Snowy was seen perched on bldg just before UPS on Cargo Rd between 3:30 and
4:30 this afternoon. A small group of us were detained by local Police who
asked for our ID's and inquired as to the reason for our presence. When I told
them we were looking at a bird he was dismayed and told us that we were in a
secure area and photography was strictly forbidden. Only 1 of us had a camera
and we were quick to point out that we were looking thru bins and not cameras.
He also seemed confused by the fact that non of us had ever met before today.
"How did we know to come to the airport?", he asked. In unison we replied that
we read about it on line @ this site. I told him that had he been 15 minutes
earlier he would have encountered a much larger group. At this point there were
2 police cars and 2 officers asking questions. After running our ID's they
returned them and thanked us for our cooperation. All in all a not so
unpleasant experience except for the fact that he informed us in no uncertain
terms that we were trespassing and Cargo Rd. was private for use by employees
of local companies only. We were instructed that future transgressions would
not be tolerated. My question, which I kept to myself, is: If the road is
private shouldn't it be posted as such? When I left the area I stopped at the
intersection with Longfellow and could not find any sign denoting restricted
access. The bird is there but it might be difficult to walk anywhere without
attracted unwanted attention from the authorities. FYI they said they were
responding to a report of suspicious behavior. I got my Snowy for the year so
I'm happy but concerned about future forays. Good birding to all !
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