The landowner's point of view - Glen Helgeland said it very well:
"I grew up on a Holstein and hogs farm and would like to offer a farmer's perspective on a group of people hanging around the fringes of his farm and acting strangely.
The whole problem would go away 99% of the time if birders would stop at the farmhouse first, introduce themselves and tell the farm family what they are doing or would like to do. This forestalls all sorts of questions and suspicions the farmer may have. All the farmer wants to know is why you're there and what you're doing, and he has a right to be concerned even if you are on a public land. You might even gain access to his private land for better birding. Birding is benign, from the farmer's point of view. He might even enjoy the information you can give him on birds on his farm at various times of the year. After all he's in a position to see them day after day.
Gifts to a farmer in return for the privilege of birding on his land? A birding book may continue his and his family's new interest and certainly will advance your cause. Anything else? Nah. It's tough to look sincere with anything else. Offering to help with farm work? Expect either alarm or amusement. So skip it. Farming is dangerous work. Unless you know the machinery and the animals, and are willing to sign a disclaimer, you'd be more of a liability than an asset.
Problems farmers encounter -
- A stopped car along the roadside too often results in another bag of trash being dropped off and left for someone else to clean up.
- The general public has little or no understanding of the need for closed gates and fencing. Ruts made by vehicles in soft soil are no fun to fill in, nor when they harden are they any fun to hit with a tractor, hay baler and wagon load of hay bales. For some reason, hayfield sometimes are viewed as great places to turn a vehicle around in. Hayfields are money, not parking lots or turn around places for vehicles.
- This may be difficult to believe, but cattle rustling still is big business. What better way to disguise a scouting trip than as a birder?
- Cattle in field CAN spook and run through fences. No fun retrieving them or fixing fences.
- People stopping, piling out from a vehicle, looking at something for a short while, then getting back into a vehicle and departing looks suspicious. Vehicles stop on rural roads, generally, to cause problems or because they have a problem. In addition to trash, that's where unwanted dogs and cats get dumped off. And with the prevalence of drugs and drug traffic and the growth of gangs in rural areas and the related growth of drug traffic ... there is legitimate cause for concern. Every stopped vehicle has to be suspected until proven otherwise. This is not rural paranoia; this is rural common sense.
- People will more often sneak onto property instead of asking permission. Fear of rejection, I guess. But a couple of sneak-ons or blithe walk-ons spoil it for everyone.
- Single-wire electric fences are difficult to see. The small posts holding the wires are difficult to see. Vehicles go through them without the drive even noticing them.
There are grumpy farmers. And everyone has bad hair days. But asking permission mends fences and removes barriers and makes friends. It shows respect, understanding, awareness, thoughtfulness and concern. There will be turn-downs, but not even Ty Cobb batted 1,000."
The WSO Board of Directors discussed the situation at its 23 October 1999 meeting, and strongly recommends that whenever a rare or uncommon bird (any bird you would call the hot line to report) is discovered on, or near, private property, that the person making the discovery go to the nearest residence to the sighting and let the owner know who you are, what you are doing, the bird you found, and why it is news. If the persons living in the residence are not the owners of the land where the bird is, they will probably know who is. But they are the ones most likely to be seeing all the visiting birders and it is only a common courtesy to let them know what's going on. If the owners of the land the bird is on live nearby, they should be informed about the bird also. It is suggested that you might give the landowner/neighbor a WSO Wisconsin Birds Field Checklist and a WSO brochure. Both of these items have names and addresses of someone in WSO whom they could contact if problems arise.
Only then, after the owner/neighbor has been alerted, should the person who
discovered the rare bird, alert the birding community - hotline, WisBirdNet,
birding friends. If the landowner insists that people are NOT welcome to
view birds on his property, even from public areas, respect his opinion and
do not report the bird to the world. If the person who discovers the bird is not sure of the identification, thinks it might be an unusual bird, but wants to get some expert to identify it first before telling the world, please do so. But then, either the finder or the expert, or both should tell the landowner/neighbor about the bird and what may occur with visiting birders.
The WSO Board also reminds all birders to respect private land. Stay on public
property to view the bird, unless the landowner invites you onto his land. Respect
any conditions the landowner might have about letting birders visit (where to
park, close gates, hours, etc.). And always remember to say "thank you" either
in person or with a note after the fact. The Board thanks you for adopting this
procedure whenever you find an uncommon bird, and for spreading the word to others
to do the same.
