Date: 12/28/25 6:58 am From: David Steil <bluewingcarvings...> Subject: Re: [ia-bird] Not a sighting - Birding Etiquette in Iowa is Bad
Robert,
Sorry for your experience.
But it not has been mine. I am just starting out birding but it has been
my experience that the birders in Iowa are very helpful and courteous. Two
birders helped my wife and I find the best spot to observe the Swallow
tailed Kite south of Indianola this year. We in turn showed others when
they showed up. We even talked and shared our binoculars with the farmer
whose property we were close to so he could see the Kite. I have had other
IA birders help me find numerous other birds on my outings and si far I
never had a bad experience.
I know this is going to be a good hobby for me once I retire.
Cheers, David.
On Sat, Dec 27, 2025, 8:39 PM Robert Hibbitts <hibbittsrhh...> wrote:
> This is my second year birding in Iowa. I have been all over epic places
> in past and rarely ran into any attitudes or had issues. Costa Rica,
> pelagic, and Alaska with lifers that we missed, people didn’t have issues.
>
> Iowa, folk are aggressive.
>
> In past two years I have run into numerous folk who just ignored etiquette
> or were just mean. Most just ignore another birder to get camera shots but
> I don’t attribute those to being a birder. Some are birders that try to
> park in front of you or tell you off of being near them.
>
> In past month, I have had two people deliberately pull in front of my
> scope to set up theirs. I have had one person yell at me to get out of his
> way on Saylorville dam when I was parked at edge and scope was off
> pavement, then pull in front of my truck and never get out. Window birders.
>
> I don’t know what it is about Iowa birders, they don’t want to talk or are
> so envious about others seeing something when they are late. A lot of folk
> I encounter never get out of car. Case in point was parasitic jaeger on
> Saylorville. People set up scopes in car and never got out, then yelled if
> we were in their view frame. Sorry to those again.
>
> What happened to birding as a community?
>
> -Robert
> Des Moines
>
>
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