Sculptures In Chopwell Wood

In between the expeditions to observe, or not, the badgers I have been getting on with editing my videos. One of the disappointments has been finding music and sounds that I could use with them. As all music will be owned by someone, to stay legal I did buy a couple of Royalty free CDs. This is music that I can use without paying repeat fees. But to be honest the music was rubbish.

However, I recently bought a package of music along with a licence that enables me to add music to the videos. What has pleased me is that while not everything it to my personal taste, the tunes are all very usable and are much better quality than most of what I had found previously. Also at a reasonable cost. I can not afford the hundreds or even thousands of pounds that some people are demanding to allow their music to be used.

Well I am more than happy with what I have got and now I can try and really get some of this stuff together properly. Here is one of the clips its of one of the sculptures in Chopwell Wood. I plan to do a little film of each of them over time when I can. Who knows it may get some of you folks to visit the woods that I love too.

Confusing Badgers

As my regular reader will already know, I have been spending a large part of this year watching the local badger population. Part of the reason why I wanted to do this was that the government were seriously considering a cull of Badgers as a way of controlling TB in cattle. Partly because it was seen as political suicide the decision was taken not to carry out a cull. Locally, TB is not a major problem, but it does exist and there are outbreaks from time to time.

Therefore, I was perplexed by the recent discovery that new animals were moving into the local area. While some young male Badgers will be driven out from a sett by the Dominant male, it is rare to find that two new young males can set up in a new territory in the way that they have. Also as Badgers live in extended family groups, there will be times when individuals will relocate to satellite setts.

So to get as clear a picture of what is actually going on I have been going out looking at the various setts to see if I could work out what animal is using what sett. Unlike my normal method of observation where I try to get a snap shot of what's going on, this time I went to spend time at each sett to see what was going on and more importantly if I could determine what individuals were residing at each location. I did start out by taking the video camera with me, as I thought that the IR vision it gave me would be helpful but it ended up being an encumbrance. At one location while laying in the bracken near the path, I had the problems of dogs suddenly discovering me while being walked by their owners. One refused to walk past me and the owner said your supposed to protect me not the other way round. I discovered that there were no badgers at that sett and at another. Two setts abandoned?

Now the problem is that I have heard a rumour that one farm has decided to deal with “Their Badger Problem”, what that means or where the farm is I don't know. Nor do I know if its true. However, something is disturbing the Badgers.

If it is that a farmer in the wider surrounding area has done that I could explain where the two new males came from. Also, if that sett is perceived by the badgers to be empty then my local Badgers could have relocated to that sett. It shows the futility of getting rid of badgers in one sett if that is what has happened. I am jumping to no conclusions here though, as there are two other factors that I need to consider too. The first is that in my local wood felling and thinning work is being carried out. This could have caused the badgers to move to avoid this disturbance. Also as the children are on the summer break it is possible that they are inadvertently disrupting the badgers normal routines and the badgers are just keeping away from human activity.

At the main Sett I watch everything seems normal apart from the fact that they are more cautious of humans and our scent. I am not worried by their apparent absence just confused.

An Historic Presidential Race

As ancient as I may be, I was not around when Kennedy was elected as US president. But I get the feeling that this presidential race has something of that feel to it. No matter who wins this will be a race that will go down in history. Not only do we see the first black man as a credible contender for the white house but there will also be a woman as a vice presidential contender too.

I genuinely feel proud that America has finally looked at the content of a man's character and not the colour of his skin, as was the dream of Martin Luther King.

While I personally do have my preference, for Barack Obama, I am fully aware that for some Americans a Brit saying anything about US politics and especially an election is taboo. But my preference is based upon Green issues and that I feel that the world will be safer with Barack Obama in the White house than McCain.

As Barack Obama has stated that his policy for America is to end the addiction to oil will not only help the environment, I also think that by America ending the need to trade with unstable states for oil will reduce the tensions in the world too. Al Qaeda only grew up as the result of the the West needing to buy oil from countries that repressed its peoples.

Also while I think that it could be a good thing to have a woman as the vice president, as Sarah Palin is in favour of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge then I am against the McCain and Palin ticket on that major issue.

Well as I don't have a vote I realise that my opinion are just that, but I must say that what ever the result of the election in sixty five days, at least it will not be Bush.

In regard to that here is a video that I guess that most Americans will have seen but I just found funny. Enjoy!

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Wood Ants

While I had expected to be busy over the next few days, events today just show that there are some days when things just go right.

One of the things I wanted to do was film the wood ants in the Forest. We are fortunate to have a rare species here the Hairy Northern Wood Ant. But while I knew were there were nests last year, two of those were deliberately destroyed. It is all to easy to blame this on kids or young people, the reality is that no one knows who did it or why. Therefore I was expecting it to take me a day or two to locate another colony.

However, because of my previous experience of searching out nests for a cancelled conservation project, I had a clear idea of the conditions that I needed to look for. It took me less than half an hour to find a large active nest. Thus I was able to get on with filming the ants. I got the most of the shots I wanted. The only one that I haven't got yet is a clear shot of the whole nest. The one that I found was to well hidden so that to get a shot of the whole mound of the nest would have required me cutting down four fifty foot trees. So I was able to really experiment and get some really magnified shots. The ants kept on moving out of focus but as a test it was more than successful.

I also got another treat as while heading towards home I saw a Merlin. I did stop and set up the camera to see if I could film it, but it had only been a brief view and waiting for a hour was not going to get the bird to return. I would have stayed longer but I needed to get back home as my flask was sitting on the kitchen counter as I had forgotten to pick it up. In my defence the phone had rung just as I was getting ready to leave, and that had caused me to leave it. So I was gasping for a drink.

I also wanted to get a bath as I needed to wash away the sweat of the day as I needed to do my checks on the Badgers. With mammals in particular it is important to avoid having a strong human scent as even staying down wind, the way that the air can eddy in and around woods can lead to detection and betrayal. However, I did not get out to see the Badgers as I was just to tired to do it. I am writing this having just woken up on the sofa having missed the times when the Badgers would have emerged. Well I will have to do it another day.

Scaly Cricket

As I have been cataloguing my video footage I thought I would share this little clip. I had spotted this insect feeding on the nectar in this buttercup. I was not the first time I had seen it and had thought it was a beetle. However, I went back armed with a field guide and a camera to see if I could identify it. It took me time to relocate it but I found it or another individual, and filmed it. I did also try to take a still image but the still camera is not that good at taking close up images as it has difficulty focusing. While I do have cameras that better at that, I would need to carry a couple of hundred pounds (in weight) of equipment just to try and cover the whole range of species that I may encounter. I have though of getting an assistant but I can find someone that would not get bored. They don't get bored with the wildlife just me.

One of the things that has pleased me is that when I tested out the new camera that I got for Infra red, I discovered it was also great at doing close up and macro work. So expect to see a few more of the mini beasts here.

I may not be posting that regularly for the next couple of weeks, I normally post every day, as I am off doing some wildlife stuff. This could lead to some interesting postings latter though.

The Flight of the Red Kite

I hope that my reader will forgive me for this ego massaging posting. Earlier I tried and failed to film a Red Kite, I went back to my cataloguing of my footage. This was a clip that I shoot a little while ago.

There is an analogy with shooting film or taking photographs with the way that a field biologist works on collecting trip. The scientist will collect specimens over a few weeks yet it will then require months of work as a result of that expedition. In effect that is what I am doing with my video film. As I catalogue the film so that I can find them again, I am also listing clips that will eventually get put together into films. Also I frequently discover that if I film other establishing shots or linking footage I can then do something justice. Even if it is rough justice.

However this clip of the gracefully flight of the Red Kite stands on its own.

I am fully aware that while my filming is not yet up to the standard of the pros, I can see where I am getting better the more I film. The trouble is that with wildlife I cant say cut and ask the bird or mammal to do that again. Their union don't allow it and its in their contract.

One of the things that has surprised me was when I looked at the number of people that have viewed my junk on you tube, I have clocked up over a thousand views. As my stuff doesn't involve gratuitous violence nor crass and juvenile behaviour, I am surprised that anyone has viewed them at all.

Well that's my ego massaged, I had better get on with some work.

Pine Martin, Capercaillie & Red Kite

Following my posting yesterday about seeing my first Pine Martin, a good friend in America informed me that this mammal is also present there. However, over there there is a bounty on them even though they are relatively rare. It is no wonder they are so illusive.

Even here they are persecuted as one of their foods are eggs. The areas where they are most present is in Scotland and its there on the big shooting estates that they are considered a pest. While protected by law, the martin is treated as vermin. However it is their impact on the wild birds nests that has and is creating a dilemma for conservationists. As the Martin will take the Eggs of one of the rarest birds in Scotland the Capercaillie.

Here there are two rare species, both protected by law, yet one is impacting upon the population of the other. So what one of the RSPB wardens is doing is collecting a small number of the Capercaillie eggs and rearing them under a bantam chicken. Thus helping to maintain a higher breeding success rate than was happening naturally.

While researching this I asked the question of why not create a reintroduction programme for the Capercaillie? I discovered that in Scotland it is illegal to introduce or release Capercaillie. This was a law that was introduced to protect the shooting estates in Scotland and was brought in after the last time the Capercaillie became extinct in Scotland.

When that happened a gentleman took it upon himself to reintroduce the bird and obtained birds and Eggs from Norway and Wales and it the off spring of these that are now the Scottish population. Yet it is perfectly legal to introduce birds from Asia as these are the partridges and pheasants that are at the heart of the shooting industry. It just shows what lunacy can happen when vested interests are involved.

However, made a suggestion to the person I was talking to while researching the story and said why not put down some faux nests with bantam or small chicken eggs to distract the Martins from the Capercaillie nests to give both populations a chance. Well it seems that this is what will be tried next year. A simple solution that may help protect two rare species.

Just as I was typing this I had to stop for my Red Kite fix as on flew over. It should have been my best chance of filming one but as today is a bank holiday (like labour day), I was just sitting here with nothing on my feet. So I grabbed the Camera and was just ready to shoot out the door when I realised that I did not have any trousers on. Another quick dash to get my trousers a clean pair of socks and my boots and I was still out quickly. I dashed to a location that I would get a good sighting as the Kites are quite methodical as they search for food, just to see the Bird in the distance. I did trot down the hill further as there is another useful viewing point there but the Kite had long since glided off out of view. It was only as I walked back did I think just what a ridiculous sight I would have made had I just gone out. But had I not got dressed I would not have had my keys and how would I explain that to the police or a lock smith. Lesson for the day engage brain first.

It is one of the aspect of the Red Kites that makes them so magnificent, is their effortless flight. With a wingspan of five to six feet they glide so gracefully, yet they move so swiftly too. Personally I think that Red Kite watching should be prescribed on the NHS much better than Prozac.

Rare Wildlife In North Yorkshire

As I have spoken about in previous posts, I have been using my cameras to try and find and confirm sightings of a mammal that is so rare that officially it s recorded as absent. On a previous occasion in some private woods I did see tracks that could have been made by this animal but were to degraded to be clear and there were other animals that could have made them.

On that occasion the main target species was not observed. Part of the difficulty being the habits of the animal are different and setting up a (Camera) trap for one species could miss the other. Also at the time I did not have Infra Red equipment so I was limited to what I could do.

Therefore it was tantalising to obtain information of another sighting via an independent source in an area close to the first location. Upon investigation it was far better habitat to find the animal so I have been camping out in the hope of filming this creature. Not the wryest of occupations nor the most comfortable but I kept vigil.

I baited the area with foods that would attract the animal and set up one camera so that it could take a series of still every few seconds in a spot that was the most likely path the animal would take. While I settled down to wait and film the animal if it came.

I have a real admiration for the professionals, but I don't have the luxury of assistants to aid me and I also have to go out at times to change batteries, tapes and memory cards. So I was aware that I could stop myself from seeing my quarry at those times I would have to move. Therefore while having two cameras located would increase my chances, was it that I was decreasing them by moving about.

Well on one night I left the stills camera alone, but when I went to collect it it had been overturned by possibly a badger, but the jam sandwiches left as bait had gone. A check of the images showed that the camera had recorded many images of the ground and some of the bait before the tripod had been up ended but none of the animal.

This continued in much the same vain until I finally saw my first Pine Martin. I was just changing tapes when it appeared and with the best will in the world I could not get the new tape in quickly in the dark. In fact I was trying to put it in the wrong way round.

I am not the only people trying to get the Martins on film as I learned that the BBC are lucking out in the same area as are the naturalists who are trying to garner photographic evidence to prove they have extended their range. So while officially the Pine Martin is not in North Yorkshire, but we know different.

A Hectic Day

Normally I don't have much of a problem waking up in the morning even if I have had a late night as I had on Sunday. Even if I don't feel like getting up, I have a furry alarm clock that will awaken me demanding attention and to be fed. A loud purring in the ear and a cold wet nose will always do it for me. Therefore, I assumed I was late when I was awoken by the sound of the lorry collecting the recyclable. Normally it is here at about nine thirty to ten, thus I was in a panic as I had a meeting I had to attend.

I was straight up and about my ablutions, feeding the cat and with just a cup of tea to sustain me I was out to catch the bus. Fortunately I had assembled all the documents and materials I would need the night before, but I did leave without my mobile. Thus I did not have a time piece with me and as it was cloudy I couldn't read the sun dial either.

I was almost cursing as I had gone out to check on the Badgers the previous night. I had not planned to but a phone call had alerted me to the fact that there were people near one of the setts. So I went to check that everything was fine, it was and it was probably just young people out enjoying the wood. However I stayed to keep a watch for a while just to be sure after telephoning the farmer that had called me to see if I was the person he had seen near the sett.

I did see two of the badgers briefly and they seemed undisturbed, I stayed still for long enough to be sure that I would not disturb them myself when I moved off. While I waited I saw the ghostly shape of a Barn owl fly in to the tree above me and immediately felt something drop on my head. On a few occasions now I have had owls drop pellets on me. I had thought that this was confidential but I am beginning to think that its deliberate and is intended to try and drive me off. As I was wearing a cap I didn't do anything but wait then when I did move what had been dropped on my head fell into my lap. I was really surprised to see that it was a vole. As the owl had gone by then I decided to take it home, yes it was dead. While it could be said that I was depriving an owl a meal I could and will leave it out for the Kites.

Anyway, that was why I thought I was late. I got the bus and it was not until I was half way to Newcastle that I noticed the time on the bus clock told me I was nearly two hours early. While I was a little irritated that I had rushed I was also pleased that I could relax and compose myself for the meeting.

As I was early, I decided to go and get breakfast in a cafe. Now it is rare for me to have a full English Breakfast, and what I had was a good reminder of why I don't I was tempted to rename the bacon Phelps, as this was swimming in grease. With that experience behind me I went window shopping in a couple of book shops. I was glad that I had not brought my debit card with me or I would now be writing begging letters requesting food parcels.

Getting close to the time that my meeting was due to start I decided I was due a coffee. I had only had a cup of tea when I got up and what was served in the cafe was a serious breach of the trades descriptions act if that was tea. So I headed for a decent coffee shop that I know, and in there was a chap that I knew and have not seen for a number of years. I got to know him and his wife as they were members of a ladies morris dance team, and I was a morris dance groupie.

We parted having exchanged email addresses, the day was getting better, from a bad start all of my own making. I attended the meeting and it has left me with a lot to think about, but that I will leave for another posting.

I was lucky on the way home as no sooner had I arrived at Central Station than the bus arrived. On the journey home I saw five different Red Kites from the bus. The rest of the day was fairly ordinary but it was clear that my cat had been confused by my rushing out in the morning, and seemed to want reassurance that I was not abandoning her. Well I think that was her excuse for wanting to claim my lap.

The Value of Wildlife

A couple of weeks ago a comment was left on a previous posting about the rediscovery of the Crucifix Beetle in Wicken Fen. This discovery enabled me to finally identify a beetle that I had seen in my local wood as the same species. Anyway, the comment was from someone who had a picture of a beetle that looked as though it was the same, or very similar.

Now what I find fascinating about this species is that there is virtually nothing known about the habitat needs, foods or sexual behaviour of this insect. This is partly because it is so rare, officially there is only a single know location, Wicken Fen and only if a specimen can be caught and killed so that it can be studied and tested would my local population be recognised. But as my attitude is that killing a very rare species just to identify it kind of defeats the objective of trying to conserve it.

But this discovery has greater implications as there are many other species that are not recorded as present just because the discovery or the records are not coming from trained scientists. With birds, plants and reptiles often a photograph is all an amateur needs to prove that an observation is correct. But with some of the less sexy orders of animals like insects or snails to name a few, sightings and records are seen as unreliable unless there is a specimen to study.

There is also a commercial and financial reason why some bodies don't want to discover that there is something rare about. In Britain there is quite strong legal protection for many species, not all of them rare but important to the diversity and health of the environment. However, it is particularly when development or construction work is being proposed (or carried out) that discovery of a protected species becomes unwanted. Developers are under a legal obligation to carry out a survey and make provision for any protected species. This may mean they have to create an artificial loft for bats so they can redevelop an old building to turn it into apartments. When bats are already using the building. Or to build new homes on a sensitive site there may be a requirement that Great Crested Newts get a new pond so that an existing population is not destroyed. I include both these examples as these have happened and have lead to the developers complaining about what the law requires.

Equally there are companies that try to avoid getting a proper Environmental Impact Survey done so that nothing rare or protected is ever discovered. The other area where this can cause a problem for commercial interests is when, say a bird, nests on or in a building. With most birds it is illegal to disturb the nest, so that a work can be delayed should this happen. There was an example of this locally this year, and there the developer just got on with other work until the chicks fledged. This is not the attitude of many though as far to many complain about this and claim that it all adds to their costs. Yet the reality is that all that happens is the ones that complain do just as the ones that don't complain and get on with other aspects of the development.

One of the benefits of developers now having to carry out Environmental Impact Surveys is that species have been rediscovered. One of the locations that I am trying to access to film the wildlife on, has recently discovered a rare beetle, this was only found as they had to carry out the EIS. There they have just moved the activity away from the sensitive area.

I also know that this is a problem around the world. In Pennsylvania there was a snake expert that discovered snakes in various counties where they are supposed to be absent. Also one of my regular readers in Maine can not get her local state to recognise that they have a pair of Golden Eagles nesting there nor that box turtles are present even though she has posted pictures on the internet of them. There as here it would require government and business to take actions to protect them and their habitats.

Part of the difficulty will always be that people do not value the wildlife around them. The success of the Red Kite project though should provide a template for how wildlife benefits the economy. One of the local bus companies renamed one of their routes the Red Kite, it goes right through the birds range. Even before the increases in fuel costs this brought the company an increase in passenger numbers of at least forty percent. Also a bed and breakfast that was on the brink of closure before the Kites came is now ticking along quite nicely because of the kites. People will pay to see these magnificent birds. Equally when I go trekking to other wildlife hot spots, I do spend money on meals out and occasionally accommodation.

However while the tourism potential is easily understood there are some benefits that are less obvious. Bats eat insects, in Britain that means midges. As female midges eat tourists and wildlife photographers in particular, the presence of bats helps keep a problem at bay. But equally birds who feed on insects keep take care of the pests that also want to eat our food crops. This is something any organic grower already knows, but if there were not the birds there the estimated cost to agriculture would run into billions.

As I have already reported here there is a problem with the loss of bees, and while the science is still not conclusive about why we are seeing bees dying, the economic impact has been highlighted. Without bees to pollinate crops it would take an army of workers to transfer pollen between flowers using brushes and I bet it will not be as efficient as the bees do it.

Therefore while the economic case has been made for wildlife and just not the range we think of as useful, but all wildlife, what is needed is for a real change in the attitude towards the species we share the planet with. At the moment if a species is causing a perceived economic harm to one business or sector then often actions are taken to control. This is done without regard to the impact upon other businesses or sectors of the economy. The most obvious example are the shooting estates. Even though it is illegal large numbers of raptors are killed to preserve the economics of the estate. Yet many other smaller businesses suffer because the depleted wildlife in the area fails to attract other leisure based activities including tourism.

While efforts have been made and are being made to discover what we have, only this year as part of a national survey of adders a whole population was discover in Yorkshire, until we know what we have and where we can not hope to protect it. Further no development should be allowed on sensitive sites. Often developers promise much, but the economic reality is almost always far less than was promised.

There really could be some wonderful gems out there that we just don't realise are there. As for the possible third location for the Crucifix Beetle, well my research shows that it is more likely to be either Necrophorus vespilloides or Necrophorus investigator both of the family Silphidae Burying Beetles. And I only discovered that from burying my head if a few books.

Otters on the River

This is a follow up to my previous posting, as the moment the batteries were charged I headed out into the woods. While I had something specific I wanted to try and catch, I was also just happy to wander and see what was growing or about.

The rain has promoted a lush growth and in the sunshine the butterflies were out in numbers. I was able to get some film of them. However I was more interested in seeing what other insects were about. In fact while I was filming one on a flower one of the mountain bikers walked past, its a steep hill to ride up, and said that would be a boring film, not knowing what I was filming. I just said “Oh you have seen my films”

While that was quite a cheeky thing to say, I was amused by it. It is quite heartening that so many of the mountain bikers when they saw what I was doing they stopped until they were sure they were not interfering with what I was doing and I was able to reciprocate by moving to the side or waving folks through. It is amazing just how helpful and cooperative people are. It just proves that different users can share this wonderful wood.

One of the problems that I had been having with filming was the Tripod. My tripod I have had since I was eighteen, so it nearly qualifies as an antique. And while it is firm and steady for stills photography, it does not have the smooth movements that filming requires. Therefore I have been looking at getting a pre loved video tripod. This I did get just the day before the plumber called to arrange the work that I have just had done. Therefore I was worried that I may not have been able to afford to get the thermostatic valves fitted. But as it turned out I was able to do both.

While I am off on this tangent, one of my American readers told me that in the US plumbers are known for the “Plumbers Crack” well over this side of the pond all builders and tradesmen have that, in fact I suspect its a legal requirement that all builders have the “Builders Crack”

Anyway as we leave that disturbing image, I received the new video tripod and even as I checked it out, I could see that it would produce the smooth pan and tilt actions I needed. However, where this new toy really scores for me is the speed that I can set the tripod up. Once I get used to the different layout of the controls I am sure that I will be able to snatch shots that I have missed in the past. This showed to be true while I was filming the butterflies.

Later I was down near the river, I was at the top of the high cliffs that are called the crags. As I was setting up a shot of the river in the valley when I spotted something in the water. I used the zoom to try and get a closer look. With the river in full spate it was difficult to see anything, but I spotted a head appear, an Otter head. I just wished that I had set the camera rolling, but I had not and while I spent ten minutes looking I could not see the Otter from this position.

Because of the recent rain I was not sure if I could get to that part of the shore line. But it was worth taking a look. Normally I wear camouflage clothing but I had a white tee shirt and black jeans so I was not sure if I could get there and ensure I was not seen. When I got to the shore while the ground was slick it was not unsafe. Therefore I decided to move along the shore. This particular stretch of river is not easily accessed, thus the wildlife tends to be undisturbed. When I got to one of the waterfalls that drain off the land, I remembered that I had a rain jacket in my bag. I was pleased to realise that I had my camouflage one with me. So if I could get to the right part of the shore I could ensure that I did not stand out like a sore thumb.

My transit was slow but I did get to a good spot and settled down to see if I could see and film the Otter. Last year during the summer the otters disappeared. This they do as they don't like people and especially dogs. However as I am discovering the otters are not really disappearing it is just that they move to locations where they are away from the inadvertent disturbance of people.

Well I stayed there for close to three hours, keeping still I scanned the river but no sign of the otter. I was just getting ready to leave when at a distance I briefly saw the otter as it entered the water. I settled down again but that was the last I saw. The turbulence in the water prevented me from tracking the otter once it entered the river.

While the sightings were brief it is always a treat to see the Otters. One day I will catch them on film too.

Feeling elated I headed off towards home tired and cramped and while I had not got the otters on film (yet), I have got some interesting film.

If ever I needed reminding why I love living here, this was it. Then to top it all I saw a Red Kite gliding over head as I headed home.

A Good Home

Yesterday I saw something very unusual. Now its not something that I have seen before, or if I only know of from books, but as the clouds parted something appeared in the sky. It was this bright yellow disc, I think its called the sun or sol...

Well as you can imagine we have been having lots of rain recently and no matter how resilient I can be, I don't enjoy going out to try and watch wildlife in the rain. Therefore I have been awaiting a good day all week. However, as yesterday I had the plumber coming round to fit two new radiators, I had to just accept that I was going to miss this brief spell of decent weather.

Some wildlife will be active in the rain, and I am expecting that the woods will be lush and green from it. Also as a good friend has been showing in her Web Log the rain brings out all the fungi. But there are times when I just don't want to come home looking like a drowned rat, or should that be a mouse?

I was grateful that the plumber has carried out the work so quickly. While the previous agent had promised the work would be done when I first moved in here, it has taken a change in the letting agent for the work to be completed. Now I have heating in the bathroom and kitchen. With the kitchen the cooker did heat the room but it was in the bathroom that the need was sorely missed. I will no longer have to turn into a prune debating with myself or the cat if I can face the cold of getting out of the bath.

I also asked the plumber about the cost of him fitting thermostatic valves to the radiators. As he was doing the planned work anyway it was only going to cost me ten pounds each so I now have them fitted too. This will help me be as efficient as possible with the heating as I only have to heat the rooms that need heating and not the whole house.

With the cost of energy rising I felt that this was something I needed to do. While I have taken all the other actions I can to be energy efficient, low energy light bulbs, insulation and most importantly turning off appliances that I am not using, we all need to heat our homes. Winters here can get cold. With the measures I have taken my energy bills are exactly half what the national average spend on Electricity and Gas.

The reason I know this is, have just changed paying my bills to monthly direct debit. When I first moved in here, the gas was on a prepayment meter but if I wanted it changed it was going to cost me. So I left it as it was. The electric was a credit meter and while I could have opted for paying monthly for that, I was not willing to do so when the company were not willing to let me do the same for the gas. However after a year of paying the bills on time I “qualified” to have the gas meter changed for free. When I made the arrangements for this, the energy company did the calculations and were surprised to find that my consumption was half national average. Even so they added ten percent to the amount I will be expected to spend as they think it more realistic.

I wonder just how much of an impact on climate change there would be if more people tried to be energy efficient.

I did inadvertently become more energy efficient yesterday as I set up the video camera batteries on charge but then forgot to switch on the power. Thus putting myself in line for the Nobel prize for stupidity. It also means that I was not able to go out today when I wanted to as my batteries were flat.

One last thing regarding the plumber, I just left him to get on with what he needed to do only interrupting him to keep him supplied with tea. It really is tea that oils the British economy, and is the best way of keeping any tradesman happy. I did have a good laugh with him too, as I told him that he couldn't be a real plumber as he turned up on time and didn't piss in the sink. That cracked him up. I am glad that I waited till he had finished as I don't think he could have managed otherwise.

While I know that I have had some problems with landlords in the past, I do think that I am lucky to have found a decent landlord now. While there are some minor problems with the property, on the whole it is a good place. Also while I have had some problems with some of the locals too, the vast majority are very good decent people. No matter where you go there will be problems in one way or another, but as I have been sitting here writing this I have seen A Kestrel hovering in the distance, A grey Heron fly over and the numerous birds feeding in my back yard. It all adds to my feeling of having found a good home.

Talking Rubbish

On Monday the American writer Bill Bryson presented a program on television about the trash that is dumped in our countryside. For those that don't know, Bill Bryson wrote a book called notes from a small island and clearly is in love with our countryside, and in particular was highly delighted with places like Durham. As that city is only a few miles from where I live, I have to agree with Bill but I will not be offering my car so someone can go and visit it as he does in his book.

Additionally Bill Bryson is the president (or Chairman) of the Council for the Protection of Rural England. It was with that hat on, that he was presenting this program. He has been residing in the UK for a number of years and has seen our rural environment become dirty and littered.

The reasons for this happening are various from people being lazy and disrespectful through to the down right criminal actions of fly tippers who illegally dump rubbish.

Recently there was a strike by Local Authority workers. This industrial action only lasted for two days but the rubbish in the streets of Newcastle piled up very quickly. The city council are very good at keeping the highways and byways clean but it illustrated just how uncaring people are of their own environment. All this casually discarded litter costs the City council millions of pounds. There have been times when I have challenged people who are dropping rubbish and if I don't get sworn at, I will be told that they are keeping the street cleaners employed.

With those sorts of attitudes to overcome there are laws and by-laws in place to help local authorities and the Department of the Environment to tackle the problem of rubbish. But this is where the media adds to the problem. On a regular basis the local papers and TV will run a report of someone being fined for dropping litter. The bias of the story is that of haven't the council got better things to do. Well the answer to that is yes, but while people keep on fouling our streets they need to punish the people they do catch.

Part of the problem is that we have become such a throw away society that people don't care. Even now I take my rubbish home with me. That used to annoy my ex that I always seemed to have rubbish in my pockets. Even now I frequently find that I am having to pick up other peoples rubbish. Many of the items are bottles and cans and can be recycled.

When I was a child most bottles carried a deposit and I remember taking the bottles back to the shop and myself and my siblings buying sweets with the money. When I later first started exploring Epping Forest, on the rare occasion that I would find a discarded bottle I would pick it up and cash it in on my way home. Thinking about it, this probably started my behaviour of acting like a Womble. I am sure that many children were encouraged to keep Britain tidy by this.

This is where the real problem lays. As businesses have become more global they have opted for the cheapest option regard packaging. This is particularly notable with drinks packaging. As plastic and metal cans are lighter to transport they discovered they saved costs on transport. That also enabled them to centralise production and distribution. Therefore, while it looked like a greener, more environmental, doing this actually added to greenhouse gasses because of longer journeys. Also via this switch, they discovered they could ditch one of their costs. This switched the cost of disposing of their rubbish from the business to the local government. In effect this rubbish is now a cost that is born by local taxes and not by the companies that generate the waste.

An example of this has occurred recently when Scottish Courage, the brewery company, stopped taking back the bottles that contained Newcastle Brown Ale. This does not save them the costs of fuel as the dyers have to visit the pubs anyway when delivering the beer and still collect some of the empties. Where they are saving money is via not having to clean the returned ones and the cost of disposing of the bottles is now transferred onto others. This could be the public house, inn or off licence (Liqueur Store), but mainly the cost is born by the community where the product is consumed.

This is not to solely blame the drinks industry for this problem as all industries do this and will often just walk away from the problems they cause. The coal mines here in the North East were always one of the worst industries for this and I can still find places where this type of pollution is still impacting the local area over forty years after the mines closed.

What I can not and have never understood is why anyone would be willing to despoil their own environment? It seems to me that far to often people think that its always someone else's job to do something. When in fact it is our job to keep our own communities clean and tidy.

It is to our shame that an outsider should need to point out the problems we have with rubbish. I personally feel real shame when I meet overseas visitors who feel the need to comment about the litter in our environment. I would rather that or guests leave with memories of the beauty that is Britain.

Prince Charles and GM Foods

Because I was busy yesterday, I was not the first to hear the comments made by Prince Charles. Also there are times when I just don't trust the way that the media reports some stories. While Prince Charles is the heir apparent to the British throne, he is often portrayed as being rather semi detached. In the past, when it became known that he talked to his plants, he was portrayed as crazy.

As I regularly talk to a Tree, and she talks back, well I must be as crazy as Prince Charles. But being serious, I too am seriously concerned about Genetically Modified organisms.

As I have said before I am not against GM per say, what concerns me and most of the world is that the testing of these organisms is not any where as through as it needs to be. The problem really started when the GM industry lobbied the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to get a less rigorous and hence cheaper testing and approval system. What should have happened was that these products should have been tested to the standard that drugs are. But even to the industries surprise, the FDA agreed to a claim by the industry that GM was no different to any other form of conventional breeding.

This lead to GM crops being introduced far faster than was ever expected. Equally the businesses that were and are developing GM, were saved billions of development costs.
It is the lack of testing that is the main reason why there is a significant opposition to GM.
Now back to what Prince Charles was saying. He is say count me out of having to grow this stuff. As well that he is saying that GM is an environmental disaster on the same scale as Climate Change.

As Prince Charles is to be the next King, there has been a lot of tut tutting about him meddling in politics. While I do not think that anyone should inherit power, I admire him for speaking out about this. While the GM industry has promised much, the reality is that they have not delivered on those promises. A few months ago when the industry was calling for more GM as a way of feeding the growing human population it emerged that in spite of dramatic claims of improved yields, the actual improvement is only one percent. The industry claims that it is only because the farmers are not putting all the expensive inputs onto the crops that is causing the much lower yields. Well they would say that.

The reality is that these novel crops do not and can not feed the planet. Also those farmers growing them have to sign contracts that tie them to using the fertilisers, herbicides and other inputs from that company and only that company. There is an aspect of the way that farmers in the US have taken to GM that really surprises me. I had always been under the impression that American farmers were fiercely independent and I wonder why these farmers would allow themselves to have their hands tied like this?

I suspect that the reality is that many exaggerated claims were made about GM and the industry have subsidised aspects of the agri-business to get farmers growing these crops. And it really is this exaggeration of the benefits of GM that is at the heart of the doubts that many have. Add to this the concerted effort by the Bio tech industry to stop and suppress any science that cast doubt on the safety of GM. The case of Arpad Pusztai is the best known but there have been others. What is significant about all the independent checks that have been done so far, is that GM appears to suppress the immune system.

It hear that the true significance of what Prince Charles was saying has been lost. The benefits of GM has be over hyped, the benefits have not been proved and in fact it appears to to be harmful.

I agree with what Charles says and I would go further; as we have already released this menace onto the environment and it looks as though it is harming our food sources. While the effects of climate change is partly why we are suffering from falling crop yields, it also looks as though cross pollination and cross contamination from and by GM is a factor here too. Add to this the fact that when tested GM produce seems to be having a suppressive effect upon the immune system then it looks as if the food we rely on is in fact killing us.

It is this last factor that really should alarm everyone. As it also looks as though it is killing our environment too. Throughout the globe Bees are dying, a condition that is being called Colony Collapse Disorder. The key characteristic is that the bees have a suppressed immune system and it seems that mites and viruses then kill the bees. The same effect that independent tests have shown that GM foods will do, suppress the Immune system. While the evidence at the moment is circumstantial, as no one will fund or oppose the bio tech industry, it is there and it is growing. Where GM has been grown commercially and for the greatest period is where the greatest losses of bees has happened.

The real problem is that the commercial imperative has taken over and governments have failed their people yet again. If proper testing had been carried out before hand then we would have discovered all this before we took the stopper out of that poison bottle.

I don't think that all this will lead to mass starvation or dramatic crop failures but this has to be a lesson we heed. Science can and has been a major benefit to humanity, but we need to be sure of the consequence of our actions before we act. When it comes to the environment, protecting the environment for humanity has to be our primary concern. If not just as the immune system of an animal kills off an infection, then the immune system of the planet could well kill us off.

Welcome to Red Kite Country

I have a wonderful piece of good news to report, this year the Red Kites in the area successfully raised twenty two chicks. Now I know that my regular reader already knows that I am nuts about the Red Kites, they are magnificent birds and I am always delighted to see them and I am lucky enough to see them nearly every day.

What is most remarkable about this reintroduction though is that this was a bird that was on the brink of extinction here in the the United Kingdom. There were just six breeding females left just a few years ago. In fact I missed out on a trip to Wales to go and see them about twenty years ago, as I was working and one of the people on the trip said when they got back that I had probably missed my chance of ever seeing them in Britain.

Therefore I am so pleased that in my local habitat, I can see these birds on a regular basis. When you consider that the reintroduction program only started four years ago, this truly is a success. Well the future looks bright for these birds, and at this rate it looks as though in another four years the population will be doubled. Soon seeing a Red Kite will become as common as seeing a Blackbird, well not quite but there will be a time soon when if I don't see them every day will be worthy of comment. This all makes this little mouse very happy.

Veni, Vidi...

I am still waiting for someone to invent a day that is thirty hours long with weeks that last for ten days, that way I may finally get on top of all the chores. Until then I guess that I will just have to accept that there will always be times when I just run out of day and that I can not do all that I would like to do.

Therefore, there was a degree of inconvenience when I was asked to attend a meeting the other day. I needed to get some washing done, I was running out of clothes. However, I had just bought a new tee shirt so I decided to wear this. However this meeting I had requested as I was seeking permission to access some land to film the wildlife there, or at least explore to see what looked like a good location for natural history. However, for security reasons and terrorist threat, it is not a place that I can access easily nor without explicit permission. Therefore many months ago I had written to ask for that permission. I had not heard anything for ages but I suddenly get a phone call. Following that chat, I was asked to attend a meeting with people at the location.

As this came out of the blue and at short notice, I did feel peeved that I was expected to jump when they said simon says. But I attended and did so in a good mood. I explained what I was seeking, and why I had thought the site could be interesting, at this point I was told that they had just discovered some rare beetles at the site, did I know they were there? No I did not but I said this was exciting news and from what I could see of the location, the habitat look ideal.

It had been the discovery of these insects that had caused them to assume that I had been on the site previously and my request had been made to legitimise what I had already been doing. I assured them I hadn't and while a decision regarding some limited access has yet to be made, provisionally I have been told that I may be given limited access. This could lead to access to other locations too but will be subject to a background check.

However, it was my tee shirt that caught the eye of one of the chaps I was talking to. As I was wearing a jacket he could only read part of the slogan and thought it said “I came, I Saw, I conquered” but in Latin. When I showed him that it actually read Veni, Vidi, Velcro, “ I came, I Saw, I got stuck” this brought a smile to his face and broke the ice.

It turns out that he is an amateur archaeologist and very interested in the Roman period. We have a lot of Roman stuff here and not just the Wall. While I am far from being an expert or seriously knowledgeable I have enough general knowledge to be able to hold an intelligent conversation. The conversation came round to photography, or more exactly aerial photography in archaeology. As there is a Glider school and airfield close to my village he was asking if I ever flew. I leave that to the birds.

To cut this short, he was interested in finding a mug, sorry someone to go up with him to photograph the landscape from the air. Well I have told him that I will consider it but I am not comfortable at hight.

While I am very tempted to do it, I don't really have the time. But I am thinking about what incredible images I could get from up there. Watch this space though!

As we were leaving the site, another chap appeared. Now I knew this man as we used to drink in the same pub. After greetings and pleasantries were exchanged my contact asked how I knew him. I told him, and I also said that I had always thought that his job title of “Water Engineer” conjured up a rather bizarre image in my mind, that of him manufacturing water. I added that he must have been working overtime for the past couple of months.

When we got back to his land rover, he asked if I would be willing to go with him to a couple of other sites. Curiosity got the better of me and I agreed. On the way he explained that in the past amateur natural history enthusiasts had provided a lot of valuable information and the water company were looking to allow a small number of trusted people some limited access to some sites as often this could help them monitor the health of habitats and used to be a useful early warning system for them. This would be a pilot, if it goes ahead but sounds really interesting, so I have agreed to be short listed for this.

As the water engineer has been even busier doing his job, I have been able to get three tasks done simultaneously today. First some washing done, so I will look less like a tramp, (American Translation, Bum or Hobo) as well as some cooking. Also and more importantly, I have been able to catch up on sorting out my video footage. As I lost some previously, my own fault for not being methodical about backing stuff up properly, I have been careful to do things properly. This also includes indexing the film and burning copies onto DVD. Now as it takes about an hour to burn a DVD, I have had fourteen to do, it has provided me with long periods when I have been able to get other things done around the house, like the aforementioned cooking. At least now when I disappear for hours I know that I will at least have some fodder in the freezer to come back to.

Council Complaining about Feeding Birds

In my recent disagreement with a not so near neighbour there were two aspect of her complaints about me that actually made me laugh. One was that because I don't put my bin out every week I must be lazy. Well as I live alone, I simply don't generate that much waste. In fact by recycling what I can and refusing what I don't need, I find that I only need to have my bin emptied once every three or four weeks. Even then it is not full but for reasons of hygiene I would not want to leave it much longer than that anyway. So there was a simple reason why I don't need to put the bin out every week. I am sure that it helps keep the councils cost of collection down as well as helping the environment.

I even had a visit from the council regarding this and while I did not know where the complaint had come from, the officer from the council was happy that I was not creating any problems for my neighbours and that everything was clean and hygienic. The other matter that I was questioned over was my feeding of the birds. Again at the time I did not know where the complaint had come from, but I was told that the noise that the birds made was a problem, plus the birds were considered a health hazard.

To this I just laughed, as firstly the birds that are here were here before I moved in. Secondly, how can bird song be considered a noise? Lastly, wild birds are part of the natural environment and sensible personal hygiene eliminates any theoretical health hazard.

I could see that the council officer was uncomfortable and embarrassed at even trying to justify the visit as the complaints were so ludicrous. I even told him that the council should not even be wasting tax payers money on something so flippant. In fact as we debated the issue a flock of Jackdaws descended into the back lane, and many perched on the power and telephone cables. Nothing I had done was attracting them, there were just there as part of the natural world. He agreed that there was no reasonable cause for complaint. I also pointed out that this is a rural area and despite the best efforts of some, the wildlife is just there.

Had I known who had made the complaint and with the hindsight of what I now know, I think that I would have been even more forthright with this council officer and told him that he was inadvertently supporting bigotry.

I nearly posted here about it when it happened but as I could not believe that any council could be so stupid, I did not think that anyone would believe me. But today, on the BBC News web site was a similar report. A council is complaining about a couple that are feeding birds in their back garden.

Perhaps because of my recent experiences, I suspect that whoever has made the complaint to the council in this case also has a hidden agenda.

While I am talking about recent experiences, I did wonder if because of my own experience of racial abuse, I had been too ready to see this elsewhere. Then on Saturday I went into Consett and again while leaving the Polish delicatessen, I had a further incident of being verbally abused. Now this happened at ten in the morning by a young man who was half intoxicated, I don't think from alcohol only, and was swigging cheap wine from a bottle in the middle of the street. While previously I had ignored the abuse, I decided to challenge this moron. Even as I spoke to him he was shocked that I was British. I think I even frightened him by boldly confronting him as he backed away at my approach and slurred out the word sorry. However, I told him that in his prosthetic state he was in no position to criticise or abuse anyone. I don't know if I got through to him but he walked or more accurately stumbled away.

I do think that among some parts of the population here there is a really nasty racist attitude. This has been fed and fuelled by the trashy tabloid media and particularly the right wing press about immigration. Yet the polish people and others from Eastern Europe have come and done the jobs that the likes of this moron would not do. I doubt if the failed lab experiment would even be qualified to work, yet they parrot the lies of Rupert Murdock et al.

It is the one aspect of life in the North East that I loath and that is the prejudice that dose exist. While it is only a minority it is still very distasteful. I just wish the local government worried more about this problem than about people feeding the birds.

Natural History and Botanical Art

Dear reader, whoops I becoming all Bronte, you may remember that I mentioned a local community library that wanted some help to sell some books that they had been donated but no one wanted to borrow. As many of the books they had been donated were Natural History books their initial thought was that I would like to buy them. They did not know the value of the books and had even spoken to a book dealer who had offered them a sum that did not reflect their true value. While I and the community group realise that the dealer needed to make a profit, but there is a difference between making a profit and defrauding the group.

Anyway, they were able to sell most of the books via Ebay, and have now been able to buy all the books that reader want to read. They still have some spare cash and can buy more books and fill the requests of many of their readers. Additionally they have had received more donations of books too.

However, there is a twist here, as before they sold the books they contacted the person who had donated the virtually pristine collection of Natural History books in case that person had failed to realise the true value as well. The woman who was a widow, had known the value and had no objection to the books being sold. Additionally she also had further books that she wanted to donate. Again these books were predominantly Wildlife, Natural History and Botany. The difference was that these are all books of Natural History illustration.

Well I have had the rare privilege of looking at some of these books this afternoon. I was being offered the first choice of these books, but there is no way I can afford any of these books. While I have always loved Natural History and Botanical art, I just don't have the space or conditions to keep beautiful books like these and keep them beautiful.

Olympics

While I wanted to ignore the Olympics as you can imagine the media has been full of all the trivial details. Well I suppose the media has to justify sending all their staff to China.

As China discovered gunpowder I had expected there to be lots of fireworks at the opening ceremony, but as I saw this on the News, I personally felt sorry for the poor chap whose job is trying to keep the skies clear and clean. I can just imagine him saying:-

“Oh bugger I had just got the smog cleared, now no one can see the stadium”

However there is still the serious matter of human rights in China. To get the Olympics the Chinese government promised that it would improve human rights, as they have not then I personally don't think we should be there.

One incident that I have discovered is that one Chinese citizen has been jailed because he was taking pictures of the schools that collapsed in the Earthquake. I was willing to give China the benefit of doubt as I thought that with the eyes of the world on them they would avoid being so repressive. While I feel that it has to a matter of personal concious for the athletes and sports people, I don't think that its right that our political leaders should have attended the games. We should hold China to the promises they made.

Georgia

Because I frequently listen to the BBC World Service as well as other intelligent speech radio, as opposed to music radio, I am rarely surprised when conflicts break out. There is normally a build up of tension long before fighting breaks out. With Georgia and South Ossetia this came out of the blue.

Now while the situation is still not clear as to who started this, the situation is a very dangerous one. Had Georgia been a member of NATO as it could have been, then we in the UK would have a treaty obligation to defend the country. That factor would have and will have the potential for an escalation into a full war between Russia and the west.

I don't think for one minute that there is any wish or intention for this war to escalate but there is a real risk that this could happen. All it needs is a mistake in the heat of battle, or a retaliatory action and the tensions widen. Then all it takes is a misinterpreted action to spark more fighting.

From what I understand about Georgia, the government there is a populous dictatorship and because of strategic importance of the area, we in the west are supporting this government.

However, the events as reported, seem to show that this was a fight that Georgia started. Declaring a ceasefire then moving in artillery and firing rockets into South Ossetia does seem to indicate where the blame lays. As for the timing, doing this while the Russian president was in Beijing for the opening of the Olympics seems to show that Georgia expected a delay in any Russian action because of that. As with anyone who starts a war they always miscalculate what will happen.

I just hope that everyone involved in this conflict will see sense and quickly as there are already to many deaths from this war.

Badgers and Orchids

Because of a couple of long very busy days, by five in the afternoon I found myself falling asleep. So I decided to go to bed. Getting back up at ten, once I had eaten I decided to use this time productively. Therefore I went off to check out the two new badger setts. While there is nothing significant to report with them, I am curious why these have appeared at this time.

In the normal course of events, less dominant female badgers will move to other setts and this helps prevent in breeding. Also males will be driven out from a family group again preventing these males from mating with sisters and other closely related group members. Additionally, while the family group maintains a large central home sett, that group will have smaller satellite setts where different members of the family can go off to cool off or get away from tensions. Much like the way that humans can and will avoid other members of the family to maintain harmony.

Therefore, while having one new sett starting within an existing territory is rare, it does happen. However, having this happen twice appears outside what happens normally. It could just be that it has not been recorded before, so at the moment I am working on the hypothesis that something has happened that has disturbed or disturbed another sett elsewhere.

I may never find out what has caused this to happen, and the two new setts are settling down quite well, thus while this may be a curiosity it could also be that this is quite normal. What also has me wondering is why the dominant male has allowed this? As the old Brock became a road kill in February and a younger male took over it could be that this is the special circumstance that is at the root of this. In some ways it shows just how little we know about even common animals.

This relates to other work I have been doing. I have been busy preparing a report for a site looking at what species are there, what species are missing and what improvements can be made to increase biodiversity. While much of the work is looking at what foods are there for a particular species, then overlaying these matrix networks, it is possible to work out where there are gaps in food plants or insects on a site. Therefore, it then becomes relatively easy to see where habitat restoration work is needed.

However, sometimes it is not that easy, as you can provide the right foods, the right conditions and a species that you would expect to be there just is not present. It is often what we don't know or yet understand that is the important factor.

Equally, a species may be present yet because we don't have any knowledge of behaviour or lifestyle and behaviour, to know what is needed to encourage this species. On this site there is, apparently, a rare orchid but I cant find any substantive information regarding its needs to be able to offer any real help as to what needs to be done not only to ensure its survival or how to improve the habitat to encourage its numbers. This also means that not knowing what the needs of this plant are, any other work that improves conditions for other species could inadvertently harm this orchid.

I have not yet visited the site in Yorkshire, I can not and will not reveal more than that about the location, but I hope that by seeing the site will provide some clues as to what work if any could and more importantly should be done.

While I don't claim to be an expert, there are holes in what we know about natural history that means we can not assume we have all the answers. That is why watching and studying wildlife is so exciting and fascinating.

A Small World

As I had to postpone my supermarket trip on Thursday, I had to get some shopping on Friday. However, I missed the free bus to the supermarket and as I would have to wait nearly an hour for the paid bus service I decided to go to the Metro centre and the Asda there.

While I do like the greater choice there, and the cheaper prices, I really do not relish the crowds there. However, I took the opportunity to look at a location near there where the Derwent river feeds into the River Tyne as the mud flats there should be a really good location for birds. Therefore, I wanted to see if there were any good locations to film from. And yes it looks good, and I also saw some interesting plants that I don't think I have ever seen before, outside of books, I will be going back and soon to get some filming done.

While there is a bus station at the Metro centre, as well as a train station, it is a place where the car is king. That also means that trying to walk into or around this site is difficult. At one point it took me ten minutes to cross one road even though I was on a pedestrian crossing point. I had visions of being stuck in the middle island all afternoon. Eventually there was a break in the traffic so that I could trot across the road, but even then the drivers were not giving any quarter. I wondered how many points was an ageing hippy worth?

There is an advantage to visiting a busy supermarket as I wanted to get out of the shop quickly, so I spent far less than I could have done. But I did get the items that were essential. While going round the shop, it occurred to me that this was where my Ex did her shopping, now wouldn't it be funny if I were to see here there. I think that it is only really the prices, Asda is part of Wal Mart, that attracts my Ex to the store, as it is not a pleasant shopping experience there. Anyway when I left I went to catch the bus, as I walked toward the bus stop, there she was, my Ex was at the bus stop.

It has been some time since I had seen her, and no matter how much time will pass, or what happened in the past, I do still have feelings for her. Therefore, I was glad that her reaction to seeing me was friendly. We exchanged pleasantries and as she was going to catch her bus, she said stay in touch. But as I don't have her phone number, I thought that it was going to be a brief encounter where I would loose contact. However she didn't get that bus and we were able to chat a bit more. I gave her my email address so that if she was only saying stay in touch as a Pavlovian response, it put her in control of the situation.

She did look well and I was happy to see that she seems to be content and happy. It shows that we do live in a small world, to have bumped into her especially as I had just been thinking of her. I have no idea if she will contact me, I hope she does so we can build that friendship that was so important to both of us.

Call Guinness Man does Housework

On Wednesday a letter arrived that meant I had to change my plans over the past few days. The latter was from the managing agent for my house, or to be exact the new managing agent for my landlord. What made the past few days rather frantic was that this change of agent was sudden and I was being told to change the account where the rent is paid. As my rent is paid by standing order, I had to go to the bank to make that change.

The letter did not explain why this sudden change, but as I discovered latter my initial thought that the old agent had gone bust looks to be accurate. However, while there was enough information in this letter to tell me that it was genuine, I telephoned to make sure. However, it was other aspects of this letter that really caused me to have to change my schedule. The new agent was asking if there were any issues outstanding regarding repairs and such.

Now as I have mentioned here before, I am happy with my landlord, but there were things that I have been waiting on getting done. As I started to list these it occurred to me that the Gas safety check was overdue. When I mentioned this, from their computer file it became apparent that there has never been one issued for this property while I have been here. Now I have never thought the boiler system was unsafe, but this is a legal requirement and is the only way that I know that there is not a safety critical fault that could...

So I was telephoned by the Gas fitter that day to arrange an appointment and he wanted to do it the following day. Therefore my regular trip to the supermarket was off. Also I had to get the bank payment changed as that was due out on Friday. The problem is the bank is in one direction the supermarket in the other, plus I did want to ensure that the place was fit to receive guests. While the place was reasonably clean, I will admit that it was not tidy. Well I am a man!

Well I got some of the place sorted before the bank, then the financial bit done, I was straight back to finish off the housework. It was not just the bits that folks could see, but I did a nearly complete job. The only bit that is still untidy is my office.

Now I know that my female readers will have mixed feelings about this, they will be thinking “Typical man boasting about what we have to do every day” as well as thinking “Call Guinness a man doing housework, that's a world record” But I do try to keep my place in a semblance of order. But there are times when I am just as lazy as the next man. Anyway, I am pleased that I have done it, and do feel pleased with myself for doing it. It also gave me the chance to get rid of all my recycling, I am lucky that there is a recycling point in the village. Also as I keep on picking up other peoples litter, bottles and cans in particular, it can sometimes look as though I am collecting rubbish. I do take this to recycling but often that depends on if I am passing.

With the boiler checked I am now happy and all the radiators will be working this winter. Plus I may finally get the one in the bathroom I was promised too.

My cat, Trouble, got herself excited as she thought that I was going to have a visitor and she could get an extra fussing, but was really disappointed when it was just workmen and hid under the bed and sulked.

Now I will admit that gas safety does remain a bit of a bug bear for me. I have never had a landlord that has properly or fully complied with the law on this. This can be from as simple as having to remind them that the checks need to be done, to the insanity of a previous landlord who endangered my safety because she was to bloody minded to comply with the law.

However I think that things are going to change. As CORGI will no longer be the regulator on this matter. The government have asked the company that runs the Criminal records checks and the TV licence database to run the registration of authorised fitters. Unlike CORGI they will be more proactive in ensuring that only authorised people carry out the work, plus it seems as though they will be keeping checks on when gas safety certificates (CP12) become over due.

The sooner they take over this the better, as at present as soon as you complain, as a tenant, you suddenly find that you get asked to leave. Yet no matter how bad a landlord is regarding gas safety, the Health and Safety Executive (The Prosecuting Authority) only prosecute when a death occurs. If landlords were taken to court and fined the two thousand pounds for non compliance as the law allows, all landlords would comply and the six hundred deaths that happen each year would be avoided.

Derwent Walk

Yesterday I decided that I would go out for a walk. Partly because the weather forecast was so good, but mainly because I have a project in mind and wanted to do some test filming to see if I could get the idea straight in my own mind. Some may call it the creative process, but I just think that its because I am a scatter brain.

Where I wanted to walk is a route called the Derwent Walk that runs from Gateshead to Consett along a disused railway track bed. I have walked the trail before, and it is easy walking I wanted to explore some of the paths that lead to and from the walk.

I should explain that while the trail is called a walk, it is also part of the National Cycle Network and the walk is also a bridleway so everyone can use the trail and that means you can meet anyone on this route.

While I could and have walked the whole route in a day, as I wanted to stop and film along the way, it was for me a leisurely stroll than a route march. While I can walk at a good pace when out with a group, I often find that walking with a group makes it near impossible for photography so stopping to film would be a major inconvenience for any group. That does mean that often I find that I can miss out on some of the gems of collective knowledge that walking with a group can provide. That said, when I am just taking pictures people passing are very friendly, but when filming people will stop and talk too. Often its just that folks are interested or curious as to what I have focused on. I will allow people to look at what I am filming. It is amazing how many people just don't notice what is about them. With botany for example, folks are delighted and surprised when they see a flower close up.

Now I don't know if it was just the mood of the day but the people that I met along the way were extremely friendly. I did make one gentleman laugh, he asked me if I was taking my camera for a walk, I was carrying the camera on the tripod on my shoulder at the time. I replied; “Of course as it needs the exercise”. While I did not think that it was that funny, he fell about laughing. Well I one person happy. There is a slight downside to this as when filming people will stop and talk to me, so the microphone picks up their quizzing of me.

Because of my stopping to film and my exploring I only covered a few miles from Consett, but I did stop for a late lunch along the way. There is a pub and restaurant right on the route. I had never been there before but I had heard good reports. I nice hot sandwich and a coffee followed by a pint of an excellent ale. Now I am not normally someone that will drink during the day, as the day had been a good and productive one I felt that I could indulge myself in this treat.

Anyway, I restarted my wanderings but the weather forecast was wrong and the rain came. But as I was heading towards home, I stopped to film the hover flies that were on the flowers. While doing that, a lovely couple were walking up the path. They were curios and asked what I was doing. We fell into conversation and they told me that in the field adjacent to the track I was walking down that a deer had been born there just the day before. It will never cease to amaze me just how much people love their wildlife and how willing they are to sharing their experiences.

While I have had some difficult days during the previous month, this month has started to shape up to being a good one.

Ebay and Counterfeits

A few weeks ago Ebay lost a court case in France over the selling of counterfeits. As I have mentioned here previously I do buy via the site, but there is a serious problem with counterfeits and more importantly the attitude of Ebay regarding the problem.

When I first joined Ebay one of the products that I would buy was DVDs. I really enjoy films and I was intending to buy the films, watch them then resell them, that way it would be cheaper than renting and I would have far more choice. However, I soon discovered that many if not most of the films were either cheap foreign imports that may not be genuine and quite blatant counterfeits

Eventually I just got fed up with the problem and stopped buying any DVDs from Ebay at all. While that is hard on the many genuine sellers there, I just could not trust that I would get something genuine. Further, Ebays attitude to the problems of counterfeits was and is appalling. While publicly they state that they are against “Theft of Copyright” and intellectual property, the reality is that they are very slow to take action. Further they will only accept that an item is a counterfeits if a buyer can provide documentation from an expert, at the buyers cost, that an item is a fake. Even then the seller will only get a warning or have listings removed.

A poor seller has to be really bad to get suspended or removed and then only when the bad seller is costing Ebay money. What I don't understand about Ebays attitude is that all this is seriously damaging their business, yet Ebays management can not see this.

While this is not a polemic about Ebay and I have had some fantastic trading experiences, I have also had a few bad ones. Recently I tried to buy some Video Editing Software via Ebay. Now software is just another area where it is so easy to sell fakes and copies that I normally avoid buying items like this. And here part of the problem is that some people are willing to buy what is in effect stolen property, as it cheaper. However, I don't as if there is something wrong with a fake or a copy I have no legal consumer rights.

So I placed a bid on a software package, while the seller was new, it was being sold as Ebay for Charity so I thought it would be fine. While I was out bid, I finally won. Because of my previous experiences though, I used Pay Pal as that way I have some protection. I waited for the software to arrive and I waited. I wrote to ask when I could expect the software, but no reply. All this time, the seller is selling more of the same, about six to eight per day. At thirty pounds a time that's a substantial sales volume.

It reached a point where I could not see any reason why there was a delay, so checking the listing again I discovered that there were links to a gambling site hidden in the listing of the item I had bought and on all his other items. That did it for me and I reported him to Ebay, not just for the item not received but for the links to the gambling site. Further, I posted negative feedback to alert other buyers. I had ten contact me all with similar stories, no product received by anyone.

Eventually, Ebay did shut the fraud down, but not before he had sold about three thousand pounds worth of non existent products. While I did eventually get my money back, it shows just how easy it is to commit a fraud on Ebay. There are details I have deliberately left out of this account as I don't want to enable anyone else to copy the method. But I think that sooner or latter Ebay will have to acknowledge that they have a problem. I personally know of five people that will not use the site because of the risk of fraud and getting ripped off. I suspect that in Britain alone there are millions of people that feel that way too.

It is not that Ebay don't try to stop the scammers, it is just that they give the criminals the benefit of the doubt. And even if when they find someone acting like a little child who is covered in chocolate and standing there saying “no I didn't eat the Chocolate” Ebay believes them.

Without any training I can spot suspect listings without difficulty, if I can do that then there staff can too.

All that said, this weekend I have finally bought the video editing software I needed and will be annoying my readers with the films I have been shooting.

China Goes Green

Well, cough cough, in a few days time, cough cough, the Olympics start in Beijing, cough cough splutter. I sincerely hope that the pollution and poor air quality does not harm any of the participants. While personally, if I were an athlete I would not be prepared to attend the games in a repressive country. However, it has the be a matter of personal concious.

Though the image of me as an athlete though is the most absurd image anyone could conjour as when I had Athletes Foot, I asked for a second opinion!

However, being serious, while china is very heavily pouted as a result of the rapid industrialisation in the country, China is however taking the issue of climate change seriously. While China has the right to develop economical, they have done so thus far by copying the mistakes of the west.

When electricity for lighting first appeared, it was in fact the loss of power through resistance that meant that we have power in our homes of 240 volts. I know there are variations around the world, but the principal is the same. It was the problem of getting power from the power station to the home or end user that lead to a standard of 240 volts in Britain and Europe.

However, had we gone for power for lighting and small appliances of just 12 volts then the system could have incorporated a storage system. Yes even at the beginning of the previous century that would have been possible, using lead acid batteries just as are still used in many cars. When I had my allotment I used a solar panel to charge a battery that lit the shed and chicken house. I know that two people followed my lead and did the same. It only cost me seventy five pounds to do it. It was cheaper for others as they were able to get old batteries, I had bought new. I even thought about doing this at my home, as while lighting is not my largest electricity cost, I could see that recouping the cost would take only a couple of years. Additionally, when I looked further into the issue, I discovered that there were many appliances that are manufactured that run on 12 volts for boats and caravans. For about two thousand pounds I could run a TV a DVD player, Fridge and Freezer even a computer all from solar power. That would have included the cost of the appliances.

This is something that is happening in many developing countries. As solar lighting reaches places that are far away from the “National Grid” (as we in the UK call our electricity infrastructure), it is even cheaper than a 240 volt system as it costs millions to install the infrastructure, the power lines and power stations. However, these systems are mainly installed in the homes of the poor. For example in India where kerosene is still the main source of lighting, these solar systems are installed as part of health programs as the kerosene causes breathing difficulties. The fact that is also environmentally friendly is an added bonus. Incidentally, in India alone fifty thousand tones of CO2 are released annually just from kerosene lamps.

Now I know that my reader is wondering what this has to do with China? As China develops its electricity infrastructure, they are making the same mistakes that we in the west made, large centralised power stations and cables carrying the power from the source of generation to the user. By following this model they are tying themselves into the addiction of power usage. If they went for small scale solar then the lighting and small appliance needs of the entire population could be met at the same cost of five coal fired power stations. Further, it would have the effect of closing down fifteen 1000 mega what stations. That is using current technology.

China is developing green technologies and last year invested twelve billion dollars (US equivalent) in renewables only just behind the world leader, Germany who invested fourteen billion dollars. While the US government hides its inaction on climate change behind the myth that China is doing nothing to combat climate change, the reality is that China spends more as a percentage of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) on renewables than the US and Canada does combined.

Now don't think that I am saying that China is wonderfully environmentally friendly, but they have recognised the problem and are trying to tackle the problem. And they are doing it in ways that are not damaging their economy, in fact they have recognised the economic advantages. The countries that do the most now to develop renewables will have a grater economical advantages in the years to come. While I know that the price of oil has dropped and the price of petrol is now falling, the cost of fossil fuels is going to rise.

Therefore any country that has true renewable energy generation will not have their economies damaged by the wild fluctuations that will continue to happen.

While I do find the Chinese government a distasteful one, I do have the hope that with the eyes on China during the Olympics they (the Chinese Government) can learn from the spirit of freedom that is supposed to be at the heart of the games. Equally, I hope that we can learn that China is trying to be green.

More on the Chinese renewables