The darker side of listing (1 Viewer)

[Steve]

Never seen it,should I feel insulted?

 

[birdboybowley]

Nope, worry not Steve! Here's a little vid with the great Greg Davies in a classic snippet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFhn0h0uXeU&feature=related

 

[Steve Babbs]

Never seen it,should I feel insulted?

Nope but you should feel you've missed out, it's fantastic. But only for the broad-minded.

 

[Ilya Maclean]

I’m not sure this is strictly illegal, but the incident certainly made me laugh. Back in 2001 a Snowy owl turned up in Felixstowe docks in area with no general public access. A young lister, who should probably remain unnamed, was determined to see it. Undeterred by the port authorities he posed as a member of staff of the Hawk and Owl trust claiming he wished to verify whether it was a bird that had recently escaped from their collection. They offered him an escort round the docks and he enjoyed stonking views while the rest of the assembled masses had to content themselves with occasional glimpses. Unfortunately for him, Anglia Television were waiting for him when he returned and he had to give an impromptu interview still posing as a member of staff from the trust.

 

[chris butterworth]

You! :-O

Glad thats sorted ( I thought he meant coat steve )

Chris ( from a rather disjunct universe - I think, maybe )

 

[Steve Babbs]

I’m not sure this is strictly illegal, but the incident certainly made me laugh. Back in 2001 a Snowy owl turned up in Felixstowe docks in area with no general public access. A young lister, who should probably remain unnamed, was determined to see it. Undeterred by the port authorities he posed as a member of staff of the Hawk and Owl trust claiming he wished to verify whether it was a bird that had recently escaped from their collection. They offered him an escort round the docks and he enjoyed stonking views while the rest of the assembled masses had to content themselves with occasional glimpses. Unfortunately for him, Anglia Television were waiting for him when he returned and he had to give an impromptu interview still posing as a member of staff from the trust.

:-O Superb story

 

[Parker]

:-O Superb story

Indeed.:-O

 

[Tideliner]

The guy who fooled the port authorites should be ashamed of himself. So next time there is a real need for conservation reasons to check on some rarity the port manager will have one answer to the Hawk and Owl Trust or anyone else and thats NO.

Is it realy that important to see some lost snowy owl just to tick a name of some list, if so go to the Arctic , there are plenty there.

Actions like this tar all bird watchers as liars and cheats.

 

[Trystan]

The guy who fooled the port authorites should be ashamed of himself. So next time there is a real need for conservation reasons to check on some rarity the port manager will have one answer to the Hawk and Owl Trust or anyone else and thats NO.

Is it realy that important to see some lost snowy owl just to tick a name of some list, if so go to the Arctic , there are plenty there.

Actions like this tar all bird watchers as liars and cheats.

This is very harsh, I thought it was a great story. Again, the difference between gaining access for the joy of seeing a bird that you would otherwise have to go to the arctic to see or gaining access for malicious purposes makes all the difference.

Not everyone has the priviledge to work with birds or the money to travel and I would consider being opportunitstic within reason deserves the reward.

 

[Tideliner]

You are missing the point . What is more important is the reaction of the port manager of such actions if there is a need for conservation reasons for a conservation body have access to the site.

When i saw my first Snowy owls I was a student and did not have the money for an Arctic trip so I volunteered on a conservation project in sweden . But I have also see a couple in this country. Anyone can do that for very little money. There seems in some people an overpowering wish to tick a rare brid off no matter what the result to other windlife is .

I spend 6 days a week studying birds and birdwatching and have never listed all the birds i have seen , but it must be well over 300 in this country , but I cant see the point in running through my notes just to produce a list of birds. Though all my notes are written up for conservation purposes. I never go out of my way to see a rare bird , but in the course of a year I see a hell of a lot of them. And I should add i have never entered private land to watch birds and if I miss a rarity its not the end of the world. There is always another day or year or indeed does it matter if I never see it.

 

[Richard Klim]

Felixstowe Snowy Owl

Full marks for initiative and sheer audacity.

Like any mainstream hobby, birding attracts a wide (although perhaps not wholly representative!) cross-section of society - and we're not necessarily all saints. Some seem to find this very hard to come to terms with...

 

[DunnoKev]

Full marks for initiative and sheer audacity.

Like any mainstream hobby, birding attracts a wide (although perhaps not wholly representative!) cross-section of society - and we're not necessarily all saints. Some seem to find this very hard to come to terms with...

No marks. Speaking as someone who lost unrestricted access rights to one private site after nine years, thanks to a similar plank blagging his way on site for a piddly patch tick, it's probably because some of us are in another part of that wide cross-section, where thanks to personal experience we have no time for those who fail to consider the consequences of their actions. Do hope people can come to terms with that.

 

[Richard Klim]

No marks.

I totally agree that it was 'a bad thing to do', but it nevertheless required considerable initiative and audacity.

 

[Johann Sebastian Bach]

I totally agree that it was 'a bad thing to do', but it nevertheless required considerable initiative and audacity.

I agree. It's perfectly feasible to admire part of a misdemeanour and yet to be critical of the "offence".
I site as examples the con-men who sold the Eiffel tower and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Peter

 

[Tideliner]

And people wonder why some of keep quiet about what we see. I for one NEVER , NEVER anounce the location or presence of any uncommon bird unless its in a well wardened site or long after its gone . I hate to think what would have happened to one site were I had a nutcracker present for several weeks during last winters waxwing invasion last winter.

Keeping quiet about rare birds is a lesson I learnt years ago. I had a ringing site where a dusky warbler took up residence for over a month. Finaly it was caught while tring to make a catch of winter thrushes and like a fool told a friend. Needless to say he told someone else and before long a number of birders broke in through a security fence doing some dammage to try and see the bird. The result was I lost that ringing site, possibly one of the best in the country , within a stones through of the North Sea. The rare birds we caught and saw there would make many a twitcher foam in the mouth.

 

[Steve Babbs]

Tideliner this is a thread about misdemeanors while birding, these very misdemeanors seem to send you into almost apoplectic bouts of self righteous indignation. Why not accept that we're not all saints and watch another thread?

 

[Adam W]

Why not accept that we're not all saints and watch another thread?

And how often do we see that approach anywhere else on here? Just because we are talking about birders doing things wrong its suddenly becomes just a bit of mischief that we should just have a bit of a laugh at and turn a blind eye to.

 

[Steve Babbs]

There's no place for us sinners here, too may saints around. I'm off to commit a sin or two, while the self-righteous stop anyone else from posting because they'll get lectured. Birding and life is full of people who aren't perfect, the world would be very, very boring if we all did what we told all the time. It really is time to leave.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

I think there may be two issues here.

1. Doing something that you actually think is wrong, that may or may not be illegal (and therefore are likely to feel guilty about it, but you do it anyway)

2. Doing something that you don't think is wrong, but may be illegal (and therefore you're not likely to feel at all guilty about it)

It appears that some people think that illegal always = wrong , and others don't. Simple.

What actually is the dark side?

 

[Jan-Paul Charteris]

I think there may be two issues here.

1. Doing something that you actually think is wrong, that may or may not be illegal (and therefore are likely to feel guilty about it, but you do it anyway)

2. Doing something that you don't think is wrong, but may be illegal (and therefore you're not likely to feel at all guilty about it)

It appears that some people think that illegal always = wrong , and others don't. Simple.

What actually is the dark side?

I agree with this

People who believe in absolutes and people who don't aren't going to agree (it could almost as easily be a religious debate)

Personally I find some of the stories funny, the owl one a classic

I'll suitably hang my head in shame (whilst whiping away tears of laughter )

What the hell, it'd be a boring world if we were all the same!

Jan