On Tuesday I stayed at the Wastewater late hoping to see short-eared owls. No SE Owls, but this Great Horned Owl was already out hunting for the night.
- Don Neumann
Wednesday evening Don posted the information and photo above. Earlier in the day he had emailed me a beautiful photo of a Snowy Owl landing on the ground on the Wastewater properties with this explanation: "Just wanted to let you know there was a lady walking through the fields today pushing the snowies as she tried to get pictures. I'm not posting any if that's what we get from it."
Two winters ago I stopped posting any pictures of Snowy Owls on this blog because I didn't want to be even a small part of leading people to harass wild animals. Please, if you go out to observe them, stay back, preferably in your car, and do not force them to fly. That's just common sense. For the time being I'll continue posting information and photos about local Snowy Owls to show, as always, some natural beauty in the Muskegon area. Don's photo certainly does that. But please be aware that he took the picture with a telephoto lens a good distance away from the owl! Thanks to the majority of you who act the same way. 12/11/14 - Ric
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Don et al, if you see these photographers intentionally harassing the birds, I would encourage you to do a few things.
ReplyDelete1. Take pictures of the offenders. If your camera can record video, that would be ideal.
2. If possible, take a picture of their car and their license plate.
3. Forward your photos/video to the Michigan DNR.
In California we have similar issues with these non-birder scumbag photographers with no concern for the birds.
Remarkably, several have been successfully prosecuted, and have paid heavy fines (>$10k) for their behavior. In at least one case that I'm aware of, the prosecution was successful because nearby birders recorded the behavior and reported it to authorities.
If a few more people can be successfully prosecuted and punished then word will get out among the photographer community and this behavior will diminish.
Good birding!
Great shot!!
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