Harry Potters Cloak of Invisibility

Poisoning windows (see comment on previous posting, woops a Freudian slip, it by my psychopathic thoughts on computer software showing) is not the only wildlife watching I have been doing. Previously I spoke about the fact that in the UK we now have Eagle Owls breeding here. When I did, I was informed that here on Tyneside there was one that had settled in. However, no matter how hard I pleaded I could not discover exactly where.

Eventually via my contacts, I discovered where the bird was. So this morning I went off in search for this fine bird. I scoured the streets, back lanes and asked strangers if they had seen the bird. While I did get some strange looks from some, I did find others who had seen the Owl. But no matter how hard I scoured the area not a sign did I find. Sometimes that is the way with wildlife watching, even if you are in the right location unless you have contacted the animals’ agent, they just don’t turn up.

While I never saw the owl I thought at least I would have another day to try. Sitting down with a cup of tea, I watch the local news, and on there is a story about the very bird that I had been looking for. It turned out that the Eagle Owl was an escaped bird and not a wild one, and this weekend just gone. The animal handler that supplied the owls for the first Harry Potter film had recaptured the Owl, no wonder I couldn’t find it someone had thrown a cloak of invisibility over the owl.

So while I had missed out on seeing and photographing this bird, I was heartened to discover that a local woman had been feeding the owl and that it had been well looked after.

One of the things I discovered when I got back home was the adaptor that I had bought over the Internet for a battery charger. I had to buy it from the US and the postmark was from Acadia in Maine the location of one of the National Parks over the pond. Somewhere I would love to visit…

The reason why this charger was so important is that I need it to recharge the batteries for a digital audio recorder. While I had a mains adaptor and could use it in the house, or I could use alkaline batteries, I have long refused to use disposable batteries. So I needed to have the ability to charge the unique batteries for the recorder.

I have often thought that what most people don’t always realise is just how vocal wildlife can be. While we all know that birds sing, but badgers are quite noisy too, sometimes it’s just huffing and puffing, but also there are snickering and calls that most people are just not aware of. Therefore I some months ago sought out some advice. In my past I specialised in taking pictures for theatre groups and performers, it explains why I am poor now! So making contact I tried to discover what I would need and if I could afford to do this.

Not only was I assured that I could do this without having to sell my grandmother, good job as I don’t have any left to sell, but my initial idea was expanded upon. Everyone I was talking to was saying I should do a podcast. I think that what they are saying is that I have a good face for radio. Anyway, this is what I am planning and getting the digital recorder is all part of this. Further, I am looking to build a web site, so that I can help direct people to the information they need to live a greener life. But also I would like to expand on some of the conservation and wildlife issues, as while many people that are interested in wildlife they can actually do a lot in their own garden or back yard.

However this is all apparitional at the moment as I have discovered something that I had already suspected, that my computer is to old and not powerful enough to run the software I need to run to do this. So I am now looking to buy a second hand computer before I can progress much further. As I always envisaged this not happening until spring or early summer, that delay is not beyond the scope of my plans.

All I can say is I hope that when I do start doing my pods, I don’t have to many days like today when I find the wildlife hidden by that cloak of invisibility.