Starling Nest

Last year I spotted that a starling had built a nest in a hollow branch of an oak. While I wanted to try and get some pictures, other commitments meant that I never had that opportunity. So I have been keeping a careful eye on the tree this year to see if this starling returned. As the male will often use the same nest site year after year, it was likely.


When I looked yesterday (Sunday), it was still empty. Today however, as I approached I saw the starling pop its head out of the hole. I had not prepared for this eventuality so I found myself a quiet spot and set up the camera, all the while expecting the bird to fly off. But as you can see from the clip, he did not, he stood guard at the entrance to his pleasure pad. This gave me time to film him while he looked around. When he finally did fly off it was probably to tell his wife that he has got the keys to the same house they squatted in last year.


This was actually the start of what turned out to be a good day. I set out with a mission, I was determined to film the Grey Wagtails down by the river. While I can often see them, getting close enough to film them is not easy, as they are small birds, a little bit smaller than a sparrow, and their plumage and tail bobbing behaviour provide them with great camouflage.


Anyway having got to know the local populations habits, I set up and waited, it only took six hours to get about a minutes worth of film, but I got a nice sequence of one feeding at the waters edge.


I am hoping that soon I will be able to start sharing some of the filming I have been doing. However, I still need to get a couple of bits of software before I can do that. The problem was that I bought the software needed from Ebay, but the seller supplied a pirated copy, so I actually need to replace it with a legal copy to unlock it and fully use it.


So watch this space you never know what may turn up here.

Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapses

While there was a time when people dismissed Climate Change as some unproven theory, at least now we have an awareness of the reality of this serious problem. The most serious humanity has ever faced. Yet it is the unwillingness to take the situation seriously that causes me to feel despair.

In part it is that people are still viewing this as a problem for the future, something that will happen. Yet the effects of a changing climate is real and immediate. In the UK we are seeing early signs of spring coming four to five weeks earlier, while the weather is still predominantly that of winter. All of this adding to the decline of a number of species.

Yet the real effects of Climate Change that are being noticed are not to do with weather but with cost of food. While part of the reason for this is an increased demand out striping supply, the effects of a Changing Climate are inhibiting the growing of food crops. This removes our ability to increase production to accommodate this new reality. Thus climate change is hitting us in our pockets first.

The reality is that the majority of people are unwilling to change the way they live for the benefit of themselves or the future. We continue to consume vast amounts of the earth's resources on trivial items that we don't need. We are to lazy to walk to the shops, we prefer to drive. We are so inactive that its a effort to get out of a chair to change the television channel or even turn the TV off.

Well what has this all got to do with another lump of Sea Ice breaking away from the Antarctic? It in its self doesn't raise sea levels, but it removes the barriers that prevent the land based Ice from sliding into the Sea.

Well to all you who don't believe this can happen, in Russia that's exactly what did happen in the Caucasus Mountains. A glacial slid down the mountain at one hundred miles per hour, as a direct result of global warming. Its already known that the melt water on glacial is percolating down to the base, lubricating their flow...

Therefore in a few years, three or four, we will see a sudden and dramatic rise in sea levels.

A link to the News Story

Terminal Five

Well I think that British Airways and The British Airports Authority should both be praised for doing their bit to reduce climate change. Effectively they have combined efforts to make air travel so unpleasant that it will put so many people off every flying again that we should see a marked reduction in greenhouse gases.

On the other hand it could be that they are just crap companies.

The Embryology Bill

As my personal ethics are firmly based within what is right for the environment, I find myself in the strange position of agreeing with the catholic church. However The Embryology Bill that is going through parliament at the moment will not allow human-animal hybrids to be created so the facts need to be outlined first.

What the bill would allow if passed, is the use of egg cases of animal ova to be used. Filled with human cells, these cell lines will then be used to develop stem cells. Therefore it is not as has been said human and animal hybrids that are being created.

Further my moral objection to this work is much more based upon the fact that we are playing about with human genes when we don't fully understand what most of the genes do. For example there is a gene in the human genome that helps protect against malaria. Great you could say; except this same gene is also the cause of sickle cell anaemia.

While it would be a great benefit to mankind if a way could be developed to reduce the risk, or even cure malaria, would it be justified if the cure caused other conditions? Unlike conventional drug therapies or treatments, introducing new genes or new cells to treat a patient could alter the genetic make up of subsequent generations.

Therefore, some new wonder treatment, could be discovered and used long before we discovered, generations latter, that it was the cause of something previously unknown and possibly more serious than the original condition.

Medical science is littered with wonder drugs that it was latter discovered had serious side effects. Here in the UK we recently had a report on Seroxat an anti depressant that caused an increased risk of suicide in some users. Further, the company manufacturing the drug knew of this at least two years before being forced to notify the authorities. They only did this when the media discovered the truth.

Now I can envisage some new wonder gene therapy being developed, making some business billions of dollars and them fighting tooth and nail to protect that income even if it started to look as though that therapy was causing a problem.

Equally, with the process of developing these cell lines in animal ova, there is a small chance that some of the animal genes could combine with the human DNA. If that were to happen it would take years before that was even noticed. This could lead to disease that are at the moment exclusively animal becoming infectious to humans.

Inadvertently we could be on course to creating genetically modified humans. I realise that for the people with conditions like Parkinsons disease or altzimers, this form of stem cell research could be seen as some great new hope, but every technology has a down side, an unforeseen consequences that a lack of research fails to see.

It is the blinkered rush into these new technologies that could cause problems worse than climate change that are the basis of my moral objections to this Embryology Bill. We are already seeing that GM crops are killing off bees, I foresee that if allowed this research could kill off the human race.

Planting A Native Hedge

As people will know in the UK there has been snow this Easter. As this year Easter is very early in the calender, this should not be such a surprise. However, with a changing climate causing much of the wildlife starting to breed earlier in the year, this late snow will have an impact upon the fauna and flora in Britain.

While in the UK there are already serious pressures on wildlife numbers, most birds, mammals, reptiles and Amphibians are in serious decline, weather like this could seriously inhibit numbers for another year. Last year while the picture was not a clear image of decline, the patchy breeding success was not good news for the long term health of more than sixty percent of the natural populations.

Therefore, it is good see that there are people actively seeking to help the natural world. Not just seeking to, but actually doing more than a little bit to aid wildlife. The HOP Garden is a perfect example. This Easter they started planting a hedge of native species, Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Holly, to name a few. All around an area that is going to be converted into a wild garden that is designed to encourage butterflies.

While this plot of land was being used by some wildlife, enhancing the land in this way will make an important additional habitat for wildlife. Further, previously it had only been used by a few inconsiderate dog owners who instead of taking their dogs for a walk would just let their dogs use it as a lavatory. Now this community project will turn this in to an educational and community resource.

While it has taken a long while to get the permissions from the local council, now that has been granted the help given by the local authority includes the donation of the whips to plant. It shows just what a community can do when a lot of effort and a great deal of dedication is put into a project.

The HOP Garden Blog

China wins three Olympic Golds

This year's gold medals for repression, oppression and suppression goes to...

China

General Musings

Finally on Saturday morning the Computer interface bit and the Video Software I had ordered arrived. As I had paid extra for fast postage and signed for delivery, I was not impressed that it came via normal second class post. That's an issue I will take up with the supplier.

However, over a cup of tea I read the destructions and after a quick check for email and backing up my computer, I set about installing the hardware and the software. That part was very simple, and I connected up the camera and started to load up my footage. While not a fast process everything seemed to be working fine.

As I need to learn how to use the software, I took my time and while I though I was doing everything correctly, I kept on getting a message telling me that my film would be lost when I tried to shut down after thinking I had completed uploading the footage to the computer. I just could not understand it, and for most of Saturday I kept on trying to discover where I was going wrong. I knew the footage was being recorded on the hard drive as I could see my gigabytes being eaten away.

On Sunday I had to go on a site visit to a conservation area where my input and ideas had been requested. Because of the difficulties I was having I decided to leave my cameras behind. I hope I can return as there are some wonderful areas that will soon be carpeted with bluebells in this wood. The rest of the visit was very straight forward. Its a chap that I know that has bought seventy five acres of scrubby woodland, and he was looking for conformation that his ideas will regenerate the wood, the habitats and the wildlife. Most of the work will not be done until next winter. Delays meant that until the first of March he didn't own it. This actually means he has the best part of a year to discover what is living in the wood, and adjust his plans accordingly.
It was the discovery of some very rare flowers and amphibians on the land that delayed his purchase. However, as he wants to keep the land as a wildlife haven anyway, it seems all is well there.

So feeling buoyant I returned home to try and unravel the mystery that is my video stuff. So I decided I would start again from scratch and removed the software and reloaded it. I then re-transferred the video films to the computer. This time it appeared to work. So I was able to transfer my filming to DVDs ready to edit them latter. I still don't know what was going wrong before, but that's often the way with computers.

It will take time for me to learn how to edit the films, but apart from trying to watch badgers, monitoring migrations, filming otters or not, doing my washing cooking and cleaning, well I have to find something to fill my time.

Politics Summed Up

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, “What is Politics?”

Dad says, 'Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I am the head of the family, so call me The President. Your mother is the administrator of the money, so we call her the Government.
We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People. The nanny, we will consider her the Working Class. And your baby brother, we will call him the Future. Now think about that and see if it makes sense...

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said.

Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him . He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parent's room and finds his mother asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed .

The next morning, the little boy says to his father, 'Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now. The father says, good, son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about.

The little boy replies, 'The President is screwing the Working Class while the Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and the Future is in deep shit'

Oystercatcher

There are some days when everything just seems to go right. Today was one of those days. As I have been spending so many nights in the wood lately, I overslept this morning. I had wanted to be up and out before the sun rose, but that wasn't to be today. This lack of beauty sleep goes a long way to explaining many things.

Therefore I changed my plan a little bit as I was hoping to go to a particular location to film the Deer. As I knew that I would have already missed them, I went to another location, a large local pond that is a nature reserve and home to many water and wading birds.
The hide here is a good one but as there are no windows on entering I need to open one of the flap to allow light in. Normally the sound of this disturbs any birds or wildlife near the hide. Today however it did not and just on the small island in front of the hide was a pair of Oystercatcher.

Now to have them this close is rare, so I as quickly as I could prepared the camera. I worked quietly, with the emphasise on remaining quite as if I rushed and made any noise I would loose the opportunity.

I was surprised that they stayed and I got my day off with about five or six minutes of film of them. I stayed for some time and shot another half an hour or so of film of various birds. Including Tufted Duck, Canada Geese and Coots.

Well I reached the point where I could not get anything else so I decided to head off elsewhere. Now as my regular reader knows that I am more than a bit of an odd ball, and I am aware that I do some things, some activities, that most people think eccentric. Therefore as I walked to my second location of the day, I stopped to count the molehills along the way. While doing this I had not one but two passing cars stop to ask what I was doing. I told them counting Molehills, that generated some strange looks.

As I was approaching my second location I stopped and filmed a Robin that was singing away at his hearts content to attract his mate. I got a nice long sequence of him until he decided he liked the sound of the reply he was getting.

I settled down again and while I got many of the frustratingly short film of many of the tits who fly off at the sight of a camera, unless its David Attenborough we don't want to know!
However I got some nice footage of the yellowhammers, who look fantastic in their breading plumage.

All in all a great day, then on the bus I saw five kites four males one female doing their courtship display. I want to bottle this day and keep it forever.

Not A Green Budget

While there were a couple of measures in the Budget that could be seen as “Green”, these measures are more about raising revenue than attempting to benefit the environment. The greatest obstacle is this obsession with growth.

The growth of an economy by measuring the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a seriously blunt instrument. Further, even most economists don't understand how or what elements of the economy go towards making up this measure. Put simply, it measures the total earnings of all individuals, the businesses and the government in the country. Now if we were just talking about people, businesses and government departments just buying goods and services then as a measure it would be useful. However as it also measures many negative aspects of life that money get spent on, it fails to show the real state of any economy.

The problem is that if there is a spate of arson, the cost of rebuilding the properties gets measured as does the increase in insurance premiums. This all makes it look as though the economy is growing, as if you lose everything in a house fire say you then have to spend more on refurnishing your new abode. However the GDP fails to measure the losses of the original property.

Looking at an environmental prospective; even shutting down an industry that was heavily polluting adds a paper benefit to the economy as the costs of clearing up the pollution gets seen as a benefit to the economy.

The economists have the same mindset as the people I challenge for dropping litter. The people who toss rubbish in the street, will often say that they are keeping the road cleaners employed.

Therefore the economists and politicians see growth as useful measure but fail to see that a shrinking economy can be equally as good if not better. If the shrinking was due to high unemployment then that would be bad. But if there was a downturn that was caused by the majority of office workers working from home, utilising the internet and telecommunications to do the same work and no longer having to travel to a place of work, the losses would occur in the daily cost of travel for those individuals. While there would be less money spent on petrol that would impact the oil companies and allied businesses, the benefits will also be less congestion delaying the essential journeys, less pollution to cause breathing problems and expenditure on health care.

All this could happen using existing technology, and that shrinking of the GDP would benefit all but a few vested interests.

This is just one example of where a shrinking could be a real benefit to the overall economy. If everyone who can grew their own vegetables, that would mean that there was less money spent in the supermarkets as well as the reduction in the cost of health care from improved diet and better exercise. The trouble is that activities like this, in the eyes of the economists, are not seen to benefit the economy in ways that can be measured.

Staying with the environment, growth in personal transport is seen as good for the economy. As well as greater volume in car sales benefiting manufacturing and the suppliers of the fuel, the conventional economists prospective fails to take account of the costs that go with this. Like congestion extending the time required to travel anywhere, or the effects of pollution on health. In fact these extra costs are seen as benefiting the GDP as more money is spent on these.

It is this drive for growth that is damaging the environment and stopping any real growth in the quality of life.

This method of only looking at the world purely in terms of its monetary value is at the core of most of the problems we have today. Environmentally where the worlds forests are only valued in terms of the economic earnings from the timber, and not in the way that these forests hold back rainwater, preventing flooding and providing drinking water.

Additionally this fixation on growth of GDP means that important tasks in our societies become undervalued. Here in the UK while the cost of childcare is expensive the wages for the people who work in childcare is very low. This leads to people who would be the best people to care for children, will move on to better paid jobs. Yet caring for the next generation should be one of the most valued tasks in life. Yet people who trade in financial derivatives get paid small fortunes even for doing their job badly.

Equally there needs to be a change to fair trade. While the concept of free trade may sound the right way to carry out commerce, free trade is in fact exploitation. It is based upon paying the least you can for any resource and selling it for the maximum price you can get. While that may earn businesses or individuals good profits, it also creates volatility in the market. That is why crude oil has hit record highs yet again. At the time of writing oil is 110 US dollars per barrel while it only costs 20 US dollars to produce. Yet the free market also means that livestock farmers in the UK and the US are struggling to make any profits as it is cheaper to ship in meat from halfway around the world. Even excluding the environmental cost, this free trading creates the situation where the UK and the US are placing themselves at risk of being held hostage over food supplies. If we loose the ability to feed ourselves we are venerable to any number of situations that could disrupt international transport.

Fair trade has the effect of ensuring a stable price, for the farmer and prevents inflation. While it does prevent spectacular profits, it stops the exploitation. Further, by stabilising supply there is less risk of starvation occurring.

Fair trade not only applies to food, when applied to all areas of commerce the consumer gets a better standard of product that's safer and lasts longer. The manufactures also get a better price, leading to better wages and less environmental impacts. Less resources wasted, Less energy used, fewer good transported around the world.

We need to start looking for alternative economic solutions. For example if everyone who is unemployed were provided with an allotment to grow some of their own food, we would reduce the cost of unemployment. However, I am a realist and know that most of the unemployed would not make the effort.

Just as I know that no government will really start to tackle climate change until we have the levels of the seas rising.

Woodcock

While I do believe in having the freedom to roam, that has to be balanced with the rights of the owners of the land. Therefore I very pleased when I got permission to access the land owned by one of the farmers that abuts Chopwell wood. However as the farmer has sheep that are due to lamb shortly, that direct access has to wait until the lambing is over.

Often just by talking to these people I find that they can provide me with valuable information regarding wildlife activity. Thus armed I went out very early this morning to see if I could see Hares. One of the areas where they are active is right on fields that border the wood. Therefore, I could stay in the cover of the trees to wait for them. That required getting down to the location before dawn.

As high winds and gales were forecast, I had no idea if I would be able to carry this out, so I set the alarm for three AM, and went to bed. There was wind and rain, but I judged that the winds were not dangerous. Walking through the woods at night can be magical, however this early morning I really did feel spooked as every creak of a bough made me nervous. However the noise from the wind and the trees enabled me to walk to within ten feet or so of three Roe Deer. They didn't see or hear me, nor I them until I was on them. I switched on the camera but I guess it was the sound of the flash charging that alerted them to me and they disappeared.

I got to the area I needed to be and set about finding a suitable location to wait. I had already scouted out the area and I knew of a perfect spot, but in the dark rediscovering that point was a bit more tricky. But I did find it and set myself up ready for the long wait. I had about two hours before dawn and almost immediately I could hear a woodcock calling. I know that there are woodcock in the wood as I have seen them, I have nearly stepped on them, but what was puzzling me was where the low croaking call was coming from, it was above and in front of me.

Now from what I could remember this nocturnal bird did its display flight in the evening, I have previously gone looking to see it. Therefore, I was surprised to find it going on in the small hours of the morning. As the pre dawn light gathered I could just make out the Woodcock on its display flight, known as a Roding (yes I had to look that up). While I could not see any I guessed that there must be a female near by.

As the video can film in very low light I set up and waited for the sky to lighten enough but the Woodcock disappeared before there was enough light. As the days lengthen I may get the chance to film it latter in the spring.

With the Woodcock gone I settled down to wait to see if the Hares turned up. Well after three and half hours I realised they were not going to appear. So while I didn't get what I came to see I did get a pleasant surprise instead.

Photo Credit to Eurasian Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola)Sweden© Jörgen Wiklund

The Wildcast Website

Probably like most people I got to see my first of the mega fauna at the zoo. I was only three and while for most of my family the day is remembered because there is a picture of me telling a goat off that had butted me, I remembered the awe I had from seeing animals like Elephants, Zebra and Rhino. Therefore I will forever be grateful to London Zoo.

From then on as a child I would watch any of the wildlife films there were on television. When I started working in the photographic industry in London, I had the opportunity to meet all be it briefly two of my heroes; Allen and Joan Root. They made two films that stuck in my mind one about spitting cobras where Joan had provoked a cobra to spit its venom so Allen could film it. The other film was of hippopotamus, and they were the first to film them underwater. What was funny was that it was the first time they had ever encountered a fan.

Anyway, as my regular reader will know I am still a fan of watching wildlife films. So I was delighted to discover a wildlife film maker who podcasts via I-tunes. These are short little films of about three minutes duration, but a real treat to watch. I know that two of my regular readers use dial up to access the internet, but if you can I would say it is worth taking a look at the website at least. I will be posting a permanent link here too.

wildcast.net

Climate Change not to blame for Summer Flooding - Who are you trying to kid

In the summer during 2007 parts of the UK suffered from flooding in what a new report from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) were the result of record breaking rainfall.

Now I wonder if they were assisted by the University of the Bleeding Obvious!

This whole report is pure propaganda to down play the effects of climate change. While not totally ruling out climate change, they say that we have not had enough extreme events to say if climate change is the cause.

Now as I sit here writing this we in the UK are facing another storm with winds of eighty miles an hour, the third in a row and only days after the last one, I am left wondering what it will take to convince people of the reality of what we have done to our planet. Yes winter storms happen, but this is supposed to be Spring. Wet summers do happen but as summer floods are supposed to be once in fifty year events, we can see no more summer flooding for next half a millennium can we?

We have, under Gordon Brown, a prime minister who pays lip service to the environment, but follows policies that will further damage the environment and our climate. The economic damage of not tackling this problem will be even greater than the investment in the solutions.

But we need to pull our heads out of the sand and see what is really happening.

The News Story

The Squirrels the Star

Today I had been ready to batten down the hatches as overnight I had been expecting a storm to hit. Therefore I was rather surprised to find that while it was persistently precipitating there was not the gales that had been forecast. I later learned that this was because the centre of the low pressure stuck over us in the North East, so while the South West got battered, we escaped. For Now as another one is on the way.

However, this meant that I did not have to confine myself to barracks and my day was free. So I decided to get into town and get some more tapes for the video. I have already nearly filled one, and I wanted to make sure I was free to film whenever I needed or wanted to. It has been a while since I went into town where I did not have an appointment to keep. Therefore the bus journey felt much more relaxed. This was further enhanced by my sighting two Red Kites low over one of the fields just after leaving the village. Any day I see the Kites is a good day.

I got back home armed with five tapes, and following a quick pasta lunch, decided I would venture forth. I went to a location where I though I stood a good chance of filming some small birds, tits and such like. Also since I obtained the extended charge batteries for the camera, I knew I would not be limited in the way I have previously.

On getting to my desired location I was spoilt for choice as the birds were there in numbers. However, that still doesn't make the process of filming them any easier, I got a lot of footage of the birds flying out of frame. Why cant these birds take direction? So typical of actors, temperamental!

That said I did get some quite good footage, including a Dunnock and a Yellowhammer. I also got some footage of a cheeky squirrel that just longs to be in the movies.

Head or Heart the logic of Climate Change

I was talking recently to a friend about the way that some people are in denial about climate change. However it is not just on this topic but on many aspects of life, as most people don't think. I am not saying they are thoughtless, its just that they think with their hearts and not their head.

If we take Evolution as an example, no matter how much proof there is placed before creationists, they will not accept that we, human animals, are the result of evolution. Because of their blind faith they can not see, or are not prepared to see that rational thought shows the logic of natural selection to be true. They are thinking with their hears and not their heads. The most wide spread manifestation of this phenomena is in sport, where millions of people get all fired up over adults playing children's games.

When it comes to climate change there are those who deny the evidence and have blind faith that it has to be natural. While others have their head in the sand, and don't want to acknowledge the reality of a human induced changing climate as it would mean them changing their behaviour.

The reality is that we will all get a shock when the level of the seas rise. While the IPCC predicts a rise of up to one metre by the end of this century, that forecast is simply wrong. As the IPCC, to get agreement only included the science where there was no dissent. This was done for political reasons but by excluding all the other quality science then available, it effectively watered down the degree of the effects we will see from Climate Change.

Therefore much of the planning and policy derived by governments from that report doesn't go anywhere near implementing the changes that will be required to survive a hotter planet.

The aspect of a changing climate that most people have the greatest mistake about is that of melting polar ice. It was always assumed that the ice had to melt off of Greenland and the Antarctic to cause a rise in sea levels, not so as we already have over one foot of rise, and with tidal action and summer surface melting draining to the base of glacial lubricating their flow, a modest rise in sea level of less than a foot is all it will take to break up the Ice and float the ice off the land. All this adds to the rise in sea levels that in turn speeds up the loss of ice from the land.

This will not be a slow occurrence but swift and dramatic. When it does happen then denial of climate change will disappear, but then so will we.

Otters and Water Voles

Today I wanted to go down to the river to see if I could see and hopefully film the Otters. I would have preferred to have gone down at first light, but other aspects of a normal life intruded and I had to wait until a caller visited in the morning. So I went in to my office to check my email, as I was waiting for the system to boot up, I looked at the sky and there at quite an altitude at least 750 feet was a Red Kite being mobbed by a cloud of crows. The contrast and the altitude showed the wingspan of the Kite off to full advantage. The grace and the effortless flight was a real treat to start the day with.

Once the man from the gas company had carried out the safety inspection of the meter, I was free to get out into the wood. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, and headed straight for the spot. As the rainfall has been so low so far this year, I could head for a location that is normally inaccessible. Even so the footing is not that good and I needed to step carefully. As I was approaching my chosen vantage point I saw an otter swimming up the river towards me.
I quickly set up but the otter had disappeared on the far bank. I was not in the perfect position but I had the camera ready all I needed to do was wait. I knew that it was possible that the otter had seen me, but at least the wind was blowing in the right direction. As I waited I was presented with a dilemma. I knew the otter was hidden in the undergrowth, I could just make out her tail, but I could also see a Water Vole swimming upstream towards me. If I moved the camera to film the water vole, I would lose the otter. So I kept my nerve and the camera stayed on the spot where the otter was hiding. I could see she was moving along behind the bush, reeds and grass.

It is at times like these that I learn just why these otters are so difficult to see. She knew I was there and was carefully keeping the vegetation between herself and me. All the time I could see the Water Vole swimming up the river. Partly by listening and partly from seeing the otters tail I kept my eyes on where the otter was. Then suddenly there was a plop as another Water Vole entered the water, this gave the otter the opportunity to do the same and she dived and was gone. Realising that my chance had gone, I swung the camera towards the voles only to see them disappear on the other side of the river. I waited a while but there was no sign of them appearing. So I moved to the location I had been heading for.

I settled down and waited and waited, I stayed for over four hours but no sign of either the otters or the voles. I did try being a arty and filmed the river, but I did not get a single frame of them. As there is heavy rain and high winds forecast, when the rain became more steady than a drizzle, I decided I had better move. Heavy rain could cause me to become cut off. This is why this location can be so good for seeing wildlife as it is genuinely undisturbed. However, while I do venture forth into difficult locations, I am also sensible about not taking risks.

Therefore I started extricating myself from that location. I wanted to have a look at a couple of other places where it is likely that other wildlife will be active. It was disappointing to see a large volume of rubbish in one part of the wood, had I not been carrying all the equipment I would have collected some of it but that will have to await another day. What lifted my spirits was seeing some real signs of spring Lesser Celandine and Hawks beard both in flower. I could see that there is the possibility for the next few months finding me very busy as new life springs forth.

The picture is of the cliffs known as the Crags it doesn't take a lot of imagination to realise how difficult the access was to my location today.

Watching for Frogs and Toads

During February we had only half the average rainfall. This makes it difficult for Frogs and Toads to emerge from their points of hibernation and get to the water they need to breed in. As amphibians need water to breed in as the eggs would dry out. Also the Frogs and Toads need to have damp or wet conditions to journey to the ponds and pools to breed in. Thus last night with steady rain forecast, it was looking like the best night so far to see the amphibians on the move and breeding.

So after midnight I ventured forth, walking in the woods in the dark is always an interesting experience. Because of recent gales the paths and tracks are covered with small twigs and branches, that makes walking quietly much more difficult, so slow and steady was the only way to progress. Initially, I had to be careful not to do an impression of a snowball as I nearly went tumbling more than once. I know that I disturbed something as I heard what sounded like a Fox or a Badger escaping at my approach.

I heard a pair of Tawny owls and I stopped to listen. There was no way that I could see them, but the male must have been no less than fifteen feet away from me as I passed by. Because of the density of the wood on the route I needed to take, I was using a torch. This meant that I could see the eye shine of a pair of Foxes as they crossed my path a hundred yards or so from me.

By the time I got to the pools, the steady drizzle was making the ground quite slick under foot. As I did not want to fall in (again), I took my time to get to the pond side. There were no sounds of the Frogs or Toads, nor any sign of them. I set up the Camera on the Tripod and placing a rain cover on it I went looking to see if I could spot any of the amphibians moving about. I could not see anything so I waited and waited.

When I realised that the first light of pre dawn was lightening the sky I realised that I was not going to get the amphibians on film I decided it was better to wait for the light to return before heading home. While all I had got was wet, I did have the consolation of the dawn chorus to make my tired trek home a pleasant one. I may have gotten a momentary glimpse of a Roe Deer as it leaped away from my approach.

Well I will have to wait for another moist evening and perhaps then I will see them.
When I got home, on the radio was a story asking people not to collect Frog spawn to stock their ponds. I did think lucky them to have the spawn to find.

A link to that article

Woodpeckers

Not long after I moved to the village work started on the construction of some new houses. At the time I couldn't see the point, but upon investigation I discovered that these were to replace some older elderly peoples cottages that could not be insulated. Thus the new bungalows were built to very high environmental standards. Further these were built as social housing, homes for rent, not just to profit developers. They were completed last year but their construction necessitated improvement works to the sewage and drainage infrastructure. As this work involved digging up some of the wildlife scrub land in the village, it was not started until the winter so as not to disturb the wildlife.

The reason for explaining this is that all that work has now been completed, and on Tuesday I noticed that grass seed had been scattered on the areas of bare soil. So I thought that this could provide a good opportunity to film some of the birds as they will feed on grass seed. Therefore I went down to the park boundary to see what turned up early in the morning. While there were plenty of birds, dropping in quickly and tacking a couple of seeds, there was also plenty of pedestrians and dog walkers. Thus, every time I was ready to start filming people disturbed the birds.

Everyone was good natured about it and I wasn't upset by this. It demonstrated just how active the birds are so close to human activity. However I was disappointed when the battery died, just when everyone seemed to stop using that path. So I will have to wait for the two long life rechargeable batteries to arrive in stock. It did mean that Wednesday was the only day that I didn't get any footage so far.

Today (Thursday) I went out specifically looking for possible locations where the woodpeckers may nest. I had a good idea of where to look, and I found two locations where it should be possible to film. Further, I may get to see what else nests in the old holes. One thing that's happening for sure is the birds think that its spring.

While I was out I stopped to try and film some long-tailed tits, but a loose unattended dog put paid to that. However just as was getting ready to move on I observed a tree creeper. I struggled for ages last year to get a picture of one, so I stayed a while longer and got some footage, it may be wobbly cam again but I got some thing.

As I was getting ready to head for home, suddenly was the drumming of a woodpecker. Not the I'm building a nest sound, but the I'm a male woodpecker fancy breeding? Sound and it was very close by. I stood and waited and a second drummed behind me. I didn't let that one distract me and waited for the first to drum again and he did. I moved towards the most likely tree he was using and waited with the camera ready. But I could not see him. I scrutinised the Oak carefully but I could not see him. I waited for over half an hour then suddenly I spotted him not on the oak itself but on a branch it had lost in the recent Gales. It must have seen my movement as I swung the camera as he flew off at that point. But what was amazing was that it was not the great spotted woodpecker I had expected to see but the rare Green Woodpecker.

The Boreal Forest

There was a real sense of irony when a couple of days after I was singing the praises of the BBC and the high quality of programmes that the Natural History unit down in Bristol produce, that I had a salesman from Sky knocking at my door. I should explain to my overseas reader that Sky, owned by Rupert Murdock, is the satellite broadcaster over here. Its also a subscription service and while it also carries the free to air services, all the really decent programming you have to pay a high monthly fee for.

Therefore, when the salesman called and was trying to get me signed up, he started to alienate me by criticised the TV licence fee and what he thought was the way that the BBC wasted money on programmes like Life in Cold Blood. Suffice to say that he never got a sale, but nor did I get the information I wanted about how much it would cost me if I wanted to get the Natural History channels. With digital TV only a couple of years away, I will have to do something if I still want to see TV after the analogue switch off.

However, whatever happens I will still have some great radio to listen to. While I promise you that I don't work for the BBC, again I have to sing their praises again. Going back to my teens, I discovered programmes like the Living World and other natural history broadcasting on BBC radio. What the BBC have recently started is not just something new in interactive broadcasting it is also cutting edge science too.

The programme, The World on the Move, is a year long project tracking the migration of birds and animals, not just in the UK and but around the world. What makes this unique is it relies on contributions and observations from listeners via its web site. Also by collaborating with scientists and conservation groups there is some real science happening. Such as learning how much fuel, energy geese need to make their migration flights. Further, by using new technology such as satellite tagging is allowing us to discover where some animals actually go. A good example of this is the picture, its from the entry for the Grasshopper Warbler in a book published in the late 1970s I bought the book in 1980 I think. As can be seen there is a question mark about the wintering grounds in Africa.

However, what this programme has done for me, is to set me on a path of discovery about what happens around the world. Thus I discover that the Boreal Forest in Canada is the breeding nursery for both North and South America. However there is the ubiquitous problem, that of substantial threats to the habitat, placing ninety five percent of the birds under threat and in serious decline.

I just wonder when we will all start to treasure our world and wonder at the beauty it holds for us.

Anyway you can all find the BBC World on the Move Web pages here. And even if you don't live in the UK you can still listen to the programmes on line.

Handing Victory to the Republicans?

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and
should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

So goes Article One of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I just want you all to pause a moment and reread what that says.


Over here across the pond, it has been intriguing to watch the race for the nomination of the candidates for the election for the next president of the US. All this and we still have the actual election itself to come.

However, amid all the rhetoric about the real possibility of either a Black man or a woman becoming president there has been one thing that people seem to be forgetting and that of the election itself. In the media over here, that seems to have been forgotten and the way its all being reported makes it sound as though either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton will be the next president. However, while I can see that the American people cant wait to get rid of Bush, it is by no means a foregone conclusion that the Democrats will win the election.

The problem as I see it is this, no matter what form of words are used to say that all people are equal, in America there will be some people that will not tolerate a black man as president. It is the same over here, I am not saying that we are any more enlightened over here and I hope you can now see why I started this posting with Article one of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I don't know who of the two democrats would make the better president, but I do know that if Barack Obama did get the nomination it will hand victory to the republicans. I am sad to write this, as race should not be an issue.

In an ideal world it would not be, but the reality is that race still matters. I have come to this conclusion from hearing reports from the media over here and more importantly from media over there.

Local Wind Turbines - Not In My Back Yard

Tuesday night I had to go down the local pub. I say had to; (its a difficult life here) as I had to collect my eggs from a local man who keeps chickens and this ensures I get fresh free range eggs. As I was still excited by my observation of the Red Kites courting flight, I was able to share my enthusiasm for this.

While I realise that I do risk being seen as the Pub Bore, I try to be careful that I don't alienate people. Recently a good friend asked if I see peoples eyes glaze over at the mention of Climate Change, well as my eyes glaze over if I have to mention it... I just cant understand why people don't get it. So while I told a couple of people, I was surprised that many people then started to come over and ask about the Kites. Locally, people are really proud of the Red Kites and their success.

However, something happened that surprised me, one of my local readers, told me he could fix my other video camera. He described exactly how the fault manifests its self, so that gives me confidence. When I took the camera to get repaired previously I had been told it would cost a small fortune. However, it could be that it will be relatively cheep to fix. So I am considering the offer.

One of the other things that occurred was that I was furnished with some useful information about some local wildlife. While I can find the local wildlife myself, good local knowledge can save a lot of wasted effort.

I also got the chance to have a look at the local paper, there was a report about the possibility of four wind turbines being constructed locally. However much of the report was about opposition to the proposal. What appalled me was that all of the reasons that the opposition were putting forward were nonsense. It was a real NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitude.

In the past this area was built on Iron and Steel, Consett was a steel town and my village of Chopwell was created by the Consett Iron company purely to mine coal to make coke for smelting Iron and Steel. When the blast furnaces were closed in the 1980s it caused a lot of financial deprivation. However it really boosted the environment. The River Derwent is only as clean as it is because of the fact that these industries are now gone.

So for the NIMBYs to claim that four turbines is a return to industrialisation is nonsense. While some impact will occur, it will not be polluting. The other main objection was that it will effect the Red Kites who are nesting. While the Red Kites do venture to that area occasionally, none of the Red Kites are nesting anywhere near the site of the proposed turbines. They are at least five miles away.

While I feel that turbines need to be sited sensitively so that they don't cause environmental damage, we need the power they generate. I doubt that any of these NIMBYs will be willing to give up their cars or are prepared to suffer power cuts.

While I know that four turbines will not in themselves solve climate change, it is the accumulative effect of many small local projects that will have the greatest impact.

Breeding Frogs and Displaying Red Kites

While it was not planed that way, it was rather fortunate that my new toy arrived on the first day of spring. So far I have been able to get out each day with the video camera and I have got some interesting footage. However, it will take time before I can post anything here as I still need to get the software and cables to do that. However, getting out each day to explore with the camera is a pleasure.

While the camera is digital, I am learning its limitations and its abilities. On Sunday I went looking for the signs of breeding behaviour in the amphibians, and I found frog spawn. I used the camera to film the spawn and was really pleased that the macro facility really worked and worked well. Playing the footage back, I could see the frog developing inside the egg. I plan to try and return several times and observe the development. I must admit that I am fascinated by these really basic aspects of natural history, whenever I see something I just become a child again. There will be some folks that know me, that will attest to the fact that I have never grown up.

Then on Monday after getting an okay sequence as I was heading for home I spotted a pair of Bullfinches feeding and got some clear footage of them. Tuesday I popped out early, and while I didn't get what I was hoping to see, I had a long clear view of a Jackdaw preening.

But as I had other commitments, I had to head off and do all the boring stuff of life. However, when I got back from a supermarket run, if only the cat would buy her own food I could be saved that job, I still had time to get out for a wander.

Last year I witnessed a pair of the Red Kites trying to build a nest, they failed as it collapsed off the branch. Therefore I have been keeping up an observation to see if it happened again. Therefore I have been looking out for any activity that would indicate the Kites were pairing or nesting.

As the thinning work is going on at the moment in the woods, some paths and tracks are closed to the public. Therefore I have had to take longer circuitous routes to the various locations to observe. While in the thick of the wood I spotted one of the Kites. As I tried to make my way forward I realised that there was not one but three of them and they were circling. Then to my wonder and delight I realised there were four of them.

Had it not been the happy chance of the trees still being without leaf and all three appearing in the patches of open sky at the same time I may not have realised what I was seeing. I was one hundred yards of thick wood away from gaining a clear view but there were three males competing in a courtship flight for a single female. At one point two of the birds, one of the males and the female exchange food in an aerial pass, talon to talon. This is behaviour that I have only read of in books before and never witnessed. What an amazing sceptical, as one bird (the male) has to fly upside down, all be it briefly, to complete this feat in mid air.

I got a short, a few seconds long, of one of the kites though the trees, but after the female chose the male, they flew off before I could escape the thicket. Had it not been for the forest operations going on I would have tried following but the path I would have needed to take went straight to where heavy machinery was felling timber and as excited as I was I did not want to get into the path of a hundred foot spruce coming down.

The excitement of seeing something like that is amazing. It would have been great if I could have filmed it, but that was not to be this time at least. I don't care if people think that I am like a child at moments like this, as these experiences provide me with memories that are priceless.

The Delight and Despair of Natural History on TV

A few weeks ago I said that on Mondays I could not be disturbed as I have been watching the BBC programme Life in Cold Blood. It lived up to my expectations and I know that there will be folks around the world that will enjoy it too. So I will not spoil any future enjoyment of my three readers and the cat.

However, the one thing that makes watching this natural history documentary and others like this is just how rare many of the animals in these programmes are.

Today two hundred species will have become extinct. That is two hundred lost today, another two hundred will be lost tomorrow. That is the rate of extinction the fauna and flora on our planet every day. That is the greatest rate of loss since even before the dinosaurs

This is much more important than we realise, not because we loose the beauty of our planet, as important as that is. But its the loss of resources that we have not even discovered yet that is the real loss. Who knows if a species that we have lost could have been a cancer treatment? That's not being emotive as many drugs on the market are derived from plants.

Also by loss of a species we could allow another pest species to become more prevalent. This happened with the Passenger Pigeon in the US. When the Europeans first invaded north America there were five or six billion of them. Their flocks were so large that they would darken the skies for hours as they flew over. But they were easy to shoot and tasted good. So they were shot barrelled and shipped in large numbers. Then in 1915 in Cincinnati Zoo the last member of her species died.

While the loss of a species that once had a global population the same as all the humans now on the planet was lamented it was not until the nineteen twenties that the effect of this loss became clear. As the Passenger Pigeon was a key part of the food chain that once removed lead to the explosion in the insect populations that were in part responsible for the dust bowl in the twenties.

Often in Natural History documentaries there is almost what has become a throw away line that in ten years, in fifteen years, in five years this critter will be extinct. I truly hope that will still be able to see the the beauty of our planet in real life and not just on film.

Filming Birds and Village Life

Before I even moved to the village where I now live and I was looking around for a place to live, a location that enabled me to be in touch with the environment, was vital. Partly this was because I find cities such depressing places to live, but also and mainly I wanted to live in a location where I could see wildlife daily.

So when I needed to obtain a video camera to collect evidence of my then landlords appalling and illegal behaviour, I thought ahead and bought one that I could use for filming wildlife. When I took her, my landlord, to court the camera paid for itself as I won the case. However, as one of the many problems with the property was faulty electrics, this damaged the cameras electronics. Therefore, I was not able to film the wildlife in and around the village as I wanted to.

That was until now, as finally I have bought new video camera. It arrived on Saturday morning, I am lucky as my post woman is very reliable, well as she lives just up the street from me, so I was able to read the instructions and get the battery on charge. However, I also needed to get into Consett to get some shopping as well.

Therefore I was pleased that the battery charged quickly. It meant that I could go out and test the camera and still get into town to get my shopping. I was out and not more than two hundred yards from my home, when I stopped to film a Blackbird feeding on the ground. I had only taken the mono pod out with me, so as I discovered my first filing was most definitely wobbly cam! However, I was leaning against the hedge as I (tried) filmed, and just two feet from me a long-tailed tit perched in the hedge. Right in my line of sight. I tried to keep the camera steady on the Blackbird while I also watched the tit. Absolutely amazing.

Filming is very different from taking still images, and I will have to develop my skills, but on the whole I was very pleased with the results I have gotten so far. Playing them back through the television, the picture quality was as good as the images broadcast on TV.

That is why in part I have not been able to post here, as I have been busy playing with my new toy. Also, on Saturday, while looking at a good friends Blog, she tempted me in with a nice snowy scene... and wham she gets me with a snowball!

As I said previously, I also needed to go and get some shopping. While I have supported the local greengrocer in the village since I moved here, I find the quality really poor. On the last three occasions when I have bought from there I have found the items have gone bad by the following day. Its not that I am storing the items poorly, it is the fact that the produce is just not up to standard. Therefore, I was prepared to pay the extra cost of travelling into town to get better the quality.

Well I was pleased that I did as even with the cost of the bus fare, I only spent what I would have in the village. However more importantly the quality was excellent.

While I do want to support local businesses and support local food, the quality has to be there though. It does annoy me that food businesses don't do more to ensure quality. While I will criticise the supermarkets the one thing they have got right is the quality of the produce they sell. The local shop, could do well but almost everyone I talk to say that its the poor quality that has stopped them from using the shop. What amazes me is that the people running the store don't even know much about food, they don't have the passion for food they need to succeed with a food business in this day and age.

While thinking about this, on the radio yesterday there was a programme that enlightened me. The Food Programme, BBC Radio 4, was talking about wholesale fruit and veg markets, and it confirmed my long held suspicion that many greengrocers buy the junk in the hope of a quick profit. Well the local greengrocer has lost my custom by doing that.

However, I was pleased to find a much better greengrocer in the town.

The trip back caused an interesting incident too. Apart from the fact that on the bus was one of the cantankerous and obnoxious residents of the village, it was for me without incident.

However, when I went to the Pub that evening, I have not been for many weeks as I was saving for the video camera, this cantankerous and obnoxious person was there. He greeted me by saying what am I lying about now. I long worked out that he is jealous of the fact that I have seen more wildlife in the woods in the couple of years I have lived here than he has all his life. Well you cant see wildlife if all you do is sit in the pub getting pissed. Anyway, when I had gotten off the bus, I had allowed this woman with her child to get off first. I had also made a joke about the unicorn hobby horse the child had.

Well, this cantankerous old bugger had been running around telling everyone that he had seen me with a woman. Now I know that in villages all over people get very nosy, but it did amuse me that so many people are so interested in my love life. As we have real problems with crime and anti social behaviour, why cant they worry about that?

Well if they want to know, I am not seeing anyone at the moment... but I am open to offers!

A failure to reduce CO2

Just after the new year I calculated my carbon footprint, and I came out as producing up to five and half tonnes of carbon dioxide. I say up to as it depended upon what site I visited and it ranged from two and half tonnes to four and half tonnes using these sites. However I did my own calculations and included all the hidden CO2 that these sites often exclude and five and half tonnes is a figure that I would say is most accurate.

That is more than half of the average in Britain and nearly a fifth of the average American who emits a whopping twenty-five tonnes of CO2 per year.

Therefore I know that I am doing as much as I can to use only what I need. If I had more money I know I could do more. There are no convenient outlets to buy local food for me. Those that are around require me to travel there adding to my travel and carbon costs. Add to that often the price of produce at the Farmers markets etc is extortionate. While I am prepared to pay for quality, the prices are not reflective of any fair trade. The farmers criticise the supermarkets for excessive profits and can have mark ups of four or five hundred percent upon the price that the farmer gets paid. So why then is it right for farmers to then try charging, in some cases, double the price the supermarkets charge?

Equally I am trying really hard to not use plastic bags or any plastic packaging at all. But it is nearly impossible to buy goods without loads of plastic. As one of the shops in the UK, Marks & Spencer's announces that its going to start charging for plastic bags as a way of reducing the 1700,000,000 that we in the UK use each year, it makes me realise just how far we have to move to stop the effects of pollution and climate change.

Therefore, it did not surprise me that the big switch off day produced no noticeable effect. Those people like me who take climate change seriously are already doing what they can. And while locally I have helped a small number of people towards reducing their energy bills, I know that none of them would have done anything if it had not been for a hike in gas and electricity costs here. Further not one of them really cares about the environment.

Even many of the people who say they care about the environment and global warming still drive cars and must have their holidays in the sun, taking flights, as well as consuming all the latest gadgets. These people loose their concern for our planet as soon as it starts to impact upon their way of life or their freedom to pollute.

Then there is the hard core majority that don't care at all. Or delude themselves that some technological fix will come along and we can do all the things we have always done, and us environmentalists are just doom and gloom merchants.

While I am a pragmatist and realise that we do need lighting heat and power, there is so much that we could be doing. Take plastic bags as one example; around the globe we use one point two trillion of these per year. If we stopped using plastic bags that would save the equivalent of twelve million flights from Heathrow London to JFK New York. That's 12,000,000 all those zeros. That simple action alone would save well over four hundred million tonnes of CO2 per year.

Recently I have been talking to a tree about Low energy light bulbs. She posted on her Blog about mercury vapour in the bulbs. I pointed out that the amount was minuscule and there is no real danger from them, yet products like these need to be recycled and disposed of properly. However, the real point is we all need light and as these bulbs are much more energy efficient we should all be using them. As well as turning off lights that are not needed.

It will not be until we clearly see the effects of Climate Change that the majority of people will even start to take action. By then it will be to late. Sir David King the former chief scientist in the UK said that Global Warming was a greater threat than Terrorism, on that he was spot on.
The reality is that unless we all stop polluting we will all suffer. Not only that we will make our children suffer. While there are many projects that are aimed at reducing CO2 emissions, we all need to reduce our CO2 emissions by changing our behaviour.

Further reading on the switch off day