Birding Ethics

I touched on a point in my previous post about some photographers having a bad reputation around owls in these parts.  There have been a couple of incidences recently of photographers not respecting the privacy of differenct owl species.

The most recent incident was a group of photographers trying to get photographs of a Boreal Owl near Toronto.  Allegations were made that the photographers stayed longer than necessary to try to get better pictures, talked louder than necessary distrubing the owl, and even went as far as to remove branches from trees to give better views.

Last winter I heard tales of photographers baiting the local Northern Hawk-Owl with frozed mice to get better pictures.  I also heard (albeit third-hand) of a photographer or group of photographers that went as far as disguising a remote control car as a beaver and driving it on the ice to get photos of hungry Bald Eagles.  I cannot verify either story, but if either is true it is indeed sad.

I think it is important that everybody interested in birds, not just photographers, become familiar with some guide lines to ensure the safety and comfort of the birds and the enjoyment of the bird watcher.  After 10 seconds of searching, I found the following:  Nature Photography Ethics

Sadly, there will always be bad apples that are only interested in their photographs and not the birds themselves.  Some people think not reporting interesting birds will deter these peoples, and while that is likely true it also prevents people from getting the enjoyment of seeing the bird.  While it may seem calous to potentially endanger a bird for the enjoyment or people, there are entire communities devoted to reporting and enjoying birds.

I don't have an easy answer.  I'm not very good at opinion pieces, but I felt I had to say this.  If you have feelings about this, I would love to hear about it in the comments.