Steve S wrote:Personally, I think there are too many people wuth too much time on their hands worrying about fishing for owls, throwing bait to Eagles, and luring birds with tapes or calls. For those interested I offer the following.
On several occassions I have had the good fortune of being able to spend a full day photographing yellow warblers at their nest. I won't bore you with all the details, but my biggest problem in photographing was the constant interruptions of the "un-human" kind. First there was the fledgling grackle...45 min. distraction as he floundered through the warblers territory. Things calmed down and I got some good shots until....the domestic cat stopped by...there goes another 1/2 hr waiting for the cat to leave. The most common interruption however was other warblers wandering into the home area...seems every hour or so a terrritorial dispute breaks out and they all go zipping aroundshowing each other their property deeds. In the end, after having brought food and drink for the whole day, I was a little dissappointed that the effort left relatively few opportunities owing to all the rucus going on.
I have seen the same with a least bittern nest...just when things are going well with regularly timed feedings, along comes a Blue Heron and all heck breaks loose. Of course, 45 min later after the Heron leaves, all is back to normal except the light levels have fallen off too much for a good opportunity.
If you have ever spent a full day watching the habits of any particular bird species you will see that it is a constant series of "interruptions" and "distractions" which for the "average" bird are not caused by people. And whether people caused or not, with the few obvious exceptions, these interruptions amount to a "hill of beans" to the affected birds because that is what they are used to...for them, it's just a normal day. Some people would have you believe every owl, eagle, or whatever is teetering on the edge of death, just waiting for that last human intervention to push them over the edge. Nothing could be further from the truth. Birds are very resilient animals...they will leave if they don't want you near them (they can fly), and for the most part, tolerate you if they can't leave. (nesting birds). And yes, you can find exceptional cases where your best off not even trying to photograph certain birds under certain conditions...we all know what they are...just use a little common sense.
Regardless of what position you take on these issues, no amount of fish thowing, mouse casting, or call luring is going to put a dent in any species population...as far as I'm concerned, these issues are nothing more than a "tempest in a tea pot". While some are distracted and get a "feel good" rush from jumping up on the podium over these trivial issues, habitat destruction continues to be, far and above all others, the most devastating detriment to bird populations. While we're arguing about border line ethics, 200,000 more acres of wetland just got plowed under. Go figure.....
Talk is cheap and easy.....Send in a check to your favorite organization involved with habitat protection and the birds will take care of themselves.....
Gotta go, the teapot is brewing...must be another tempest.
Steve, while you make many good points and i agree with sending a check or getting more involved etc and im currently doing this myself thanks to all of these threads. I wonder if it ever occured to you that the reason all the rucus was happening is because you were at their nest? And all the other birds were watching you? And perhaps maybe due to this is the reason for all the distractions? Not saying your wrong in doing this type of photography im just curious. I have many birds nesting in my yard and a robin that comes back every year to nest on top of my dineing room window. If i walk out on the back porch im a distraction. But wildlife interuppting other wildlife would seem normal to me for them.
To go off topic a bit, my aunt and i were discussing this whole eagle issue over dinner last night. Shes up for a visit from florida. Her neighbor has 9 plus acres and wanted to build a few lots for the purpose of building homes. He was told hes not aloud to touch a certain area of his property for land clearing due to an eagle nest and the protection act. He decided to cut the tree down with the nest on it. He was fined 90,000$. Good for him!
To go even further off topic i do apologize, i heard on the news yesterday that the state of Wisconsin is trying to pass a law that allows hunters to kill unleashed cats. What the heck is wrong with us? And the reason is because of too many dead birds. Does our wildlife have any rights at all?
Robert...........
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Here we go... Isn't feding of Eagles enough controversy 
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