Comments on: Lapland Longshot

By: Nate

Nate — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:50:58 +0000

@John- Thanks, but I don’t think it was the macro function. I typically don’t think that far ahead when I do it.

@Bob- Thanks! No, no I do not.

By: Jochen

Jochen — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:55:48 +0000

@Carrie (first comment): Ha! So that’s what city birders and mating porcupines/hedgehogs have in common – oh, old joke is oooooold.

By: Jochen

Jochen — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:36:19 +0000

John, he was surely using the macro function of his bare point and shoot, right?

By: Jochen

Jochen — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:06:34 +0000

Carrie, the US of A have an international … well … let’s call it “reputation” for this kind of thing and I can tell you that I was always scared shitless when a cop car was following me. And I’ve never been scared of cops in any other country I’ve been to.

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:11:46 +0000

I guess that means you don’t have a NASCAR # on your vehicle’s rear window.

Congratulations on the state bird!

Bob

By: John

John — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:29:43 +0000

Congrats on the state bird!

You seem to be getting better with digiscoping.

By: Nate

Nate — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:16:00 +0000

@Jochen- I absolutely agree, it’s something I have first hand experience with. While staking out a Mississippi Kite nest near a church a couple years back, I was given the evil eye by parents on a nearby playground. It’s disconcerting to be mistaken for that sort of person.

@Carrie- I couldn’t agree more. I haven’t read the whole story (is it available somewhere?) but it absolutely struck me the same way it struck you. But in situations like that I always tend to agree that the officer is in the wrong, especially as nearly every incidence I’ve had with police has been fairly low-key. A good officer is rarely going to overreact in a situation like that.

By: pinguinus

pinguinus — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:10:24 +0000

Having read the sad tale of the arrested birder, I’ll just add:

I tend to be suspicious when I see that someone has been arrested for resisting arrest/assault on an officer with no other charges filed. Too many instances where bad or overreacting cops use that combo as a “get out of scrutiny free” card. Within the past year, both a prominent science fiction writer that I have a six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon level relationship with and my own brother were nailed with such charges.

By: pinguinus

pinguinus — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:38:13 +0000

Jochen: We do it very carefully.

Nate: Nice birds! I’m always amazed by the crappy venues that great birds sometimes choose.

By: Jochen

Jochen — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:34:34 +0000

Nice birds, but I am also always a bit nervous when birding within human settlements (see my recent comment on The Nightjar blog).
I really don’t know how the New Yorkers (NYC, that is) do it.