Stuart,
Good comments, however, I think you are overstating the message about
bad birdwatching and birders.
>From my experience birdwatchers are almost always conservation minded,
being very aware of issues of environmental sensitivity. (Name me one
who isn't. Not on birding-aus though!) Occasionally, very occasionally,
a birder may overstep the line. However this over-stepping is often
totally insignificant when compared to the behaviour of any standard
non-birders (think of the situation with Hooded Plovers for example).
In a life-time of birdwatching I have only seen what I would describe as
bad behaviour by birders once or twice, and in one case, it was because
they thought they were being helpful.
What I see far more often is birders criticising other birders for not
being as 'conservation minded' as themselves. Furthermore this criticism
is often based on a series of negative perceptions rather than having
any basis in reality. (No reflexion on you Stuart.) You can even see
this type of miss-guided attitude in writing on the BOCA web site (sorry
about this BOCA) in the FAQ section, see:
http://www.birdobservers.org.au/FAQ_text.asp?key=18
The comments on this page are totally silly. (Once again, sorry about
this BOCA; no offence intended on this wonderful organisation. Also many
of the officials at BOCA would describe themselves as 'twitchers'.)
I'll use the example to the twitchathon (oh no... I hear the cry!). This
event attracts an enormous amount of undue criticism from birders,
despite the fact that it raises thousands of dollars annually for
conservation.
For example last year someone emailed me stating that they will be
"doing real conservation, a Hooded Plover count, not destroying the
environment by racing in a twitchathon!" (I get quite few of this type
of email each year.) This is despite the fact that money raised from the
twitchathon helps pay for Hooded Plover research - the same research
they were doing the count for. Also, despite that fact that the people
involved in the twitchathon are some of the most environmentally
conscience people on the planet, often working tirelessly for
ornithological conservation, research and education.
There seems to be an assumption that when twitchathon racers see a
Hooded Plover they run up to them and beat them over the head with their
binos! (as opposed to seeing them in a normal, environmentally
conscience birding way.)
Tim Dolby
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Stuart Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, 13 May 2008 12:50 PM
To:
Subject: blog for birding aus - birders behaving badly
birders behaving badly
The advent of the net and the ability to communicate to a potentially
unlimited audience in nanoseconds has allowed a welcome increase in the
sharing of information on birds and their whereabouts. Finding birds
particularly rare or unpredictable species has, really, never been
easier. This in itself is a positive thing.
There is a downside. With an increase in the numbers of birwatchers
comes an inevitable increase in the bird/birdwatcher interaction. There
comes a point at which our actions begin to influence the behaviour of
the animals we're watching, almost inevitably to their detriment. This
is particularly so if our information leads us to a limited resource,
food, water, nesting location to which the birds have no choice but to
attend.
As intelligent and moral beings we have a responsibility to ensure that
our actions do not place birds under any more stress than they already
are. Birdwatching for us is something we do for enjoyment but the birds
are involved in a very real struggle to survive.
Last week I travelled to Cunnamulla to see (amongst other things) the
Flock Bronzewings. On arriving at the waterhole which they were using I
was appalled to find a string of cars parked on the roadside right next
to the waterhole and a group of birdwatchers standing even closer. On
the open plain they'd have been visible for kilometres.
I get the feeling that Flock Bronzewings are edgy creatures at the best
of times, especially given the number of raptors hanging around. But I
can't imagine they'd be relaxed to see a whole pile of cars and people
standing around waiting for them to come in.
When asked about how close the observers should be to the water an
answer came back (my paraphrasing) 'as close as you like...... they have
to drink'. To me this is placing an indulgent desire to get a premium
look at a rare and edgy bird before the wellbeing of the animals.
I get no thrill out of looking at a bird that is obviously stressed by
my presence, tick or no tick. Even in this age of unprecedented
information there is still a great deal of satisfaction in having to
wait for a really great sighting of a bird, and this is doubly so if,
after such a wait, the sighting is of a bird relaxed and natural and
either unaware or unconcerned by your presence.
I ask that all birdwatchers place the wellbeing of the birds as their
foremost consideration.
stuart johnson
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