We asked several of our writers the same questions. Here are the answers to the one above.
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I try not to. You may not want to take pictures of military installations. I have been to a few garbage dumps and wastewater treatment plants, but you can keep your safe distance there, too. Stray dogs in Egypt were a problem until I found out that they are relatively harmless (Peter Hinow).
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Being charged by a young bull Elephant while walking in the Okavango Delta in Botswana was a memorable experience, while I once had a companion tossed by a Buffalo while birding along the Mara River in Kenya. I’ve had a few encounters with poisonous snakes too, including both Black and Green Mambas in Africa, but otherwise my birding adventures have been relatively incident-free. On one occasion in Romania, our minibus skidded on a dirt road, and we ended up at a crazy angle in a ditch. Our local guide, who was also the driver, was quite unfazed. Nobody was hurt, and the vehicle was undamaged, but we had to get a tractor to pull us out (David Tomlinson).
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Driving to Nanhui for birding in the very early morning, I overlooked a large pile of sand that had been dumped on one side of the seawall road and not marked in any way. The car overturned and skidded on its roof for another 100 meters or so. But the radio kept playing, and both the camera and the photographer were unhurt, though a pair of expensive Swarovskis did not make it (Kai Pflug).
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Read my posts. The trend is clear: I will get in trouble every time I think “I wonder what that is all about?”. For me, the joy of birding lies in the exploration of the unknown. Traveling to São Tomé or to Timor-Leste excites me more than a trip to a well-explored place like Costa Rica (Peter Penning).
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I once had a serious accident while checking 150 nest boxes. The ladder tipped over, and I severely injured my foot. Apart from that, at 66, I’ve become quite cautious (Rolf Nessing).
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I very much prefer birding in solitude, and walking the wilds alone is certainly not something that’s generally advised (Jochen Roeder).
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I once did a local twitch into Nottinghamshire to see a Siberian Stonechat. The roads were icy and snowy, and the hill down to the site was treacherous… I was sure I was going to crash off the road, but somehow I kept the car on the road (John Hague).
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Birding on slippery rainforest trails while carrying expensive camera equipment has produced a few interesting moments. My first thought is usually about saving the camera; concern for myself arrives shortly afterwards (Fitzroy Rampersand).
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It isn’t danger, but I go on the Christmas Bird Count each year along the Sand Creek Trail north of Denver. Bounded on one side by a highway and the other by the river, the area is home not only to a wide and fabulous variety of birds, but to many of Denver’s unhoused humans. I worry not for me, but for the safety of the women and younger people I see on this walk each year (Susan Wroble).
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Walking the swampy trails in coastal North Carolina where the poisonous Cottonmouth snakes like to lay around and enjoy the fetid heat and sun. I nearly stepped on one and will never forget the primal surge of adrenalin and gut-twisting fear as I saw my foot heading towards its open mouth. How I moved away I had no recollection, only that I was running away from it. I did not stop for a long while. A bite from that snake and I would have been real trouble (Mary Alice Hayward).
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Birding has brought me unexpectedly close to bobcats on several occasions and, once, to a bear that I would have much rather observed from a greater distance (Kelly Isley).
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Sure, for example, the “danger” of feeling inspired to live authentically. All birding activities are known to have this effect (Rhea Alaudra).
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