Long-eared Owl
For the first time I have checked out a tip from the local birding community. There are about eight of these owls at a small park in downtown Chicago. They are about 10 feet off the ground and you can walk right up to them. You can't get this close in a zoo.
It is a fascinating sight, and I thank the people who found them for getting the word out. But this is not for me. They are wild owls in the most public of all places. The park is just a couple hundred feet per side. It is surrounded by apartment complexes. The park is packed full of noisy people, kids and dogs and automobile traffic on all sides. It is amazing that these owls chose this place.
But there is negativity surrounding the owls. Everyone has an opinion as to how to behave around the owls and anyone who disagrees is considered reckless. It is OK to point a scope or binoculars in their direction but attach a camera and you are nothing but a self-gratifying oaf.
I say every Chicago grade school class should have a field trip to this park. It would spark a love of nature in thousands of children who have few opportunities for such an encounter. Instead of conspiring to keep secrets and limit access, the expert birders should embrace this as an opportunity to transfer their passion to the next generation. Yes, the owls could be driven to another location, but they are temporary visitors anyway.
In my opinion it is much less disruptive to the Chicago Wilderness to have hundreds of people enjoy a situation like this than to have all those people fan out daily to all the critical habitats of the region to make their species lists.
I think I will stick to finding the wildlife on my own. Some believe they have a special, exclusive right to both the wildlife of this planet and to the public lands. I know they have good intentions and make valid points, but I think I will get off the beaten path and out of their way.
Long-eared Owl
For the first time I have checked out a tip from the local birding community. There are about eight of these owls at a small park in downtown Chicago. They are about 10 feet off the ground and you can walk right up to them. You can't get this close in a zoo.
It is a fascinating sight, and I thank the people who found them for getting the word out. But this is not for me. They are wild owls in the most public of all places. The park is just a couple hundred feet per side. It is surrounded by apartment complexes. The park is packed full of noisy people, kids and dogs and automobile traffic on all sides. It is amazing that these owls chose this place.
But there is negativity surrounding the owls. Everyone has an opinion as to how to behave around the owls and anyone who disagrees is considered reckless. It is OK to point a scope or binoculars in their direction but attach a camera and you are nothing but a self-gratifying oaf.
I say every Chicago grade school class should have a field trip to this park. It would spark a love of nature in thousands of children who have few opportunities for such an encounter. Instead of conspiring to keep secrets and limit access, the expert birders should embrace this as an opportunity to transfer their passion to the next generation. Yes, the owls could be driven to another location, but they are temporary visitors anyway.
In my opinion it is much less disruptive to the Chicago Wilderness to have hundreds of people enjoy a situation like this than to have all those people fan out daily to all the critical habitats of the region to make their species lists.
I think I will stick to finding the wildlife on my own. Some believe they have a special, exclusive right to both the wildlife of this planet and to the public lands. I know they have good intentions and make valid points, but I think I will get off the beaten path and out of their way.