Dear Birders,

Before you complain about the oil spill why don't you consider the following:

1. You fly/drive halfway across the country to see an Ivory Gull, Ross's Gull, Bare-throated Tiger-heron, or _________ (fill in the blank).

2. You drive 4 hours across the state to see vagrants that show up every so often which are much more common elsewhere in the country (sometimes just as far of a drive or less) just so you can have them on your state/life list (and sometimes you do this more than once just so you can have better photos).

3. You fly all over the world to go on guided tours when you frequently can't even identify all the breeding birds in your own state/backyard.

4. You drive to parks/birding hotspots hours away on a regular basis rather than birding in your own town, neighborhood park, etc. which may have just as many good birds.

In other words, you use oil, depend on it, and are in part responsible for our need to drill. So before you point the finger, why don't you consider how to make yourself less oil dependent and how to make the world a better place.

I'm not saying the oil spill isn't a bad thing. Just that we should all consider our lifestyle and how it impacts the world on a broader scale.

If the lifestyle you want to have includes the 4 aforementioned things, that's fine, I won't condemn you for it but DO NOT complain about Sea Level Rise, Climate Change, Environmental Disasters, etc.