Time to write letters and more!

 This is a wind turbine, or bird killer if I may, a few miles east of the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area and the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.

 There had been a wind turbine planned for the Camp Perry air national guard site right along the lake and unnervingly close to an active bald eagle nest. Thanks to Kim Kaufman's hard work and the letters written by some of my readers, that project was stopped. Bad environmental planning and siting killed that one. But only because they actually volunteered to do an impact survey.

You may not be aware of the fact that turbines can be placed virtually anywhere without any Environmental Impact Statements or Assessments being done. Our glorious leaders decided that big corporations really care about our health and the health and well being our habitat. They don't need any silly laws or oversights.

Why is it that I have to have permits to have a new door installed and have it tested for lead paint? Why is it that if I have paint peeling on my garage I get fined? But if I want to put up SIX 300 foot tall wind turbines along a major migration path, that would be fine. Click HERE to see exactly what is happening along the coast of Lake Erie within miles of Magee.

One turbine is currently up and running within view of an active bald eagles nest. PLEASE! Write letters to your representatives asking them, NO, TELLING them that these wind farms need to be controlled properly.

You can find your Senator here:

 http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

You can find your state Representative here:

 http://www.house.gov/representatives/

The Nature Conservancy:

 http://www.nature.org/

The National Audubon Society:

http://www.audubon.org

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds:

http://www.rspb.org.uk

The American Bird Conservancy:

 http://www.abcbirds.org/

 
May will bring thousands and thousands of birders to this area for The Biggest Week in American Birding. What a great time for all of us to descend on the wind facility for a little civil disobedience. So many birders just skulk in the background complaining, but only worrying about their next tick.
It's about time we stand together and DO SOMETHING!

Coming soon to a wildlife refuge near you...

Another Lake Erie Rarity...but for how long?

 It's been a record year for rare migrants visiting the shores of the great Lake Erie, such as this Harlequin Duck preparing to dive at Huntington Beach right here in Bay Village.

We're lucky to live along the shores of Lake Erie. This area is one of the main spring and fall migration routes for my warbly buddies among the hundreds of others that fly down from the great white north to South and Central America. This is the first land they see and these green spaces offer a needed rest stop with food and shelter.

I have tried to keep myself from ranting lately...but...this is a very important issue. We are seeing more and more wind turbines being erected along the lake front without proper research being done to protect all of these migrating species. One "expert bird consultant" stated that birds migrant at high altitudes and the wind turbines won't be an issue. He failed to mention that birds need to land here to feed and rest and don't drop straight down out of the sky like rocks past the turbines.

I'm sure you've read reports of eagles and other raptors being sliced and diced in wind farms in the western United States and Britain. A number of them have been shut down and a few shut down just during migration. Planning ahead will solve a number of issues. Saving migrating species as well as saving energy for the future is a good thing.

Please click HERE to sign a petition sponsored by our god friends at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory.

 Going down!

 Bloop...

 ...and back up again...

 He wasn't willing to come in close, butt, he did present me with a nice shot from behind!

 As you can see from these Red-breasted Mergansers, not all species migrate at high altitudes.

We get thousands upon thousands of mergansers passing through.

 This wind turbine was constructed within minutes of Magee Marsh and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge...no special permits or regulations need to be followed.

I hope this won't be the last of the rarities to migrate through here...

Wind Power...or Hot Air?

Low cost power at what cost?

Our planet is in grave danger. We need to find a better way to power our life style. Possibly wind power can be one of the answers. It's relatively inexpensive to construct these towers in any area that produces a steady wind...like Washington D.C.

All of our politicians are getting on the environmental band wagon and promoting this as the end all answer to our energy woes. It will provide manufacturing jobs and construction jobs. But what it needs to do FIRST is produce RESEARCH jobs.

These towers are, for the most part, unregulated. They can put them up anywhere. We really need to contact our legislators and ask them to fund research in advance. In our area of Ottawa county, Ohio we have one of the greatest spring migrations in the world! Millions of songbirds, shorebirds and raptors fly through here on their way to their breeding habitats.

I know that birds get killed everyday by man made obstacles, office buildings, utility towers and even cars, but do we really need one more thing in the way? I don't want to see more birds needlessly killed.

For more information please click on these links:

Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Responsible Wind Energy

"A Long Night's Journey Into Death" by Kenn Kaufman

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania conference on Wind Energy

I realize I'm not the most eloquent or knowledgeable person, but I do know that we need to do something NOW!

The birds of Magee Marsh thank you.