Just a personal opinion, thought, and happy for me to be shot down, but before posting such positive responses to such photos should we not first satisfy ourselves, if indeed it is possible to do so, that the photos have not been obtained through any of the unacceptable practices rightly highlighted by Craig.
Good pointer, as we don't want to encourage the "shocking" behaviour I've read. People don't seem to realise there are better ways to get top pictures without stressing the bird etc..
It was like that Hooded crow last year where I sneaked up behind a tree to use it like a hide and the crow was walking towards me of its own accord, but soon changed its mind when two other people was walking towards it from behind me. A simular thing happened to me with a glaucous gull in North Wales.
This is why I keep emphasising the need to let the bird come to you rather than stressing the poor thing. This may at times take a little patience, but you can still get top pictures (if not better) with a bonus - that you will feel good inside afterwards that the birds welfare was your priority.
A rule i have is that The birds behaviour must not change when getting pictures, if anyone's presence is doing so- the best thing to do is to back away and allow it to feed, preen etc. Often I see cases where there is one feeding and then stop while it's gone on the alert because someone is too close!
I'm personally not against feeding birds a little food (after all, many of us feed the birds in our gardens) as long as it's the CORRECT food and it's done so RESPONSIBLY and RESPECTFULLY.
Ta!
Paul Beachcroft said
Fri Nov 9 10:13 PM, 2018
One additional point, and as a novice Im certainly not looking to lecture more experienced birders on this site, but subsequent to Craigs and others insightful posts, I noticed that there are a number of posts elsewhere praising photos of a number of birds, including the one at Meols. Just a personal opinion, thought, and happy for me to be shot down, but before posting such positive responses to such photos should we not first satisfy ourselves, if indeed it is possible to do so, that the photos have not been obtained through any of the unacceptable practices rightly highlighted by Craig.
Craig Higson said
Fri Nov 9 8:40 PM, 2018
Mike Chorley wrote:
Happy to report that there was no harassing going on at Meols this afternoon - unless you count the Pied Wheatear almost landing on one of the (well-behaved) photographers a couple of times as it returned from brief forays to the beach - and no sign of any mealworms either. do
Good to hear - and on that basis I might just go for a look!!
Mike Chorley said
Fri Nov 9 8:31 PM, 2018
Happy to report that there was no harassing going on at Meols this afternoon - unless you count the Pied Wheatear almost landing on one of the (well-behaved) photographers a couple of times as it returned from brief forays to the beach - and no sign of any mealworms either. The problem isn't photographers or birders or even dog walkers. It's people with a sense of self-entitlement, who believe that they have 'the right' to do anything they want, without anyone criticizing them. It usually comes with a fair degree of belligerence as well, like the lout at the Hooded Crow site who was very offensive to someone whose parking he thought was poor, and then was very aggressive when someone else criticized his behaviour. Happily he and his mates had departed well before the bird appeared. That's probably why so few people like him do get called out whenever and wherever they behave badly.
Paul Beachcroft said
Fri Nov 9 6:10 PM, 2018
Understand where you are coming from Simon, but unless more people are prepared to challenge this sort of behaviour, then nothing will ever change. In some respects I expect to see examples of poor behaviour from the usual knuckle draggers, what I cant understand is those that purport to be bird watchers, have all the gear etc and you see them harassing the birds in order to get a photo, before they get off, jump in their car, check their app and head of to the next rarity.....
Simon Gough said
Fri Nov 9 11:27 AM, 2018
I don't see many people in the field being challenged on their behaviour; I think many birders tend to be at the more unassuming end of the scale in terms of demeanour. I did ask a guy at Lunt what he was doing once, as he marched past one of the viewing screens into the middle of one of the marshy areas. But not everyone is comfortable doing that, and it doesn't actually guarantee any better behaviour. It is also pretty hard to challenge dog walkers with dogs off the lead on public footpaths or other areas with no explicit measure in place.
But overall I think more birders could be calling out behaviour there and then.
Paul Beachcroft said
Fri Nov 9 7:21 AM, 2018
Yes Craig. As someone who is relatively new to bird watching I share your concerns. I read with increasing dissolutionment the posts on here about photographers chasing the bird at Meols - there were similar posts on here concerning photographers chasing the Hooded Crow that was spotted in Billinge a while back. I know that some people draw a distinction between bird watchers and photographers, but surely some of these photographers consider themselves bird watchers. I suppose it could be argued that the various bird watching websites, phone apps etc, encourage these sort of idiots to turn up and harrass the wildlife, where in reality it is not necessarily the websites, apps etc that are the problem, but the minority of idiots who use them. Another pet hate of mine is dog owners letting their dogs off the lead in nature reserves. Earlier in the year I witnessed a dog kill a pink footed goose at Lunt Meadows on Merseyside. No sign of the owner, who I would have had it out with, if I could have traced them.......
-- Edited by Paul Beachcroft on Friday 9th of November 2018 07:24:10 AM
Craig Higson said
Thu Nov 8 11:04 PM, 2018
I have been considering going for the Wheatear at Meols this weekend, but have to admit to being put off by reports of people feeding mealworms to a bird that is already showing down to a few feet so they can get a 'better' photo. Then I see the text below posted on the Abernethy RSPB page on Facebook, accompanied by photos of a branch sprayed with artificial snow!!
"Unfortunately, more and more visitors seem to be intent on destroying the natural landscape of RSPB Loch Garten for their personal use. At the Osprey Centre, it seems that everyday there are freshly snapped branches forced into valuable standing deadwood, piles of brash left on top of the picnic tables and nasty substances used to lure birds onto "perches". At the weekend the ridiculous structure pictured below was built just outside the visitor centre, lavishly covered in fake snow and then smeared with peanut butter. It is not OK to use the forest as your personal studio. The fake snow is full of incredibly nasty chemicals, peanut butter is particularly unhealthy for birds and any plant material is vital habitat for all sorts of organisms. These horrible structures also detract from the natural beauty of the reserve. I know that the vast majority of our visitors are respectful, honest and genuinely caring about the natural world. What a shame that the few seem intent on spoiling it. Rant over."
As in most cases its likely to be a few idiots but things like these two examples are giving photographers in general a very bad name!
Good pointer, as we don't want to encourage the "shocking" behaviour I've read. People don't seem to realise there are better ways to get top pictures without stressing the bird etc..
It was like that Hooded crow last year where I sneaked up behind a tree to use it like a hide and the crow was walking towards me of its own accord, but soon changed its mind when two other people was walking towards it from behind me. A simular thing happened to me with a glaucous gull in North Wales.
This is why I keep emphasising the need to let the bird come to you rather than stressing the poor thing. This may at times take a little patience, but you can still get top pictures (if not better) with a bonus - that you will feel good inside afterwards that the birds welfare was your priority.
A rule i have is that The birds behaviour must not change when getting pictures, if anyone's presence is doing so- the best thing to do is to back away and allow it to feed, preen etc. Often I see cases where there is one feeding and then stop while it's gone on the alert because someone is too close!
I'm personally not against feeding birds a little food (after all, many of us feed the birds in our gardens) as long as it's the CORRECT food and it's done so RESPONSIBLY and RESPECTFULLY.
Ta!
One additional point, and as a novice Im certainly not looking to lecture more experienced birders on this site, but subsequent to Craigs and others insightful posts, I noticed that there are a number of posts elsewhere praising photos of a number of birds, including the one at Meols. Just a personal opinion, thought, and happy for me to be shot down, but before posting such positive responses to such photos should we not first satisfy ourselves, if indeed it is possible to do so, that the photos have not been obtained through any of the unacceptable practices rightly highlighted by Craig.
Good to hear - and on that basis I might just go for a look!!
Understand where you are coming from Simon, but unless more people are prepared to challenge this sort of behaviour, then nothing will ever change. In some respects I expect to see examples of poor behaviour from the usual knuckle draggers, what I cant understand is those that purport to be bird watchers, have all the gear etc and you see them harassing the birds in order to get a photo, before they get off, jump in their car, check their app and head of to the next rarity.....
But overall I think more birders could be calling out behaviour there and then.
Yes Craig. As someone who is relatively new to bird watching I share your concerns. I read with increasing dissolutionment the posts on here about photographers chasing the bird at Meols - there were similar posts on here concerning photographers chasing the Hooded Crow that was spotted in Billinge a while back. I know that some people draw a distinction between bird watchers and photographers, but surely some of these photographers consider themselves bird watchers. I suppose it could be argued that the various bird watching websites, phone apps etc, encourage these sort of idiots to turn up and harrass the wildlife, where in reality it is not necessarily the websites, apps etc that are the problem, but the minority of idiots who use them. Another pet hate of mine is dog owners letting their dogs off the lead in nature reserves. Earlier in the year I witnessed a dog kill a pink footed goose at Lunt Meadows on Merseyside. No sign of the owner, who I would have had it out with, if I could have traced them.......
-- Edited by Paul Beachcroft on Friday 9th of November 2018 07:24:10 AM
"Unfortunately, more and more visitors seem to be intent on destroying the natural landscape of RSPB Loch Garten for their personal use. At the Osprey Centre, it seems that everyday there are freshly snapped branches forced into valuable standing deadwood, piles of brash left on top of the picnic tables and nasty substances used to lure birds onto "perches". At the weekend the ridiculous structure pictured below was built just outside the visitor centre, lavishly covered in fake snow and then smeared with peanut butter. It is not OK to use the forest as your personal studio. The fake snow is full of incredibly nasty chemicals, peanut butter is particularly unhealthy for birds and any plant material is vital habitat for all sorts of organisms. These horrible structures also detract from the natural beauty of the reserve. I know that the vast majority of our visitors are respectful, honest and genuinely caring about the natural world. What a shame that the few seem intent on spoiling it. Rant over."
As in most cases its likely to be a few idiots but things like these two examples are giving photographers in general a very bad name!