[SteveA]

I've been an occasional visitor to this site for many months; it has been progressing, albeit with a few hiccups, quite nicely. When I saw this thread crop up, I felt it was time to make an entrance.

Originally Posted by StuartDH

Over the past few days we've been considering whether or not to include bird nest photos in the Gallery and have decided that, for the moment, we won't be including them in.

Across the birding world it's fairly common for bird nests to not be included in galleries, as the pictures may have been taken in circumstances that could scare parents away from their chicks and possibly abandon the nest.

In addition to this, there are various laws and regulations that make it illegal to photograph the nests of schedule 1 birds, or get too close to any nest in Scotland etc.

Stuart, one major reason not to show them is that it might encourage people of less integrity to attempt to emulate those shown here.

Another is the increased risk of predation if a site has been 'gardened', or the birds giving alarm calls in the presence of the photographer - these are signs that a predator would be looking and listening for.

Originally Posted by StuartDH

As a result, we've currently moved bird nest images to a hidden 'quarantine' Gallery and we won't be posting any new nest images, until we've at least found a better way of highlighting the issues

Please do not discuss administrative issues on an open forum - keep it for the admin area of the site.

Originally Posted by StuartDH

Personally, if it's legal, I'm in favour of showing the images, as long as they include a clear notice about the issues concerned. We could also add a facility for the uploader to verify that the circumstances under which the photograph was taken meets all current legislation etc. That way, every time a photo is displayed, the notice is also displayed and the topic is kept current. However, without any nest photos on the site, the topic will hardly ever come up.

Gin-traps and egg-collecting have been illegal for many decades - those laws are still being broken. People don't always take notice of notices! Disclaimers aren't going to protect the site or nesting birds from people who lie about their activities.

Originally Posted by StuartDH

In addition to the above, there are also many bird nest images that are clearly taken from a distance with/without a zoom. It's very unlikely that the photographer would have caused any disturbance to the nest and it seems a shame to leave some of these great pictures out of the Gallery.

Sorry Stuart, I think that you meant to say "with a long telephoto lens", zoom lenses can be wholly within the wide angle range. A tight crop from a photograph taken with a standard lens would look like a photo taken with a telephoto lens - it might be impossible to tell the difference with the file sizes used on this site.

Originally Posted by StuartDH

So, as well as contacting some of the large birding organisations for their advice, we'd also welcome your opinion on the subject. Please let us know what you think, for and against, having bird nest photos on the site.

What organisations have you contacted? What replies have you received so far?

I think it will be a backward step. don't do it, please.

Originally Posted by welcome email from WildAboutBritain

As a new charity, we are currently developing a number of facilities that aim to strengthen the UK's wildlife community and ultimately advance the study, enjoyment and conservation of our natural environment.

As a charity with those stated aims, you should be concerned with running this site in an impeccably professional manner. Work is still needed in the admin and technical departments to improve the running of the forum, with the best staff you can find and high ethical standards for posting.

The opening up of the Gallery to nest photographs is very likely to lead to a division of current members and increase the number of non conservation-minded individuals posting photographs here.

Many bird species are declining throughout Britain - you should not be seen to be encouraging anything which might lead to more losses.

Thanks,

Steve.

(Would you like to remove this thread and continue the discussions away from the public eye? It may be less embarrassing.)