Robert,
I would have cheerfully have asked the photographers if they would mind posing
for a photograph, with all of their gear and noted down their car registration
numbers. I would then send the images and rego numbers, accompanied by a
statutory declaration setting out what I had seen, to the appropriate Minister,
the shadow minister and local member of Parliament. In the covering letter, I
would politely ask if the Department was going to take any action against the
offenders.
I think that this type of behaviour is utterly unconscionable and should be
dealt with to the full extent of the law.
Carl Clifford
On 27/08/2012, at 11:34 AM, "Robert Inglis" <> wrote:
> I know this is a topic which has been discussed here before and that it can
> easily be classed as “controversial” but an incident I witnessed recently has
> prompted me to believe the subject needs to be revisited.
>
> Bird-photography is my principal birding interest and recently I visited a
> bird hide I have used on numerous occasions and where I have spent many hours
> quietly photographing some of the quite uncommon and wary species which, from
> time to time, visit this wetland situated in a Conservation Park. Some of
> those species are extremely wary and shy and are liable to react immediately
> to any movement or loud noises coming from the hide. Generally they dart back
> into the thick vegetation around the wetland and often do not emerge again
> for hours.
>
> On this particular day, on entering the hide, I was confronted by a spectacle
> which I found quite disturbing and which has left me with a feeling of bitter
> disappointment and despair.
>
> I won’t go into the finer details but suffice it to say I found a small group
> of photographers excitedly and vigorously attempting to photograph birds from
> the hide while using continuous and very loud call playback to encourage the
> birds to come closer. A very brief conversation indicated that the target
> species was the jacanas I had just seen fly past the hide, undoubtedly the
> same pair of jacanas which had been breeding with mixed success in that
> location for the past couple of years.
>
> Rather than confront the photographers (I have learnt from experience that
> confrontation, gentle or assertive, is invariably met with aggression) and
> because I was being deafened by the volume of the call playback I immediately
> left the hide and returned home.
>
> Over quite a number of years I have taken many thousands of bird-photos but I
> have never used call playback to attract my subjects; that doesn’t mean I am
> totally against the use of call playback but I do believe that, when it is
> used, it should be used very carefully and sparingly.
>
> For that reason I offer for the consideration of all birders, including
> bird-photographers, the following suggestions for guidelines on using call
> playback as well as how to conduct oneself in a bird hide.
>
> Call playback: (keeping in mind that the welfare of the bird is paramount)
> - Never use call playback in areas where breeding and/or nesting is known or
> could reasonably be expected to be actually or likely to be happening;
> - Use call playback sparingly in all locations and particularly in locations
> which receive high levels of birdwatching/photography traffic;
> - Never use call playback in bird hides as these are locations specifically
> intended to cater for high levels of birdwatching/photography traffic and are
> invariably located in significant and, often, sensitive bird habitats;
> - Stop using call playback when: the target bird has been identified; the
> bird appears upset; the bird becomes aggressive;
> - Do not simply turn the call playback on and leave it running continuously;
> - Use a moderate to low level of volume and not the maximum level the player
> equipment can manage;
> - Never use “aggression” or “alarm” calls for playback.
>
> Bird hides: (keeping in mind that the birds can see and hear the occupants of
> the hide)
> - Avoid loud noise inside the hide, e.g., loud conversation and mechanical
> noises;
> - Move around the hide quietly and slowly avoiding sudden and violent
> movements;
> - Do not wave arms and/or camera lenses out of the viewing ports of the hide;
> - Enter and exit the hide slowly and quietly.
>
> I am sure other people can think of more possible “rules” but these are the
> ones I think to be most important.
>
> I should also point out the following extract from the (Qld) Department of
> Environment and Resources (DERM) Operational Policy document on visitor
> management:
>
> “Section 139 of the Protected Areas Management Regulation states that a
> person must not use a radio, tape recorder or other sound or amplifier system
> in a way that may cause unreasonable disturbance to a person or native animal
> in a protected area.”
>
> The whole document can be found at
> http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/register/p01433aa.pdf
>
> "Penalties do apply to infringements and details of those penalties can be
> seen in the document “Proposed regulations under the Recreation Areas
> Management Act 2006”.
> The document can be downloaded from this web page:
> http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/services_resources/item_details.php?item_id=202719
> Note page 16, item 129. The penalty appears to be usually $175 but possibly
> up to $3750."
>
> I should point out that I did not recognise the people involved in the
> incident described above and I am not in any way suggesting that the
> behaviour I witnessed is typical of that of all birdwatchers or
> bird-photographers.
>
> Bob Inglis
> Sandstone Point
> Qld
>
>
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