Let’s Hear It For Humility

“Area Closed/Protected Natural Area.”

Just being a fan of the natural world’s beauties doesn’t mean you’re a friend of nature. Some people think their photography or their bird lists are more important than anything else. But no, they aren’t, not by a long shot. Primary is the care, caution, and respect we pay to the world we’ve done so much to harm. Humility dictates that we come second.

Photographers can sometimes be quite egregious, and bird-watchers get hopping mad about them, but there are also bird-watchers who trample and trespass, pound on trees to stir up owls, play recordings of birds during breeding season, and otherwise throw ethics under the SUVs of their ego and/or their wallets.