Paul et al.,
I have long espoused the idea that being informed (or in the "loop") about rare
birds is not an inalienable right bestowed on all who choose to become birders
and those who decide to work hard at amassing the large lists. For all sorts of
reasons that are entirely their own, birders make decisions each and every day
about how much information they want to share. I operate on the basic
assumption that NO ONE is obligated to tell me about the birds that they find,
even the rare ones. I feel privileged when they do share and provide me with
information about birds that I would never know about otherwise.
The existence of OBOL, eBird and various other forums where bird sightings are
reported and subscribing to such forums does not obligate or require users to
post all of our sightings to these forums. I don't take it personally when I am
not in the loop and I have often been outside the loop. On the rare occasions
when I have chosen not to share a particular sighting I wasn't making decisions
based on who I felt was "worthy" of getting to see the bird.
We aren't a "community of equals"...never have been never will be and it is
unrealistic to expect that to be the case. Hundreds of Oregon birders seem to
have more free time and more discretionary income than I have to devote to
birding. When a rare bird is discovered on a Tuesday, it is a virtually
certainty that in most weeks the earliest point that I might be able to give
chase will be the following Saturday. Meanwhile, I get to read the daily parade
of "YESes" in OBOL subject lines. I look at daily OBOL and eBird postings and
it sometimes feels like every birder in Oregon is out birding more than me. Of
course that is not the case. Should the rest of you be required to only go
birding and only find rare birds on days when I am available to chase them on
equal terms? Of course not.
We are certainly not equals in terms of skill. On many occasions I have shown
up at the site of a rare bird sighting only to find a gaggle of chasers who
have up to that point have not relocated the bird. Often, some of them don't
really know what they are looking for, having not even cracked a field guide to
get a visual search image. They also haven't taken the time to research and
learn the likely vocalizations that the bird might give. Perhaps they expect or
know that someone with more skill and experience will eventually show up and
refind the bird for them. A few years ago about 15 people got to see the
Yellow-throated Warbler in Sherwood because I was one of two people in the
group (the other being Shawneen) who knew the bird's chip note and recognized
it immediately when it called. Some of the others had been there over an hour,
mostly lingering around the yard and a suet feeder where the bird had been seen
a day earlier. The Yellow-throated Warbler never did go to the suet that day. I
often wonder if that bird would have been refound that morning had I not been
there to recognize the call note as it flew overhead. I don't feel obligated to
talk to other birders or help them when I am out birding, but I do so without
expecting or getting anything in return. Over the years I have helped birders
of all skill levels find and see birds that they are looking for. I do it
because I enjoy it. Worthiness has nothing to do with it.
As for "the rest of us cannot be trusted to behave properly." Sad to say it,
but this is a truism Paul. It shouldn't be a revelation for someone who has
been birding for decades. The rest of us is a huge group these days. Many newer
birders and some of the veterans don't know, or choose not to adhere to the
basics of birding ethics, especially when there is a checkmark or great photo
to be had. Beyond actions that result in birds being harassed, I've seen many
birders behave badly. We trespass, we block roads with cars and large groups of
us milling about in the path of traffic. We are not always conscientious about
others who might be trying to walk or bike along paths that we are blocking.
Several years ago in Texas Shawneen and I watched a woman get out of her car
and run towards a fence to get closer to two Whooping Cranes that she was
trying to photograph. The two cranes were feeding and walking with their heads
down and they were already gradually moving towards the road that we and she
were parked along. Had she patiently stayed in her vehicle all of us would have
gotten excellent photos of the birds from fairly close range. Instead her
actions flushed the cranes, which circled the pasture a couple times and then
flew off out of sight. Some in this forum will remember the Great Gray Owl
found near Mulino in Clackamas County several years ago. That bird got pushed
all over the place by overzealous birders and photographers. The locals were
not left with very good impression of the birders and gawkers who came to see
the owl after its presence was made widely known by an article in the
Oregonian. The obstacle course of vehicles and people over the many days the
bird was present became a real nuisance. By all accounts it was a fiasco. A
couple years ago a migrant Flammulated Owl appeared in a small wooded area at
the South Padre Island Convention Center. The bird was roosting in some trees
just above a fenced water feature that is surrounded by carefully tended native
plants. Birders and photographers were not content to stay behind the fence.
Many got inside the fence, with some even setting up chairs and stools as they
photographed the owl. They were not only rude, but obnoxiously refused to move
back outside the enclosure despite the repeated pleas of the woman (a dear
friend) who designed and maintains the water feature and the plantings. The
area and the plants were completely trampled. Similarly and closer to home,
there was a Burrowing Owl roosting just over the fence at Boiler Bay State
Wayside last year. The bird was found by a group of birders in the morning
about 15 feet beyond the fence, where it stayed for many hours. It had clearly
been grounded by a strong storm overnight and it was quite wet and stressed
looking already. Perhaps hundreds of people (including many non-birders) got to
see and photograph the bird at extremely close range from just behind the
fence. The owl seemed fairly content with this arrangement and basically didn't
move for several hours. About midday one guy decided that he needed to jump the
fence and get closer to the bird for better photos. Others present had told him
not to go over the fence because he would disturb the bird, but he did so
anyway. He flushed the owl, which flew off and disappeared. That he wasn't
beaten senseless is remarkable.
The bottom line is that none of us gets to judge how others in this broad and
diverse community chose to use or not use various bird reporting avenues. If
others do share we should say thank you and be truly appreciative. If they
choose not to share, perhaps we might just acknowledge that it is their choice
and say nothing rather than taking it personally.
Each of us will eventually die, at which point our life list will be utterly
meaningless..which is only slightly less important than it is today. No one
other than you will care that you didn't tick Great Gray Owl for your Benton
County list and once gone from this world you'll be in no position to worry
about it yourself, so why worry about it today?
Dave Irons
________________________________
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of Paul
Sullivan <paultsullivan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2018 5:39 AM
To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [obol] Re: ebird throws out the baby with the bath water...
I say this without rancor. The situation just is.
The situation posted by Joel tells me that the “Oregon birding community” and
Oregon Birders on Line is not a community of equals. It says that some birders
are more worthy than others. It says the rest of us cannot be trusted to
behave properly.
That is a sorry statement.
I don’t even know what birds I’m being denied by those who judge me unworthy. I
can’t say that I am aggrieved.
Paul Sullivan
---------------------------
Subject: Re: ebird throws out the baby with the bath water...
Date: Thu Jan 11 2018 21:57 pm
From: joel.geier AT peak.org
As luck might have it, another species that comes under this recent
"protection" for sensitive species by eBird was found in Corvallis a few
days ago, after a local resident tipped off a local birder who shared it
with their own personal network of friends.
Sightings of the bird were masked but if you looked at the list of
"recent visits" in Benton County, you'd see that there was suddenly an
awful lot of activity in a neighborhood that seldom gets much attention.
The bird was excluded from all of those ebird lists but still, by my
count, at least 14 birders who were in the loop thanks to personal
connections went to that location to twitch the bird, within the space
of 3 or 4 hours.
A long-time local birder who lives on the same street as where this bird
was seen saw another birder walking by, who didn't stop to share this
information, but later posted a photo of the bird on the Macaulay
library (which turns out to be a bit of a loophole in the system).
The bird apparently has not been seen since around 4 pm that afternoon.
Hard to say if the sudden attention by 14+ birders with binoculars and
cameras was the cause, or if it was something else. But if the purpose
of the new ebird "protections" for sensitive species is to protect these
species from excessive attention, apparently that purpose was defeated
by word-of-mouth in this case.
The system might need some work.
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
