> How many of us would not be here if our parents believed in "the  
> precautionary principle". LOL

> Seriously though, if impacts from twitching causes such alarm within  
> our fraternity, how do we justify and condone cannon netting and leg  
> flagging waders?

> Regards

> Ian

> Lawrie Conole wrote:

>> This conversation seems to have morphed (as they inevitably do)  
>> from a
>> discussion about birding ethics to a Salem twitch trial!  Speaking  
>> as a
>> naturalist/birder/ornithologist/ecologist/etc. who keeps life lists  
>> (and
>> therefore, *ipso facto*, you can add part-time twitcher to that  
>> list), I've
>> seen plenty of thoughtless behaviour by birders in my 30+ years of  
>> birding -
>> and only some of that by twitchers.  By this I mean things such as
>> inappropriate activity around nests, too many visits to other  
>> sensitive
>> locations, overuse of call playback, lack of discretion about who  
>> you tell
>> where the Red Goshawk nest is, and so on ... a kind of universal  
>> disregard
>> for, or lack of awareness of, the precautionary principle.

>> If twitchers turn up to a spot, look at the 'tick' for a few  
>> seconds and
>> then nick off, but do nothing else destructive, then surely the only
>> consequential outcome is a contribution to atmospheric carbon  
>> levels (and an
>> indirect impact on the biota in the long term - much like the  
>> impact most of
>> us have by lighting and heating our homes, etc.) ... and perhaps a  
>> rise in
>> the blood pressure of those who see twitching as the devil's work.

>> If a keen birder visits a nest site twice a day for a week and  
>> drives the
>> parents away, causing nesting failure, then the direct consequence is
>> obvious.  No twitching involved, necessarily.

>> Twitchers or birders, pure as the driven snow or otherwise, please  
>> heed
>> Stuart's original and completely legitimate message to behave  
>> *thoughtfully
>> and ethically *when you're out there.

>> Twitching isn't the real issue - birders behaving badly, whether  
>> twitching
>> or not, is.

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