I derive great pleasure when looking at Arctic-hatched immature sandpipers during the fall months, the birds oblivious to the hulking mammal (that would be me) that outweighs them by thousands of times, allowing for a close approach and excellent views.
They don’t recognize me as any kind of creature that they need to be concerned about. In relation to their fast and mobile life, I am like a sloth. I am likely the first human these birds have ever come in contact with, and grateful for the experience! Fortunately, I only want to shoot them with a camera - but in other parts of the world, especially on some Caribbean Islands, the birds I photograph are getting slaughtered still in the year 2013. French Martinique and Barbados stand out as egregious, lawbreaking examples, where they shoot, kill and eat more birds each fall than pass by most areas in our region, ignoring the international laws protecting these vulnerable species and shooting tens of thousands annually in the fall. It is an outrage.
Without getting lured in by trapped live birds of their own species and killed, I often fantasize about what a marvelous trip it would be to have their bird’s eye view as they wing their way from the top of the planet to the tropics and beyond. Navigating the length and breadth of two continents - no wonder they fascinate the earthbound observer.
This week's Bird Report was originally broadcast November 6, 2013.
