The following link will take you to my web site that presents two images of exactly what Tom Wilberding's email yesterday was addressing with regards to all of us making respectful choices when visiting the owl. Essentially, I had been there since early morning. Anyone that visited the bird while I was there showed the appropriate amount of courtesy to the bird, the community, and others there watching and photographing. This was at least until a van had shown up. It pulled up down the way from me and stopped in the road and people got out. I thought that once everyone disembarked it would have move off on to the shoulder, at least until I saw the driver get out and then close his door and join the others. I then pulled ahead and very politely suggested that they move the van out of the road as a courtesy and to avoid complaints. I was met with a response by a number of people that suggested they both understood and agreed that was the appropriate thing to do. So I drove on. I happened to drive by about 9 minutes later and the van was still sitting in the road.
I am not sure why the driver elected to leave the van parked in the road and maybe he could offer some very good reasons why it needed to be there. Regardless of what they were, that choice increases the risks of complaints being lodged by those people living there resulting in undesirable restrictions or access being placed upon those desiring to visit and view and photograph the bird. I hope that we would all take this as an example that what Tom was referring to is happening and we need to not only manage our own behavior, but assertively encourage others to do so as well. Thanks for your time. http://www.greensphotoimages.com/ronsgallery/nototdo/index.html Ron Green Scencic, Nature, and Wildlife Photography http://www.greensphotoimages.com p.s. I apologize for the blurry images. When I took them I was unaware that I had bumped a dial on my camera and changed the setting.
