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Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis
This female Long-tailed Duck is still on I-82 Freeway Pond #4. It was snowing today as she dove at the slushy edge of the ice. The lighting matched her plumage nicely, though wasn't great for photos or video. It was nice and sunny 3 days ago when I found her here. This site requires a Washington State Discover Pass for motor vehicles.
Scott Downes & Luke Safford used me -- they tricked me into helping them cheat on their illegitimate Big Day. They are still lying, pretending to not understand why I could be upset with them for doing that to me and for other unethical and illegal behavior by them.
Scott -- Have you done that to your own daughters? If someone did that to your daughters, would you be happy with that?
Luke -- Have you done that to your own children?
Even if you two have done that to your own children, you should not have done that to me. Your behavior is inexcusable. You are not above the Birding Code of Ethics. You are not above the law. You are not above Big Day Rules.
Who will get them to disqualify themselves from their illegitimate Big Day? Scott should not be allowed to count his Big Year during which he cheated in several ways on his Big Day and he knowingly trespassed on Priest Rapids Dam and on the Yakima Training Center military installation. He got caught and kicked off of each. His claim of ignorance about trespassing on the dam is a flat-out lie. I had previously told him in person specifically that the head of security for Priest Rapids Dam said that it was prohibited, and Scott acknowledged that he understood it. After trespassing and falsifying his checklist location, Scott acknowledged in writing to me that he knew it was prohibited, yet Scott pretended on Tweeters to be going on the advice of other local listers. Andy Stepniewski perhaps? Andy knows and knew better, and explained that quite clearly to my wife & I in his kitchen when he described to us how he trespasses there. Maybe Andy told Scott he could get away with it, but I doubt Andy pretended to Scott that it was allowed. (Andy was with Scott when the two of them were caught trespassing in the Live Fire area on the Yakima Training Center, proving Scott knows Andy trespasses.) Birders, especially those in positions of authority in organizations such as the Yakima Valley Audubon Society, Washington Ornithological Society, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, & eBird, should speak out to discourage unethical and illegal bird listing practices, even when it concerns their colleagues. Don't enable problem listers. Good cops are worth their weight in gold.
My original photos have embedded GPS time/date/location -- proving when & where I took the photos. I would never falsify a checklist, nor info under my photos, and never have done so. That would be the antithesis of my bird watching.
Please always consider the sensitivity of birds, nearby humans, and the environment.
Recently I finally received an apology (one he soon qualified, and later lied about, trying to pretend he hadn't apologized -- see next paragraph) from Scott Downes, one of two listers who used me to help them cheat on their Big Day -- His "I'm sorry." was a baby step. The other lister, Luke Safford, has not yet apologized. They both continue to lie, falsely claiming that they don't understand any reasons I'm disgusted by them and others who behave like them. I continue to wish my efforts weren't necessary, and that they and other problem listers would stop their dishonest and disingenuous arguments in defense of their bad and illegal habits. Once you're caught cheating on your Big Day, you're not morally qualified to do another. Leave that competition to decent folks. Perhaps as a state biologist and a preacher, Scott Downes & Luke Safford think they're exempted from ethical constraints while bird listing and while attacking me to try to cover their deeds. They're not.
Edit: To be clear, Scott Downes said, "I'm sorry." several times, but soon said "It doesn't matter anymore anyway, since Eric [Heisey] and I broke that record." With him qualifying it so, it is not an apology. (And why should anyone believe he didn't cheat again?) I should more accurately say that he said "I'm sorry" several times, but did not honestly apologize. I said to him that it does matter -- that he (Scott Downes) & Luke (Safford) cheated, that they used me to cheat, and that they continue to be dishonest about that. Scott Downes also has yet to show the photos he took that day of their claimed (relocated) Tricolored Blackbird. At first he claimed his photos "didn't turn out". At the time of his apology this summer, he changed his story again -- he claimed that he did not even have a camera with him during his (illegitimate) Big Day. My guess is his photos that day showed that their claimed Tricolored Blackbird was not a Tricolored Blackbird -- if so, ironic since they'd cheated to "get" it. Scott volunteered that he would remove the Tricolored Blackbird from his list. I doubt he has. I also doubt that he has contacted Washington Birder (the Knittles) to finally acknowledge his & Luke's cheating & remove their illegitimate Big Day from the records. I think that Scott Downes' & Luke Safford's names should actually stay on the record books, with the note that they were disqualified due to cheating.
To Yakima County's problem listers: Don't cheat on your Big Days. Stop pishing and using playback on rare and sensitive birds and in heavily birded areas. Give others credit for their finds. Don't lie and intentionally mislead to cover your misdeeds, misidentifications, identifictions, and illegal birding practices. Slipping in a different photo when you screwed-up, inserting a photo you took on a later date to your eBird checklist, trying to get me to trespass for your Yakima CBC, blocking links to American Birding Association articles about birding ethics, hiding your trespassing, lying about your apology, using my Dad's death to take a stab at me -- shame on you.
Since bird listing is dominated by white males, it's sadly unsurprising that abusive behavior by them is accepted by their ranks.
Please Follow this Code and Distribute and Teach it to Others ABA Code of Birding Ethics.