Oh my, another asshole surfaces!

Well, here we go again, another asshole surfaces in my presence this week!

I hate to add that this one is another "wildlife photographer". I don't want to paint every person out there with a camera pointed at a bird to be an asshole; I'd really like to believe it is only a small percentage. But this guy didn't even try to be nice, didn't try to hide his asshole-ness one bit. He stormed on the scene bitching and squawking and as quickly as he entered the scene, he left almost as fast.

I guess since much of my free time is out in the wild, walking and looking, carrying my camera and binoculars. And with this, I encounter most other people through this venture. If I were a person who went to hockey games every week, I'd probably find an asshole at the arena quite often. Same with a bar. Or whatever other regular adventure I had in my life. Just throwing this bit in to keep it in mind with some not to think every person with a camera is most likely an asshole.

So, the jist of it is this...

A report of a red morph Eastern Screech Owl was made almost two weeks ago west of Toronto. I was off work yesterday and took the opportunity in the morning to go see it, especially after an email from a friend who informed me the little Owl was sunning himself like he seems to do most days.

I found the area with ease. Now to find the tree. I wasn't out of my truck more than a minute when a car pulled up and this man rolls down his window and asks me if I am looking for the Owl. I said "yes" and he pointed to a tree no more than 150 ft from where I parked. I thanked him because I had another tree in mind further off from the reports. He then drove off.

So, this was starting off very well. You know, not getting lost driving out here. Finding the area with the tree quick. And then someone taking the hunt out of it for me just like that. Sure I like the thrill of a "hunt" or as I put it, a nice walk.

I noticed another guy walking around with his camera. And he slowly approaches me. He kindly asked me if I knew the whereabouts of this Screech Owl.

Normally I don't like to share Owl locations, not for selfish reasons, but because how can I trust a total stranger? There are enough horror stories of people messing with Owls and I don't like to add to this problem.

But the Owl definitely was high enough in the tree that nobody could really harm or harass it. This guy's character seemed nice and genuine enough. And the fact someone pointed it to me, I decided to pay it forward to another.

We both took some photos, looked at it through our binoculars, marveled at it's beautiful coloring, and shared our own bird stories throughout the few minutes we had with the Owl in near full view.

Suddenly in comes this guy. He's got his camera, it's wrapped in something like bandages or gauze. I guess it's his way of protecting his lens? Anyways, he pretty much storms onto the scene. His walk is fast and aggressive. And he is immediately on a tangent about how there is a shadow across the Owl's face, there are branches in the way and whatever else. It was bitch bitch bitch nonstop.

The other gent I was with calmly suggested he take another look because we certainly did not see what he was going on about. I repeated the same bit. But the guy continued to stomp through, pretty much not listening to us, and headed right for the tree this Owl was roosting in.

I spoke louder as he was nearing the tree and asked him why he couldn't just enjoy the sighting we have because how often do most of us get to be in good full view of an Eastern Screech Owl?

Seemingly ignoring us still, he stomped right towards the tree, still cursing away.

The Owl took notice of this aggressive jackass and quickly disappeared into the tree. And then this guy disappeared down the hill.

Both myself and the other guy were quite stunned at what had just happened. But then laughed at the idiocy of this character. Here he had the perfect opportunity to have a great moment looking at this Owl and he chose not to. And he didn't ruin it for us. We had probably 5 minutes of viewing before he entered the scene. We enjoyed our brief moment with the Owl. And then had some comic relief with this asshole and his attitude.

Might as well laugh at them, eh? No harm was done.

People like this make me sad (not really)... did they ever take joy in the wildlife around us or is all about the photos? Why photograph something if you don't have a passion for it? His actions and words sure screamed nothing more than photographs.

Maybe he didn't like having a couple others looking at this Owl? If he saw us as a threat to the Owl, I am sure he would have said something about that instead of bad lighting and branches. And with the height of this Owl in the tree, one would have to stand well back to get a decent photograph. The closer one gets to the tree, the higher the angle they would have with the camera and certainly wouldn't get a shot.

Perhaps the height of the Owl pissed him off? He had a 300mm lens which would have been sufficient for a nice body shot after some cropping. I was happy seeing the Owl and getting something with the lens to share with my family and friends.

Oh well, it's his loss.

Yep, just had to say "I met another asshole today!"

Here is one of my shots of this Owl. How much complaining can one have with this?