Folks- I wrote this yesterday morning but looking at the archives I
don't think it went through despite being in my "sent" box to
Cobirds. My own posts don't get mailed back to me so I didn't realize
it never made the list until this evening when I got an email from
another birder expressing concern about going to see the owl. I was
originally responding to Becca Reid's posted concerns about seeing the
Snowy Owl. Since then Skot has addressed his actions regarding the
van "incident" (if it even warrants that label), something I addressed
at the end. I would guess that Becca and my other correspondent
aren't alone in their concerns and I'm saddened that anyone is having
second thoughts about seeing the bird or getting turned off to birding
in general because of the culpatory tone some recent Cobirds posts
have had. If anyone is getting the following again please accept my
apologies and hit delete now.
Hi Becca- Good to have you in the birding community! I appreciate
your request for positive opportunities to learn more. I like to
assume the positive in folks, and my experience with other birders has
been positive in nearly all cases. Sharing information in arenas such
as Cobirds can vastly speed the learning curve (yet to the delight of
even long-time birders, a learning curve that never ends!)
I would encourage you to go try for the Snowy Owl if you have a
chance. It is a majestic bird, rarely (if ever before?) this
accessible for viewing in Colorado, and extra special as a nearly
adult male and thus extra white! If nothing else, it is a lot closer
than a trip to the Dakotas, probably the nearest region where they are
more reasonably expected. Certainly use common sense and courtesy,
but in my opinion you won't be harming the bird to go look at it. In
fact, awareness, excitement, and interest in birds can be one of the
most powerful ways to protect habitat and the bird populations that
depend on it. Most people I know who have been birding for a while
contribute back in some way including financial and membership support
of birding organizations (e.g. ABA, CFO, DFO, etc.) conservation
organizations (e.g. Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, etc.) and
participation in citizen science efforts (e.g. eBird, CBCs, Great
Backyard Bird Count, etc.) For example, I pulled this quote from a
recent post on the Western Slope Birding Network about some good news
(finally!) regarding Greater Sage-Grouse with a lot of help from
Audubon Wyoming:
In a landmark victory, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which
manages nearly one third of Wyoming's land and is responsible for
mineral rights on nearly two-thirds, announced this month that it is
making major changes in its leasing policies. This change, largely
based on work done by Audubon Wyoming and the Wyoming Governor, offers
fresh hope for the survival of Greater Sage-Grouse, enhanced
protection for other wildlife that share the western sagebrush
ecosystem, and an innovative model to advance wildlife-friendly energy
development nationwide.
As for this Snowy Owl, the bad news is that it probably flew this far
south out of desperation- most northern owls that irrupt this far
south of their normal ranges are starving due to population crashes of
their prey base. Many don't survive and if found are often
emaciated. The good news is that this bird appears to be finding food
in its adopted neighborhood. It has definitely been around since late
December, and according to one local farmer "since November." It
could have and almost certainly would have moved on if it was finding
slim pickings there. I suspect this is why nearly all of the few
Snowys that turn up in Colorado can't be found the next day- they move
on in search of better hunting until they find it or starve.
I'd suggest that there have been three main themes to consider in most
of the recent "ethics" posts about this owl, though they've been
confusingly swirled together.
First (& foremost), keep the bird's welfare in mind. I think that
viewing it from the neighborhood roadsides (if it is in the fields a
case where spotting scopes really help) doesn't significantly bother
the bird. I watched the owl from 10 am to almost 5:15 pm last
Monday. Folks who had been there since about dawn said it had been
out in a field resting all morning. During the first 6 1/2 hours I
held vigil (OK, I took an hour off to go get lunch,) its activity
consisted of <yawn> sleeping in a field or slowly gazing this way and
that with one eye open and the other shut, flying once to a fence post
around 11:30 and then <yawn> sleeping or slowly gazing this way and
that until about 4:30. During this time I'd estimate 75 or more
people watched it without any undue stress or energy wasting on the
part of the bird. When it started hunting from the house tops at 4:30
its pattern seemed uninfluenced by the evening shift of birders along
the road watching it. If it wanted to, a two-minute flight would have
taken it well away from any of us (pretty insignificant compared to
the thousand+ miles it likely flew to get here.)
Secondly, keep other birders in mind. Flushing the bird into a
distant field a minute or two away by owl wings may not matter much in
the big picture to the owl but can majorly dent someone's day who has
come a long way to see the bird. (Yeah, flushing the bird repeatedly
all day long would be pretty bad but I really don't see that happening
out there unless you chased it on an ATV and brought wire cutters
along for every time you encountered a fence.)
Finally, it is a good idea to have positive relationships with non-
birder residents if you are birding near private properties from
public access such as roads or greenways. I always smile, wave, and
chat with locals whenever possible, and virtually all of the time they
are very interested in the bird. I offer scope looks when possible
and if I have pictures I'll show them on my camera screen and offer to
send them by email. I've been invited into yards, lots, onto boats,
and even into houses for better viewing and photo opps. On the
occasion (very rare) when I encounter a negative property owner I
thank them and move on. Parking in or blocking driveways, walking on
lawns without permission, etc. certainly aren't ways to engender love
and cooperation from property owners but I'd cut the infamous van a
little slack. They weren't broadside across two lanes of I25 at rush
hour. I'd guess that the road has about 2 non-owling cars an hour,
and if a resident is road-raging because they had to drive around the
van, causing them a 5-second delay in getting out to the highway then
I think they have bigger emotional problems than those brought on by
some birders watching a celebrity owl. At most I think the van driver
was guilty of the thrill and excitement of seeing this majestic bird
close by after a long drive plagued with the ever-present possibility
of dipping or just getting distant heat-hazed views. Yeah, would
probably have been better to pull over more but it's not really that
big a deal in the big scheme of things, is it?
If you've made it this far, thanks for wading through it all! And
thanks to everyone for the updates on the neat birds that have been
around this winter.
Enjoy- Bil Schmoker, Longmont
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• Bill Schmoker •
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http://schmoker.org
http://brdpics.blogspot.com
bill.schmo...@gmail.com
720/201-5749
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