do with simply looking like one might be a commercial photographer. Carrying a tripod hardly makes me either a commercial or professional photographer. After all, I own a car. Does this make me a NASCAR driver. Does owning a pair of binoculars make one a birder?

On the subject of things that are illegal, it's one thing to have the National Security Agency engaged in domestic surveillance, something that is a clear violation of its charter, and something else altogether to have Park Police Officers, especially at venue like Dyke Marsh, stopping birders carrying tripods because they look like they might be commercial photographers, whatever that is. Digiscoping at Dyke Marsh can hardly be compared to digiscoping at the White House.

In any event, I was trying to digiscope a Bald Eagle perched near the entrance to Dyke Marsh when the officer stopped me. If you would like to see the subject of todays comotion, check out the digiscope at www.homepage.mac.com/pmkane/Personal49.html.

Regards,

Paul Kane

-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara Farron <bfarron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: pmkane1953@xxxxxxx; va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 16:16:30 -0500
Subject: [va-bird] Re: Wilson Snipe @ Dyke Marsh

Fellow Photographers,
 
There is a discussion of tripod use in John Kelly's Washington column in the Washington Post today (December 19).  It's on page C11 in the Style section.  Here's the link if you want to read it on-line:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/18/AR2005121
800687.html?sub=AR
 
The short answer is that there is no one fixed policy regarding the use of tripods around Washington.
 
Barbara Farron
Springfield, VA

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