Reporting Owl Locations

I recently found a group of short eared owls locally. I made the mistake of posting to a local birding website. Well Sunday turned into a circus in this location with no less than 20 people looked for the owls. Most were very responsible not stressing the birds but one in particular insisted on chasing the owls through the marsh. This has made me rethink sharing certain bird locations outside of a very small tight lipped group. Once information gets into an uncontrolled public domain you have no control over who will show up.

I would like to get peoples feelings on this. It has changed what I will report and to who forever.

This has been an issue for as long as I've been a birder, going back to the early 70's in NJ. There's always risk in sharing location information in public, and that's only gotten worse with the internet. The worry used to be that kids or the uneducated would shoot the owls; now the worry is that photographers will get too close and disturb the owls.

There are many of us who won't share specific locations on owls to people we don't know personally that we can trust.

Unless I'm certain someone will keep their mouth shut, I won't share locations of unusual species, especially owls.

Hi Michael - Great post. I know many birders who feel the same way, especially when it comes to owls. To be honest, I was probably one of the offenders years ago when I first started birding. It wasn't intentional, I was just enthusiastic, but at the same time completely unaware of how delicate a species could be. Obviously, I've learned a lot since then and try to respect all wildlife, doing my best not to cause any undue stress.

I believe most experienced birders behave in an ethical and respectful manner. The offenders are usually less experienced 'newbies'. The apparent ignorance can be shocking, but I try to remember my early days and think positively that maybe its more excitement than malice that causes them to behave that way.

So to me, the challenge is how handle the situation. If you say nothing, the ignorance goes on unchecked. If you yell at them, they might get the point, but you also could completely ruin the experience for them. I figure anyone who is interested in nature is an ally that, in the long run, contributes to wild places and species being preserved. So I try to handle the situation by taking a deep breath, reflecting on my own inexperienced start, and then thinking of a way to explain why their behavior could be detrimental to the bird. It doesn’t always work, but sometimes it leads to pleasant conversations and a sharing of knowledge. I like to think they go on to practice ethical behavior in the future and maybe even share what they learned with someone else.

Having said all that, each situation needs to be considered based on the species. Your Short-eared Owls were probably hunting a field and could easily keep a comfortable distance from someone on foot. If it were roosting owls, that would be a different story. Keeping such a location secret or sharing it with a select few is probably the wise choice.

Sorry for the long winded reply, but this is often a hot topic on birding sights. Thanks for posting it here…

- Jeff

I don't know what it is about owls but they even attract the typically non birder. I am in 100 percent agreement about the limited list. I am even concerned about posting photos without locations until such time that the particular owl or other rare bird is clear of the area unless it is in a non-discript area. As much as sighting list are helpful to the bird enthusiast they do also alert the very people that don't have enough control to observe from a distance. One also must consider traffic jams and the reaction of local law enforcement. If a few people pull over no problem but the more people the larger the potential problem.

I don't know what it is about owls but they even attract the typically non birder. I am in 100 percent agreement about the limited list. I am even concerned about posting photos without locations until such time that the particular owl or other rare bird is clear of the area unless it is in a non-discript area. As much as sighting list are helpful to the bird enthusiast they do also alert the very people that don't have enough control to observe from a distance. One also must consider traffic jams and the reaction of local law enforcement. If a few people pull over no problem but the more people the larger the potential problem.

Mike,

While I respect your desire to keep things quiet (I would never try and defend plastering the info all over and announcing it from the hilltops), I think you are blowing it a bit out of proportion when you say,

One also must consider traffic jams and the reaction of local law enforcement.

I've seen many a rare bird on Long Island that was reported on the NY Bird Listserv and plenty of them had throngs of people. I've never seen (or heard) of issues involving law enforcement and traffic jams. There are enough sensible people to control the idiots who get too close or don't know what they're doing.

Dune Rd. is in the top 3 locations for birding (and probably number 2 in winter behind Montauk) on the island and if you have a nice weekend day you will have a lot of people down there - and in todays age of cellphones and email if one of those people finds the owl then word will get out. I don't think what you saw this weekend was anything out of the ordinary given the conditions.

Luke,

You did not see what I saw on Sunday. One picture would have been worth 1000 words. I have never seen this many people at this time of year. It resembled Neptune's on all you can drink weekends. You to will live and learn! This traffic situation is playing out in some of the bald eagle locations in PA. Taken too far they WILL enforce the parking restrictions.

Respectfully Mike

This isn't PA.... I don't see that happening Mike. No, I was not down there on Sunday, but I was there on Saturday and there wasn't a soul, and I was there on Thursday when acquitances of us were down there looking for it.

I'm playing Devil's advocate a bit here - but if you are not careful you end up taking the attitude of 'I want mine, but no one can have theirs". I'm not saying you feel that way, because I know you are not in this game to make a profit on the birds backs, but it can be viewed and construed to appear like you want to keep it all to yourself so no one "gets in your way". You and I both know that on Dune Rd. all it takes is 2 other cars filled with birders or photographers to mess up your shot.

You have to consider this idea: Do you have this attitude because you fear for the birds health/safety, or do you have this attitude because you don't want others getting in your way while you pursue the ultimate shot?

Is there really a big difference between you and me photographing an owl from our cars on the side of the road, and 5 cars on the side of the road photographing the same owls?

Hey, you know me, you know I like to shoot alone but again, I think your fear of the world coming to an end is overblown.

Yes I like it for myself but realize it is public access and don't want to see anyone shut out. The number of opportunities I have had ruined by other photographers or birders have frankly and thankfully been limited to a few. My concern is that owls do bring into play a much larger audience of lookers. Report many other birds and a handful of people go looking report an owl and even the most casual of bird watchers has the need to see the bird.

As far as sharing goes yes but with those who are responsible and won't do the wrong thing. This is where I think the private e-mail comes into play. A mutual acquaintance told me at one time there was a breeding population of SEOs in this area. I would like to think with minimum disturbance this area could come back. Unfortunately putting something like this in the public domain does not allow you to sort the responsible observers from those who will active pursuit the birds and lack proper judgement.

The woman chasing after the owl in the marsh was a good example of who you don't want to know. It only take one or two out of a hundred to mess things up.

I've been a birder and a bird photographer for almost 40 years now and have 20+ years experience in New Jersey and surrounding states, plus 16 years now in AZ. I've seen many instances where things get out of hand quickly so I have to side with Mike on this topic.

Short-eared Owls would get mentioned on the NJ RBA since they would be seen far out over the marshes where no sane person was likely to go after them trying to get close. Long-ears and Saw-whets would be mentioned but location details would be withheld as they were judged to be too sensitive to close approach.

Problems always arise with particularly rare birds like Great Gray Owl and Hawk Owl. These birds draw large responses and not just birders and bird photographers. Then you see the crazy stuff starting including people with store-bought mice used to lure the bird closer for the snapshot crowd.

An invasion of these "northern" owls in Minnesota brought in so many birders and photographers that there was tremendous pushback from locals and I wouldn't doubt if that included local police.

A report of a rare bird seen here in AZ will quickly spread across the country and within 1-2 days we'll see people flying in from other states to join the crowds looking for it. That happened with the Streak-backed Oriole at the Gilbert Water Ranch a few winters ago, and the Baikal Teal a few months ago. And the Slate-throated Redstart in the Huachuca Mountains years ago. and the Fan-tailed Warbler years before that at the Patagonia Rest Stop (I encountered a van full of people I knew from New Jersey looking for it the day I drove down to look).

The Ross' Gull at Baltimore Maryland drew so many birders to the Back Bay sewage treatment facility that the management made professional grade wooden signs to route visiting traffic around the facility.

The Whiskered Tern in Cape May and then across the bay in Delaware brought in many hundreds of birders (and their cars) looking for it (and enriched the speed traps in Delaware).

Rich,

You point out several good examples. My point was that what Mike is specifically referring to (at most 15 cars over the course an afternoon on a regularly trafficked road) "looking" for an SEO (I saw "looking" because there are lots of other birds to look for down there, so if people happen to find the SEO it would be a feather in their cap so to speak) which is not terribly rare, and has been downright abundant this year is a far cry from a Ross' Gull in Baltimore.

Sadly in this day and age of instant communication one post of a rare, or heck, even an uncommon bird just about anywhere on earth can and often does result in an overwhelmingly fast response by many, many people. In the past, word traveled slower and the response was slower, so the problem with crowds was less and the impact on the bird(s) was less.

I have been working with birds and around birds since I was 4 years old. I have seen a lot. Birds have always been popular. For me I am now very cautious about who I tell about an uncommon or rare bird I find. Def not because I want it all to myself, but because I have seen bad things happen when the word gets out too fast. To tell you the truth, I stay away from the rare birds. I can't stand crowds and what tends to happen when one gathers. If anything I will look to get a shot after the frenzy has gone. Most of the time that means the bird is gone too. Oh well.

In my experience it is not just the newbies that do bad things regarding the welfare of the bird(s) when the crowds decend. Unfortunately, it is also the very experienced, the few who must do anything to get the shot. I have seen some very well-known faces do some bad stuff. Hey, fame and fortune trump all for some, even though they likely will get neither from their exploiting the bird(s).

15 cars and at least 20 people all at one time, pulled over in a small area to set the record straight. I could only wish it was 15 over the course of an afternoon. No telling what the draw will be this weekend if the conditions are good.

For the same reasons, I no longer publicly share locations of wildlife and wildflowers. I have watched too many photographers speed down dirt roads, jump out of their cars, slam their doors and trunk lids, rush the birds, and ruin everyone's photo opportunities as the birds and other animals are scared away--not to mention the resulting negative impact on the birds, which are often in mid-migration and already stressed. In the worst cases, the photographers blared their car horns, waved their arms, and intentionally charged resting birds in order to selfishly get a flight shot.

Last year, Carol Leigh shut down her wildflower website because of the resulting damage to private property and fields of flowers by greedy, inconsiderate, trespassing photograpers. It is bad for all of us when we have to limit the sharing of location information to protect the resources.

What ultimately pushed me over the edge in terms of not reporting raptor and other bird locations has been my experiences with falconers in this state. The big "untapped" resource here, in terms of birding, is raptor birding in the state in winter, with the potential for Gyrfalcons, Snowy Owls, and more rare species.

As local birders have tuned into the winter raptors and have had greater success finding them, the reporting of actual locations is declining, and for good reason. What is VERY obvious is that it's not only birders who monitor the state "list-serv" for bird postings, but also falconers. The turning point for me was coming across this beautfiul, dark-phase gyrfalcon, and then having a confrontation with falconers who were trying to catch him. Here's the story:

http://sdakotabirds.com/species_photos/gyrfalcon_7.htm

Ever since this incident, I'll post my sightings, but not give locations for rare birds unless someone specifically contacts me and asks. I don't mind birders coming to look, but then again, with the population here so sparse compared to most parts of the country, it's pretty rare to have an area crawling with birders. But even heavy birding activitiy is nothing compared to falconers who want to take the "resource" for their own use.

I watch the bird lists and see rarities reported but I don't hop in the car to go see them because I figure all the other people going will probably cause enough disruption for the bird. I'm not saying all of them will get too close, but some will.

I don't post on the bird list serve, I never have and most likely won't.

I do know this, if I see a wolf in Utah, I will photograph it but I will not ever say where it is because then it will be killed.

Terry:

A very troubling story, and I wonder if I could have been as restrained as you were in this situation.

Well it has been 3 days since Sundays circus and not a sign of the owls. I can only guess that intrusion into what they considered their space pushed them out. After two and a half weeks of steady sightings nothing. I have drawn my conclusions and will never again share such a location with anyone thats not of like mind. They probably viewed those getting into their space as apex predators and moved on. I can only hope the birds have found an area full of food with lack of intrusion. Sure was nice to observe them from a distance and gain insight into their world.

Terry,

Deeply disturbing that a fierce predator and beautiful creature has lost its freedom. I can only wonder what the bird is thinking. No matter how nicely I was treated I could not imagine life as a captive.