Dave's latest message explained a mystery I had. I was at the Lyons owl site this morning for the first time in weeks. There must have been at least twenty owl photographers there. What puzzled me is why I didn't recognize a single person. I've been birding in Boulder county for many decades and I typically know several birders when there is gathering for a good bird, but not today. I took one photo of the photographers with my iPhone. There are twelve people in my photo (blocking both lanes of the road). Every single person has a camera, and many have cameras with large to huge lenses, and I can only spot one person with possible binoculars. These are not birders. These are photographers that have heard about the photo op from the internet. It's no wonder I didn't recognize any of them. And maybe that's why they don't observe birding etiquette?
David Waltman
Boulder
On 03/03/2022 4:23 PM DAVID A LEATHERMAN <daleatherman@msn.com> wrote:
What do you get when you mix the following ingredients: a nice peaceful and beautiful area near bigger, fast-growing human population centers; an owl that attracts another owl and they appear in the same area on a repeat basis; humans under the influence of a multi-year covid pandemic and spring fever; locals who remember fondly the "way it used to be"; high quality photography equipment within the price range of many; Facebook and COBIRDS and eBird and other sources of up-to-date intel? Answer: a situation (Boulder).
I appreciate all the public and private responses. Based on what you all have shared about various ingredients, the "situation" is quite understandable.
Fully acknowledging the truth of what Robin said about broad brushes, I was made aware of a Facebook group called the "Colorado Bird Photographers" which has 9800 members. Wow, that's a lot of folks and I'm sure 90% have parents who brag about them. Several photos of the Lyons' pygmy-owls have appeared on that site. Sometimes unpredictable, strange things happen as a result of social media. I remember well the night the rental house next to my apartment complex advertised a party to a limited number of friends. To the surprise of the party organizers, over 100 cars descended on our street and alley. Soon under-the-influence kids were walking, yelling, littering and worse in their yard, our courtyard and elsewhere. While not nearly as disturbing, maybe something like that is happening west of Lyons. Personal discoveries added to word-of-mouth chats added to postings within rather large groups have led to a situation with unintended consequences. I have suggested to one of our leaders that a formal contact be made between us and the Facebook photography group. We should exchange organizational goals, ethics guidelines and be on the same team.
I am glad to know birders don't seem to be main culprits in this situation and just hope we all behave.
Dave LeathermanFort Collins--
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