So a person set a GoPro at the entrance to a burrowing owl's burrow.

Here's a photo I made--shot from an ethical distance--of a burrowing owl south of the Salton Sea last fall. Note that the owl is relaxed and looking around as they do early in the morning. If I were too close, the owl would be hunkering down staring at the camera or would have dived into its burrow.

#Birds #Owl #BirdPhotography #Wildlife #Photography #Darktable

@elaterite @ahimsa_pdx I love these guys so much

So a person set a GoPro at the entrance to a burrowing owl's burrow. There are dozens of comments about what a fantastic photo it is. Having photographed burrowing owls--from an ethical distance--near the Salton Sea ag fields, I know my friend Wendy down there would be horrified, as am I, by what the photographer did. It is wrong to disturb any bird to get-the-shot. The only reason to approach a burrow is to plant a small flag warning people--& tractors--to steer clear. https://www.flickr.com/photos/wemesq/with/54997651429

Here's a photo I made--shot from an ethical distance--of a burrowing owl south of the Salton Sea last fall. Note that the owl is relaxed and looking around as they do early in the morning. If I were too close, the owl would be hunkering down staring at the camera or would have dived into its burrow.

#Birds #Owl #BirdPhotography #Wildlife #Photography #Darktable

@elaterite Hey owls have privacy rights too.

@elaterite I don't think a GoPro is that intrusive. They are tiny, silent cameras.

Here's a photo I made--shot from an ethical distance--of a burrowing owl south of the Salton Sea last fall. Note that the owl is relaxed and looking around as they do early in the morning. If I were too close, the owl would be hunkering down staring at the camera or would have dived into its burrow.

#Birds #Owl #BirdPhotography #Wildlife #Photography #Darktable

@elaterite That is a cracking shot, Bob Really nice work 🤩

@mlanger It's not the camera, it's a person going to the mouth of the burrow, twice, to "get the shot." It is not ethical. It traumatizes the owls. They either fly away for a time, using energy they otherwise didn't need to use, or they dive into the burrow and don't come out for awhile. Ethical wildlife photographers stay back. If the bird or animal shows any sign of being disturbed, you step back further or go away and try again some other time.

@elaterite It's interesting that we're having a discussion about ethics when ethics doesn't seem to exist anymore in this world.

When I was learning to fly helicopters, the airport had a bunch of burrowing owls, some of which lived within 100 feet of the active helipads. I'm thinking that wildlife adapts to conditions. Perhaps this photographer placed and fetched his camera at night when the birds were sleeping? We don't know.