birding-aus

Using call playback in bird watching and bird photography.

To: Robert Inglis <>
Subject: Using call playback in bird watching and bird photography.
From: Carl Clifford <>
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2012 15:40:32 +1000
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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