[Tweeters] Whooper whoopla backlash

[THOMAS BENEDICT]

Thank you, Martha, for articulating the facts and impacts of chasing this bird. The details will vary from case to case, but this story is a common one. There's always a lot of unintended impacts to what seems, on the surface, to be an innocent endeavor. 

I, and I would guess many others monitoring this list, can't know of all the site facts of every reported chase worthy bird which gets posted. So, I'd like to suggest that, before we jump into our climate-change-mobiles and clog country roads and annoy locals in order to satisfy a need to ogle the poor freak-show bird which happened to take a wrong turn during migration, we consider resisting that urge and just stay home. I know that sounds drastic but it's an important question to ask ourselves. I'm sure some people are already doing this. 

I think a lot of participants in our avocation were attracted by the competitive aspects of it and have never considered that accumulating ever longer life lists is not the only metric of success. Maybe if we placed less emphasis on competitive birding and focused more on quality than quantity we could all be happier.

Tom Benedict
Seahurst, WA


>     On 02/12/2022 6:51 PM Martha Jordan <mj.cygnus at gmail.com> wrote:

> 

>     The situation where the whooper swan is visiting is very sad to hear.

>           For clarity about this location at "Qualco", as some people think this is public land or this or that about this area.  The property of what was formerly known as Honor Farm Prison (owned by WA State) now belongs to a tribal held entity called Qualco. It is, in fact, ALL PRIVATE LAND! 

>           This property has been leased to the Werkhoven Dairy and they control the use of the property, plant and harvest the crops, etc. Therefore, if anyone from the dairy says to stay off the property they have every legal right to say so.  Please do not park or drive on their property.

>         Meaning: only park on the road's meager shoulder where it is safe to do so and absolutely do not trespass onto their property.

>          While many of you that really want to just "take a quick look" are not really talking about (maybe not even thinking about) anything but their access to the site, their ability to park, how to best view the Whooper Swan. What you need to also know is the detrimental impact you are having on the swans and their agricultural dependence on this dairy with the highly nutritious grass and other crops. Also as important the proximity (just across Cresecent Lake Rd to the west) to a public owned lake night roost and public owned planted for waterfowl, including swans, food resources. The Qualco property (plus Werkhoven owned lands) and Crescent Lake Unit of the WDFW Snoqualmie Wildlife Area is of significant importance to wintering swans. The swans will soon or have begun to stage for the migration in this area. All of the human activity to view a rare swan has and is having a negative impact on the entire winter area and the relationship that has been built over time wi!

 th the dairy farmers here and in other areas of this valley.

>         Please consider this when making your decision if "getting it on your life list" is worth the negative impacts at one of the most significant wintering areas for swans in Snohomish/King counties.

>          And a side note: swans like to sleep in a bit and do not come off the night roost until after dawn and sometimes well after as in 8:30-9:00 am plus at this time of year.

>         Thank you for your consideration. And thank you to those who have spoken up about the concerns of the farmer and others.

> 



>     Respectfully,

> 



>     Martha Jordan

>     Everett, WA

> 

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