[NatureNS] Bird Nest Photography and Bird Startling Techniques

Date: Wed, 04 Jul 2007 19:37:47 -0300
From: Hans Toom <Htoom@hfx.eastlink.ca>
To: "Naturens@Chebucto.Ns.Ca" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <naturens-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects


This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

--Boundary_(ID_luOibfWX2D8EP+i55sFFQA)
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT

Hi all,

The photographing of birds at or near nests is a very sensitive area especially for the well being of the nestlings and the self esteem of the photographer.  There are noted bird publications that will not accept photographs of birds at or near nests or parents feeding newly hatched birds near nests.  This is not a slight to the care and diligence that most photographers demonstrate but to discourage any sense of competitiveness that might motivate photographers from approaching too close, thusly causing a bird to bolt or abandon a nest temporarily, or cause the nest to be visible to predators.  I have wrestled with the personal ethics of this matter and have fallen into the camp of nature photographers, albeit recently,  that do not look for nest sites or publish nest site photos.  Certain common sense situations are excepted such as large raptors at well known locations.

In the same vein I believe that bird startling techniques such as "pishing", use of squeaking mechanisms, Screech Owl warbling, or playback of bird recordings should be moderated during the prime breeding season mid May to mid July.  These techniques also pull birds off nests, leaving the location unprotected and possibly detected by predators.

Common sense always applies but the birds come first.  

I know I am not a lone voice in the wilderness on this one but folks are often fearful of speaking up.

Hans
________________________________________________________________________________________________
When viewing images tap F11 or View Full Screen and use the navigation buttons on my website
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hans Toom
Portuguese Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada
E-mail: htoom@hfx.eastlink.ca
Migration Count: http://hanstoom.com/NAMC/Index.html
Nature Website: http://hanstoom.com 
________________________________________________________________________________________________

--Boundary_(ID_luOibfWX2D8EP+i55sFFQA)
Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16481" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi all,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The photographing of birds at or near nests is a 
very sensitive area especially for the well being of the nestlings and the 
self&nbsp;esteem of the photographer.&nbsp; There are noted bird publications 
that will not accept photographs of birds&nbsp;at or near nests or parents 
feeding&nbsp;newly hatched birds near nests.&nbsp; This is not a slight to the 
care and diligence that most photographers demonstrate but to discourage any 
sense of competitiveness that might&nbsp;motivate photographers 
from&nbsp;approaching too close, thusly causing a bird to bolt&nbsp;or abandon a 
nest temporarily, or cause the nest to be visible to predators.&nbsp; I have 
wrestled with the <STRONG>personal ethics</STRONG> of this matter and have 
fallen into the camp of nature photographers, albeit recently, &nbsp;that do not 
look for nest sites or publish nest site photos.&nbsp; Certain common sense 
situations are excepted such as&nbsp;large raptors at well known 
locations.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In the same vein I believe that bird startling 
techniques such as "pishing", use of squeaking mechanisms, Screech Owl warbling, 
or playback of bird recordings should be moderated during the prime breeding 
season mid May to mid July.&nbsp; These techniques also pull birds off nests, 
leaving the location unprotected and possibly detected by 
predators.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Common sense always applies but the birds&nbsp;come 
first.&nbsp; </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I know I am not a lone voice in the wilderness on 
this one but folks are often fearful of speaking up.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hans</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial 
size=2>________________________________________________________________________________________________<BR>When 
viewing images tap F11 or View Full Screen and use the navigation buttons on my 
website<BR>________________________________________________________________________________________________<BR>Hans 
Toom<BR>Portuguese Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR>E-mail: <A 
href="mailto:htoom@hfx.eastlink.ca">htoom@hfx.eastlink.ca</A><BR>Migration 
Count: <A 
href="http://hanstoom.com/NAMC/Index.html">http://hanstoom.com/NAMC/Index.html</A><BR>Nature 
Website: http://hanstoom.com 
<BR>________________________________________________________________________________________________</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

--Boundary_(ID_luOibfWX2D8EP+i55sFFQA)--

next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects