Just as an FYI, everyone should know that it turned out that these particular Long-eared Owls were not subjected to purposeful disturbance. The story: some branches were cut on their roost tree. Everyone presumed that a photographer had done it, however, it turned out that a state agency that had no knowledge of the birds' presence had just been performing routine maintenance along a right-of-way. This doesn't change the intent of Andrew's post, but I just didn't want this incident to cause bad feelings and disenchantment about unspecified and non-existent evil-doers.
Hugh On Fri, Mar 8, 2013 at 7:51 AM, Andrew Baksh <birdingd...@gmail.com> wrote: > Good Morning All: > > Marshall Illiff, eBird Project Leader has given me permission to re-post > an e-mail submitted by him to the Maryland (MD) list serve, in response to > a discussion on the disturbance of Long-Eared Owls. Marshall's response on > the MD list serve, highlights the understanding of eBird personnel on the > challenges faced by birders on the reporting of sensitive species and > discusses related changes coming soon to eBird to address this and other > reporting issues. > > I recommend reading Marshall's write-up in its entirety or at the very > least, read the end. I think you will find it gives hope for the continued > use of eBird for entering sensitive species, while protecting the birds we > love. > > Good and Responsible Birding! > > Andrew Baksh > Queens, NY > www.birdingdude.blogspot.com > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Marshall Iliff <mil...@aol.com> > Date: Fri, Mar 8, 2013 at 7:31 AM > Subject: Fwd: [MDBirding] Re: Bad News--Disturbance of Long-eared Owls > To: Andrew Baksh <birdingd...@gmail.com> > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Marshall Iliff <mil...@aol.com> > Date: Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 11:26 AM > Subject: Re: [MDBirding] Re: Bad News--Disturbance of Long-eared Owls > To: mdbird...@googlegroups.com > > > MDBirding, > > As many of you may know, I am an ex-Marylander, still have family in > Annapolis, and live now in Massachusetts. I feel quite nostalgic for my > home state, especially when I see how much Maryland has embraced eBird and > what a vibrant, curious, and interesting community of birders Maryland has, > as evidenced by discussions like this and others on MDBirding. The topic in > this case is an unfortunate one, but it is not one that is unique to > Maryland. > > I think Bill, Matt and others have provided some great comments and > guidance for this issue in general. I'd like to specifically address where > eBird is on this. You can consider this the "eBird corporate" stance, if > you will, as Bill is fond of saying :-). > > First, the issue of sensitive species is one that has been on our radar > screen for a long time at the Cornell Lab as we have tried to grow eBird. > There has always been tension between the two ideas that have been > mentioned: on the one hand, we want the birds that we love to be safe and > do not want actions by birders or photographers to negatively impact the > birds as they seek them out and enjoy them in the field; on the other hand, > we also firmly believe that the scientific value, usefulness as a tool for > birdwatchers, and, importantly, the conservation value of the bird > information in eBird is most helpful when birds are reported at the finest > (most specific) scale possible. Reporting a Scarlet Tanager sighting from > "Maryland" is not worthless, but not very informative. Reporting it as > "Anne Arundel County", is slightly better, and from the town of "Annapolis" > better still. Reporting it from the hotspot that represents the 80-acre > property on the South River starts to get even more specific and truly > valuable for understanding the relationship of the bird to the habitat it > was using, and this is what we hope most eBirders are doing. Obviously one > could report at even finer scales, maybe from the 20 acre woodland near > Forest Drive that is the actual habitat where 2-3 Scarlet Tanager > territories still persist; I could even do a stationary count at the exact > spot where I saw or heard the tanager. Our official eBird recommendations > are "the finer scale the better" and if I divided my one-mile morning > birdwalks on this property into 50 sections of 100 ft each, that would be a > fantastic dataset. But no one has the time to do that, so our general rule > is try to keep your traveling counts to five miles or less, try to report > from the most accurate location possible and try to use established > hotspots when possible. If you are willing to establish a route of point > counts or short transects and survey those regularly, eBird welcomes that, > but many of us are busy. Those that submit from "Blackwater NWR" or > "Assateague National Seashore" are still providing very valuable data, even > if the traveling counts are apt to be long and those hotspots represent > large areas. > > So with that stance that we want fine-scale reports, how then can we > balance the very real problems with sensitive species? > > I should say at the outset, that the Maryland eBird reviewers, and Bill in > particular, have regularly been very helpful to those of us at "eBird > Central" to defining policies on sensitive species. Recognizing that such > cases are rare, we also have to acknowledge that serious ethical (or legal) > breaches *do* occur. A short list of the sensitive species problems that > eBird users have been involved with include: failure to follow established > protocol for access to birding sites; trespassing on private personal > property; trespassing on federal property; visitation of highly restricted > scientific research stations involved in the study and protection of > Endangered species; disturbance of rare/sensitive species; and even, at > least once, targeted hunting (successfully) rare ducks reported via eBird. > Of course, the recent Long-eared Owl issue may be connected to eBird as > well. > > Although these examples are all rare, they are also very concerning. While > eBird is not really directly responsible for the unethical or illegal > actions of a very small minority of inconsiderate > birders/photographers/hunters, eBird does have great responsibility as the > gatekeepers to an unprecedented database (now 120 million records and > growing) on bird occurrence and distribution. We work hard to make the > information free and available, but we need to do this responsibly. > > We are at a point now where the old methods -- entrusting birders to > report responsibly and understand the nuances of site specificity and the > myriad output tools in eBird -- simply is no longer tenable. We are proud > of the enthusiasm around eBird Rarity Alerts and eBird Needs Alerts, but we > also see the danger with instantly feeding out "needed" birds in ways that > can't be controlled. Bachman's Warblers are presumed extinct, but if a > Bachman's Warbler is found in the Great Dismal Swamp in April 2013 and > reported with site specific directions on eBird, those details will > literally be available to the entire community of eBird users--even those > without accounts--within an hour. While this is also true of a listserv > posting, I think we can all agree that if a single pair of Bachman's > Warblers remains in the world, the best thing for that species' survival > may *not* be to have birders know about it. Even if 99.9% of us are > respectful, I can pretty much guarantee that some birders will sneak in, > disobey rules, play tape to the pair, try to find the nest, and stalk both > male and female relentlessly for photos. While I understand that impulse, I > worry about eBird's role in adding to the pressure for rare and sensitive > species simply through providing 21st century era information exchange. > While we inherently believe that information exchange is good in almost all > cases, all of us should think first before putting any bird information out > on the internet (eBird or listservs), just in case it is one of those rare > cases where it may cause more harm than good. > > To that end, eBird is committed to revising the tools available to hide or > obscure reports. This will almost certainly involve better tools for a > user, that allow one to hide a specific observation from eBird output > (currently one can only hide an entire checklist) or to hide or obscure a > specific personal location. For mapped output, we also expect to implement > a structure whereby some species of high concern will be automatically > "blurred". Once this is implemented, we will recommend that the Maryland > editor team "blur" Long-eared Owls. This would mean that anyone can report > Long-eared Owl from Maryland when they find one, but it will not be > possible to find the specific information via eBird output tools. We may > even need a way to obscure the reporter of such birds, so that that > individual is not hounded by others saying "I know you had a Long-eared > Owl, tell me where. Tell Me Where! TELL ME WHERE!!!!" > > We hope and expect this "blurring" will be used only in very very few > cases, but when species are truly sensitive and their very safety may be at > risk from birder attention, we simply have to modify eBird to protect them. > This is especially critical in the United Kingdom. Last time I visited I > was taken to see raptor species in one of the last locations for the > species in the country. To make sure that I didn't put the bird at risk (by > reporting to eBird), I was told stories about egg collectors who learned of > another location, snuck in past wardens assigned to protect the birds, > found the nest, and stole the entire clutch. Thankfully this type of > behavior is rare to nonexistent in the U.S., but I have heard of goshawk > and Peregrine nests being raided by falconers, so American birds are indeed > at risk from similar activity. > > I am posting not to address this specific situation, but simply to plant a > flag that eBird will deal with this issue comprehensively in the near > future (for us that means within the year, or so), and that in the meantime > we would like to stress again that birders that use eBird (by the way, > thank you for reporting to eBird!) think about what cases you may need to > modify your reporting for the bird's benefit. I know Bill and others have > posted it here before, but our story on the topic does address the > important cases and how to approach them: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about/reporting-sensitive-species > > If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and thanks for your support > of eBird. I'll post a more lighthearted followup. > > Best, > > Marshall Iliff > eBird Project Leader > West Roxbury, MA > miliff AT aol.com > > > > On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 8:51 AM, world oceans <world.ocea...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> This is a good dialogue on a very important topic. Thank you, Bill, >> for your informative discussion of this . I don't know which is more >> disturbing , the disregard for owls' welfare or the ego- driven >> animosity that surfaces too often among birders . As a person who has >> loved and studied owls all my life, I can tell you that many birders >> want to see owls so much, they will do almost anything to make that >> happen. The bottom line which we all must remember is that the birds' >> well-being is ALWAYS more important than our lists or selfish desires >> -- no exceptions, no excuses, no 'it wont matter just this once ' >> justifications. >> >> James Gibson >> Silver Spring >> >> On 2/6/13, jflowers <artsnima...@gmail.com> wrote: >> > On Tuesday, February 5, 2013 10:00:24 PM UTC-5, Bill Hubick wrote: >> >> All, >> >> >> >> I received a highly troubling report today that a known >> >> Long-eared Owl roost site has been seriously disturbed. It appears >> >> someone has cut branches from the roost tree to allow for better >> >> photography. The cuts were fresh, only on the roost tree, and clearly >> >> not part of a larger park maintenance effort. At least one of the >> >> branches cut was described as being nearly the width of the observer's >> >> arm. >> >> Horrible. >> >> >> >> >> >> The topic of sensitive species has received some recent discussion, >> >> with the more vocal parties being on the "why is information being >> >> suppressed?" side. Unfortunately, unacceptable events like this one >> have >> >> happened many times before. It is the significantly increased risk of >> >> events like this that makes open discussion of sensitive species so >> >> dangerous. In most cases, it's not a problem if >> >> a few more respectful people observe from a distance. However, as >> >> traffic increases, the likelihood of poor behavior drastically >> >> increases. One could argue that education is the key ("don't keep it >> >> secret | tell people how to behave"), but people who do something like >> >> this aren't just lacking mentoring. The changes in the communication of >> >> bird sightings in the last five years can hardly be overstated. We >> have a >> >> primary list-serve at record-setting membership that is supplemented >> by >> >> many new members. We have a Maryland Facebook page attracting many new >> >> and enthusiastic people. We are also one of the states with the most >> >> comprehensive eBird buy-in in the country. And eBird, of course, has >> >> fundamentally changed how we share our sightings, with the various >> >> hourly "needs" alerts that are so popular certainly factoring in >> heavily >> >> in these cases. These are all very good things, and I actively >> >> support all of them. The wider net is a great thing and is not >> >> going away. That said, these technological changes certainly have a >> lot >> >> to do >> >> with the increased attention these Long-eared Owls have received. >> >> Balancing transparency and sensitivity is going to remain a challenge, >> >> and self-policing what is shared, when, and how needs to be further >> >> considered. >> >> >> >> >> >> This list-serve just yesterday amended its guidelines to explicitly >> >> state that locations for Long-eared Owls are not allowed. I am a >> >> Maryland eBird reviewer and I personally lean toward hiding all >> specific >> >> locations for LEOW there as well. However, I must discus that opinion >> >> as part of a team and with input from corporate eBird. This is far >> from a >> >> black-and-white issue. The "we can't protect it if we don't know it's >> >> there" argument is sound. But how do you balance that with "we know >> >> we're not protecting them when we're sawing @#$#*% branches off their >> >> roost trees"? So as a reviewer, I assure you we will revisit this >> topic. >> >> In the mean time, remember that eBird is a >> >> public communication tool like this list-serve. You can make decisions >> >> to use the "hide" functionality, to report such species at the county >> >> level, and so on. More importantly, you can encourage others to do the >> >> same. Whatever suggestions you make, please do so politely. There have >> >> been some barbs thrown recently that were unwarranted. This list-serve >> >> wants productive discussion of such topics, but will cut off any >> threads >> >> that turn into flame wars. >> >> >> >> >> >> Our growth as a nature study community only matters if we find ways to >> >> harness it for good things. Let's find ways to do so. >> >> >> >> Bill >> >> >> >> Bill Hubick >> >> Pasadena, Maryland >> >> bill_...@yahoo.com >> >> http://www.billhubick.com >> >> http://www.marylandbiodiversity.com >> > >> > >> > This is truly annoying Bill! However, are you sure it was a photographer >> > that did this? It might and does make sense, but pinning that on a >> > photographer unless knowing this for sure might be jumping the gun a >> bit. No >> > matter who the culprit was he or she needs to be educated as to the >> > sensitivity of this species. >> > >> > My concern for your diagnoses is that there is already enough animosity >> > between birders and photographers as it is. I say this with concern as >> I am >> > both a birder and an avian photographer and I have witnessed rudeness >> and >> > bad behavior by both birders and photographers more than I care to >> admit. >> > >> > I remember several occasions last year sitting in my car on a little but >> > well known road in western Maryland with a camera and 800mm lens on a >> bean >> > bag in my window while a few large groups of birders were stomping down >> the >> > breeding habitat of Golden-winged Warblers. I was so angry you could >> have >> > fried an egg with my breath. >> > >> > But I will say that I'm sorry that someone wanted a look or a >> photograph of >> > this species without any concern for it. There is no excuse for that! We >> > needd to better police our fellow birders and photographers. >> > >> > JIm >> > >> > -- >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Group >> > 'Maryland & DC Birding'. >> > To view group guidelines or change email preferences, visit this group >> on >> > the web at http://www.mdbirding.com >> > Posts can be sent to the group by sending an email to >> > mdbird...@googlegroups.com >> > >> > >> > >> > > > > -- > > > **************************** > Marshall J. Iliff > miliff AT aol.com > West Roxbury, MA > **************************** > eBird/AKN Project Leader > www.ebird.org > www.avianknowledge.net > > Cornell Lab of Ornithology > Ithaca, NY > **************************** > > > > -- > > > **************************** > Marshall J. Iliff > miliff AT aol.com > West Roxbury, MA > **************************** > eBird/AKN Project Leader > www.ebird.org > www.avianknowledge.net > Cornell Lab of Ornithology > Ithaca, NY > **************************** > > -- > *NYSbirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail > Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> > *Please submit your observations to **eBird*<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> > *!* > -- > -- Hugh McGuinness Washington, D.C. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
