Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!voder!pyramid!sandra
From: sandra@pyrtech (Sandra Macika)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Plain-capped Starthroat & Monument Policy
Message-ID: <81945@pyramid.pyramid.com>
Date: 24 Aug 89 23:24:06 GMT
Sender: daemon@pyramid.pyramid.com
Reply-To: sandra@pyrtech.pyramid.com (Sandra Macika)
Organization: Pyramid Technology Corp., Mountain View, CA
Lines: 38

In article <309@opus.NMSU.EDU> lrasmuss@nmsu.edu (Linda Rasmussen) writes:
>On August 15 we caught a rare glimpse of the Plain-capped Starthroat, a
>casual visiting hummingbird from Mexico.  It was at the Coronado National
>Monument in Arizona, about 20 miles south of Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca
>Mountains.
>
>3 of us were
>right at the feeder when it appeared, and the monument employee ID'd it
>immediately while the rest of us were still thinking "huh..?"---but what
>was strange--and the purpose of this little story-was that the first thing
>the monument person said was "DON'T TELL ANYBODY."  We found out that the
>starthroat had been coming regularly for weeks.
>
>Apparently the Natl.Monument wants to keep their bird information under
>wraps because birdwatching is "not the purpose of the monument" and they
>don't want lots of birders showing up looking for things (this despite
>the fact that they have several feeders, a little pool, and an observation
>window set up at the building).  
>
>Doesn't this seem a bit odd?  Both times we were there there were no other
>visitors in the building, and only a couple of cars in the lot.  Any
>business--whether for birds, or for the seeker-of-gold Coronado--I would think
>would be welcome.  But what is most disturbing is the attempt to strangle
>the flow of information on rare sightings.  This is public (national) property
>is it not?  Has anyone come across this before?
>
>So...if you're in SE Arizona, be sure to check out the Coronado monument.
>Just because nothing is on the bird alert tape doesn't mean nothing
>is there.
>
>
>         Linda Rasmussen                  lrasmuss@dante.nmsu.edu
>         New Mexico State University           (505)646-5598

Did you make any of these comments to the employee? What was the response?
Was this just one employees ideas or the position of the Monument Keepers?

Sandra