I, too, was fortunate yesterday to see these two Black-necked Stilts. However, I’m wondering if all the birders visiting are stressing these birds. Almost the entire time I was there one of the birds (a female, I think) stood on the edge of the pond, near the nest, and softly called “kip-kip-kip”. It was calling so softly that at first I did not notice. Since she never stopped calling, I took that to mean that she was concerned about my presence. The other stilt stood preening about ten yards away, but did not call at all. Once I realized what was happening, I took one final look and left. We all hope that these birds will nest successfully. However, we birders may stress the birds to the degree that this nesting will be unsuccessful. It’s probably not realistic to expect that birder will not try to see these two stilts, but let’s be mindful that too much attention may lead to nest abandonment or inattentive parenting. The ABA Code of Ethics states: “To avoid stressing birds or exposing them to danger, exercise restraint and caution during observation, photography, sound recording, or filming.” Douglas Mayo ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html