ajohn

I would agree with Graham's opinion that anyone who goes to look for a bird that others have publicised should also be prepared to publicise the location of any rare bird they find. I have been lucky enough to find a few rare birds (although nothing as good as this shrike!) and have tried to ensure the information is available. I would expect anyone else to do the same and have been to see other's birds - this includes the shrike so I am, of course, very pleased that the location of this bird was revealed.

Many people will be interested in going to see a rare bird - as I said in my previous post, this should not cause excess disturbance to the bird if everybody behaves correctly. In this respect, anyone visiting a rare bird which has been publicised should behave correctly to ensure that disturbance is minimised (of course, I would expect anyone to behave correctly when observing any bird, rare or common). This way, people will not be concerned about revealing the location of birds in the future.

Anyone posting an ID question on the forum should also be prepared to allow others to see the bird. This was in fact relevant for this shrike, which seemed a straight-forward ID on the original photos but was debated by those who saw the bird in the field.

There may be circumstances when it is better for the bird that the location is not publicised. This could apply, for example, to sensitive breeding or roosting species or if the bird is on private land (although I would encourage anyone to seek permission from the landowner to permit visitors). If you are not prepared to reveal the location, it would be best to give a reason for this on the website.

On the other hand, no-one should be bullied into revealing the location of a bird. If you are interested in seeing a particular bird, ask the finder for a location, explain the reasons you would like to see the bird and explain that you will not cause disturbance. I suspect there was a simple misunderstanding in this case, but obivously I do not know the full details so I will not comment further.

These wild birds do not 'belong' to anyone and are usually on public land, and many people enjoy going to see rare birds - not revealing the location can lead to resentment against the finder. There have been several previous cases of 'suppression' in the UK which have caused considerable bitterness lasting many years. I hope this does not happen in Hong Kong!

ajohn

Quote:

Original posted by HFCheung at 14/10/2008 15:07
The main difference is in the choice whether HKBWS should allow some members to withhold bird information that they think sensitive, or to force every member to give up their own secret information by threatening their membership.

From what I heard so far, it seems most members prefer the second choice, right?  

Ho-fai

I don't think anyone has been advocating threatening membership of the society. Re-reading the previous posts I do not see where you have got the idea that this is the case. Certainly I would very strongly disagree with the idea that someone should be forced out of the society (this opinion applies to almost any situation).

This thread seems to be going on for a long time and becoming unnecessarily heated. I think in fact that most people are arguing the same point - that anyone watching or photographing birds should ensure that they do not cause them excessive disturbance. This applies equally to common and rare species. In most cases it should be possible to release information about the bird so that others can see and enjoy the bird, and I would urge anyone to do so. If there is a reason that the bird may be particularly sensitive (especially if breeding), you should think carefully about disclosing information (and only tell people you trust - hopefully this includes HKBWS members). Ultimately, it is down to the common sense of the finder and I believe the vast majority of people would act appropriately.

Please note that none of this relates specifically to the shrike. I do not know the full details of this case, and I think that this is true for virtually everybody. All I will say on that case is congratulations to twaiyi on finding the bird: be pleased that others were so keen to see it (this shows how lucky you were to find it!), do not take offence that the information spread among bird watchers you did not know (this is the nature of the bird watching community) and above all PLEASE do not be discouraged in future birdwatching by any comments made recently.