>It may be worthwhile adding spotlighting to the list of activities which
>includes pishing, tape playback & nest-finding, as being potentially
>disturbing to birds, and possibly harmful in some circumstances. If
>that's the case, then maybe somebody (RAOU, BOCA) should come up with
>some
>"ethical guidelines" about when these techniques are OK to use, & how to
>go about them wisely/safely. A blanket discouragement of spotlighting
>will have little or no impact.
Gee Lawrie,
Why do we need 2 Victorian bird clubs to tell us how to watch birds? If you
could have been with me when I saw 5 Lyre tailed Nightjars and 2 Rufous
bellied Nighthawks along Guacamayos Ridge Ecuador on Xmas night you would
have loved it. We took our 100watt spot and saw 18 night birds over six
weeks (most see 1 or 2). The Crested Owl was gobsmacking, and the 5 species
of screech owl were fantastic.The Peruvian Pygmy Owl was the so cute, but
nothing like the Andean Potoo. Still we could have used torches. We did to
see the Noble Snipe at a lake in Cotapaxi National Park, then I took a flash
photo of it from 3 metres with a instamatic camera.
Oh, did I mention we used tapes too. Oh dear, I taped them right in and then
took photos as well.
Happy birding and thanks for the penguin updates.
Trevor Quested
Trevor Quested & Annie Young
Sydney Australia
Phone. +61 2 9955 6266
Fax. +61 2 9959 4005
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