Received reply from Weld Sheriff's office ... Division Commander-type Thank you for bringing your concerns to the attention of the Sheriff's Office. It appears that you and your fellow birders are taking appropriate steps to avoid confrontations. There are any number of factors at play in this situation. They are in no particular order;
1) It is public road that can be traveled on by any member of the public. You are not in violation of any law by driving on any county road. The laws that govern motor vehicles apply to all persons and vehicles that are on the roadway. As to the "glorified golf cart" there are some exemptions as it may be considered an implement of agriculture so that particular instance would have to be looked into. 2) Driving slow is not in itself a criminal act, however it is also a common act of persons who are looking to scout out locations for future criminal activity. Please understand that I am not in any fashion accusing you of scouting for criminal gain, but driving slow through an area repeatedly could be mistaken for such activity, especially someone who has been a victim of such activity. 3) Pulling into an oil tank battery to stop and look is a safe idea especially from a traffic standpoint. A consideration is that by the very nature of the location there are rather flammable materials in the area, thus open flame or smoking could have a rather disastrous outcome if one were not careful. Also please note that the person you talked to may or may not have the authority to grant permission to be on a given location. While they may not care, the actual owner and or the company servicing the tank battery may not share the same opinion. Also please note that we have had a significant issue with theft from tank batteries and as such we very much encourage anyone in the area to call in any time they see a car parked at a tank battery, and for our deputies to stop anyone seen at a tank battery. 4) As to getting out to use a spotting scope to view birds that is admirable since it is the best way to not disturb the birds. However you have to be careful not to disturb the flow of traffic, granted that in that particular area it is very light even on a busy day, but there is always a safety concern while outside of a vehicle on a roadway. I personally use a window mounted scope for my wildlife viewing and remain in the vehicle. It should also be noted that if for some reason a less thoughtful person were to decide to get closer to the bird to get a better view and entered onto private property that they could be charged with trespassing. The best way to avoid this is to obtain written permission from the land owner ahead of time. They might even have a better spot with a greater view that they would let you go to. The decision to grant permission is still the prerogative of the land owner, so they may say no. 5) While I agree that the behavior of the people you have encountered was much less than hospitable, by the comments made it would appear that they are worried about theft from their mail boxes, which is a significant concern of most rural residents. Unfortunately we have seen a multitude of case over the years where mail is stolen from a rural mail box and the information used for fraudulent activities. As to the writing down of a license plate number while it is annoying it is not illegal, and is actually encouraged if a person thinks the vehicle in question is involved in illegal activity. Once again I am not making any accusation, however the perception of the person who feels he or she is potentially being victimized is the driving factor involved. Anyone is allowed to call law enforcement, however that being said an officer or deputy will not issue a summons or make an arrest unless there is a violation of law. 6) In regard to a shot being heard, that is a rather common occurrence in many rural locations. Firearms are an often preferred manner of dealing with any number of types of vermin on a farm. That being said it is never acceptable to threaten another person with a firearm, recklessly endanger another with a firearm or to attempt to scare another person with a firearm. If any of those things happen, please make sure to notify law enforcement immediately so that the matter can be investigated and addressed as quickly as possible. As with all situations it is not unlawful for a person to have a firearm on his or her person, however it becomes another matter if that firearm is used to do any of the above actions. I hope this information assists you in your endeavors to have a pleasurable birding experience. As with all things a little bit of understanding and tolerance goes a long ways and unfortunately some individuals may chose not extend those courtesies. While their actions are not illegal they may very well be unpleasant and even downright rude, but not illegal and as such, action on the part of the Sheriff's office cannot be taken. Respectfully, J.D. Broderius Division Commander Weld County Sheriff's Office 1950 "O" Street, Greeley, Colorado 80631 970-356-4015 Ext 2810 Cell Phone 970-590-6838 E-mail: jbroder...@co.weld.co.us Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn http://coloradobirder.ning.com/ Mobile: http://coloradobirder.ning.com/m On Sunday, April 20, 2014 10:49:17 AM UTC-6, The "Nunn Guy" wrote: > > I led Boulder County Audubon trip around Weld County yesterday. Total of > 64 species seen. Highlights are: > > Long-billed Curlew (On east side fo reservoir, near top of hill where > everyone looks to reservoir, bird was along oil industry dirt road in field) > McCown's, Chestnet-collared Longspurs, Loggerhead Shrike, Sage Thrasher, > Lark Bunting at Weld CR 114/108 > Peregrine Falcon at Dover Reservoir (Nunn) > Herring Gull at Woods Lake > Great-tailed Grackle, Red-necked Phalarope, Black-necked Stilt at Weld CR > 59 Marsh > Burrowing Owl Weld CR 33 btw 100/98 on west > brewer's Blacbird Beebe Draw > > I mentioned committee (meaning more than one) on my subject line because > there are more than two people awaiting to "greet" birders. The first > welcoming committe arrived to us by his unlicensed motor vehicle and we > thinking we were getting cookies were greeted by him taking our license > plate numbers down. On the east side of reservoir where curlew is another > gentleman came to us and we thought--this has to be cookies! Wrong. he > greeted us with "That's my mailbox over there, do you know what ID theft > is? if you don't leave I'll be calling the sheriff." Like Norm, > frustrated as we were we decided to leave. Let's just say you would have > more success reasoning with a rock than these two gentleman--and I use that > term generously. > > Birders beware! > > All birds: > > American Robin > House Sparrow > House Finch > Western MEadowlark > Mourning Dove > American Goldfinch > Red-tailed Hawk > European Starling > Rock Pigeon > Eurasian-collared Dove > American Kestrel > Horned Lark > Burrowing Owl > Peregrine Falcon > Green-winged Teal > Northern Pintail > Blue-winged Teal > Black-billed Magpie > Red-winged Blackbird > Canda Goose > mallard > great Horned Owl > Western Grebe > mcCow's Longspur > Chestnut-collared Longspur > Loggerhead Shrike > Sage Thrasher > Common Raven > Swainson's Hawk > Bluejay > Northern Shoveler > Greater yellowlegs > Barn Swallow > Yellow-headed Blackbird > Ruddy Duck > Killdeer > Lesser Yellowlegs > American Coot > Great Blue Heron > Song Sparrow > Double-crested Cormorant > Cinnamon Teal > Lesser Scaup > Herring Gull > American Wigeon > Bald Eagle > Gadwall > American White Pelican > White-crowned Sparrow > Northern Flicker > Black-crowned Night Heron > Black-capped Chickadee > Brown-headed Cowbird > Black-necked Stilt > Long-billed Curlew > Ring-blled Gull > Bufflehead > great-tailed Grackle > Red-necked Phalarope > Least Sandpiper > Lark Bunting > Brewer's Blackbird > > Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn > http://coloradobirder.ning.com/ > Mobile: http://coloradobirder.ning.com/m > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. 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