Life and death of a great grey owl

This photo of a great grey owl was taken in Waldo County, Maine, before a bird alert drew crowds to the area. (MEREDITH TOUMAYAN)

WE READ your story about the ivory-billed woodpecker ("The great woodpecker hunt," Page A1, Feb. 10) with interest because we recently got to experience such enthusiasm up here in Waldo County, Maine.

We had a great grey owl posted on the Maine Bird Alert, and hundreds of people came from as far away as Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York to our town of 560.

After five days of uninterrupted viewing that interfered with the hunting and feeding habits of a bird rarely seen here, the exhausted and starving owl had to be taken off by an avian rescue team, the equivalent of EMTs. He died two days later.

We all got an education about too much bird enthusiasm, and about trophy-hunting photographers and birders making "life lists."

Maine guide Kathleen Maseychik said, "Certain birds are like movie stars, and the birders and photographers have got their own little 'peckerazzi.' "

WILLIAM MOSES
Jackson, Maine
The writer is a master Maine guide.