[mou] 30 GGOW / birder etiquette

[Chris Fagyal]

Byokel@aol.com wrote:

> I will second Chris's request for good owling etiquette.  These birds 
> wouldn't be here in these amazing numbers if they were not stressed to 
> begin with, and we should do everything in our power not to add to 
> their stress by flushing them when they are trying to feed.  Many of 
> these owls are remarkably tolerant -- one GGOW actually flew out of 
> the woods and perched on our mailbox this afternoon while my kids were 
> playing football on the yard not 50 ft away, and then proceeded to fly 
> to a power pole directly over their heads! 
> I also would like to make a special request that photographers not use 
> mice/decoys to attract owls on busy roads such as Hwy 7, Hwy 133, and 
> especially Hwy 53; the risk of an owl-vehicular collision is just too 
> high.
>
> Ben Yokel
> Cotton, MN

I took the approach today that if it was snoozing or looking around just 
relaxing, I would stay with it and photograph it, etc.  If it started to 
go into obvious hunt mode, i'd generally leave so it wouldn't be 
disturbed.  I also always turned my car off when I found a Great Grey, 
as they hunt by sound mostly, and the sound of a car idling doesn't help 
them out at all.  This meant several times I got very cold as one Great 
Grey sat on the same perch for some 20+ minutes, then it chased an angry 
squirrel out of a tree 20 feet away, and sat in that perch for 20 more 
minutes.  Needless to say my fingers hurt after that 40 minute photo 
session.  Then the owl flew to a perch and started hunting, so I left.  
These owls are absolutely amazing.  Lets respect them :)

Oh by the way, using a mouse or any other "prey item" to lure them is 
just silly and really not professional.  It is so easy to find these 
guys, and they are so incredibly approachable/tolerant/relaxed it is 
totally unnecessary to do anything special to "lure them in".  They 
don't need luring.  They need respect and admiration.  I actually had 2 
different individuals fly over the hood of my car as I was parked, and 
one actually flew over the hood and landed on a sign 4 feet from my 
passenger side window which was open.  It was so close I could barely 
focus...I actually had to lean against the driver side window to get far 
enough away!

Chris