Winter Wind Turbine studies begin

I earned some money on the bike today! One of my part-time jobs is doing Environmental Assessments for proposed Wind Turbine farms. Locating Wind Turbines in areas where they won’t chop up birds is of paramount importance, so I’ve been hired to do bird surveys to ensure that the planned locations aren’t in the middle of migration flyways. This morning, under gray skies and high winds (Beaufort 5), I drove the bike to my project area just outside of Forest, Ontario, and surveyed the fields and forests for the first of my winter visits.

I drove 120 km for the total expense of about a gallon of gas. Normally, I would have taken my big gas-guzzling Buick Roadmaster. The downside of riding the bike, for this kind of work, aside from getting cold, is the noise. Hearing protection on a bike is mandatory, due to wind and engine noise. But being able to hear birds is an important part of survey work, so each time I stopped, I had to take off the helmet, the balaclava, and the earplugs.

Birding Tip #1: When blowing snot out of a nostril onto the road, cover the lenses of your binoculars!

Birds added to the BMW list today include:

American Tree Sparrow
Northern Pintail
American Kestrel
Rough-legged Hawk
American Black Duck
Northern Harrier
Horned Lark
Bonaparte’s Gull
Rock Pigeon
Great Blue Heron

Total bird species: 29

Last warm ride of the year?

Temperature all week has been well above 50 F. Today it got up to 63 degrees (18C)! Not bad for the end of November. I know Global Warming is evil, but if you're gonna get it, Canada is the place to be! Weather's supposed to cool off to freezing tomorrow.

I've been riding Rosie all week. Here are some new birds we've seen together:

Ruddy Duck

Redhead

Mourning Dove

Cooper's Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

Dark-eyed Junco

Total so far: 17 species

Serious birdlist begins

I took Rosie out for a short spin today to the Bluewater Bridge. The odometer turned 2000 km.

I installed a yellow seat that I managed to get a good price on. Just for a different look. Okay, enough fooling around! Today I start my official BMW birdlist. This will consist of birds seen from the bike or from a place I've travelled to on my bike. Today I went to the Point Edward lighthouse at the southern part of Lake Huron where it empties into the St. Clair River. There wasn't much around. Here's what I got...

Ring-billed Gull

Mallard

Herring Gull

Bufflehead

Red-breasted Merganser

Canada Goose

Downy Woodpecker

European Starling

Great Black-backed Gull

Total so far: 9 species

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog. This blog was inspired by the recent purchase of a BMW F650 motorcycle.

A couple of months ago, I chanced upon an interesting TV series called 'Long Way Round,' a humorous and entertaining account of two Brits, Ewan MacGregor and Charlie Boorman, who travel around the world on BMW motorcycles. My employer, Dow Chemical, simultaneously announced that they would be shutting the plant down in the next couple of years, forcing me into early retirement. This wonderful news inspired dreams of my own extended travels: maybe I could take a scooter around the world. In the spring, I began riding a vintage 1973 Vespa around Pelee Island. I investigated the new bigger, faster Vespas at the London dealership and was astounded to find that a 250cc model would cost me more than $8000! On a whim, I dropped into the nearby BMW dealership and sat on a Dakar motorcycle. It didn't cost much more than the scooter and travels much faster and carries more cargo. It felt so right! No longer would I look like a circus bear driving a tiny scooter!

A few weeks later, I located a good used BMW F650 and bought it. I've named her Rosie (after Rocinante, Don Quixote's horse).

November in Ontario's not exactly the best time to be riding, but I've already put 500 kilometres on it and I'm having a riot. I just bundle up with several layers. Yesterday, I took the bike off-road, down some deeply rutted paths with foot-deep puddles. The tires aren't designed for mud and I slid all over the place and dropped the bike twice. I came home soaked, the bike covered in mud. I hope to keep riding until the salt hits the road.

My goal is to someday drive this baby around the world, birding, photographing, and meeting people. Of course, I'll post it all on the new blog!