Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Victoria Day Ride
Day, a national holiday in Canada, celebrating the Queen of England's birthday (Elizabeth II or possibly Victoria's birthday, not sure which).
I went on my longest ride today, 110 km. That doesn’t seem like much but I’m working my way up. And it wasn’t that painful as I visited 4 friends so that broke the trip up.
First, I stopped at my brother Paul’s new house in the country. He and his wife were busy planting a garden. Next, I went on to Mark McNabb’s house in Petrolia. He was editing the last movie we shot: “The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens” on his new High Definition editing suite. Looks great.
Then it was on to Oil Springs to visit my old high school chum, Guy Lalonde, On the way there I stopped at a bridge over a creek and found an Eastern Phoebe, the first new bird for the day.
Then it was on to Doctor Greg Sherwin’s house on Lake Huron to polish off a bottle of Bordeaux region Merlot. While there, his daughter Jill visited, then came Simone, a lovely young woman who I almost killed in my sailboat 25 years ago (by sailing foolishly into a storm at midnight).
While we drank, a Caspian Tern and several Forster’s Terns flew by, as well as a lone Ruddy Turnstone.
A wonderful day for riding…. Sunny, cool, perfect for all that safety clothing I donned.
New Birds:
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
Ruddy Turnstone
Chipping Sparrow
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
Black-and-White Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Red-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
House Wren
Veery
Gray Catbird
Great-crested Flycatcher
Mute Swan
Total Species: 68 Total Km: 2751.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Sewage Lagoons
Sewage Lagoons
Sewage lagoons are great places to find birds, especially ducks. They're often the only 'wetland' for miles, and as such, become an oasis for water-loving birds.Today I visited the Brights Grove sewage ponds. I discovered a break in the fence, so I felt obligated to ride my bike through the gap and drive down the laneway to the ponds.
The ponds were covered with ducks: Buffleheads, Scaups, Mallards, Ruddy Ducks, and Blue-winged Teal. Other birds are beginning to arrive back from their southern winter vacations. Soon, the floodgates will open and migration will be fully underway.I'll be heading to Pelee Island for the next few weeks to celebrate the spring migration.
New birds for the list...
Red-shouldered Hawk
Double-crested Cormorant
Killdeer
Turkey Vulture
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Flicker
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Barn Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Total species so far: 52
Monday, April 16, 2007
Back on the Road
After a few cold months, I'm back on the road. My bike is now sporting a couple of large Pelican camera cases mounted on Moto-sport Pannier Racks so I'm ready for a road trip.
A trip to the Sarnia Bay and Canatara Park led to a few new birds for the list...
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
American Goldfinch
American Robin
Hermit Thrush
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Brown Creeper
Tree Swallow
Eastern Phoebe
Total so far... 43 species
A trip to the Sarnia Bay and Canatara Park led to a few new birds for the list...
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
American Goldfinch
American Robin
Hermit Thrush
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Brown Creeper
Tree Swallow
Eastern Phoebe
Total so far... 43 species
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
More mild weather
I just keep riding and riding! Winter refuses to come. Today was 8C and sunny, a beautiful day to ride. I'm trying out my new helmet that just arrived from Japan: a Shoei Hornet, a gleaming white full-face, dual sport type with sunvisor.I'm leaving Canada in a few days to search for the near-extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker on the Choctawhatchee River in NW Florida.
New bird today: Long-tailed Duck
Total so far: 33 species
Monday, January 1, 2007
New Year's Day Ride
The weather continues to be unbelievably mild (7C today). Not a flake of snow has dropped in the whole month of December. I took a ride along Sarnia's waterfront today (the St. Clair River and Lake Huron) and added 5 birds to the list:
American Coot
House Sparrow
Lesser Scaup
Common Merganser
Common Goldeneye
32 species so far.
An old man stopped to talk to me when I was scanning the water for ducks but I had my helmet and earplugs on so I couldn't hear a word he was saying. I just nodded my head at judicious times and that seemed to work.
On the way home, I pulled up at a stoplight next to another motorcyclist who was 'braving' the winter weather. When the light changed to green, I coolly throttled up... and went nowhere! I was in neutral! Not so cool!
American Coot
House Sparrow
Lesser Scaup
Common Merganser
Common Goldeneye
32 species so far.
An old man stopped to talk to me when I was scanning the water for ducks but I had my helmet and earplugs on so I couldn't hear a word he was saying. I just nodded my head at judicious times and that seemed to work.
On the way home, I pulled up at a stoplight next to another motorcyclist who was 'braving' the winter weather. When the light changed to green, I coolly throttled up... and went nowhere! I was in neutral! Not so cool!
Friday, December 15, 2006
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
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
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
