To suppress or not suppress owl sightings?

That is the question.  The authour, a birder, argues for why it should not be suppressed.  

https://notdennis51.wordpress.com/2015/ ... roductive/

I find the reasons he states, to be a bit bizarre, personally. If sightings are suppressed, then the number of people who find the owls is lessened. Less people, less disturbance. Less people, less of the ones that will choose to disturb them for a shot. More people, more bad apples that will do bad things to get good shots. It almost seems like he says what he does to find locations for his own purposes, IMO. I find the joy in finding owls, especially GHOs, on my own with no tips. I have found several nests that are easily accessible, but remotely located from crowds. They have been used for decades, although certainly not by the same pairs of owls. I have only taken three people there who I trust to not spread the word. One of them passed on in 1999. I would never tell anyone else, not even birders who would likely respect the owls more than many photographers. I once found a sick owl at Bosque that nobody else had noticed. I called a guy from the refuge to come and catch it. While waiting for him to come, another photographer started to get very close and even got into the water to get even closer. I told him to back off, knowing he would not like me saying that. His young son was also trying to approach it from another angle and I chased him off too. When the refuge guy got there with an assistant, they caught it and took it to a rehab place. It was later released back into the same area. If I hadn't stayed with it, the owl would have probably flown out into the pond to escape the photographer like it tried to when it was being captured. I know not all photographers are disrespectful of their subjects, but I feel that I'd rather not create situations for owls by revealing their locations. Let others find their own subjects!

Joe

I am with you on this one Joe.   Would not mind the occasional tip.  This is where a pair of eyes cannot compete with a 100 pair of eyes.  Owls like great horned owls, barred owls and eastern screech owls can be found once one does some research into the type of habitat they prefer.  Having said that, it sure is nice to get a tip now and then.   Trying to find one on your own requires a heck of a lot of time.   This is where the hundred pair of eyes is better than one pair of eyes.   Having said all that, I hope to see more northern hawk owls and a great gray owl soon, all thanks to birders who are not suppressing their sightings.  One person cannot compete with hundreds of birders whose past-time is to go look for these birds.  I for one am thankful or I'd likely see far fewer owls than I do now.

I think there is one unintended consequence of not reporting sightings.  In my mind it works like this:

The number of photographers and birders appears to be increasing, I think there's little doubt about that.  If the number of sightings is decreasing, the net result then is that MORE people will show up to the few sightings that are in fact reported.

This appears to be the inverse of what folks that are seeking when they do not report sightings.  I fully agree that the individual birds that you don't report are free from potential harassment, but it's at the cost of other individuals that will have an increased likelyhood.  I would think to achieve the results they want, you would in fact have to INCREASE the sightings, thereby spreading out the birders and photographers amongst a larger area.

So the effects that we see (of dozens of people showing up in a single location) is the logical result of supply and demand, and exacerbates the various problems that having a bunch of people in one location typically does ( lots of parked cars, disturbances, more traffic, etc...)

I will on occasion post to the local bird email sightings of owls (mostly SNOWs and GHOWs). However, I don't put specific locations in the email. If someone wants to know, they email me. If I know them as reliable I will let them know the location.
This last weekend I located 4 NHOWs within a 3.5 mile stretch. That observation I didn't post.

keyofd wrote:I think there is one unintended consequence of not reporting sightings.  In my mind it works like this:

The number of photographers and birders appears to be increasing, I think there's little doubt about that.  If the number of sightings is decreasing, the net result then is that MORE people will show up to the few sightings that are in fact reported.

This appears to be the inverse of what folks that are seeking when they do not report sightings.  I fully agree that the individual birds that you don't report are free from potential harassment, but it's at the cost of other individuals that will have an increased likelyhood.  I would think to achieve the results they want, you would in fact have to INCREASE the sightings, thereby spreading out the birders and photographers amongst a larger area.

So the effects that we see (of dozens of people showing up in a single location) is the logical result of supply and demand, and exacerbates the various problems that having a bunch of people in one location typically does ( lots of parked cars, disturbances, more traffic, etc...)

I guess it really is different up there. Down here there aren't the crowds that gather at nest or other sites. I have never heard of a location around here where that happens, although there may be some I am unaware of. There was a GHO nest in a cottonwood tree next to a NM State Highway Dept. headquarters building several years ago. I'm the only one I know of that took photos or payed attention to it. Sadly, three of the owls were electrocuted on a power line or transformer at a back lot. A Bald Eagles nest near a popular small fishing lake was once inadvertently shown on a story about the lake on TV. I went up there a couple of times and never saw any signs of people being anywhere in the area of the nest and enjoyed having it to myself. The TV story apparently did not catch the notice of anyone else I know of since it was not mentioned in the story. That nest was built in a cottonwood tree that eventually rotted and fell down. If I told people of these prominently visible sites, the birds would have certainly been disturbed. The GHO nests that I know about are remote and in relatively untraveled locations, although easily accessible if one makes an effort. If I published the areas, not only the birds would suffer, but the primitive roads to the areas and the terrain as well. GPS coordinates would certainly be a factor in the ability to locate them, if publicized. I definitely see the difference in our regions. Because of these differences, what I said above applies mostly to my area.

Joe

If you go back to the original article you'll see there's some discussion in the comments concerning Amherst Island as an example.  This is large island that is only accessible by ferry.  However there is a small wooded area on the island that very reliably has several kinds of owls present.  As you can see in the discussion, apparently some locals are unhappy with the increased vehicle traffic due to the frequently reported owls.  Most of the roads are country roads with one lane in either direction.  I was last there several years ago, and I have never personally observed what I would call a 'problem' of too many vehicles blocking a road.  However, I do understand that folks living in the rural areas may have a different opinion over how many 'too many' is.

I recently ran into a local in an area where I was taking pictures.  We were 4 photographers, and the person complained about us.  Even though we were all parked to the same side of the road, and as much to the side as was possible.  None of us were standing in the middle of the street.  But, these people felt 'disturbed' and as a result I will not be going back to that location.

Back to the original subject of discussion though, I would just like to add that I think anyone asking themselves the question 'to suppress or not' should contemplate what exactly their goal is, and examine if their actions really will produce the results they want. 

-If you want to protect an individual bird or site, by all means, keep it to yourself.  That's probably the best course of action.
-If you want to diminish the number of people arriving at any particular site however you have to examine the situation I outlined earlier.  If you have X birders/photographers and Y sites where owls are being observed, then I only see 2 ways you can diminish the number of people per site.  Either you have to shrink X, or increase Y. Of course, if you can make Y equal to zero, then you'll also accomplish your goal, but I think this is unrealistic as news will always get out at some point, and you'll be stuck in the situation again of too many people and too few subjects.
-If you want to reduce bad behaviour, I'm not sure really what the best approach is.  In any given amount of people, there's always going to be folks misbehaving.  Littering is illegal everywhere, yet I still find plastics in many places I go.  I think education is really the only way to get people to stop bad behaviour.

I was scanning some forums recently, and I see that folks have been having this discussion on and off for at least 8-10 years.  I've not been doing photography for that long, so I will have to defer to other people in this regard, but if folks have been trying to do this in our area, I would say that they have been met with limited to no success, as it still seems to be a pretty hot topic.

Maybe I'm being overly analytical on the subject, but in my line of work, that's what I'm good at

I like to strike a balance. Many owls I keep quiet about. But from time to time I do share ones that are well known. The popular snowy owl location in Ottawa right now is along Akins Road between Eagleson and Shea in Ottawa's west end. Currently there are 3 owls there including one male.  Also check Rushmore which is one road west of Akins. am sure there are more in the surrounding area. I am just "unsupressing"

dhanson wrote:I will on occasion post to the local bird email sightings of owls (mostly SNOWs and GHOWs). However, I don't put specific locations in the email. If someone wants to know, they email me. If I know them as reliable I will let them know the location.
This last weekend I located 4 NHOWs within a 3.5 mile stretch. That observation I didn't post.

There seems to be a decent movement of these owls, the NHO, this winter.  I think finding 4 is pretty awesome.  The rule I go by is, if many people already know about an owl, then I will consider sharing the location.  Always on a case by case basis.  I suppress more than I share.  But like to strike a balance.