Bird Nest Photos

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by John

I took photos of a Great crested Grebe with it's chicks yesterday at Brandon Marsh, near Coventry. This nest is not far off the main path where all visitors to the reserve have to use. They will be for me to keep, not to place in a forum.

Whilst I agree that disturbance more than likely didn't take place with your photography that isn't the worrying factor. If we let one nest photo in we then open the doors to all types of nest photos, and with that brings in the nest disturbance factor.

Better ban the lot across the board then no one has the excuse to take the dodgy nest photo that can cause disturbance. After all the birds welfare is always paramount.

John

John............I fully agree with you on that, though it is a shame as I had a heron in the background on the swan nest as well, which made a good photo. I do think most of us are responsible enough not to disturb nesting birds, and a nest is a part of nature, esp if it is easy to see. Saying that, I do agree with this sites rule of no nests as there are some silly muppets out there with no idea...................Jon

[maritni]

Originally Posted by Jonny

John............I fully agree with you on that, though it is a shame as I had a heron in the background on the swan nest as well, which made a good photo. I do think most of us are responsible enough not to disturb nesting birds, and a nest is a part of nature, esp if it is easy to see. Saying that, I do agree with this sites rule of no nests as there are some silly muppets out there with no idea...................Jon

The principles need to be flexible - arbritrary criterias need to bend.


Martini

[John]

Originally Posted by maritni

The principles need to be flexible - arbritrary criterias need to bend.


Martini

First of all, a very warm welcome to WAB from me.

Regarding your quote. I'm sorry but on the question of nest photos there is no bending of the rules. No nest photos means no nest photos. If we were to bend that rule it would mean some nest photos would be allowed and whilst some nest are in the public eye, and easily attainable without disturbance, it still opens up the door to others that think that if one easy photo is acceptable then all photos are.

We do not want to give anyone licence to disturb nest in any way shape or form. There may be other forums that are not as principled but WAB hopefully will stay true to this rule.

John

[glsammy]

Spot on John..No one can possible misinterpret our rule, it's simple and firm..No bird nests. Any submitted will simply be rejected..

[Beryl]

I think also that some nests ar not som much old nests but nests that hve been abandoned due to some idiot flashing a camera at it and probably telling others as well. It's rather dispicable

[Wild-Woman]

This has been an extremely interesting thread to read and I totally agree with the rule of no nests. However, and this is going to be a drawn out however, trying to throw a slightly different light on things because of a recent experience.
As you may be aware, I am a TA in a school, not as glamourous as teacher but in contact with children 5 days a week. For about 5 years now I have run an environment club, within the school, encouraging responsibility to the school environment and in their own lives outside. The issues we cover are the obvious ones like, recycling, energy use, citizenship and wildlife and nature study. The children are learning and beginning to understand the issues of global warming, climate change and their roles and responsiblities in trying to help combat it.
Now, you may be asking why I'm rattling on about this but I have seen a change in their attitudes and mind sets over these years and the icing on the cake became apparent most recently.
Basically, the club raised enough funds through hard work and committment, to allow the school to buy a nest-box with a built-in camera. It was sited in January, in place of one that was getting old and had had successful blue tit broods every year.
I was at first doubtful of it's success in it's first year but I have been proved wrong. In March, we saw first visits, in April the nest constructed and a large clutch of eggs laid. Now, there are chicks, healthy ones too with parents working very hard to keep up with demand.
In all this time, over 400 children have witnessed these events, seen each stage and are probably seeing something that they have never seen before.
Personally, I think that if chlidren are taught at an early age about responsible attitudes to wildlife, because it is not such a mystery, then destroying disturbing or harming will be lessened.
We now have a school of highly knowledgable pupils, who know where the nest-box is, walk past it responsibly, enquire daily as to the health and welfare of it's residents, witness each stage of development and encourage others not to upset the blue tits in any way shape or form. I've seen this myself and am encouraged strongly by their attitudes.
In conclusion,I think it is necessary for youngsters to see nests, birds and nature, in order to educate in a controlled and responsible way. I think we are in danger of a generation of children growing up with little experience of wildlife, if it is locked away from them.

Now, I hope what I have written here will not cause a hot debate,I am purely writing down an experience that I have had and wanted to share it with you. I am still of the belief of no nest photos on this site but think that it is important to educate from the youngest upwards.ww

[John]

Hiya W.W

I am totally in agreement with what you say. It is commendable that schools take time out to do such schemes and children and wildlife can benefit immensley if more schools were to take on such schemes.

However that is a controlled environment where there is someone that can moitor what is going on around a nest. As I said earlier also, there are nests that the general public can walk past on a daily basis without causing disturbance because that is where the bird has chosen to nest.

It would be easy for WAB to accept those nest photos as we know that disturbance hasn't been a factor in attaining them but as you and most of the members (if not all) of WAB knows if you start to allow any nest photos on the site you then set a precedence and you would then find it hard to deny any nest photo of any bird.

It is better to stop all photos as that closes the door on nest photos completely.

John

[Jon]

I have been through all the replies, it seems to me that if no photographs of birds nests were allowed to be shown on WAB database then WAB would not be creating a demand, nor condoning such photographs. So quite simply I think the ban on birds nests or birds on the nest should remain. I appreciate someone could argue that the photograph may have been taken for another "customer" but adoption of this stance would only be beneficial. The reverse would not necessarily be deterimental BUT it could. Is it worth the risk when you see so many superb shots on the database anyway. Do we need these shots? I mean really, do we need these shots when there is a possible price to be paid by the bird? Jon

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by SteveA

For the sake of transparency, this thread might be better moved into an area of the site that would attract an audience more aware of the risks of unneccessary disturbance to our native wildlife.

Steve, I'm not sure what you meant to imply by this, but I can assure you that many photographers (and probably most that use this site) are very aware of the risks of unneccesary disturbance and take great care to avoid causing it. As this is a topic about photography it clearly belongs in the photo forum. Surely the point of this thread is to discuss the topic, not the general etiquette of where things are posted.

returning to the topic in hand I agree that it would be irresponsible for WAB to promote at nest photography and I believe stu has taken the right decision.

[SteveA]

As the topic revolves around a wild bird welfare issue, it should have been aired within the bird forum.