Perhaps Michael had the problems from last year in mind or other equally disturbing incidents?

http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1012&L=MOU-NET&T=0&F=&S=&P=2549

It is easy enough to contact folks off-list for specific locations if they are forthcoming, but I think it makes sense to limit specifics.

From his post last December (photographers chime in on the thread linked above):

> When we hear about people any where in Minnesota who are disturbing birds or 
> being destructive on public lands for example ripping branches off trees to get 
> better photos of a roosting owls, rip branches off live trees for perches, over 
> tape use, using fishing poles with artificial bait that look like mice on the 
> end of the fishing line to tease owls to get flight shots, or basically any act 
> that is doing harm to the environment or to the birds we are asked to document 
> the event and expose these people. Well below is documentation of how three 
> people in the Sax-Zim Bog decided to be selfish and to manipulate an area in the 
> Sax-Zim Bog to get photos of birds.
> 
> Well today I was guiding two people and we were coming south on the Admiral Rd.  
> I was intrigue to see the newly erected feeders that were placed up on Thursday 
> of this week. My friend Jim emailed me to inform me that he will be maintaining 
> the Admiral Rd feeding station this year as the person who created the feeding 
> site decided not to continue maintaining the site this winter.  Jim inform me he 
> put up a large platform feeder with black oil sunflower seeds on the tree that 
> was previous used in the past. The platform feeder was NOT nailed to the tree 
> but it was hung up instead and Jim also put up a large onion sack full of beef 
> suet chunks on the same tree or possibly the tree across the road where in past 
> a suet feeder was hung up there that attracted Boreal Chickadees.
> 
> So I am coming down Admiral Road and I see a group of three photographers at the 
> site. I get out of the car and the platform feeder was taken down, the suet bag 
> was on top of a make shift snow bank along the side of the road with the 
> platform feeder on top of the suet bag!  I inform that the feeders belong to Jim 
> XXXX and they said not much accept they will put the feeders back up when they 
> are done photographing the birds. I asked why they moved the feeders ?, and they 
> said they took the suet feeder down because they wanted to concentrate the birds 
> to one spot rather than having the birds go to both feeders. They moved the 
> platform feeder off the tree because they wanted to set the platform feeder so 
> they can get a better background with the perches they set up. I looked at their 
> set up with fresh branches clipped to tripods right over the platform feeder so 
> they can get some photos.  As I walked into the snow to hang up my suet feeders 
> on the tree that I know Boreal Chickadees used last year I noticed the tree 
> branches were ripped off that tree and the ground where they were standing were 
> full of ripped branches!  I looked at the perches they used on the tripods and 
> saw they matched the areas where they ripped them off and the branches on the 
> ground were branches they decided not to use for perches.
> 
> Yes they are professional photographers because all of them have websites that 
> sell photos they took and all their websites talk about how they have respect 
> for wildlife, the environment and how they create "natural" photos of wildlife.  
> 
> 
> http://colderbythelakebirding.blogspot.com/2010/12/destructive-photograhers.html 
> ( to see the photos )
> 
> Its not just ripping off branches of live trees to get perches that angers me 
> but to interfere with someone else feeders they put up to feed the birds and to 
> deliberately concentrate birds to one area so they can get photos to me is wrong 
> and I think everyone on this listserv would agree.  If they want to manipulate 
> birds they should create their own feeding station in their own neck of the 
> woods!  This Admiral Rd site is a good site to photograph birds and see Boreal 
> Chickadees very close up but I ask that when you bird the Sax-Zim Bog please do 
> not interfere with any bird feeding stations on private land or in this case on 
> county land.  
> 
> 
> Who are these photographers?  They are Derek Griggs, Chad Griggs and Chad 
> Gustafson.  I ask everyone to boycott purchasing their photos for any type of 
> publication!  I been inform that their photos will NEVER be used for publication 
> in the Loon which is good news and I hope other sources will follow suit.

Bill Kahn
a Minneapolis, sometime birder
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