At 11:33 AM 10/25/2005, you wrote:
>CALLING them in??? I thought the entire point was getting them in their
>natural habitat, not calling them like duck hunters!
>
>Sorry, I am into soundscapes, and creatures as part of it, not into
>birds or other species in specific, and the idea of luring them sounds
>a bit creepy to me. Like the new squid photos, where the Japanese
>"scientists" used lethal grappling hooks baited with fish to snag the
>animal, and took pictures for five hours until it ripped off its
>feeding arm to escape... Sorry if that is gory but it relates! What do
>they think when they find they have been tricked? Do they have distinct
>scolding or disappointment cries?
>
>I apologize if this is normal for birders, but I am shocked! Are
>"expensive" birding trips like eco-tourism? Hunting, only with cameras?
>My idealistic California sensibilities imagines complete
>harmlessness... and going to them, not drawing them to you. I also
>imagine some other bird recordist catching the sounds of your lures as
>some exotic species, only to find it is a duck call!
>
><L>
Lou:
Well said! What you may not be aware of is that birding for many people is=
like bowling, canasta, poker or dog shows, except that the competition to
be the only winner is to get the most number of bird species during some
time or space interval.
But most of the folks on this list oppose using "playback" for any purpose=
except for a few necessary for science. We repeatedly have posted (see
archives) ethical objections whenever this subject arises.
Three years ago, I published a disc with 830 species songs and calls on it.=
Not one bird was drawn in or identified by playback. But this doesn't stop=
many, perhaps most, birding trip organizers from using whistling or digital=
assisted speakers to max out their trip species lists. I always used trips=
to the tropics by Kevin Loughlin, Adventure Camera,
http://www.adventurecamera.com/ which exercises strict ethical practices
the same as mine.
I do not even have a life list! If I cannot remember seeing or hearing a
bird species, it is high time to see it or hear it again. I cannot agree
with many who consider seeing a bird again to be a waste of time. To me the=
list is the waste of time! I take extensive field notes, and have since
1957; most actually devoted to common birds.
If you don't believe there are extreme listers out there, just consider
that the American Birding Association WAS FORMED to establish rules so
listers could actually compare their lists to eachother's with some
fairness. But be careful how you use disparaging comparisons on this list
to duck hunters - they are everywhere out there, and deserve our respect
with or without their armed bears. ;^)
-- best regards, Marty Michener
MIST Software Assoc. Inc., P. O. Box 269, Hollis, NH 03049
http://www.enjoybirds.com/
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