[Maine-birds] Re: Great Gray Owl rules to follow PLEASE!!!

There were quite a few folks that got to see it today. I will admit I am guilty of not parking on the far side of the road as Noah suggests and I very much apologize for it. I should have read this before as I certainly don't want to be lumped into a crowd that harasses a bird. We were driving out and the bird was spotted on our right so we immediately stopped and took photos and scoped the bird from the near side. Outside of the small mob (6-8 folks) that was following the bird as it went perch to perch I personally felt people were pretty respectful. No one crossed into the brush to get closer, and at one point we got the bright idea to move down ahead of the owl and have the bird fly toward us, which worked for the most part. The only disturbances that irked me was a couple of kids in a loud pickup truck revving their engine and honking as all the people gawked at the owl (which is a separate concern with drawing too much attention of the locals, people have been known to shoot birds to get under the skin and piss off all of the people that show up...) and a separate instance where a person came up and was amazed, but talked really loud but eventually moved on. 

That said, the owl didn't seem to interested in it's following and at one point caught/ate a small rodent to the amazement of the crowd. So at the very least, it's eating despite the onlookers. Regardless, I do regret not keeping a further distance, I think it was a gut reaction to just stop and view it, but I hope I didn't contribute to any additional stress. 

On Saturday, January 21, 2017 at 9:20:00 PM UTC-5, Noah Gibb wrote:

To all birders and photographers,

First of all, thanks to John Wyatt for finding this bird and getting the word out! I personally had never seen this species and am very fortunate that I had the opportunity this morning. Unfortunately, the experience was somewhat tainted due to a few individuals and eventually several not respecting the bird's space and livelihood (which should be the most important thing).

From what I could see, all the birders and birder/photographers that I know and birders that I don't know remained on the opposite side of the roads that have the cleared area in front of the trees where the gas lines run. The owl obviously hunts and perches mostly on the side with the cleared area. This is where it will get it's food. All of those birders (to my knowledge) stayed behind their cars that were also parked on the side of the road opposite the cleared area. I personally feel like if everyone that was present obeyed that rule that this relatively tame species of owl would have no problem with it. 

When Leon Mooney, Josh Fecteau, Marian Zimmerman, and I arrived at Stud Mill Rd after just getting word that the bird was present only a minute before, the bird was nowhere in sight. Of course there was a line of cars lined opposite the cleared side (which is where the cars should be), but there was a man in the woods heading towards the direction in which the bird apparently flushed and two photographers with huge lenses on tripods set up in and adjacent to the cleared area. This is NOT okay!

Luckily the owl came back out to the edge of the woods after several minutes, but what started with two photographers remaining on the "Owl's side of the road" even after being asked politely to back off eventually became a lineup of 8-12 large lensed individuals that ran after the bird every time it flushed! Every large lensed photographer was not guilty of this, however. 

Before we left, the bird had flown to a fairly short, wooden post right at the intersection of Stud Mill and County Rd and people proceeded to get in their cars or start jogging to the bird, eventually surrounding the owl from both roads on either side of it while photographers got as close as they could. From a distance, it was obvious that this bird was surrounded practically 360 degrees with maybe 30-50 feet around it. Cornering the bird like this more than significantly reduces it's ability to hunt and quite frankly confuses the heck out of it! This should be obvious.

Please remember that there is no excuse for putting added pressure on this bird; not if you are a professional photographer, semipro, amateur, or anything else. Most importantly for the bird's sake, but also because there are other birders and photographers (pro, semi, and amateur) present and/or on their way that are currently or are planning to keep a safe distance. Sometimes the best photos come from hanging back and being patient! Don't ruin it for everyone else!

I am hopeful that many other bird lovers out there can go see this owl for much of the remaining winter and enjoy it while at the same time, giving it the space that it deserves so that it can hunt in peace and continue to survive.

Sorry for the long post and please don't continue this thread unless absolutely necessary (feel free to reply to me offline if you would like)!

Bird haahd, but not so haahd that you scare off all the birds!

Noah Gibb-Freeport

 

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