Are people who wander around the country with binoculars and cameras terrorists and criminals? Well some police and members of the public seem to think we are!
Earlier this year I ran into a mate from the UK who had located a small clan of Ground Cuckoo-shrikes just outside of Alice Springs. He was in Alice as part of his latest travels around the country trying to catch as many species of our birds as he could in as short a time as possible. He’d put up a post on the local birding webgroup NT Birds relating his sightings. I arranged to meet him a day or so later and we went out to the area late one afternoon. As we were driving out he described the birds and where he’d seen them. Then he related his experience of the day before with our local plods.
His story went something like this:
“I’d found a couple of Ground Cuckoo-shrikes in some woodland along Hatt Road south of Alice Springs the day before so went back out to have a closer look and see if they were nesting or if there were more birds around. I found the birds again and jumped a fence along the road to follow them through the scrub. I’d been wandering around for an hour or so when I noticed a lot of commotion back near where I’d parked my car, so walked back in that direction. I was gobsmacked to see about half-a-dozen or so Police cars, blue lights blazing and a whole bunch of cops standing around waiting to talk to me. After a half-hour of questioning and me explaining they were not very convinced and told me that the area I was in had the local prison on one side of the road and was a few miles away from the secret Pine Gap spy base.”
Pine Gap, Alice Springs
Okay, I thought, I can understand the police paranoia about a bloke wandering around outside the prison with a set of binoculars – but such close attention several miles away from the “secret” spy base at Pine Gap was a bit of a stretch.
We went out to the site the next day and within half an hour we were confronted by two truckloads of Australian Federal police (they have responsibility for security at Pine Gap). Two of them had confronted my mate the day before but they still spent the best part of 20 minutes on the radio doing background checks on both of us. In the end they were reluctantly helpful (we told them we’d be back the next morning at dawn) and gave me the contact number for the local Desk Sergeant and advised we should give him a call when we were next out at the site.
All this had faded into the gentle folds of memory until earlier this week when I noticed a posting on another Birding webgroup, Birding-Aus, from a woman in s-e Queensland who posted the following comment:
Being a lone woman, I was birding from my car window on the weekend, when an off-duty policeman pulled up behind me, & demanded I prove I was a birdwatcher, & advised me that whenever I stopped the car I had to go into all the surrounding houses & inform them I am a birdwatcher.
This post understandably provoked a pretty spirited set of responses along two broad themes – interactions with Police and security staff and those with householders and members of the public.
The general legal position is that if you are on public land and not obstructing the road or traffic, poking a long lens into the private spaces of a residence or property (or through the bath/bed room windows), trespassing on private property or committing some other breach of the law or peace then you can pretty much what you want on public lands. But that won’t stop the officious, ignorant, ill-informed, suspicious, busily-bodied, nosey and downright paranoid from sticking their beak into your peaceful and law-abiding business.
What follows is but a sample of some of the responses, firstly in relation to cops, security guards and the military – but firstly a bit more from the original poster:
So… He also insisted I should have a sign affixed to my car whenever I’m birding — ‘BIRDWATCHER’. If I think about it, I can probably remember more of the encounter… But I was just so astounded that I haven’t actually dwelt on what was said…Well, I showed him my Field Guide, but he insisted I show him the photos in my camera. Apparently someone had seen me with camera & binoculars, & had phoned him. I was in that street partly to follow the evening progress of seasonally local GBCs– but when I cried out, ‘Look, there goes one now, a rare bird!’ he didn’t turn a hair. We were in a dead end (‘Because it’s good for birds!’ I said to him) but apparently that made me even more offensive.
This response comes from an ecologist working on the north coast of NSW:
I plan to have a whole chapter entitled ‘the boys and girls in blue’ in my future book if ever I get the time to write it!! It includes references to mist nets (used for bird banding), ‘van burning’ no ‘bird banding’ and an incident when a rather officious fisheries officer thought that all of his Christmases had come at once. We were bird banding with mist nest in an estuary and he thought that we were illegal fishers. He regretted his actions after a long drawn out lecture on birds and bird banding!!
And in a similar, though more explosive, vein:
I remember being a part of a group which had permission from the Royal Australian Navy to cannon-net for waders at a beach on Garden Island in WA, on the opposite side of the island to where the naval base is located. Within minutes of the cannon-net being fired we were approached at great speed from all directions (land and sea) by naval police. Obviously, they had not been informed by authorities higher up in the naval chain of command that we would be firing cannons. They must have thought Australia was being invaded! Once again, this was in the early 1980s. I would very much doubt that with increased military security we would be allowed to even mist-net for waders on Garden I today.
This poster’s experience with a carload of UK plods in a “jam-sandwich” illustrates that it isn’t just “twitchers” that get harassed:
Me busy carrying out shorebird disturbance survey. Parked up at the edge of a village overlooking an bay of an estuary minding my own business, fairly oblivious to things around me as I was concentration on counting and mapping waders. Next thing, I see a jam sandwich with blue flashing lights in rear mirror followed by a loud knock on window. Two boys in blue standing there, one at window, one behind car talking into his radio.
Officer “Can you please step out of the car”.
Me “Why, what’s wrong”
Officer “Just step out of the car madam”
I get out of the car.
Officer “I need to take some details. Can I ask what you’re doing here madam?”
Me “Erm……. I’m doing a bird survey”
I show him my recording forms from the morning’s work and try to explain the details of what I’m doing. He doesn’t seem impressed or doesn’t understand.
Officer “And you’re name and address please”
Details given
Officer “And what exactly are you doing” he asks again
I try to explain, again and tell them I’m working on a contract to a company.
Officer “Well madam, we’ve had complaints from someone who says they’re uncomfortable with you pointing your large camera lens near their house.”
Me “I don’t have a camera with me”
Officer “So what’s that then madam?” pointing to the ‘scope in a Skua case.
Me “It’s my telescope, here, have a look”
While this is happening, his mate is wandering round the car checking things out. Officer has a look down the scope. Officer “Thank you ma’am. Can you let me have the details of who you’re working so I can check out your story”
I give him name, address and number. Officer phones the co-worker at the office and asks for a description of me just to check.Officer looks puzzled and concerned. He walks away talking into radio and gesturing to his mate to come over. There’s a lot of mumbling between them and they keep looking at me. I’m starting to get a little nervous…Seems co-worker gave my description. Unfortunately, that preceding weekend I’d had my very long hair all chopped off very, very short unbeknown to co-worker. The description given didn’t match my appearance. Needless to say, things went a little downhill for a while. In the end I was told to move on despite my protests about not being able to finish my work. I even tried to explain that this was a government contract. That didn’t wash with them and they waited behind me until I moved off. You can’t win.
The other set of interactions that drew responses related to local residents and landowners – some are relatively benign – others less so:
I’m often stopped and quizzed about what I’m doing (sometimes by the police, often by other members of the public). The frequency of these inquiries seems to have increased considerably since 9/11and the introduction of the “Be Alert But Not Alarmed” campaign. However, before you think it is a recent phenomenon, I remember when I was a student at uni (late 1970s/early ’80s), a fellow zoology student arrived back on campus after being physically attacked the night before. He had been out spotlighting for crickets and while crouched down among some bushes with his head torch on was whacked across the back with either a bar or plank of wood (can’t remember which one). Apparently, some farmer thought the guy was spying on the family farm from the roadside reserve. A case of “whack first, ask questions later”!
And it is not just private residences that birders have to be careful around:
I’m usually careful to face away from houses and schools if I’m near them. I was challenged by the security guard patrolling the Mobil complex when I was birding along Kororoit Creek in Altona last week, and he was happy with the explanation. It might have been a different story if I’d been actually looking into the complex instead of away from it, as it is an offence to photograph such places, so he’d be entitled to call the police. After Lewin’s Rails were discovered in the pond behind a girls’ school in Altona I emailed the school to let them know why there were suddenly lots of people with binoculars and telescopes wandering around. No idea if they even read it, but at least it had been done in case anyone had to justify their presence.
This post gives two good examples of the kind of ill-informed outrage that birders – and bird tour-guides – encounter:
The first was outside a little country school here on the Atherton Tablelands. I stopped with some clients outside the school because the Channel-billed Cuckoos parasitised the nests of Currawongs there every year and that was a bird we were chasing. I used to live nearby and though I was known to all the staff and most of the kids. I was yelled at by a young lady from 30 metres away who demanded to know, “What do you think you are doing? Don’t you know this is a school?” When I started to enter the school grounds to talk to her she told me to stay outside. She relaxed a little when I asked after the principal (who she was relieving) and two teachers’ aides by name and came a little closer so we did not have to shout at each other. I explained what I was doing and that as we were on the road reserve we were quite entitled to be there bird watching. She said that if ever I was to do that again I was to come to the office first to inform the school of our presence. The incongruence of this request/demand and her demanding I remain outside the gate seemed to have not occurred to her.
The second was on a country road in W. A. I was there with a friend and had walked up and down the road for about 20 minutes when we noticed a car come out of one of the nearby farms and drive towards my friend’s vehicle. It stopped behind it. We had observed that it contained three females of three generations. We quickened our pace to see what they wanted. “What do you think you are doing?” (Do they always say this?)” I called out an answer and held up my binoculars thinking that would help show our intentions were honourable but my approaching so quickly seemed to frighten her. “Just know that we’ve got your number!” Slipping the vehicle into gear she did a 180 of which any hoon would be proud and sped off into town. We thought about going up to the farm where we could see people working but decided that we would leave it at that. My friend mused that he would not have considered two reasonably well presented middle-aged gentlemen in a pale blue Mercedes to be so intimidating.
And the same writer gave an insight that many of us know is true – most people have a good bird story to tell – or will, once you have gained their trust and acceptance, pester you with requests to identify “a little brown bird” that they saw at the bottom of their garden…
On the other hand I have more often been held up by people wanting to tell me about some “rare bird” which comes to their garden. When I see people are suspicious I too try to explain to them what is going on. Usually with pleasing results for all concerned.
There are a million similar tales out there – and these all seems to come out alright in the end so far – no-one seems to have been shot or locked up for wandering around with a pair of binoculars and a camera.
And Australia is nowhere near as dangerous as some of the countries that my friend Mark Cocker writes about in his wonderful book “Birders: Tales of a Tribe” (2001, Jonathan Cape).
Throughout the book Mark refers to a series of birders adding to the “great canon of harmless eccentricities” but notes that the lengths that birders will go to to see birds sometimes end in dreadful tragedy, including being pursued – and shot at – by armed Afghan tribesmen, being eaten by a Tiger in northern India and being shot and killed by Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) guerillas in Peru.
That puts being harassed by local flatfoots or three women yelling “What do you think you are doing” somewhat into perspective, doesn’t it?
I’d love to hear your stories – or responses to the tales told here – register and leave a comment about your experiences.
34 Comments
A few more anecdotes are coming in – this from Syd that relates a story of how sometimes any piece of equipment in the field can be confused as being used for an ulterior motive and purpose:
“Norman Robinson was CSIRO’s Division of Wildlife Research lyrebird expert,
and also their wildlife sound recording expert generally. Carried out a
major study on Superb Lyrebird vocal behaviour at Tidbinbilla, over a number
of years c. 1960.
He organised for me to run the CSIRO auto-record gear on Albert’s Lyrebirds,
and I got to know him quite well. Later he accepted a transfer to Western
Australia.
Norman was very keen on recording the songs of all Australian birds, and of
course CSIRO had the best of recording equipment which back then was a Nagra
reel-to-reel recorder, and a Sennheiser shotgun mic with wind-shield.
For anyone who has not seen one of those Nagras, they were quite large. I’m
just going on memory but I’d guess about 30 X 20 X 10 cm, metal, and with an
impressive array of dials and knobs.
Norman was recording in some remote part of W A, and didn’t realise that he
was in a highly mineralised region and had strayed onto an Authority to
Prospect area, or Mining Lease or some such, until confronted by the
lease-holder or his employees who assumed Norman’s gear was for detecting
minerals.
Things were distinctly unpleasant for a while, he told me. But fortunately
he had already recorded some birds and could play the sounds to them and
demonstrate the recording ability of the gear, sufficient to convince them
of his innocent intentions.”
And it seems that problems with the Police and Park Rangers isn’t limited to Australia – here are a couple of anecdotes from Gail in Maryland in the USA – and judging by her reference to the Chandra Levi case, maybe some of us birders aren’t so observant after all?:
“Actually, you would think those of us who bird all the time in Washington DC
would have a lot of run-ins, but interestingly enough, we rarely do. There
have been a few incidents, mainly due to police misinterpretation of the law
prohibiting tripod-mounted cameras being used without a permit in the
Federal and National Park area (essentially where all the federal buildings
and monuments are). This law requires those who profit from “calendar” shots
to be licensed.
However many police (and public) see a scope on a tripod and think it’s a
camera. Usually, when shown it’s a scope they apologize but a few have
insisted we fold up shop and go away. I actually requested a letter from the
National Park Service to show the police — it says birdwatchers are
*welcome* and that birding is one desired use of the parks. However since I
got the letter I have not had any “encounters” so maybe the word got out.
However one local birder was down at Hains Point (NPS property) last year,
looking with his scope out over the Potomac for waterfowl — but this also
means looking over at Reagan National Airport. It happened to be the day
that the Coast Guard was conducting an airport “Security Drill” and he must
have seemed a good subject (or should I say, “target”). Suddenly he found
himself facing three Coast Guard “fast boats” with mounted 50 mm machine
guns all sort of pointed in his general direction. He decided it was time to
go home — though he reported that he and the sailors had a nice chat before
he rather shakily left.
Gail
Silver Spring, MD
p.s. We also got interviewed by the FBI on the Chandra Levi case because we
birders were within 100 yards of where her body was found on the day she was
murdered. Unfortunately none of us had seen anything…”
This one just came in from NYC – a great story of the power of practicality over paranoia!:
“Back in January, there was some very bad weather that took its toll on Dovekies [a Little Auk, Alle alle], many being found washed atypically inshore.
One such bird spent a week or so in a marina at a golf course in Suffolk county, NY. The marina is quite out of the way, and also ends with a facility of the Suffolk county police / harbor patrol. It has a ramp to accommodate two boats, and a small building.
Because this Dovekie was so accommodating and allowed close views, many went to go see it. When it finally did leave, many disappointed birders were at the location still hoping to find it, and tried viewing the waters immediately adjacent where the harbor patrol is located. Some officers came out and insisted that they were no allowed to look into the facility with binoculars due to ” homeland security”.
Mind you, there was only one sign at the entrance that said no trespassing, but none that said one could not look in at the facility. And the facility was so small, that all of it was observable without the aid of binoculars anyway. I tried in vain to explain to the officers that we were simply trying to locate a bird, and we were looking at the water, not their facility, but they would have none of it.
talk about overzealousness…
{fortunately, I had seen the bird a few days before
}
Arie
North Babylon, NY
This story from Paul in Washington DC (thanks to all my friends in the US for these messages! – please feel free to post them here directly) that suggests that birders might be useful for keeping an eye out on (real) suspicious activity:
“I bird Hains Pt. in Washington DC regularly, and am stopped fairly frequently. The stops are routine, the police say, “someone reported suspicious behavior” (which I think they learn to use as the pat line to open up a dialogue), ask for my id, sometimes they’ll call me in and see that I have no outstanding warrants, etc. and let me go about my business. But I broke a personal record 2 weeks ago when 5 police cars stopped for me at one time! Only 2 of the 5 police officers questioned me, and one was a bit apologetic, saying that he hopes I understand why they’re asking. My response was, “of course I understand and I fully appreciate it because you’re just doing your job.” I followed up saying, and I appreciate that you let me continue birding (because even if he’d be wrong to do so, he could have been a jerk about it and forced me to pack up).
By the way, I think the other 3 police officers were just bored and stopped because it was an opportunity to chat with their buddies. There was a lot going on in DC that day (several protests, a marathon, etc), and I think many more officers were on duty for that. But it was early in the day, and they had nothing better to do.
I was also wondering if anyone has explored the question of birders as look-outs to spot malcontents/terrorists/criminals. Since we’re watching our surroundings all the time, and are observant by nature, we could actually serve as a valuable spotter. Not that I’m looking to become a citizen cop (could be very dangerous if word got out on the street), but I certainly would make note of something unusual if I saw it.”
As Todd from San Francisco points out birdwatching can get into trouble even when you aren’t doing it:
“I once had a run-in with an overzealous security guard in the parking lot
of a local shopping mall. I was waiting for a bus to go to a birding spot
here in San Francisco, & the bus stop happened to be located in the mall
lot right across from an outdoor ATM. A security guard approached, &
threatened to call the police if I did not leave & continued trying to
photograph people inputting their PINs. Um… a) no camera (which I
explained), b) what exactly does one do with a PIN but no card? (which I
didn’t go into, as it seemed more likely to raise suspicions that I was a
SMART criminal), & c) the bus stop itself was public property, even if it
was located on the private mall parking lot (a fact which he did not like
having me point out).
Fortunately the bus came before he called (or at least before any police
arrived).
Todd”
Jim from Los Osos in California had an experience at Veracruz, Mexico that at at least ended with smiles all ’round:
“I was birding at the airport in Veracruz City, Mexico, several years ago and did not realize that a military base was adjacent to the airport (next to where I was birding). A large truck, loaded with troops armed with automatic weapons, drove up. The troops looked glum – like they meant business and I was in trouble. I tried to explain to them, in my horrible Spanish, that I was a bird watcher and that I was looking for birds. Initially, things did not seem to be going well. When I showed them my bird book, they realized what I was doing. The troops then started looking through my field guide and pointing out birds in the book that they had seen in the area. They looked through my scope at a couple of birds and appeared to be enjoying themselves. They were quite friendly and animated about the birds. I enjoyed talking with them once things were cleared up – like most Veracruzanos they were very nice. When they had to leave, they requested that I bird away from the base. They pointed out some locations. They waived enthusiastically as they drove off, like we were old friends. What could have been a very bad experience became a very positive one. – Jim”
as was David’s of Waterloo, Ontario encounter with locals while in Ecuador:
“Gee I feel quite chagrined. This excitement has never happened to me! Am I that innocuous? Actually on a recent trip to Ecuador while walking along a pipeline we were approached by the military, but our Ecuadoran guide quickly explained matters and the sergeant was then interested in seeing our pictures. He left us alone to meander back at our own pace. David, Waterloo, ON”
For mine, Joseph’s takes the cake! I’ve been up very early to go birding but 3am? I couldn’t think of a less credible excuse and perhaps it is little wonder he came to the attention of the local cops:
“Several years ago during a Christmas Bird Count I was covering my assigned
area by checking out a landfill near my home. It was 3am and I was hoping
to find a previously reported Common Poor-Will. I was by myself with
flashlight and binoculars. After several hours of searching, I returned to the parking lot. The police were waiting. I never did see the Poor-will and the police had never before heard of anybody having a good excuse for being out there at that time of night. – Joseph
And it appears that in some parts of the US that birding equipment (and I once had one of those rifle-stock mounts for a telephoto lens but gave it up long ago) can be mistaken for a weapon – here is Ron’s account:
“Back in my College days in the late 60′s, I was birding with an adult friend
Harry Todd in Stone Harbor, NJ. We were out on the beach with our hand held
scopes when up drives a police officer in his cruiser. He got out and spoke
to us for a moment and then, with a sound of slight annoyance, spoke into
his radio ” They are just Birdwatchers. Apparently we had been reported as
two men walking on the beach with rifles.
In another case I was stopped on the tour road at Bombay Hook National
Wildlife Refuge several years ago by a refuge officer, in response to a
report by obviously non-birders, that they had seen me with a rifle. The
officer wanted to see in my trunk and, understanding his concern and that I
had nothing to hide I showed him, rather than make an issue about whether my
rights to refuse search had been disregarded.
And, of course, after many years birders lost their permission to bird on
the islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel because we might attack the
ships including warships entering and leaving the bay. They apparently did
not put any restrictions on the fishing boats that were allowed to
congregate and anchor just off these islands. We argued that birders would
be a valuable “Neighborhood Watch” but to no avail.
I have rarely used the gun stock since “911″ as, from a distance it does
give the appearance of a grenade launcher.
Ron
Herndon, Virginia
This further tale from Gail in Maryland give ample caution about straying into Military areas – particularly when, as in the case, in borders on what was once known as part of the ‘evil empire’:
“Ron’s experience reminds me of the time I did the World Series of Birding
with three friends. I think it was 1992 or 1993. The tradition is to all
meet the next morning at a local hotel for breakfast, and each team recounts
the highlights of their day afield. Most of the tales were pretty tame but I
will never forget one fellow who reported,
“I do have one piece of advice. Never, NEVER, NEVER!! go onto a military
base carrying a scope on a gunstock mount!”
Apparently he and his team were held by the MPs for several hours while they
tried to figure out what to do with “these guys.”
My husband Barry, his brother and two friends had a similar experience. This
was in the 1960s at the height of the Cold War. They had driven from England
to Greece (taking the channel ferry) — a bunch of keen young Brit birders
on their first foreign trip! Since their car was a real POS they had lots of
automobile-related (and other) adventures, but the finale might not have
been funny.
Looking at the map of Greece they noted a huge wild area with few roads
right at the north of the country. They had not seen many of the expected
raptors in Greece so hoped this place might yield some eagles. They were
happily birding away when a military patrol came rushing around the corner.
At gunpoint they were forced into the military vehicles, one to a car,
soldier with automatic weapon sitting next to them. Taken to headquarters
they ran into the next obstacle, none of them had more than a couple of
words of Greek and none of the Greek military (for such it was) spoke any
English. Here they were with binoculars, scopes and cameras in what was a
strict Military Prohibited Zone on the border with Soviet-bloc Bulgaria!
Finally Barry’s brother had the bright idea of hauling out their bird book,
opening the page to the eagles and pantomiming using the bins to look at
them.
Then everyone laughed. The soldiers crammed them back into the jeeps, took
them back to their own car, and escorted them firmly OUT!
Barry says if they had gone a few km more the patrol would have been
Bulgarian and they might still be there!
Gail
Silver Spring, MD
Shheesh!! – I don’t know if all the birders that live in Maryland (and their families) have a thing about Military bases and cops but this story from Ellen about a visit to Colombia give me a fair degree of caution – particularly as I’m planning on traveling to Medellin in November this year for a birding conference and a bit of time wandering around…
“On our first trip together, Tim and I did something that was ill-advised
(though truth be told, there’s at least one ill-advised activity associated
with each of our trips, including trying to entice Montezuma Wood Quail with
the contents of large white Tyvex bags found at the end of a trail running
off the Durango Highway…). Anyway, we were on La Escalera in Venezuela, at
the site of the military base. We were wearing what could easily be
interpreted as camo. I suppose the 17-yr-old soldiers with AK47s consider
birders to be fairly common at least if they are walking up and down the
road staring up into the trees. But people skulking around in the marshy
woodland on the base are probably not regarded as innocent weirdos.
Fortunately, we were not spotted. Wonder if they’ve ever fixed the very
large holes in the fences?
We’ve never had a problem with the nocs/scopes and other gear in terms of
airport security or customs, but I wonder if anyone else has gotten the
third degree from Customs and Border Protection when returning from
Colombia? Seems they haven’t gotten the memo that people actually do go to
Colombia now, and they seem to regard everyone coming in from Colombia as
drug smuggler. I had a dreadful experience coming back from Colombia,
getting seriously hassled by CBP, which was bad enough considering that I
had to return early to deal with what I thought was a family emergency. But
then I realized that my luggage contained empty plastic bags coated with
white powder. We carry baggies containing cereal and powdered soy milk along
with plastic bowls and spoons so we can just add water and have breakfast at
our convenience. We of course re-use the bags, so I had all these empty bags
with white powder. Fortunately, he gave up and didn’t ask to inspect my luggage.
As a result of this experience, we enrolled in Global Entry (aka “Trusted
Traveler”). Now, it does save time in terms of passport control but that’s
about it. You still have to wait for your luggage, of course, and CPB has no
special line for Global Entry, so you still have to wait in line at Customs.
Whether it actually makes it less likely that CPB will hassle you or inspect
your bags, I can’t say.”
Ellen
Bethesda, MD
And they just keep coming! More from Gail on her experiences in China and Bolivia!
“Despite travelling all over the world, I have only a few run-ins with
authorities, possibly because as a woman I am considered less of a threat?
Dunno… However, some have been interesting…
When in Beidahe China in 1999, we walked every day though the (illegal) hole
in the chain-link fence surrounding Lighthouse Point, one of the best
migration sites. (The hole was made by fishermen to reach good fishing spots
but much used by birders). On this point are large houses where top-ranking
members of the Chinese government stay while in this resort town. As a
consequence there are guards all over the hillside, armed with AK-47s.
Mostly they just waved at us (or ignored us, being used to birders). However
one day time a guard clapped his hands sharply to get our attention, and
motioned us OUT RIGHT NOW!! in no uncertain terms! We asked back at our
hotel what was going on and it appears some bigwig Admiral was staying there
and the guards had to stick to the rules.
Another funny story was when in Bolivia, we went to a Bolivian Naval Base
(OK this is not a joke, although land-locked, Bolivia DOES have a navy –
this one patrolled a river which borders Brazil). We took a little open
boat ride down the river and had a lot of great birds as well as pink
dolphins. Coming back we found an armed party waiting for us! It seems that
there was a meeting of the highest Bolivian Naval personnel at the base that
day and foreigners were absolutely verboten! Our driver took our minibus out
by himself, the rest of us were marched out under armed guard to the front
gate, attracting a lot of attention from the troops, and feeling quite
foolish!
Mostly we seem to meet soldiers, guards and police who are pretty interested
in what we’re doing and happy to wave us on our way.”
Gail
Silver Spring, MD
Although not about birders, read “Bad Trips” by Keath Fraser. THE most memorable trips are ALWAYS the ones that end up being the worst or full of bad incidents/memories, but if you survive, well, those are the ones you’ll relate to your grandkids!
Having lived and birded most of my life in peaceful Denmark – where the police and military are less aware of persons moving around in the landscape ”armed” with binoculars and telescopes; though they as the authorities all other countries in the world are alert in the right areas and situations in these years… Of course we understand IF questioned by our activities – but our relation to police and authorities are not a result of fear – they are well educated and able to think themselves…
It’s different where I live now. In the heart of Central Asia. Here you have to be very careful when you meet police, and first response from majority of them is always “Njet” – No! You can think very much of why it’s like that – and I could give many explanations. But it’s a fact that “No” is first card played!
However – sometimes it can be outright stupid and quite funny, like…
Summer 2009 when we birded in southwestern Kazakhstan – Central Asia. One has to understand that some of these birdingspots are far away from everything. It was also the case here. We were in a little village, some hundred kilometers west of the former capital Almaty. The village is in summertime a dusty hot spot. Very good for birding. There are absolutely NO tourist facilities in the village, and only by old contacts we are able to find indoor accommodation when we are there. Almost nothing going on in the village apart from looking at or counting the goats.
In the years I have been there, I never met any authorities, but this wonderful morning we strolled along the river, when a civil little red car with coughing engine stopped near us. Out from the car came two policemen… The one with higher rank – probably a kind of inspector – asked in Russian what we were doing. I explained in my best Russian what we were doing, but he waved his hand and began speaking English – rather poor English (I think he knew ten words – maximum). Anyway – he didn’t want to hear my explanation. In English he just said “Sheriff” and pointed at himself. And continued in Russian – You wear binoculars, it’s NOT allowed here! Hmmm we are birdwatching I replied… No-no… it’s NOT allowed he continued. No more discussion. He asked where we stayed (though everyone in the village knew it, including him of course) and wanted to check our Passports. Some of my fellow birders gave him their Passports, and after looking at them for a minute or two, he turned around and off the two policemen went. They simply drove away, and we walked back to our place – like wet cats… Worried for the fate of the Passports. After one hour they showed up at the camp – asking further questions about our activities. First they said it was forbidden going around in the village with binoculars. We explained. Hmmm… then he said we were in a region where we should have a special permit! We told him, we have been here several times, and we had all necessary permits; those places it was necessary – and according our sources; the police/military authorities in Almaty, this area didn’t have any special status or required special permits. At this stage, he began to become little anxious, and didn’t really know what to say. Until – he used his apparently triumph-card: “We are checking for terrorist activity!” But, at this stage his deputy burst out in laughter, and we actually did the same. It was so funny – just the thought made us laugh. Terrorist activity here? What goal? There is nothing, apart from… yes, apart from what…. We are peaceful birders from Denmark – we are not TALIdanes; this we thought was funny, and we laughed even more. But we knew that the sheriff shouldn’t lose his face so we tried our best to be serious – and within ten minutes we had forgotten the embarrassing situation, and talked about wind & weather… and when they left, we had his “blessing” for birding everywhere in the village – even armed with binoculars and cameras.
Two years ago, we had a similar episode. When it happened it was not that funny. We made a lunch stop, and some of my fellow birders went down the road while we prepared the food. I had asked them to be cautious as we where near a police-control a kilometer away. Everything went smooth, until half of them returned – strolling with the hands in their pockets… “Hey, can you remember the call of the Eastern Rock Nuthatch?” they asked. We talked about the bird a minute or two – when one of them said: “By the way, Eric and Erling have been arrested by a man with a machine gun down the road. We think you should go down there and talk with him…” No need to say – we quickly went off! After a long conversation, where the border police arrived – and long explanations, we quickly left the area. There was a big reservoir nearby and a damn – according the authorities opinion a potential target for terrorist activity! Well – a group of middle-aged men in shorts and sandals doesn’t look that dangerous – but on the other hand.
Of course we understand – it’s for our own safety
Mic
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Right. That’s it. I’m sticking to my back garden.
As a birder I found this a compelling and entertaining read. Many thanks!
/No horror stories to tell, here. Thankfully. Plenty of good bird ones, but no run-ins.
And it isn’t just birders that attract the attention of those that ‘serve and protect’ – Larry’s tale of his brother’s adventures – and failed appeals – serve as a caution to us all:
“My brother, who is a lawyer and entomologist, was arrested at gunpoint, thrown to ground and handcuffed by Scarsdale police (where he lives) while “beetling” in woods because someone (supposedly in a passing car but no doubt in a nearby house) thought he was suspicious and had a knife. (He did have a knife–he used to strip bark off dead trees to find the beetles. As he pointed out in his lawsuits against the Scarsdale police, there is no law against having a knife in the woods). As a lawyer at a high-powered law firm he was able to finance a suit with top-notch legal advice, which he lost, and an appeal to the Court of Appeals, which he lost. Not on the law, but on post-9/11 anxiety if one reads between the lines of the decisions.
Moral: You’re much better off birding in state parks, NWRs, WMAs, or where there are lots of people around, rather than “skulking about” (as it is perceived) on non-recreational (albeit public) land and if you find yourself confronted by the police, keep your hands where they can see them.
Larry
Brooklyn, NY”
And this tale with the ‘expert’ Police officer’s insistence that ‘birds aren’t found in winter’ illustrates how the ignorance of others can have unfortunate consequences:
“Hi, While I was birding on the Rumney Marsh west of Rte.107 yesterday, someone in
one of the houses that back up onto the marsh called the Saugus police because
they thought I was looking at their house. The police arrived just after I had
exited the marsh at Bristow and Beachview Streets. I was arrested on trumped up
charges after being thrown to the ground with my brand new Bushnell Ex Explorer
binoculars around my neck!
This after telling the officer what I had been doing, and listing for him the
birds I saw. He kept insisting that birds aren’t seen in winter. My binoculars
are being held as evidence, and this is after I had told the booking officer
that they were brand new and disclosed the price. The charges are disorderly
conduct, resisting arrest(even though I was never told that I was under arrest)
and assaulting an officer.(my brother says I can kiss my binoculars goodbye).
Paul
Boston”
More fun and games with airport security – particularly coming back from south America into the continental US – and somehow I find Tim’s experience with the Ecuadorean notion of a typical ‘American drug courier’ might just be those folks getting their own back in the treatment meted out to their citizens when they enter the US:
“Ah, airport security is a whole other issue. I’ve certainly had my share
of agents wanting to look through binoculars to make sure nothing was
hidden inside them, which is no big deal.
More fun was coming back from Ecuador in ’08. First I had the security
agent who pulled me aside to hand search my luggage – not fun, since I’d
barely managed to fit everything in & was now going to have to repack it,
but when he held up one of my brand new Gortex hiking shoes in one hand &
pulled a corkscrew out of his pocket with the other… eep! Luckily the
older agent with him shook his head & stopped him before he drilled a hole
into the sole of it.
Repacked & luggage checked, I proceeded through the regular security line
with no problem. I watched the sniffer dog & his handler make a tour
through the waiting area & walk past me with no reaction at all. Less than
five minutes later, however, another agent approached & asked me to follow
him. I was taken to a security room, had my carry-on searched (for the 2nd
time now, plus the regular security x-ray), & then I was X-rayed.
Thankfully things didn’t go any further than that.
Although I apparently fit the official Ecuadorian profile of ‘American
drug courier’, I found security in Colombia to be a (relative) breeze &
received no special attention.
Best security story I have, though? Coming back from Puerto Vallarta 2
days after 9/11 (I’d been scheduled to fly back the day of the attacks),
crossing the border by land into San Diego as I hadn’t been able to rebook
a flight into the U.S., & watching my bag with a nice metal tube inside go
through the security x-ray & elicit no reaction whatsoever. ‘Secure’ I
did not feel.
And the Novoflex rifle-stock telescopic shoulder-mount for telescopic lenses must be singlehandedly responsible for getting more bird photographers in trouble than any other device known to man – or woman – as this quip from John in New Mexico shows – and his advice to always be especially careful around nervous soldiers (particularly those of the Special Firces kind) is sound advice:
“In 1978 was my one chance to visit Hawaii on the cheap: my brother-in-law was stationed at Wheeler Air Force Base in the middle of Oahu, so he and my sister invited me out to stay with them in base housing.
On arriving at the base, I went to the security office to get checked in and issued a pass. When I mentioned my interest in birdwatching, the officer on duty suggested that I would be out of the way if I visited an old airstrip that had not been used
since WW2, which turned out to be a great place to watch Cattle Egrets hunting in a skirmish line.
However, I did not mention that I was also a bird photographer. Had I done so, they would have mentioned that it was forbidden to take pictures of the flight line.
One day on my way back from the old airstrip, I spotted what turned out to be my life European Skylark, leapt out of the car, and started blazing away with the camera. The skylark was actually flying in a circle around me, so as I pivoted around to
shoot at the bird, I was pointing it in all directions, including at the nearby flight line.
My camera rig at the time was a Novoflex, which my military friends tell me looks remarkably like a grenade launcher.
A short distance away was a large building labeled “Special Forces.” At one point I noticed that a soldier who had just stepped out of the building looked in my direction, did a double-take, and ran back into the building.
Shortly thereafter I noticed that there were three jeeps in a skirmish line moving slowly toward me, stopping often to check me out. Eventually they convinced themselves that what I was wielding was only a camera and came over to escort my to the brig until my brother-in-law could come in and vouch for me.
Good birding, and be especially careful around nervous soldiers!
John
Socorro, NM”
…………..and THIS is why I made my rather facetious comment.
Just prior to Christmas 2008 I was trying to get through the security scanner at Perth (Oz) airport. I was alone and knew that some expensive equipment had gone though-out of line of site. (They held my handbag after running it through once-I still don’t know why).
I went through the body scanner to check on the equipment, ( those scanning conveyors should be angled so that BOTH sides are visible. A friend at Heathrow ‘lost’ her camera equipment when she finally got everything through. What were security going to do? Halt all the flights and search the passengers? They didn’t care! This has happened on numerous occasions with these stupid scanners conveyors).
Bag still held on the other side. …….I took my technical stuff back through. It/I scanned again. Handbag still held.
I am trying desperately to keep an eye on both sides–I go back through and ask about the bag -it is holding a fair amount of cash, and numerous passengers were literally brushing up against it.
The handbag goes through-no problem!?! My equipment goes through for the third time. They held it?
I tried. God knows I tried to stay calm. It is Christmas chaos- BUT the equipment had been scanned TWICE before.
I am asked to unpack a so carefully packed bag. I start pulling things out-and knew that I was losing it. They send me to the end table that faces the scanner T-junction style.
I held the bag right up in the air and shook the bloody thing! Expensive equipment was spilling onto the floor and in all directions. They called security.
A delightful creature in full combat gear arrives -and they circle me advising that I had gone back through the body scanner twice so it was my fault! I advised them that it was irrelevant. The equipment bag had been scanned/cleared twice and then held on the third occasion. (They found nothing). I explained why I had tried to observe both sides. (During this flurry a couple also held, simply wandered of to their plane-’the system’ was too busy ‘teaching me a lesson’. What was also skin prickling was the two blokes who came through-the ‘lighter’ skinned of them whispering to me: “that’s how it’s done; create a diversion”.. what do you do? Say to these ‘security’ people ‘guess what that bloke just said to me’?? They weren’t listening.
I asked if I could now go? Combat boy says no. So I jumped up and sat on the table with these people simply watching me. I told combat boy that if ever he was out of work, he could find a good job in a strip club, slowly peeling off his gear. He wasn’t amused.
I am a lawyer. I knew that the CCTV would support everything I had said- and they knew that too. If there was something in that bag, why clear it twice?
Combat boy would not let me go, I asked him if he was going to give me 100 lines? He stared at me. It was a stand off designed to get me to miss my plane.
I always come extra, extra early…………
Combat boy then exaggeratedly tells me I can go..’and thanks for my cooperation’.
I tell him to uck foff! (I’m a community lawyer not a snotty Corporate!!) I expected the hand on the shoulder;-it never came.
I had a very pleasant flight home…
ANYONE could have got onto a plane fairly easily during that little exercise in trying to ‘bring me to heel’.
___________________________
However folks-now you know that I won’t go beyond the backyard. I am only to completely aware that my solution is to put my head down and – CHARGE!!!
it’s not just bird watchers either out Hatt rd either. A colleague at work told me that he was hassled by the federal police whilst doing disability support work. He’d visited the Aboriginal reserve just down the road and was about to take a guy in a wheelchair for a walk around and was hassled by the Feds and asked for his name and details to put down in their books.
And another time as they were walking the park too fed police were spotted with binoculars spying on them.
Guess that’s what you do when your bored out there!
Oops! ‘…out of line of >sight< '.
Oops!! ‘….out of line of >sight< '.
Third try to post.
Oops!! ‘….out of line of >sight< '.
………………………
AGAIN:
Oops!! ‘….out of line of >sight< '.
( I am having it seems, an INCREASING problem trying to get a post to…er, post.
………um, all I wanted to do was correct an error: ‘….out of line of >sight< '.
And perhaps add that the experiences that we have shared here, seem to show that the greatest threat seems to come from the 'protect and serve' mob!
I am not a bird-watcher. But because my garden is verdant, I am blessed with two or three nests each year. That has piqued my interest in the behaviour of these feathery folk!
Given the trouble some of you guys have experienced, and given my bull-headedness, I will literally avoid going to far afield! And I could get hooked on it, I prefer the company of birds to people!!
………um, all I wanted to do was correct an error: ‘….out of line of >sight< '.
And perhaps add that the experiences that we have shared here, seem to show that the greatest threat seems to come from the 'protect and serve' mob!
I am not a bird-watcher. But because my garden is verdant, I am blessed with two or three nests each year. That has piqued my interest in the behaviour of these feathery folk!
Given the trouble some of you guys have experienced, and given my bull-headedness, I will literally avoid going to far afield! And I could get hooked on it, I prefer the company of birds to people!!
“Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!”
I wish!
Elan – and she may not be alone – is appearing to have some problems with posting – so I’m posting her relayed message on her behalf:
“………um, all I wanted to do was correct an error: ‘….out of line of >sight< ‘.
And perhaps add that the experiences that we have shared here, seem to show that the greatest threat seems to come from the ‘protect and serve’ mob!
I am not a bird-watcher. But because my garden is verdant, I am blessed with two or three nests each year. That has piqued my interest in the behaviour of these feathery folk!
Given the trouble some of you guys have experienced, and given my bull-headedness, I will literally avoid going to far afield! And I could get hooked on it, I prefer the company of birds to people!!”
……………….thank-you Bob………………………..??
!!!!!!!!!!
and here is a link to the kind of kit you wouldn’t want to be using too often nowadays: http://www.petapixel.com/2010/05/04/odd-russian-photosniper-camera/