They're after the twitchers, too...

Ross Chambers · Apr 5, 2010

...even in the outback:

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/2010/03/31/birdwatchers-terrorists-criminals/

hairygit · Apr 5, 2010

Things seem to be going crazy the world over!:confused: We live about a quarter of a mile from the royal marines training centre at Lympstone in devon, and are often bewildered by the fact we are not allowed to take photos from a pedestrian bridge over the main A376 road, in case it compromises security at the camp, when the bridge offers superb views of the river Exe estuary. If you wanted to see inside the camp as a terrorist would, just look on google earth:rolleyes: Makes them look very petty/paranoid indeed, they don't seem to realise that we want to photograph an area of outstanding natural beauty, not the concrete eysore that is the camp!

Domenico Foschi · Apr 5, 2010

This is a good thing. Bird watchers and photographers, unite!!
Ignorance and fear is funny, if you think about it.

Steve Smith · Apr 5, 2010

hairygit said:
We live about a quarter of a mile from the royal marines training centre at Lympstone in devon, and are often bewildered by the fact we are not allowed to take photos from a pedestrian bridge over the main A376 road, in case it compromises security at the camp

Who says you can't? Is it really a fact or is someone from the camp abusing the rules?

Steve.

hairygit · Apr 5, 2010

There is a sign on the bridge at both ends and in the middle, claiming it is an offence to do so, I would post a pic of it, but even crossing the bridge holding a camera you are likely to be hassled by some gun toting meathead from the camp gatehouse!

benjiboy · Apr 7, 2010

hairygit said:
There is a sign on the bridge at both ends and in the middle, claiming it is an offence to do so, I would post a pic of it, but even crossing the bridge holding a camera you are likely to be hassled by some gun toting meathead from the camp gatehouse!

These "gun toting meat heads" you refer to are the Royal Marine Commandos who are involved in a shooting war in Afghanistan and putting their lives on the line every days so you can sleep safely in your bed at night, R.M.C.T.C Lympstone is Ministry Of Defence property, and a highly restricted area where recruits undergo the seven month commando training required to make a marine, that is much more important than mere photography or birdwatching, I know it's an area of natural beauty having trained there in the early 1960s myself, there are plenty other places in the country that they could do these activity s, we need to get our priority's right

Marco B · Apr 7, 2010

Ross Chambers said:
...even in the outback:

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/2010/03/31/birdwatchers-terrorists-criminals/

Here in the Netherlands, there is a very active birding community that even uses a special SMS service or so to inform each other when a really rare bird visits the country.

It usually means a flock of maybe one hundred bird watchers trying to get a glimpse of the bird within an hour or so after the general warning, rushed to the scene by car... (that's the "advantage" of a small country like ours).

I would love to see the faces of the police or military squad encountering and than needing to round up one or two hundred bird watchers and photographers with all tripods and gear...

hairygit · Apr 7, 2010

The point I was trying to make was, that you can't see anything inside the camp from the bridge, but looking on google earth you can get a very detailed view of the whole complex, so what's the problem with taking photos from the bridge? I live very close to the camp, and see the trainees out on marches and excercises past my front door most days, but still a ban on photos from the bridge is unjustified compared to what's on google earth!

DLawson · Apr 8, 2010

hairygit said:
The point I was trying to make was, that you can't see anything inside the camp from the bridge, but looking on google earth you can get a very detailed view of the whole complex, so what's the problem with taking photos from the bridge? I live very close to the camp, and see the trainees out on marches and excercises past my front door most days, but still a ban on photos from the bridge is unjustified compared to what's on google earth!

In general terms, the concern about photographing secure facilities (military bases, etc.) is more about operations than about facilities. Google Earth will tell you how many buildings there are, or were at some point. But it won't tell you who is reviewing troops or how many trucks make deliveries to this or that building.

I can't say whether those concerns are justified. Security people are paid to be near-paranoid to aid in finding risks before they are failures. I try to keep my distance, as they tend to stress me out.

Ross Chambers · Apr 9, 2010

DLawson said:
In general terms, the concern about photographing secure facilities (military bases, etc.) is more about operations than about facilities. Google Earth will tell you how many buildings there are, or were at some point. But it won't tell you who is reviewing troops or how many trucks make deliveries to this or that building.

I can't say whether those concerns are justified. Security people are paid to be near-paranoid to aid in finding risks before they are failures. I try to keep my distance, as they tend to stress me out.

Garden Island in central Sydney is a major naval base. I was surprised to hear from a friend that his polytech class were sent there to photograph the base from a distance and received no attention from any security agency.

However I will always ponder the arrival of a Federal Police car when I was pointing a microphone (yeah OK a "shotgun") at a navy ship berthing to add to my interesting sounds collection -- including that great bosun's whistle, in this case electronically amplified.

Nothing eventuated, I'd put my sound gear away by then, but these are the only Federal Police cars that I have ever seen. Maybe the berthing was indeed "an operation".

Regards - Ross

They're after the twitchers, too...

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