I was there for 3 days in the rain and I shot from the dike or the edge of the path the whole time. The last day some idiot went into the "field" and approached every snowy until they flushed. The birds were gone for the rest of the day. And I doubt that his photos were as good as I took using patience. Don
Good video Tony!
I have been out to Boundary Bay on a few Sundays along with the Hordes of other Nature enthusists. I had never seen a Snowy before and was blown away by them.
I spent a few hours watching them from the dyke and saw the A$$holes go into the field and try to get closer. Even Idiots with 500 + lens were going into the marsh basically pushing the owls further from the path so that we on the dyke could not see them. I yelled at one dork for trying to get closer off the dyke and having his wife pass him the camera as he climbed over the logs to get closer..
The worse story is I heard is that one lady was asking someone to scare the owl so she could get a shot of it flying and that she would do the same for him on the next owl..
One day there was a lady from OWL there (the local Bird Rescue people) advising people not to go on the dyke and the time she was there, no one went on.
I hope none of these dolts are FM'ers
Sadly enough I think I saw some possible FMers on the dyke (names not to be mentioned as they are awesome photogs I respect but was shocked that was how they got their shots...)
This video just made me sick how stupid person can get and no respect for nature or other fellows photographers who would like to get a shoot as well. What was he trying to do shoot a portraits of Owl with fisheye.
Said thing is that it But it happens all the time and everywhere.
I watched that happen! My boyfriend and I were standing on the dyke and he says "oh my god look at that idiot!" and I turned to see the scene captured in the video from about halfway through. That pisses me off because it's people like him that ruin it for all of us photogs who are respectful of the birds. 95% of the people out there are respectful. I think it's unreasonable to say people shouldn't ever leave the dyke. As long as you're respectful, and reading the birds' body language it's fine. In the scene in the video, I clearly saw the bird give warning signs that it was nervous when this guy was about 15 ft away and he just kept going. Not to mention that stalking a bird like a predator while moving steadily straight towards it is a guarrantied way to flush a bird! I'd be scared too! My point is, I watched a ton if photogs out in the field with the birds that stayed far enough away that the owls never hardly blinked an eye at them (mainly they resumed sleeping or preening), and this guy (and the one other guy I saw flush an owl while I was at boundary bay) are the people that ruin it for the rest of us!
I've been to Boundary Bay twice and both times I have ventured out into the marsh to closer shots of the owls. I'm not sure folks walking out there is in any way disturbing the habitat. I have tried getting s close as I could without visibly stressing the bird to the point of it flushing. Some of the owls are fairly tolerant of a person approaching them. Trying to get them to fly so one can get in-flights is just plain wrong and I would not bring myself to that level to get a shot. The owl that I posted a shot of earlier in the week in evening light seemed perfectly comfortable with myself and another young kid approaching it fairly closely as we photographed it. If I had sensed that it was stressed by our presence at all I would have stopped and not continued. I think we were about as close as maybe 10 yards and the the owl seemed content and relaxed with just the two of us (1 1/2 really) there photographing it. I think a lot of it has to do with common sense and respect.
katanaphoto wrote:
This video just made me sick how stupid person can get and no respect for nature or other fellows photographers who would like to get a shoot as well. What was he trying to do shoot a portraits of Owl with fisheye.Said thing is that it But it happens all the time and everywhere.
It looks to me like he had Canon 300 f/2.8 lens which means that he could shoot the owl as close as 2.5m=MFD. Perhaps his primary intent wasn't to flush the bird, only trying to get a large portrait worth several dozen 'Wow, what a shot, Leroy " on the forum/website where he posts his pictures.
Thanks for sharing , while this type of action reopens a controversial debate it is necessary to do so to ensure that we are reminded about the environmental challenges of photographing wildlife. Years ago wildlife photographers were for the most part naturalists that developed an interest in photography . Generally the individuals involved already had a healthy respect for wildlife and were conscious of respecting the subject matter. Today we have a somewhat different situation with many more individuals enjoying the hobby or profession. Perhaps it becomes our responsibility to ensure that the necessary education programs are encouraged at the local camera clubs, with professional wildlife tour operators and our provincial/state conservation agencies.
We have plenty of these dolts here in MN. Be it feeding mice to get flight shots of Snowies, running their boat up to a nesting loon/grebe, etc. This group of 'nature' photogs give us all a bad name.
This thread is too funny.Why is the snowy so sacred?? it is not endangered.It tolerates people better then a kingfisher or even the cardinals in my backyard.If the guy crawling up did it without the consideration of others it would be rude.Still do not get the point??Please enlighten me.Anyone with a thought outside the echo chamber?? I asked 3 questions and no one seems to have an answer.If it is just following the rules of the park I understand. Doug
Doug , sorry but I am a surprised by what appears to be your lack of concern for the subject matter, which is why as a naturalist I have commented that we need to have a lot more wildlife photo education programs out there so that individuals understand why you don't try to this close to a wild bird , and for that matter even a chipmunk. javascript:void(0);
That guy seems clueless about what he was doing. Not only did he violate the pore birds space and scare if off. His approach shows he has no idea how to stalk. He paid no attention to the bird showing stress and just kept moving directly toward it. I’m shocked he got as close as he did.
Doug - I think the issue here has nothing to do with the snowy specific. Anyone who has spent a lot of time in the wild either hunting or photographing realizes approaching birds or other animals will trigger one of two instincts, fight or flight.
Either way one can probably shoot the subject if you are using a rifle/gun and have a good chance of success, as the subject exits or charges. A photographer is more like a catch & release. Butts don't make such good pictures, so patience and understanding/learning about your subjects will offer the best shots. Years ago the human pressure might not have been so bad, today however is another story.
Each species usually has a safe zone and as long as you honor that zone they will pretty much allow you in their territory and give the photographer some great pictures. I am of those who enter my blinds if they are not permanent structures, hours before I expect the subjects to be in the area and never come out of the blind until they have left.
It has worked well for me. I also want the subject in as natural state as possible.
Lastly, some species have acclimated with human contact without any negative consequences, others may do this and almost certainly shorten their life. Where I live, feeding deer, bear, and others takes their natural fear of humans away from them. Along comes hunter and or they become a nuisance and the local Dept Nat Res destroys them. (Note) I have not hunted since I ETS'ed from the Army, have no problem with hunting, hummingbirds rarely get aggressive and attack.
Although I'm pretty sure most of us have taken one step too close and are sorry for that step, my guess is this raptor was not frightened because he was used to being fed by visitors. Otherwise he would have flown off long before that guy got close.
Unfortunately it's just a matter of time before our wildlife will be no longer precious, no longer respected. It also irritates the heck outa me when people post the exact where-abouts on flickr. Then droves of annoying people take over the place scaring the birds away, interrupting nature as it should be for survival.
I've been observing a owl nest in my area for 4 years, and you should see the trails carved under the tree area, and how disturbed the habitat is due to some idiot posting it on Flickr! Grrrr! Last year I roped it off! lol, And actually saved a baby owl from hundreds of foot stompers. He had fallen out of the tree and the parent will feed it if you leave it alone. He would have died if I hadn't kept people out of there.
BEFORE LONG they will have nothing left to shoot!
I hope these people some day soon experience the call of the wild to protect and not harrass them.
