Local Parks and Gatekeeping
Gatekeeping: the act of controlling access to something, usually a group, community, or information, based on arbitrary or established norms. It involves being selective about who is considered "worthy" or "authentic" to participate.
”Gatekeeping” is one of those terms that has seen increased usage over the last several years, and has been used when talking about class, power, social issues, environmental concerns, and often hobbies. I myself may have done a bit of gatekeeping in the past when it comes to rare bird sightings, but more on that to come later.
What made me want to write a bit about gatekeeping have been a few incidents I’ve had to contend with over the last year or so, with the latest happening about 2 weeks ago before my big birding trip to Lake Erie.
Spring Valley Map - although its a bit outdated. There is no observation tower anymore, the boardwalk is gone, and the railroad tracks are actually a bike path.
The weekend before we left I was out early on a Sunday at my usual migratory haunt - Spring Valley Wildlife Area. Spring Valley is an excellent place to see migratory birds during both the Spring and Fall. Here’s an excerpt from the ODNR website:
“Wildlife
Largemouth bass, bluegill, black bullhead, and carp are the principal fish species. Cottontail rabbit, ring-necked pheasant, bobwhite quail, fox and gray squirrels, white-tailed deer, woodchuck, raccoon, muskrat, skunk, opossum, an occasional coyote, and some newly arrived beaver are the principal upland game and fur species. A variety of waterfowl are attracted to the lake during migration and some remain during the winter. Wood ducks nest here in considerable numbers. Mallards, black ducks, wood ducks, blue-winged teal, Canada geese, and coots are most numerous during migration.
The wetland complex has long been popular with bird watchers and other nature enthusiasts as its open water and marshy areas include a large number of unusual birds, plants, and animals. Virtually all of Ohio’s common avian residents, as well as typical Ohio migrants, are represented. More than 230 species in all have been identified throughout the area. A 2.5-mile observation trail circles the marsh and provides relatively dry walking. The Birds of Spring Valley Wildlife Area Checklist is available at the wildlife area headquarters bulletin board.”
The best spot for birding is on the South side of the lake, near the parking area at the end of Collett Road.
The paved bike path happens to run right by that spot, between the lake and the Little Miami River. There used to be signs prohibiting people parking there to access the bike trail, but those have been down for a while now. While it is frowned upon, the occasional cyclist will park their car there and walk their bike thru mud and a ditch to get on the trail. As a fellow cyclist, I just don’t understand the need to park in a place like this when there is great parking just a few miles North or South of this spot. I’ve seen locals at the park complain to cyclists when they park there.
I mention that because on that fine Sunday morning that I went, I noticed when parking a mid-2000’s Nissan Sentra with a mass-market trunk bike rack parked there, and a pair of bike tire tracks in the mud heading toward the paved path. There was also a beat-up late 1970’s Ford truck in the parking lot, and someone was getting their fishing gear out of the back of it (I assumed).
Ai-generated image of my favorite angry fisherman.
“YOU CAN’T PARK HERE” loudly said a voice from the truck’s general direction as I was getting out of my car. I turned to see that it was a grumpy older fisherman I’ve seen there once or twice.
“YOU CAN’T PARK HERE” he said again to me, even louder this time. I looked at him and asked him what was he talking about?
“If you are here to pick up cyclists, this isn’t the place to do that.”
OK, by this point I was getting annoyed. Just because I have a bike rack on the hitch of my vehicle doesn’t mean that I am there to violate “the rules”.
So I said: “That’s great, because that’s not what I’m doing” as I proceeded to the other side of my vehicle and pulled out my camera gear that was seat-belted into the passenger seat.
“Oh, so you’re one of those “bird people”. This is a hunting and fishing lake. There have been too many people here lately that don’t belong here.”
“This is a public park ran and maintained by ODNR, I can do whatever I want here as long as it doesn’t violate park rules” I said, wanting so badly to add “so piss off” at the end of that sentence.
He then proceeded to grumble on and on about something, whatever it was I didn’t listen as I turned on my Merlin Bird ID on my phone and headed for the SouthWest corner of the lake. After about 2 hours of birding I walked back to the car and got the biggest stare-down from both him and another guy. Screw them. It’s not their park.
I had another similar run-in last year with another grumpy old guy at Spring Lakes in Bellbrook. While I was there photographing some waterfowl he took it upon himself to walk over to me from his spot to tell me “You know, this is a fishing pond” to which I replied “Thanks, I didn’t know that” and kept on shooting. He eventually walked away.
Author’s AI-created version of the Black Crowned Night Heron incident - maybe not to scale
I don’t know what it is about people that get so protective over their local park and don’t want people other than them to enjoy it. Birders tend to be a quiet, solitary lot so its not like we are there playing our Dan Folgelberg music loudly over our boom boxes. Yes that’s a bit of a BOOMER dig, sorry. Maybe it goes deeper and is about just fearing people that are different from them. I’ve never understood that feeling, and maybe that’s a good thing.
Now, here’s the time I come clean to talk about some gatekeeping that I’ve done in the past. I’ve had several incidents where I’ve spotted a rare bird and posted about it’s location, only to find that countless people have showed up and basically scared away the bird or interrupted its nesting habits. One time there was a Black Crowned Night Heron in a location that I posted about and then for years afterwards several people from the local Eagle Zealots group mobbed the area and caused issues for an already endangered bird here in Ohio.
It’s because of incidents like that, I am hesitant to share locations or even images anymore of something rare in the area. I know that in certain birding circles that’s called gatekeeping, but I just don’t care. I don’t want to contribute to the crowds and stampedes of people that make it even harder on species that are just scraping to get by. Also, birding is about the challenge, so having it handed to you on a silver platter defeats a lot of the enjoyment.
What about you? Have you ever gatekept? If so why?
Is all gatekeeping bad?
As always, thanks for reading.
Jeremy