Well, it seems that Congressman Boehner (R-Ohio) and the ten other congressional representatives visiting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as part of the “American Energy Tour” will not be spending very much time on the ground in the refuge verifying the existence of any wildlife to be found there. According to Jimmy Fox, deputy manager for the refuge, the tour of the North Slope will be conducted by air from a large airplane capable of holding the eleven congressional representatives, their respective attending support teams, refuge staff, and assorted others. It is also not to be a low altitude flight as would be used by scientists surveying wildlife but a bit faster and higher, as would be expected when using an airplane of sufficient size to hold the number of people previously mentioned.
I can attest from experience that it is difficult enough to identify a shorebird from 100 meters away using a 32x spotting scope from the ground. I can only imagine how challenging it will be to get any sense of the existence of these same types of birds from a mile or more in the air and travelling hundreds of miles per hour. Spotting scope use is surely not possible in this situation; at best a modest magnification binocular could be used lest the vibration and shake of the airplane make holding anything in the field of view impossible. My hat is certainly off to the honorable members of the American Energy Tour – they are surely far better naturalists than I am to be able to perform this extraordinary feat of mile high wildlife viewing.
Peace and good bird watching.
