There have certainly been documented cases of trans-Atlantic vangrants
which have dropped dead after chased around by large numbers of
twitchers in the UK, and probably many more which died unrecorded as a
result of harrassment. I accept the point that most of these birds are
likely to have dropped dead anyway and all of them have zero chance of
ever making back to their correct geographical area anyway, still I
would not like to be part of the proximate cause of a vagrant's
decease.
I also accept the point that the majority of twitches are conducted
ethically, from a distance with telescopes, or in a non-harrassing
way. Still I don't see the point in burring up when unethical birding
practices are mentioned, when they can't be defended.
John Leonard
On 20/02/2008, Tim Jones <> wrote:
> John
>
> Being a former UK birder I haver to take issue and tell you that your second
> paragraph is simply not true except in an absolute minimal number of cases
> and the culprits of any such incident get roundly condemned. Your comments
> are a generalisation and thankfully this is not the view of most of the UK
> birding community. In fact, the interest and behaviour of the the vast
> majority of birders in the UK has allowed for a greater level of both
> awareness and particularly protection of breeding birds. The public
> knowledge of sensitive breeding sites has allowed for greater vigilance and
> less opportunities for ill doers such as egg collectors. Almost all UK
> twitchers are enthusiastic contributors financially to conservation
> organisations such as the RSPB and a myriad of local organisations as well
> as to a large extent contributing to local bird knowledge through coverage
> of their local patches. I spent a lot of time and effort in my former local
> area fighting the suppression of bird information in the UK so I know how
> this has evolved.
>
> Incidentally, some birds which reach the Isles of Scilly have done so from
> North America (whether ship-assisted or otherwise) and are 'on their last
> legs'. Unfortunately most vagrants of this type have negligible chance of
> surviving long term and no chance of breeding. On the Isles of Scilly there
> are public paths, commons and roads but much of the rest of it is private
> land and birds can only be observed from public spots. Certain species,
> especially the American cuckoos, are prone to dying fairly quickly from
> exhaustion but not because of being chased by birders, even though there can
> be hundreds assembled to view them.
>
> Unfortunately Australia is not a place, I acknowledge, that a great deal of
> publicity can be allowed for breeding birds, simply because there is a far
> lower proportion of birders in the population and a far greater area to
> cover, and the chance of an egg collector or similar being discovered by
> birders is therefore minimal. However, we should applaud enthusiasm for
> birds and encourage the positive aspects of it and the benefits that this
> enthusiasm can bring towards the conservation of our wildlife rather than
> mocking members of organisations which have led the world in the field of
> conservation. Personally, I would like to see wildlife observation become so
> popular that the destructive elements of our community towards the
> environment become a thing of the past. Topically speaking maybe if it was
> 'popularised' a bit more we might see dog walkers taking more care around
> wildlife sites because they would be a lot more aware of the rich nature
> around them and those who have an interest in it.
>
> Finally, if I turned up at a twitch here with a few hundred lined up I would
> be delighted because it would mean that the conservation of Australian birds
> had become important to an awful lot more people than currently.
>
> Sorry this is a bit of an essay for what was probably just a throwaway
> comment but it's something that I am passionate about. I do find that people
> I work with and encounter have just that little bit more interest in birds
> because I own up to my obsessions and that's how I perceive that things have
> gradually changed back in the UK.
>
> Tim Jones
>
>
>
> > Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 07:36:39 +1100
> > From:
> > To:
> > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Vagrant Gull
> >
> > On 19/02/2008, Jan England <> wrote:
> >
> >
> > ...."Apparently the Gull is still hale and hearty."
> >
> > Wasn't there the suggestion early on that this bird was sick and
> > couldn't swallow? I have noticed that reports of vagrants often
> > suggest that the bird in question is sick and then no more is heard of
> > this suggestion.
> >
> > Apart from trans-Atalantic vagrants to the Scilly Isles and similar
> > places that are literally harried to death by hoards of twitchers, I
> > suggest that any vagrant bird (or any other) that is studied intently
> > for some time is likely to exhibit behaviour that the observer hasn't
> > observed previously and this is likely to be interpreted as the bird
> > being sick.
> >
> > When the Powerful Owl was observed roosting in the Australian National
> > Botanical Gardens in Canberra last year various people speculated that
> > it was sick. This was based mainly on the absence of dropped prey and
> > droppings under its perch. It was then discovered that the ANBG staff
> > were cleaning these up each morning beofre the Gardens opened ( 8-| ).
> >
> > John Leonard
> > ===============================
> > www.birding-aus.org
> > birding-aus.blogspot.com
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> > send the message:
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>
>
> ________________________________
> Sounds like? How many syllables? Guess and win prizes with Search Charades!
--
John Leonard
Canberra
Australia
www.jleonard.net
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