Enjoying wildlife photography - while it's still legal

I discovered this little guy at the foot of my front porch step this evening when I got home from work. Luckily, he was still hanging out once I got the dogs in the house and grabbed my camera. Fortunately for now, I can still enjoy photographing the critters I find out in the wild. But if one group has it's way, that might change...

I'm not going to list the groups name as I don't want to give it any further exposure (if you really want to know - just google this topic), but according to an Aug 8, 2008 post on their website.. their goal is to expose Bird Watchers for what they feel are "cunning, pervasive, horny predators". In particular, they are targeting senior citizens and feel that "they should be discouraged from bird watching and should engage in socially accepted activities instead". They admit that not all birdwatchers are guilty of being perverts, but feel that far too many are and that they are corrupting our innocent children.

I really thought this was a joke, but after reading some of the comments on their site - there seem to be quite a few people who share this view, plus I found several videos on YouTube showing these people out on the streets protesting and handing out flyers. Their website goes on to say that

"A member of Congress, who requested anonymity, is quietly drafting legislature that would levy stiff fines against people caught with bird porn in their possession, either photos or internet images."

So I guess this picture I snapped a while back could cause me some legal trouble one day?!? LOL!


For the record, I was on the beach well before these little buggers showed up, and they didn't seem to mind one bit that I was there! ;-)
Let me also just say that if you are personally disturbed by a TV show or photo that captures natural animal behaviors - it is you're absolute right to get rid of your TV and computer and never come out of your house!

You know, I've been truly stressed out lately about the pending tobacco ban at work - so I have to thank this group of loons for getting me laughing and smiling again.

Labor Day 2008

I spent part of this beautiful day tending to the garden. Five tomato plants were pretty much done, so I pulled them out and planted several rows of snow peas and a row of lettuce. This is the first year I've tried to grow a late season crop, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully, they'll be ready to harvest before the first frost hits.