spotlighting Plains Wanderers

[(John Leonard)]

I feel I must just write a little paragraph supporting Phil Maher against
comments about his spotlighting methods.

I too have been on one of his tours and was very grateful for the
opportunity to see the bird. I am one of those who got very close to a PW,
but I didn't feel then and I don't feel now that the bird suffered undue
distress, for this reason: when the landrover approaches the PW flies (its
night-time reaction to danger), but when the spotlight is on it it freezes
(its daytime reaction to danger) and remains like that until the spotlight
is removed from it. Besides this I think that birds generally are not
particularly afraid of people, or not as afraid of people as they are of
hawks, falcons, owls, foxes, cats, quolls &c &c.

1.0a15