From ~DM to ©DM - A Case of Stolen Photography v2

[Editors Note: This was one of many older draft postings I figured I would finally publish. This posting was originally written in June this summer, and then finalized this week while my two sons were banging away at the keyboard (hence the slightly disjointed sentence structure)...]

As I drove through Wheatly this summer to see the great breeding birds (Dickcissel, Grasshopper Sparrow)  at the campers cove location, I had driven by a nice little natural area called Two Creeks Conservation Area. Naturally, I had blogged about driving through Wheatley and passing this nice conservation area. When I mentioned the area, I figured I would link to it, so I googled it and found that it had an official website! So low and behold, I serendipitously realized they were using my Bay-breasted Warbler photo I had posted on my Flickr account from a few years ago!

This is my original photo. Notice the "Tilda" symbol ~ which had its own meaning to me

Stolen Photo! I don't know if I should be angered ... or flattered?

So, there is no mistaking it, the photo above is my photo. I have it posted online on my flickr account here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwaynejava/4617257832/sizes/l/

Following up with Two Creeks Conservation Area-

I emailed the webmaster/manager of two creeks with a very clearly and politely asking them to give me credit for the photo or to simply remove the photo. Their first answer (after I clearly explained that they had taken my photo): 

Wheatley Two Creeks Association

To MeSheilah M

Jun 11

thanks Dwayne. How did we get a copy of your image? If you sent it, we assumed you wished to have it posted.  I will certainly relay this to our webmaster.  

Rick T

president, Wheatley Two Creeks Association

Then after clarifying one more time that I had not submitted photos to them, they reply:

Wheatley Two Creeks Association

To Me

Jun 22

  Hi Dwayne,

I doubt it was our webmaster who searched for and found your image. I'll explore this a bit further. We'll either give credit or delete it.

Thanks,

Rick

So there you have it. I don't know if they are acting ignorant or if its the real deal.  I know people "borrow" photos online all them time, but if anyone every emailed me that one of my photos needed to be cited properly, I would probably be quick to make the situation right.

I'm not going to let this incident bother me or prevent this incident from further sharing my photography online. I'm not going to pursue legal action. I'm not going to inject annoying watermarks either. I just thought I would share this story. In a way, image theft might be the most sincere form of flattery.  I have a list of 10+ people/organizations that have used my photography, and I guess this might be one more satisfied (but reluctant to give credit) customer.

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

PS: To get the special character © ... You simply hold [alt] as you type 0169.

Early December Birding

Lapland Longspurs among flocks of Horned Larks

The month of November was a crappy month for me. Just so many negative things happened... I'm just happy its over. This past Friday was my birthday, and I celebrated that evening by writing a three hour exam... I couldn't even drink after as I was antibiotics!  I feel like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders though, and I'm not taking night courses for this next semester (a well deserved break is needed). Birding has been meager although I am going out on occasion, usually chasing reported rarities instead of finding them myself.

In late November, I was driving along one of my favorite roads to bird in Essex, Concession 6 and noted many Horned Larks. I was scoping them at one point, looking for Snow Buntings but instead found a few Lapland Longspurs in the mix! This area is usually productive for Rough legged Hawks, but I only saw a few Red-tailed hawks instead.















Jeremy Bensette had given me great details on the location of a pair of Snowy Owls (found earlier by Alan Wormington) in the Point Pelee Onion Fields. It was cool to see two in the same field, although they were quite distant. Back in December 2011, when the Great Grey Owl visited Kingsville, I had actually found my first self-found Snowy Owl. I have video of that amazing bird here.

Sexually dimorphic pair of American Kestrels

While going to see the Snowy Owls, I noticed an American Kestrel on a telephone wire along the Leamington Soccer fields. This shy little bird gave decent looks and at one point, was joined by a female Kestrel. Sadly, my exposure dial on my camera was at like -2 and I had to brighten up this underexposed photo. Still, pretty cool to see a male and female Kestrel shoulder to shoulder!

I went out to Ojibway area this week to see if I could find a Northern Shrike. One overwintered last winter (see photo from Feb 2013 below), and hopefully one will overwinter again this winter!

Northern Shrike  - Amazing winter bird !!!

Looking forward to birding more and blogging more as well now that my night-school exams are over. I plan on partaking in a few CBC's over the next few weeks. The days will start getting longer in about 9 or so days!

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

Point Pelee Piping Plover

This morning, I had heard my phone chime as new email had come in. Classically conditioned like Pavlov's dogs, I instinctively checked my email to see that Steve Pike and a Local Leamington Birder who goes by the name "afternoon shift" posted a Point Pelee peninsula Piping Plover! Much to the chagrin of my wife and two kids I kissed them adieu and fled to the southernmost point of Canada. Upon arriving to the tip, Jeremy Bensette hinted that I might best walk to East Tip (not East Beach!) through Sparrow Field. There it was, in perfectly front-lit perfection! At one point, we heard it singing or 'piping'! This little flufball of cuteness was for many years (and still is) "Endangered" because its preferred habitat is big wide sandy beaches. If you have a few minutes check out this amazing link documenting the life and habitat of the piping plover: http://www.audubon.org/plover

It soon fled from East Beach upon Kory's arrival to see the bird. But we agreed it probably flew back to the tip, and that guess was correct. At one point, a few birders were laying down on the sand to get better photos and I had noticed a lady with a dog was walking by - Did she think we were nuts? It just so happens that staying low to the ground lets you separate the bird from its background, making the bird jump out from its Gaussian-blurred background.

A couple of other cool birds seen today were four Tree Swallows (sitting on the sand!), an Eastern Phoebe, and a Long Eared Owl!

Last weekend, I tried to get a Purple Sandpiper at Pelee's Tip but dipped. I did get a breathtaking look at this Eastern Screech Owl... A dirt bird at Pelee but still amazing!

Tufted Titmice are easy to see at Ojibway Park during the late Fall and Winter months. Always fun to see these birds!

Good birding!
Dwaynejava

This is what a plover looks like at normal zoom range. Can you find it?

Note: At some point today on Sunday Nov 25, 2013 - My blog reached 100,000 hits!

Owl Prowlin'

I made this in photoshop as a promotional graphic. Not bad eh?

Well, its official: I hosted my first Owl Prowl this week. Not wanting to bore anyone with too many details, I could say:

•  My night school class was divided into groups of students who needed to work together.
•  We needed to plan an event that would raise money for a local charity. 
•  A minimum of $600 had to generated from this event.

It was suggested to me that an Owl Prowl would be a good event, so I ran with it. Myself along with four group members were tasked with either selling ten - $10 tickets or getting 'sponsored/pledged' for this owl prowl. I'm proud to say that I have $635 in hand ready to donate to ERCA. $635 may not sound too impressive, but hey, its not easy getting $635 in a box all in the name of charity.  I owe much thanks to many of the nature loving community for their patronage.

Social Media Banner

I figured I might try to embed the PowerPoint that I made for the informational component of the Owl Prowl below for those who might be interested in some interesting owl facts... (I made this in Google Presentations, converted it to MS PPT, then back to Google Presentations, so it may have gottent screwed up a little).



I've learned a lot about Event Planning and Groupwork while implementing this event. Regarding event planning, anything that could go wrong will. Unforeseen politics even found its way into this event. Regarding groupwork - has anyone experienced a positive outcome while working in groups in a post-secondary setting? I have not yet had a good experience personally. This meme says it all...

I'm the guy on the left...

Img Source: http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/every-group-project-the-hangover.jpg

So did we see an owl? At Devonwood no. Some heard an owl though. On an alternative night/location a small group of five did see and hear Screech Owls. Pretty cool!

Good birding!
Dwaynejava