It’s sad but true; some people just don’t deserve to be able to visit as marvelous a birding Mecca as Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Why? Because simple rules, like staying on the paths, is too much for some people, people who feel entitled to walk wherever they feel like no matter what harm they may cause. What am I talking about? Well, take a look at this photograph, taken from the trail on the south side of the West Pond on Sunday, looking east along the south shore of the pond.
I was at Jamaica Bay with Seth and we were birding with Dave when we started seeing ducks swimming and herons flying, and gulls fleeing from the shore to our right. Then the guy in the picture above popped out of the bushes and lied down and started trying to get shots of a Forster’s Tern. In his defense the refuge staff had cut back some weeds between the path and the pond’s edge and the area wasn’t well signed, which is why Seth walked over and politely let the guy know he shouldn’t be at the water’s edge flushing everything in a wildlife refuge.
Later, when we three birders were on the other side of the pond a host of birds came flying over and we joked that the guy must be at the water’s edge again. Little did we know that we were probably right because later, when Seth and I returned to our original spot, we watched the jerk make his way to the water’s edge again, this time on the northwest side of the pond.
This is the point at which the guy went from being a guy enjoying the day and the birds to a full-fledged jerk. He knew the rules (Seth had made sure of that) but he still thought that the fact that he wanted pictures from close up outweighed the rights of the creatures for whom the refuge exists and other people who would like to enjoy seeing some wildlife without it being scared away from the pond. So, if you see this guy, make sure he knows he is a jerk.
On the way out Seth and I ran into some park rangers and let them know of the situation but they didn’t seem overly concerned, which, sadly, seems to be the status quo at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge of late.
A gem of a place like Jamaica Bay only stays as great as it is for birds and other wildlife because people respect the rules and the wildlife. In a city as big as New York City it is amazing that we have such a wonderful place to visit and it drives me nuts to see jerks like this guy disrespect the place and get away with it, which is the only reason his image is posted here. Hopefully, someone will see this and recognize him and let him know just how inappropriate his behavior is.
C’mon! How do you know that the guy was not given any permission by a park attendant, for example (which would explain the response that you received)? Maybe he was a taking photos for a brochure to raise awareness about species on refuge or whatever . . . He was not shooting the waterfowl with bullets, after all!
At least the guy wasn’t taking pictures of strangers and ridiculing them on the internet. This is a new low for the blog. Please stick to the good stuff that you normally do.
If he was a professional doing his job he would have been doing it in a way that did not disturb the birds. Having taken images for a brochure, the last thing I wanted was birds flying away.
If he was a professional working with permission from the park, I would expect either he or the park employees would have made that clear when Seth and Corey objected.
I’m glad I don’t know the guy. Imagine the reaction! “Dude…saw your photo on 10,000 Birds and you were being a jerk.”
I’ve done the same thing on my blog. Stupidity and blatant disregard for rules (letting dogs run loose in a nature preserve is my most annoying encounter) always gets a mention (and a photo if I can get one) on my blog. If we, as nature lovers, don’t call these people out (seems that few park rangers feel inclined to intervene), then who will?
The jerk was definitely not a professional nature photographer. A professional jerk, maybe.
And I’m totally going to share this on Facebook. Let’s really advertise what not to do at a preserve!
You guys rock, by the way.
Our cameras are our best weapons when politeness fails.
Well stated, and sadly, his behavior (and mindset) is what to expect here.
I have so many photos of dogs and their owners running through shorebird flocks….
I hope this particular culprit is chastened when he sees this.
Putting people’s pics on websites is uncalled for. The internet is not the place to post pics of people for such activities. It’s not too much different than kids bullying each other on facebook, etc. You reported it to the ranger, they did not seem alarmed. Then complain to the authorities who are in charge of the refuge. I don’t agree with the person’s activities of disturbing the wildlife, but posting pics of people on a public website is childish. You don’t know who that man is. You don’t know his back ground, etc. I would be annoyed at his behavior, but I wouldn’t be childish and post his pic in my site.
This reminds me of when I used to work on the Farallon Islands in California, which is a closed Wildlife Refuge, allowing no recreational visitors due to its fragility and importance as a seabird colony (much to the annoyance of birders as the place is an awesome vagrant trap). While most people could read the MASSIVE signs at the two landing sites, occasionally people would blithely sail up and walk around and have to be escorted off the island.
LOL (well, smirking out loud) at people who think that calling out bad behavior is some kind of netiquette violation.
I think the guy’s lucky that a snapping turtle or swamp monster didn’t get him!
Anybody else read this?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/nyregion/22shoplift.html?hpw
Hmmm. Tough call on this one. No doubt the guy was a jerk, but beyond alerting the refuge staff there isn’t a whole lot you can do.
As for posting a photo of the guy, well you could be opening yourself up for more nastiness if he was to find out, since I doubt you got his permission to post his picture.
The people we should be angry at is the refuge staff, who obviously have no organizational oomph to enforce the policies of the refuge or have become apathetic.
I see nothing wrong with a little internet shaming, they guy was politely told of his transgression and instead of being respectful of others and the wildlife he felt he was entitled to do as he pleased. It is disappointing that the park rangers opted to do nothing.
Kudos to you for being brave enough to speak out! We allow this kind of thing to continue because people feel there are no consequences. There is no reason anyone who is courteous to others and who obeys the rules to fear that they would be held up to ridicule.
Ultimately this guy’s actions harmed the ability of others to enjoy a public amenity and disrupted the purpose of said amenity.
@Rick Wright, excellent article, except for the inappropriate title that was slapped on it!
@All, I do not think that it should be a “netiquette” issue, but it is more of a “just ’cause I seen what I seen means he guilty; no doubt about it” issue. Sorry guys. About this, I snark.
@sara: I was there. The guy’s actions were indefensible. He had no right to be where he was, he was informed of that, and then he did it again anyway.
He does not work for the refuge, he had no permit, and making up rationalizations as to why he might have been doing what he was doing is absurd. The guy is a jerk who was thinking only of himself.
Hopefully this post will serve to make others think twice before similarly violating the rules of a shared resource.
Fine. And hopefully this post will not portray to novice birders that we are a rather self-righteous and unforgiving lot or that we are the kind of people who jump to conclusions and onto the bandwagon just because the guy with the high traffic blog writes so.
Some of these folks protest too much, methinks.
I applaud Corey for publishing this. There are people who see disrespect and do nothing. Then there’s the people with balls.
I agree, Corey has BIG balls! I have felt this frustration myself, and it is a relief to see that it happens everywhere, not just in countries in South America. I hope there are signs on the refuge telling people to stay on the paths.
Well done BIG BALLS!
Hurray for freedom of expression!
I’m a bird photographer and while I do think my fellow birders sometimes do get overly righteous about the behavior of some photographers, I don’t see anything out of order here. The guy was warned, knew he was violating the refuge rules and did it again, clearly disturbing the wildlife.
I was actually birding at Jamaica Bay when Corey took these pictures, and was very annoyed by the same guy. He repeatedly approached to water’s edge (meaning that he was more than 100 yards off the path in places) and at one point flushed hundreds of birds to the center of the West Pond. Particularly at a high-traffic urban preserve, it is NOT ok to make an exception for yourself and repeatedly disturb wildlife in this way. I understand that some might have mixed feelings about this “exposé,” but given the fact that the guy was told the regulations and still disregarded them, I applaud the public shaming. Bravo!