A difficult situation.
05th April 2021
A few weeks ago during this horrible pandemic a rare bird was found by a local birder. It was quite difficult for that person to decide whether or not to release any information about the sighting. A lot of people don’t like so called suppression and if as a birder/photographer you have previously reacted and subsequently benefited from other people’s findings, it can understandably be quite annoying when you suppress your bird sightings. However, in this very dangerous situation we find ourselves in there must be suppression occurring all over the country, and rightly so in my opinion because there are always some people who will break the current travel restrictions to see these birds. Consequently if people became ill or worse as a result of these activities then the person who had released the information could find themselves in a very unpleasant personal situation. The bird found was a Little Bunting, not a mega by any means and an annual visitor to the UK, albeit in very small numbers, nevertheless a bird a number of people would like to see. It was only a short distance from where I live and was, (at the time, within the current welsh assembly guidelines for travel), however, I was still a little reticent about going to see it. The finder of the bird acted very responsibly in this matter as did the other very small number of birders, (which included Susan and me), who lived locally enough to see it. The whole viewing experience of the bird for those involved was over very quickly while keeping, (to use current parlance), socially distant, and no further visits were made.
Suppression is a very delicate matter; from a personnel perspective I am guilty of the suppression of various birds, Cuckoo, Barn Owl, Kingfisher etc. etc. I keep the location of these birds to myself to stop them being disturbed unnecessarily - or do I? If conversationally e.g. I found a Red Backed Shrike or some other rarity, I would immediately put the information out because I would feel morally bound to do so having previously gone to see other people’s findings. This is where it gets awkward – what is the difference between a rarity and one of the above mentioned birds I suppress? Why am I protecting a Cuckoo e.g. while exposing a Red Backed Shrike to potential harassment? The answer is, I am without doubt, acting selfishly by keeping the location of these birds to myself so I can get images for the promotion of my website. (Although the fact that these birds can be found by anybody if they put some effort in, possibly goes someway to mitigating my actions).
Perhaps the only solution would be to never react to other people’s findings and keep your own finds to yourself, you are then exempt from any logical criticism.
It's not an easy decision!
Below is a record shot of the Little Bunting.
Suppression is a very delicate matter; from a personnel perspective I am guilty of the suppression of various birds, Cuckoo, Barn Owl, Kingfisher etc. etc. I keep the location of these birds to myself to stop them being disturbed unnecessarily - or do I? If conversationally e.g. I found a Red Backed Shrike or some other rarity, I would immediately put the information out because I would feel morally bound to do so having previously gone to see other people’s findings. This is where it gets awkward – what is the difference between a rarity and one of the above mentioned birds I suppress? Why am I protecting a Cuckoo e.g. while exposing a Red Backed Shrike to potential harassment? The answer is, I am without doubt, acting selfishly by keeping the location of these birds to myself so I can get images for the promotion of my website. (Although the fact that these birds can be found by anybody if they put some effort in, possibly goes someway to mitigating my actions).
Perhaps the only solution would be to never react to other people’s findings and keep your own finds to yourself, you are then exempt from any logical criticism.
It's not an easy decision!
Below is a record shot of the Little Bunting.