birding-aus

Leaving Only Footsteps? Think Again

To: Peter Shute <>, Birding-aus <>
Subject: Leaving Only Footsteps? Think Again
From: Tone <>
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 20:02:17 +1100
Good point Peter 

I've  often  noticed when on the tractor or ride-on mower that animals such as 
wallabies, wild dogs and birds like Magpies and Butcherbirds are far less 
likely to flee than if I were on foot.
The birds are probably looking for a feed from disturbed insects and other 
small creatures, but I can recall a couple of times when slashing, coming 
within five metres of a wild dog which paid no attention to the tractor, but 
when I made to dismount it ran away very quickly.
Perhaps the animals know that we're too involved with our machine to be a 
threat.
No matter how careful I am to be inaudible and invisible when birding, the 
birds are almost always aware of me before I am of them.

Tony Gibson 
Sent from my iPod

> On 17 Feb 2015, at 18:17, Peter Shute <> wrote:
> 
> This article from the New York Times discusses the effects of recreation on 
> nature. Surprisingly, one study found that snowmobiles had less effect on 
> moose than cross country skiers - the animals were less afraid of the 
> machines they could hear coming and which soon left, than the skiers who they 
> couldn't hear as well and which stayed longer.
> 
> Not a very Australian example, but it makes you wonder if we birders might 
> have more effect than we think, wandering slowly and quietly through the bush 
> looking at stuff.
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/opinion/sunday/leaving-only-footsteps-think-again.html<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/opinion/sunday/leaving-only-footsteps-think-again.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad&_r=1>
> 
> Peter Shute
> 
> Sent from my iPad
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