Birders v Photographers.....Part 17.
but as has already been said - people are strongly discouraged from going down to the shoreline so they do not disturb birds. even if one or more people do do it and have field craft and may not disturb birds, other members of the public may follow suit and not be that skillfull. How pissed of would you be if you went to twitch a bird that has jus been flushed by some kids playing on the shore and they thought it was ok because someone else did it? just because someone steals cars does that mean you should go and do it?!
the fisherman argument is void. it is a reservoir owned by a water company - they stocked the reservoir so that people could go there to fish. the fact that it is massive and attracts in birds for us to see is a by product. the fishermen pay a lot more money to fish there than people do to go bird watching there and if they flush a bird its annoying but unfortunately tough.
get over it
Well said Gareth.
They shouldn't have been there and that is all there is to it. They will keep on making excuses but that just sums up the totally selfish attitude of many these days.
You are also right about the rights of the fishermen. They pay an awful lot of cash to be there. However, as we have heard they occasionally get up into the 'Conservation Area', presumably when there are certain wind directions affecting fish or casting etc.
How on earth are we to put up a case to stop this when all and sundry are seen setting up camp on the shoreline?
And while I' m at it can someone from the lens brigade tell me what compels you to litter forums like this with scores of photos that really are so below average. I for one have no interest in looking at all these waders when they all look the same. The recent Barwits are a good example. We can see a photo of a Barwit looking left; we can see another of a Barwit looking right and on and on and on. At least a Barwit is slightly better than a Dunlin just sitting there.
What does it all prove. We know what a Dunlin looks like and most on here (but not all) can successfully ID a Barwit. Actually some do struggle with Dunlin so maybe I ll think about this.
The point is, over the past weeks only David Hutton has taken pictures that are worth posting. At least he trys for something a bit different. Max Silverman also has posted pictures of the Manx. Interesting because hardly anyone was there and the bird flew off. Also a lot rarer than a Dunlin or the oft mentioned Kingfisher.
The rarest thing of all though was that a photographer found a good bird. Well done Max; good shots!! (I hate smilies)
I can sense that some of you lot will have your shackles up by now. Just one final warning. I have known for a long time the few guys that find 95% of all the good birds in the County. Talk of suppression is a very real problem for all of us. Believe me it looks like it's gonna get a whole lot worse unless some people start behaving.