Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Road Conditions into The Owl Woods on Amherst Island

I just wanted to let everyone know the condition of the roads into "The Owl Woods" on Amherst Island.

The road in from the North did not seem passable.

Condition of northern road into The Owl Woods
on Amherst Island on December 30, 2008.

The road in from the South Shore Road was open and easy to drive. There was a limited number of parking areas due to the condition of the shoulders. Be careful pulling off the road onto the shoulder as some areas are quite soft.


Condition of road into The Owl Woods from the Southern
Shore Road
on Amherst Island on December 30, 2008.

Also note that the trails around "The Owl Woods" are very icy and extremely slick. Be careful when walking about...I think we all took at least one tumble out there today.

Good birding,
Bruce

1 comment:

Mayo said...

We'd very much like your help and the help of other bird lovers in spreading the word about a serious problem for birds on Amherst Island.

Amherst Island, as you may know, is a world-renowned IBA on a major bird migration route.  An industrial wind farm is in the planning stage at this point in time.  (There is also a wind farm planned for Ostrander Point, Prince Edward County - another major migratory bird route.)

If the industrial wind turbine farm is built on Amherst Island as the wind developer would like (but not 9/10 of the island's residents) this may be the last chance to see Short-eared Owls, Snowy Owls, Boreal Owls, Great Grey Owls, etc. alive instead of dead at the base of turbines. 

Neighboring Wolfe Island has the deadliest bird kill rate in Canada and the second deadliest in north America.

For more information, visit http://protectamherst.yolasite.com/photos.php    and   ”http://blog.douggreensgarden.com/youll-toast-your-bread-in-the-blood-of-owls/

How can you help?  By spreading the word to other birders and by writing to the politicians (below), some of whom are condoning the slaughter.   (A quick way is to cut & paste your letter into different emails.)

Those who are supporting the wind farm in this Important Bird Areas include:
Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org    Andrea Horwath, Head of the NDP  ahorwath-qp@ndp.on.ca   
Sean Fairfield, Manager of Environmental Planning for Algonquin Power (the would-be wind developer) Sean.Fairfield@algonquinpower.com