One possible solution to all this bad feeling is to befriend as many visitors you regularly encounter on your patch as possible, ideally before they get the chance to do anything you find irksome while they're a stranger. I don't mean True Birders, whatever you think those are, I mean every kind of visitor. Get their numbers, emails. I did this for a patch I've unfortunately recently moved away from, but it was a revelation.
I put out sightings to the entire list (from the RSPB volunteer warden to dog walkers I met only once), figuring if some hadn't heard of a Lesser Whitethroat maybe they would enjoy googling it. In the cold snap a few of us met up and watched a confiding Water Rail at a distance we could all agree on. Turns out people don't like potentially ticking off their friends! I also got photos and sightings in my inbox in return, including some species I hadn't seen.
I also put out news on breeding pairs' progress and any disturbances I observed, to everyone. I was able to retrospectively get additional evidence on a disturbance case from a photographer who'd documented the sitting birds weeks earlier than I had (as I don't take many photographs!). Of course I have had words with others on the patch, letting their dogs run amok over the grasslands and even through a reedbed, but I believe Paul is right about the power of unity. Because of the network I built up I'm still involved in the patch from afar, just as well as needless to say it's subject to a planning application that will ruin it.
