i was on penny recently up by the canal photographing dragonflies,i was getting very close to a big dragonfly when i heard a child on the canal say to its i presume father,whats that man doing,and the dad shouted loudly don't go near him he's one of them weardos?so photographing wildlife turns you into one of them weardos?:no wonder children grow up to be hooligans.
I'm sorry to hear this Steve. I can only suggest a telephone call to the police or even better a visit to the local police station in order to express your concerns. The value of it may be hit and miss but flagging up a problem has to be better than not flagging up a problem.
This 'leisurely' hobby is not without risks. I made a natural hide with natural materials and scrim netting so that I could photograph dippers at Summerseat. Some lads on a nearby bridge decided to take pot shots at the traffic behind me and to shoot all and sundry on the river bank I was on. I couldn't phone the police since I could not get a signal. When the opportunity arrived I made my escape and managed to get hold of the police having got a signal. The lads continued shooting but now they were shooting at me and two girls sitting on a bench . I told the police I would keep an eyeball on the lads and told them where I was ...the police never turned up. I made a complaint. They said they did turn up but the lads couldn't be found which is rather odd because I remained there for an hour in order to assist them. The police said they were dealing with other urgent matters! What can get more urgent than fire arms offences against people and traffic!
Birding in the city centre is another matter. I was getting the usual abuse I get from scroats (hoodies) in Manchester city centre and believe me I have had a lot! On one occasion I was getting the verbals from some lads on Victoria Bridge but nature can bring its own reward. One of the peregrines I was photographing flew onto a ledge above the scroats and lifted its tail and with point point accuracy dumped on them and got them all...justice indeed.
On another occasion I saw two grey herons fighting on Victoria bridge with the 98 bus behind them and passengers watching the spectacle...an urban bird photographer's dream. I turned my rig around and just as I am ready to fire off my shots up comes a scroat with hands over object lens and yanking the rig till it nearly turned over. I am sure if I had whacked him, I would be the one arrested. Received wisdom seems to suggest that you should not confront the anti-social element in order to remain safe but I can't help thinking that is why they get away with a lot of what they do. Unfortunately the received wisdom is probably the better choice.
Sorry to hear of the problems Steve. During the winter months when I get sent out to check Whooper and Bewick Swan flocks to do ring reads, counts etc etc the number of times people ''hoot'' their horn is unbelievable! Normally they do it once, which doesn't really seem to bother the birds but when I was in County Sligo in Ireland earlier this year someone hooted for over 50 seconds, and the Whooper's didn't like that!!
I presume its local young people who are using the hide at Watergrove (??).........if only there was more young birders!
The hide at Watergrove was built just over ten years ago and located next to a newly created wetland area. It has remained unlocked overnight, amazingly without any problems, until about a month ago when some people decided to hold a barbecue inside the hide on a Saturday night. They burnt two of the shelves presumably by placing hot coals on them and smashed bottles, leaving broken glass strewn across the floor. After clearing up the mess the UU Ranger padlocked the hide and gave me a key. I have been opening it up in the morning at weekends and locking it again in the early evening. Yesterday I locked it at about 7 pm and returned this morning at 09:30 to find the door wide open, no sign of the padlock and again broken glass strewn across the floor, with beer cans and other rubbish. The bird sightings had been rubbed off the white board and the BTO Atlas leaflets that I had pinned to the noticeboard were missing. Clearly these people, whoever they are, have got something against birdwatchers. Last week I was birdwatching at the pools on the new Kingsway Business Park in Rochdale and had set my telescope up next to the road. In the space of about five minutes someone hooted their horn as they drove past, presumably intending to scare off any birds that might have been there and another individual shouted out "Saddo" as they drove past. Under normal circumstances I would have returned the compliment with a two-fingered salute or shouted something back. However, having been punched in the face a couple of months ago by a teenage yob, whilst out with my wife walking the dogs, I decided to ignore the provocation. It is strange that our seemingly innocuous hobby provokes such aggressive reactions from certain individuals. What a sad country we live in. It makes you feel like emigrating.
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The Watergrove Skyline (January 2010) - before desecration.
