Broad-billed Hummingbird, Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Superior, Arizona, USA

On a recent outing to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, near Superior, Arizona, USA I was stunned and utterly amazed by the poor manners and shear disregard for others displayed by some birders and by some bird photographers. I had arrived early at the Arboretum to photograph a rare, hybrid hummingbird. I had set up my 500mm lens with 2x teleconverter near some red flowers in the butterfly and hummingbird garden. I used this particular rig so as to give the hummingbird some breathing room. As I was setting up, a small crowd began to gather in the garden awaiting the arrival of the hummingbird.

A Broad-billed Hummingbird (image at right) alighted in a bush behind the flowers where I had set up. I switched on my flash and fired off a couple of images. Those were the first, last, and only hummingbird images I was to make that day and I never did get to view the hybrid hummingbird. At the sound of my motor drive and the flash of light, the whole crowd raced each other to observe and photograph the hummingbird. If it weren't such a bad display of human nature the scene would have almost been comical! Photographers with shorter focal length lenses literally stepped in front of me and one man from Germany actually pushed me aside stating he had come all the way from Germany to photograph the hybrid hummer and I was not going to get in his way! (Inwardly, I was glad this wasn't the hybrid and I hope the German fellow returned home with a hundred images of the wrong hummingbird!)

As you might imagine, the poor hummingbird fled the scene! Once again the crowd dispersed except for one midlle-aged lady who kept charging back and forth in front of the flowers in a continuous and disruptive search for the hummingbird. Disgusted, I packed off with my gear to explore the rest of the Arboretum.

Is this an extreme example of bad behavior? Yes, I think so but I have noticed that rude manners and bad observing/photography behavior is on the increase. There seems to be an ever increasing contingent of birders and bird photographers whose only concern is to make that next check mark for a new species on their "life list" regardless of the toll on the targeted bird and regardless of the inconvenience to fellow birders and bird photographers. Here are some "do's" and "don'ts" while in the field:

• First and foremost! Don't engage in any activity that will unduly stress, or seriously affect the survival of, the bird being observed or photographed. The welfare of the subject must come first. Birds live a precarious life with high metabolisms and equally high stress levels. I've observed people shouting at birds, running after birds, and even throwing handfulls of gravel at birds to make birds move to more convenient observing locations. No, no, no!
• Don't become part of a crowd that may be waiting to observe or photograph a bird. The more people about the more the bird may become stressed. Sometimes this has caused birds to abandon necessary feeding areas. Wait and go back later and your observations and photographs of the bird's behavior will be more natural.
• Do observe or photograph birds quietly. Half the charm of birding and bird photography is observing the bird going about its daily routine and exhibiting its natural behavior. There is much to be learned from, and about, bird behavior.
• Don't approach a fellow birder or bird photographer while they are concentrating on observing or photographing a bird. Seems like common sense but I can't count how many times I will be approached, unsolicited, by other birders wanting to know if I'm "looking at anything good"! By the time these thoughtless people have made their approach, my bird of interest will have flown the coop. Besides upsetting the bird, these thoughtless people have ruined my experience and have tried my patience.
• If you must approach another birder or bird photographer, do approach quietly and slowly while, all the time, observing the behavior of the bird being observed or photographed. Back off slowly or stop your approach at the first sign of any nervousness displayed by the bird being observed or photographed. Don't needlessly ruin the opportunity or experience of the person originally observing or photographing the bird. Exhibit some patience and self-restraint. There are plenty of birds to go around and you will have your time and opportunity to make your own observations or photographs undisturbed.
• Preferably, do make an attempt to discreetly attract the attention of the other birder or photographer before you intrude on their observing session. Many times another birder will allow you to approach but, if permission is not granted, respect the wishes of the original observer. Don't throw a tantrum as I have observed some birders to throw!
• There are times when it is impossible not to intrude on another birder's observations. Perhaps the birder or bird photographer is observing or photographing from the middle of a public access trail and you must pass by to travel to your own destination. First, do stop and wait for a minute or two to allow your fellow birder to finish his/her observations. If it looks like it will take longer then do try to discreetly attract the other birder's attention befor you pass by. Failing any attempts to attract the other birder's attention, pass by slowly, quietly, and don't stop to make your own observations. Doing so is intrusive and almost guarantees the subject of observation will depart.
• If a photographer is photographing a bird, don't intrude on the other photographer while he is shooting! Again, this should be common courtesy and common sense. Photographing birds is a highly personal pursuit that requires the utmost concentration of the photographer. Anything that disturbs this concentration can spoil the photo opportunity and can spoil the experience for the photographer. Nothing distresses me more than to have another photographer approach without my knowledge or consent and start banging off images. I especially have no tolerance for those photographers that not only horn-in on my photo opportunity but also continue to approach my subject more closely cutting off my view and scaring off the subject.
• Don't approach another photographer and start talking about photographic equipment! In the field is not the time or place for these discussions. In the field is time to recreate, refresh, and recharge the inner batteries. Leave equipment discussions to the end of the day.
• If you are intruded upon, don't make it worse by creating a scene. Nothing worthwhile is ever achieved through conflict. There will be other days and other opportunities. Do calmly explain common courtesy to the intruder and leave it at that.

Violet-crowned Hummingbird x Broad-billed Hummingbird hybrid. Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Superior, Arizona, USA

The popular birding sites are increasingly becoming more crowded every year. Adhering to proper etiquette and just plain common sense will continue to make birding and bird photography an enjoyable and rewarding pastime. Have I ever "broken the rules". Sadly, I have to answer "Yes". Accidents do happen and we sometimes will inadvertantly intrude on another birder. I had been photographing shorebirds during a long, hot afternoon session at the Gilbert Water Ranch, Gilbert, Arizona, USA. I was scorched, beat, staring at the ground, and nearly dragging my camera gear as I was heading back to my truck to go home. Suddenly a Burrowing Owl burst from near my feet and I was jerked back to reality by the many groans, sighs, and expletives I heard from some nearby photographers. I had inadvertantly stumbled right through a Burrowing Owl at its burrow that a local camera club had visited the Water Ranch to photograph. I apologized profusely to the photographers and beat a hasty retreat in the hopes that the owl would return. If you inadvertantly intrude on someone, apologize immediately and leave. Keep your head up so that you don't make that blunder again.

Did I ever get to photograph the hybrid hummingbird? Yes, I did. (See image, above right.) I returned to the Arboretum two days later. There was stil a crowd but it was a much better behaved, though still distracting, crowd. I returned for a third time to the Arboretum and, luckily, arrived before a crowd gathered and I was able to make all the images I wanted.