You have raised discussion around species sensitive to disturbance and trampling of orchids, etc, several times before, your opinion generally being very much against people withholding information on the localities of such species.
You are aware that some of these birds do suffer genuine disturbance to the extent of abandoning roost sites on occasion. Perhaps even more serious, you are aware that trampling is one of the main threads facing orchids with quite a number of conservation groups attributing trampling by visitors to severe declines in the species. Requests for visitors to remain on paths are frequently ignored as are limitations on access by areas being fenced off, certain persons simply climbing over anyhow.
In the face of this, persons are often very reluctant to share information and organisations have requested that sites are not shared. You yourself have been very critical of these measures.
In light of all above, when a minority clearly doesn't care very much about the welfare of the species they observe, what do you propose to help protect them? Perhaps naming and shaming is somewhat unsavoury, but if it helps protect vulnerable species, I'd say it is a price worth paying. In the case of camera traps with warning signs at orchid sites, a very good idea - should be more.
First and foremost, signage can and will go a long way. One trip last year saw me talk to a couple which accidentally flushed a short-eared owl because they had no idea they roosted there. Raising the issue with the site manager resulted in a response that claimed it is better to avoid signage to avoid attracting any attention at all (despite the roost location leaking repeatedly on BirdGuides). I disagree with him- if people know the owls will be disturbed, most of them will stay a way back. For those that do not, other ways come into play.
Another popular owl site, Burwell Fen, is a fenced-off field, automatically keeping people out of the field. Nevertheless, I have had a short-eared owl fly directly overhead here, and a short-eared owl landed 5-10 meters nearby as well this winter. Fencing off the Eldernell roost area with an additional fence will go a long way to reducing disturbance. If someone trespasses on the private land nearby to get closer, then it is a simple manner of calling the police, as should have been done last year when some people chased three short-eared owls off their roosts instead of photographing the people.
And probably the only way to mitigate this disturbance behaviour is to put up additional fencing, set up an RSPB watchpoint, and advertise it to the public afterwards.
A slightly similar approach was done with another long-eared owl site nearby, which has now become the best place to see these owls. Me posting a certain owl image on Twitter resulted in my photo being retweeted by a wildlife trust running that reserve who also revealed the location (which I did not disclose in my post). This place is highly suitable to avoid disturbance, because the birds roost on the other side of a wide river or in a tree which is 'fenced off' from a hide by a massive thorny bush.
However, I now actually
endorse concealing locations when I believe there is genuine, legitimate harm in letting people know a location. This is why I do not disclose the site where I got incredible views of a long-eared owl this winter, because nearby Eldernell is better suited for crowds of people. I know a lot of sensitive sites from wildlife, which range from a barn owl nestbox in East Anglia to the eyrie of a Bonelli's eagle in Spain, and guard these secrets carefully.
Orchids. In 2022, someone trusted me with the location of what I call the UK's rarest orchid- two spikes of Serapias bergonii in Suffolk. There are only two flowers in the UK, and these were not planted there. Considering it is possible they got here naturally, a single post with the location online could result in the entire UK population being wiped out by an orchid collector in about a few seconds. So far, it seems to have passed unnoticed, this site. But in 2022, one of the spikes was stomped flat and, to make sure it didn't survive, a deer ate it. The same year, the Kent colony I mentioned, long-lipped serapias, was wiped out by a weedkiller attack, as was a colony of protected lizard orchids in my city.
Also, in 2021 someone leaked the location of a critically rare morph of the early marsh orchid. This resulted in 10% of the UK population being dug up by thieves that year. Last year, I saw traces of thieves stealing late spider orchids from a Kent site, with holes in the ground where there were orchids, and protective cages thrown to the side. I have actually emailed website managers where these locations were being leaked and asking to conceal them.
In light of such events, I fully support hiding the location of rare orchid species and have also concealed the locations of rare fungi from sites, such as oldrose bolete, because they are extremely rare. Similarly, I hide most of my favourite birdwatching locations which involve sensitive species like the goshawk.
Taking photos of people and shaming them publically should not be done under any circumstances, as in my opinion such activity could result in a risk of serious harm to the individual being photographed. Many social media websites, such as Twitter, ban such behaviour.
Absolutely, and I don't know the geography of this site, but often "the top of the bank" has you silhouetted against the sky and capable of flushing anything in a huge radius, compared with being down in the long grass
Some guidebooks raise this issue, with one suggesting to not break the skyline to avoid disturbing the ducks and geese, which are on the other side of the bank to the owls.
The photograph that I saw showed a stationary individual with a long lens on a Tripod on the public side of the fence at the bottom of the bank at the well known Eldernell site with the words "If only I could get closer to the LEOs". It confirmed that he was not the only individual and confirmed that there were no signs asking people to stay at the top of the bank.
As John has explained, if you see behaviour that you may consider to be illegal or inappropriate, then photographic evidence is likely to be important but report it through the correct channels. That is not social media. Sometimes that can be frustrating being passed from pillar to post. Natural England/landowner/please report to police etc... You are protected from defamation in such circumstances.
Ironically that is the same photograph that I saw and I then requested the poster that they immediately take it down. And I fully agree with you. In the winter, reporting it will not work, unfortunately, for obvious reasons. But many of these birds are Schedule 1 species which are protected by law in the summer. In this case, simply calling the police will land the offender in serious trouble without the need to post photos and start a witch-hunt on Twitter, where there are some seriously nasty people you are just giving away what someone looks like to.
Eldernell specifically, the best thing to do is set up a manned RSPB watchpoint. Put fences between the bank and the hedge. Plus if it comes to that the amount of money made from parking charges will surely justify these expenses.
To prevent a stampede at other locations, advertise Eldernell as 'the' place to see long-eared owls. So even if something leaks most people will still go here, which will be better suited for large gatherings of people.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
