Swine Flu, The Media and My Critics

When the first reports of so called “Swine Flu” started, I started trying to do some research myself as I have long predicted that we, the human race, are facing an environmental event that will force man (the species not the gender) to start being more responsible tenants of the planet. I also believe, based upon the evidence, that there will be events that will reduce the global population quite dramatically.

This may be as a result of food shortages, drought or diseases. Most likely a combination of all factors. Not as some religious prediction, but simply that humanity has exceeded the population level that this planet can sustain.

Therefore I wanted to try and work out if this “Swine Flu” was likely to be a factor in this major environmental change. One that will change humanity. However, the more I tried to discover the facts, I realised that much of what was being reported as fact, was quite simply wrong.

Add to this was the alarmist way the story was being reported. Therefore, I tried to offer some balance to the “We are all going to die” way the media was reporting this. Having read the way that the news of this H1N1 flu has been reported, I can understand why some people are greatly alarmed by this influenza.

The first fact is that while it assumed that H1N1 strain was to have come from pigs as it appears to have emerged from an area of Mexico where pigs are intensively reared. However, while that may be a reasonable assumption to make, an assumption is not a fact. Further, so far tests in Laboratories in the US and in Britain have failed to cause infections in pigs. Therefore it may be a nice media tag to call this infection Swine Flu, it is a human influenza.

The Second Fact is that while it is a new variant of the N1H1 virus, as N1H1 is the class of virus that causes the seasonal Flu Virus. While any residual resistance from seasonal flu may not stop people getting ill, it is not true that we have no resistance to this N1H1 variant. As we all have some anti-bodies to fight the virus, until tests are completed we just do not know if we have no immunity or not. Therefore it may be wise to avoid catching this flu until it is established if there is some immunity.

The Third Fact is how deadly this flu virus really is. The initial reports of one hundred and sixty deaths, upon investigation by medical experts appears to be over inflated. In Europe Seasonal Flu causes two thousand five hundred deaths per year. Therefore the measure of how deadly this Flu really is, depends upon how many people have died out of all the people who suffered from the Flu but recovered with no ill effects. At this point in time, it is just not know how many people have had the flu in Mexico. If it is that only a few thousand had the flu in Mexico, then that is alarming, but as it appears that the numbers of people that had the flu and got well again is already around one hundred thousand persons, then at one hundred and sixty deaths, this H1N1 is less deadly than seasonal flu.

There is also the factor that Mexico does not have the same quality of health care as exists in Britain. Further the fact that many of the deaths have occurred in people that were health compromised already. Investigation by the WHO on Monday has shown that only seven of the attributed deaths were only the result of this flu virus. Even in the case of the death in the US, the child was ethically Mexican and was likely to be from a poor background. While in the US there can be the best medical science can provide, that often is dependent upon the ability to pay for this. Therefore, while the number of deaths is important but only when measured in relation to the quality of the healthcare and how healthy the people were before hand.

The forth known fact is simply that in the majority of people outside of Mexico who have caught the infection have only suffered mild symptoms. That does not mean that this Flu is not serious, just as Seasonal Flu is serious and needs to be avoided, but there is nothing about this new flu that means that people need to treat it like the plague. It is true that it appears to be easy to catch and that it spreads easily and it will become a pandemic, but even if the majority of people catch does not mean that it will kill off millions.

This is where I really do have a problem with this story is the way the media are covering the issue. I am not surprised that some people are over reacting to this. Had I relied upon some of the television reports or the newspapers here, I too would be much more concern than I am now having looked into the facts. As I personally am at greater risk than most as I have a genetic condition that effects my breathing, so I need to avoid getting this flu. Just as I need to avoid getting Seasonal Flu or any other infection for that matter.

The media love to frighten people. It is cynical, as if people are frightened they will buy newspapers or watch television to garner information and media companies, this leads to greater advertising revenue. With this H1N1 Flu people obviously need information and the irresponsible media have been swamping folks with misinformation. This can be from simply constant showing footage of people in masks. This leads people to think that these masks are effective barriers, when they are not. Only masks with filters that are small enough to filter out a virus would work. I wonder how may people are using masks as a result of what they have seen on TV? Equally to downright inaccurate reporting. Influenza is a serious illness, I Europe where everyone has access to first world medical services, Seasonal Flu kills two thousand five hundred every year, this new H1N1 influenza could kill as many as that too. But that does not mean it is a mass killing plague.

There are good reasons to be concerned and good hygiene measures need to be taken as well as work to prevent and reduce the spread. But the way this has been reported is and has been hysterical. This irresponsibility by the media could have a very real and serious consequence. As this new H1N1 spreads across the globe and gets into Asia where the really Deadly H5N1 is prevalent, it could recombine and mutate into something really deadly. The hype that is being created now could mean that when, and I say when not if, this happens the media hype now could make people complacent when it is really needed. People will hear the next “We are all going to Die” reports and say oh yes that's what you said the last time.

Only time will show if my critics are right and I am wrong. But my analysis is based upon the scientific data and statements made by experts in the field. Locally in Newcastle there is a confirmed case of H1N1 flu. There are others who may have the illness too, they will get on with their lives just as I will. I may ensure that I wash my hands more often, and avoid people who have bad habits like spitting or coughing and sneezing without covering or using a hanky, but I am not going to get paranoid about other people.

While this H1N1 virus is something we need to be concerned and aware of, this is not as greater threat as the media have hyped it up to be. If only the media used its influence on the real threats of Climate Change, Water shortages, Bees dying, The millions that go hungry everyday across the world (including in Britain), I am just waiting for the pictures of the poor celebrates sneezing that will be coming next.

I am genuinely sorry that some folks feel that I am not taking the H1N1 threat seriously. Had I been fed the same diet of relentless gloom by the media, perhaps I would have been caught in that wave too. Influenza is a serious illness and it should be avoided as it can kill. But I would point out that my first posting on this topic was that we should not be calling it Swine Flu as it is a Human Flu. The media are now calling it H1N1. Equally I pointed out that the deaths in Mexico may not be totally the result of the flu, now the media are starting to realise that as well. I doubt that the media will apologise for creating a panic, but that is what they have done. As I always try to do, I base my postings on the science and empirical data and I would rather base my judgement on that than some sensationalistic journalist whose last story was the colour of some C list models knickers.

Back to the Badger Sett

Even with long life batteries, there are times when even these run low on power. This was happening tonight, just when I really needed them to last in the video camera. To add to my concern was that I had less than five minutes or so of tape left.

Why all my pain, I was sitting, rather uncomfortably at the entrances to the badger setts and I had already seen the old Brock poke his head out. It was still daylight, so even though I had the IR light, it looked as though I would not need it. All I needed was a measure of luck.

I had made sure that I had had a bath earlier, so that I was as free as I could be from alien scent, well alien to the badgers and the Deer. I really needed to get out of the house, as I was reaching the point where I wanted to shout at the radio. Also I was getting really bored with making the back ups of my footage. An evil that I have to endure, but one that is a necessary one.

So I headed out still trying to break in the new hooves, when I was having a bath I noticed I am developing hard patches on slightly in slightly different place to where my old boot created them. I have still not had any blisters, now that’s tempting fate.

I had a couple of location that I wanted to visit, but my main destination was the badger Sett. First I wanted to see if the paw prints I was seeing were Otter. It turned out to be a domestic moggy, and talking to one of the people who live close to the location they told me that the young cat who has recently moved in to one of the houses near by has stopped the otters appearing as they did. They are still about but sightings of them are now rare. But even as I was talking I spotted a spirant point, with fresh soft droppings. Is it beneath me to make a joke about my life being full of S**T, well as long as it makes someone laugh.

I also wanted to look carefully at the water vole tunnels, while I saw no clear signs of activity, where there has been rain for the last two days and the river has risen, the pattern of entrances were now much clearer. As each burrow has multiple entrances, at different levels, thus the voles can use the tunnels no matter what the river level is. While this should have been obvious, sometimes it is only from direct observation can these details really be discovered.

I headed at quite a pace to the location where I had seen the Deer as well as signs of the Deer regularly using the space. However, my attention was constantly being distracted as I kept on seeing other wildlife. Rabbits then I heard a woodpecker, I stopped to look expecting to see a Lesser-spotted woodpecker and saw a Green-Woodpecker. I used the camera to scan for it hoping to film it but while I could see it through the binoculars it was flitting from tree to tree. I just could never get the camera focused and framed at the same time.

Through binoculars and from the songs I could see many small birds, Siskin, Yellowhammer, Long-tailed tits, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, I may even have seen a Hawfinch but I can not be totally sure.

I reached the location where the Deer congregate but there was a dog walker about with three dogs, so I did not stay as I had intended. However I kept the camera on and ready just in case I came across one of the Deer. I did not see any of them but I thought I heard them a couple of times. With the new spring growth had I tried to chase the sounds, I was more likely to disturb any Deer that are there.

When I got to the site of the Badger Sett, I genuinely did not think that I was likely to see anything. It was latter than I would have liked to arrive and while I had been able to approach quietly I had not been able to alter my direction of approach so that my odour would not reach them, although the air was really still.

I started off leaning against a tree so that my profile was masked and watched through binoculars. With the Camera sitting four metres in font of me, a Badger appeared and sniffed the air. I watched for a minute and the Badger retreated. If the camera had been in my hands I could have filmed this. So I moved to the camera and prepared to wait. I did not have to wait for that long as the old Male came out of one tunnel and into another. As for filming well you only have to watch the film below to see the battery lasted long enough and there was just enough tape left.

Swine Flu - Don't Panic

Following my posting regarding the H1N1 flu virus, it is now being reported that vets from the UK are joining vets in Mexico from the United Nations (UN) to see if this new virus has actually emerged from pigs. As simply this is not yet known. Thus far it has been assumed that it emerged from pigs rather than establishing this as a fact before reporting this.

Equally in Mexico more stringent tests have now been made reducing the number of deaths attributable to the N1H1 flu from one hundred and sixty (160) to seven (7). That is still serious, but as we just don't know how many of the population in Mexico had the flu and got over it, the number of deaths is statistically meaningless. That is not to say that each individual death is not a tragedy for the kith and kin of the victims. However, the numbers of deaths appear to be no more and are actually lower than happens from a seasonal outbreak.

This new virus seems to be very easily spread and obviously that is a worry, but thus far the illness it generates has only been mild in all the cases outside of Mexico.

A few years ago the World Health Organisation (WHO) created near panic about bird flu, then when they got the extra funding they were after, they stopped issuing the dire warnings. The WHO were the people who issued the warning of a pandemic. Now I don't want to play down the threat of this H1N1 flu, but have the WHO caused a panic without reason? Aided by the media who are always on the look out for the next “We are all going to Die” story.

I do think that we need to guard against infection and there needs to be a scientific effort to develop a vaccine, but it already appears that the seasonal flu vaccine already is offering some degree of protection already.

The way that the media has been reporting this you would be left thinking that catching this H1N1 flu is a death sentence and that millions are infected already. There are still major gaps in our knowledge regarding the H1N1 flu virus and the media are just speculating making it sound as though we are all going to die. The sensationalist and alarmist way that much of the media has been reporting this story could cause governments and health authorities to do the wrong things simply because it looks good and pleases the media.

In the past the media have played down the real threats. There were real sign posts that showed that the economy was heading for trouble, yet the media ignored them. The same applies to climate change, or anything that effects the multi millionaire owners of these papers/television stations (delete as appropriate). The point is by being sensationalist the media distorts the facts to suite their agenda. With any science story such as this H1N1 flu, bad reporting and downright lies can be told by the media purely to sell papers. All with little regard for the effects it has on peoples lives.

The media have caused real panic and in three or four weeks time we will all be wondering what the fuss was about. This further has the effect of people not taking seriously warnings or advice when people need to take heed of it.

As science is poorly understood by many journalists, the public are not well served by much of the media. It may be easier (and cheaper) to report celebrity gossip than have journalists investigating real stories like the fact that a chunk of Antarctic ice the size of New York has broken away, or why the security services were unable to see the July seventh terrorists attacks coming, but these are the stories that genuinely will effect our lives. Anyone with a basic understanding of science could see that the “Flu Panic” was not scientificly sound. The media does its self a disservice when it so seriously gets the facts wrong.

Red Kite and Golden Eagle

Now I have a working computer I have been able to get through much of my backlog of video footage. But also while I have been doing this I have been able to listen to some of the pod casts that I utilise to keep me informed of what's happening around the world. There was one gem of information that caught my attention regarding Golden Eagles on the East Coast of the United States.

While there is good knowledge of Golden Eagles on the West Coast, little is known of and about them on the East Coast. While there are sightings of them, no one even knows what the size of the population is. There are now two Eagles tagged with radio tags so that the range and territory size can be established.

It is hoped that from this base data combined with sightings that a baseline number of the population can become known and hence any work that is needed to help conserve the bird can then be worked out.

As I have a regular reader who sees Golden Eagles regularly, even though officially they are not present in her State, this type of basic research is needed. Unless there is this baseline data how can wildlife conservators know if there are any problems with a population. It could be that there are no problems and the birds are healthy. However, where there are gaps in populations that could indicate that there are difficulties that need redressing.

I will up date you when I discover more information, but it shows just how little we actually know.

Going back I mentioned that I got some great film of the Red Kites, can you see a raptor slant here. Well I have finally got to the point where I can deal with this footage. I have more so be prepared to be bored.

This film is of a Red Kite getting harassed by a crow. It is not until I slowed the footage down that I was able to see that the crow was trying to pull out the Kites tail feathers. When I filmed the event, I could not be sure I had got the behaviour on film, and in focus, but I really am pleased by this.

Swine Flu, what Swine Flu?

There was a posting I made a while back where in talking about Climate Change, I recognised that at times I must appear to sound like a character in a British situation comedy who's catch phrase was: “ Were Doomed, Were Doomed”, yet today I know that I am going to sound like another character who's catch phrase was: Don't Panic, Don't Panic!

I like most people was quite alarmed by the sudden news that a Flu pandemic had started. But as I am English and have a stiff upper lip, its surgically implanted at birth, the more I heard of the facts the more it appeared to be not as serious as the initial headlines.

I am not suggesting that people need to ignore the problem, or that it is not serious, as if reports are accurate then people have died as a result of this new flu virus. However, when you look at the empirical evidence this may not be anywhere near as serious as the headlines or the alarmist reporting suggests.

First it is not a Swine Flu, but a variant of H1N1 a know virus and treatable. It is also the virus component that is used to make the seasonal flu vaccine.

Second, while deaths have occurred, are those deaths fully or whole attributable to this Flu strain? The people who have died may have had other conditions or other infections that made the virus more injurious to them.

Third all the cases outside of Mexico so far are mild. While the flu can effect different people in different ways, and health agencies need to be vigilant and prepared, no one has as yet been made seriously ill nor died from this virus outside of Mexico.

It really does look as though someone has pressed the panic button here. While the risk of a Flu pandemic is a genuine one, when it comes it will will cause serious problems. But there have been no verified deaths so far that are wholly attributed to this flu virus.

While I take the matter seriously and this may well be a new and deadly pandemic, the actual facts do not yet show this to be the plague that the majority of the media are reporting it as. Obviously people need to take and make sensible hygiene precautions and follow informed advice, but I do not see any real need for the media running around like headless chickens.

However, if this panic does provide any benefit, it may stop the disgusting habit of people constantly spiting.

Badger Sett and Deer

Because of my need to break in the new boots, I decided to have a wander and I decided to travel light. Therefore while I packed a camera into my backpack, I did not burden myself with the tripod. I had intended to take the binoculars but as I was getting ready to head out the phone rang. So in error I left the binoculars and my mobile behind.

While I had something specific I wanted to check out, I also just wanted to have a nice pleasant stroll. I headed down to the river. It has been a while since I was down on this part of the river. Not since the floods last September, so it was interesting to see how the wildlife seems to be re-colonising the riverbank. The first thing that I noticed was that there are fresh river vole burrows. Where the vegetation was scoured away they are more visible than they would be normally. I could not see any of the voles, but as the burrows were fresh and there were marks of use. I stopped and watched for about ten minutes.

I was also entertained by watching a fisherman who was skilfully casting. Then I walked further along the river and found a place to sit and watch the Sand Martins. As I got the camera out of my bag to film the river, I saw a lone pied wagtail on the rocks on the other side of the river.

I moved off and headed into the wood. I am venturing into the other woods that surround my local woods more and more. On a previous occasion in these woods I had seen a number of Deer prints, so I wanted to see if there were any fresh tracks. So I had a couple miles walk ahead, a good test of my new all terrain paws. It was a really pleasant stroll; it’s just a shame that much of it was up hill. That seems to sum up my life, up hill all the way. I did have a problem though with a dog that seemed to be without its owner, while it appeared nervous of me, it started to tag along. I had him with me for at least three hundred yards, but by quickening my pace, I left him behind.

I reached the location where I had previously spotted the Deer prints, it is an easy place to find as there are some crab apples growing there and they are now in full flower. Just another of the delights that spring brings. I followed what appeared to fresh prints, it had rained the previous night so I was expecting them to be from the previous night. They lead clearly to a place where the Deer had obviously been standing and feeding on the fresh growth of spring.

While examining the browse line, I heard the Deer barking. While I am aware that the trees can confuse sounds, the Deer sounded as though they were close. I moved down a track in the direction of the sounds with the camera ready. I spotted a hidden clearing and I thought I saw some movement. As I approached I passed through a cloud of midges I tried to avoid breathing them in but one or two went up my nose causing me to sneeze. Well that helped me find where the Deer were as I briefly saw four Deer including two young hinds, leap and run off. Most people don’t realise just how fast they can move, but the species of Deer in Britain can and do move as fast as any antelope on the African Velt.

Even though I had missed filming them, I hung around and explored further, I could still hear Deer Barking. Unlike Red Deer who breed in autumn, Roe Deer can breed in spring, so have I discovered a breeding area? I will have to investigate further to know but that may be the case.

The other main thing I wanted to check out was a sign of very recent Badger activity. I was not sure but on a previous trip through that area, I thought I had discovered a new Sett. Not new as in recently dug, but new to me. As I returned to the location, I scanned the area carefully for indications of Badger activity and for signs of other animals as while signs of a badger digging were there, it could be that they were just digging for food on a rabbit warren.

As I went around the site what I saw was promising, if this was a Sett this is the largest in the area. It looks as though I have found the main Sett in the area and would explain some of the gaps in my previous observations. As I tried to assess the extent of the Sett I saw a woman walking her dog. We nodded a greeting and I went exploring further. It was becoming cleat to me that this was a location that was far less disturbed by humans than all the other Setts. Although I did find two discharged shotgun shells. They may well have been used on Rabbits or Wood Pigeon so are not that disturbing. Often the context of finds like shotgun shells can be important to work out if they are an indication of unlawful activity.

It was now early evening so I went back to where one of the Sett entrances is located. The woman who I had seen earlier was sitting on a log waiting and watching. I stopped and spoke to her and learned more about the Sett. It seems that this Sett is reasonably well known and well protected, if simply by the other people who are watching the Sett.

As the woman had her dog and she said she normally did not bring the dog she decided to go. I waited until half past eight. I will not say that I saw nothing as I did spot some movement in the entrance but no badger came out. About twenty minuets after seeing this I heard the badgers on the other side of the Sett. I suspect that my scent and possibly the scent of the woman’s dog had lingered.

It was unlikely that I was going to see anything so I quietly moved off and started heading home. I stopped to pack my camera away; I also wanted to be sure that I could relocate the Sett. I did not think that would be a problem, but its worth taking notes as vegetation changes and can obscure what can be important sing posts. So my stroll was a leisurely one and I saw a big Dog Fox, and I could hear but not see the Deer.

As this particular wood is more naturally wild and less managed it seems a better haven for wildlife.
When I returned to the river, the fisherman was still there, I was tempted to stop and film, but with the light rapidly failing it would not have been good footage. However I noticed that there were prints on a mud bank that had not been there earlier, it looks as though an otter or a mink had been there. I will check that out and make sure, as it could just be a small dog that had left the prints.

I decided to be lazy and get the bus up the hill and back to my village and just before the bus came to the stop I saw a Kestrel in straight flight obviously heading back to its roost.

Breaking in new boots has never been so rewarding and I am happy to provide this blistering report that there were no blisters caused in making this posting.

Shelduk

I just thought I would post this film of a Shelduk. It is not particularly rare, but I do think they are beautiful ducks.

I cant remember the circumstances but I remember seeing one when I was a child. I must have been seven or eight, on Hollow Pond in Epping Forest. Father who was an expert in all things, if he did not know a fact would make it up but say this with such authority that it became true. Well to him it did, told me that I was wrong with the identification of the bird and it was nothing more than a domestic duck.

I had recently borrowed a book from the library, the grown ups section (so I was quite proud of that), for identifying birds. Well Father said that the book must be wrong. It did leave me rather deflated and confused. However it did not put me off Birding or watching wildlife and I learnt not to trust what people told me as fact when the evidence was telling another story.

I still like the bird, they have beautiful markings and I was pleased to film this one when it has just developed its summer plumage before mating. As by the end of summer most birds look tatty and run ragged looking after their kids. I bet there is a parent (mother) or two that can relate to that.

On the subject of videos, I have just noticed that my nonsense posted on You Tube has passed twelve thousand views. While I know that others get viewers of millions, it still makes me feel like a kid that has just been allowed to borrow a book from the grown ups section of the library.

Can we have our Beach Back?

First I have to tell you of a story that was on the BBC local news. I had previously found the story at the start of the month and had not believed it as I thought it was an April Fools joke, but it turns out to be true.

In Alberta in Canada, the tourist authority have used a picture of our local coast to promote Alberta. As the province is land locked, I genuinely thought the story was a spoof, but Canada has been helping to promote the North East of England by using a picture of our beautiful beach at Bamburgh.

Personally I found the story rather funny, but some of the people in the news report were calling it a scandal. Now if Canada want to help promote our tourist industry, well that's fine by me. It shows that we do have some fantastic places, and why I love living here. I hope to be going to visit a location close to where the picture that Canada is using to promote tourism myself soon, so can I ask that all you Canadian tourists don't all come at once.

Talking of travelling, I have had to buy myself a new pair of boots. As I do cover more miles than most people, while not worn out I was hearing a squeak from my old pair. It was that the heel was coming unglued, so I can get them repaired but I needed something to wear while that happened. Therefore I got some new ones. These are fully water proof, or so they claim, and as many parts of the terrain I traverse is rather boggy I may just be able to keep my paws dry.

Of course, that could mean that I will be giving blister reports until they are broken in.

However, I am not sure often I will be able to get out over the next couple of weeks as I have other tasks that I have to undertake. As well as these I am trying to get the backlog of video sorted out. I have and am making good progress there, and I really do think I have got some treats for you folks there. But I am just enjoying getting out and seeing the wildlife and adding to my problem by filming more. Robert Burns really summed it up, the best laid plans of (wood) mice...

Sea Eagles

Last year there was a news report that sheep farmers were calling for a halt to the reintroduction of White Tailed Sea Eagles as they were supposedly acting as a predator on the Lambs of these farmers. The numbers of the alleged losses were however not credible. As simply the Eagles would have been feeding solely on the lambs, and even then the number of birds appeared to exceed the population of these Eagles in the area to be responsible for all these loses.

While as I reported at the time, I was and remain sceptical, the conservators and managers of the program are taking a responsible approach. Therefore, they are carrying out detailed research to discover if the Eagles are causing a problem and what adjustments can be done to prevent lamb losses by the farmers.

It has to be acknowledged that Sea Eagles can and will take Lambs, the Sea Eagle is larger than a Golden Eagle, so is capable of taking a new born lamb, but while they can take a newborn previous research and observation showed that the Eagles if they were eating Lambs were taking fallen stock. That is stock, lambs that had died anyway.

Therefore to ensure that the true facts are established, lambs will be fitted with tracking devices. These are movement detectors and if the lamb dies naturally and is then taken by the Eagles the data will show this. Equally, if the Eagles are taking live lambs the data will discover this too.

I genuinely do understand the concerns of the farmers and if the Eagles are taking Lambs that will impact hard pressed farmers. Keeping sheep is one of the most marginal forms of agriculture and while a single lamb is only worth twenty to seventy pounds (depending upon the market price), any significant losses can make the difference between the farm being viable or not.

However, I strongly suspect that many of these Lambs that the farmers are claiming were killed by the Sea Eagles were dead already. It may even be that some farmers are seeing the reintroduction of the birds as a way of claiming compensation, in much the same way that people try and up an insurance claim. While I will wait to see the data, at the moment it really does look as though the way for the farmers to minimise losses may be to change farming practices.

As the majority of farmers now bring their sheep in for lambing, by ensuring they are “served” at the same time, ensures that the lambs are all born at about the same time, the farmer has fewer losses. However, many of these small croft style farmers allow their lambs to be born on the hillside. Even without the Eagles in the area this method of farming always suffered greater mortality. Therefore I suspect the lamb mortality has more to do with farming practice than the reintroduction of Sea Eagles.

Its Ironic but just as the farmers are “Complaining” about the Eagles being a pest, equally they are complaining of an increase in the rabbit population. It does not take a great leap of imagination to see that the Sea Eagles could be part of the answer to the rabbit population. Farmers have to learn to adapt and accommodate the natural world. For far to long agriculture and farmers have had a genocidal attitude towards any wildlife that they dislike. The Sea Eagles are not just an important link in the ecological chain, but bring in important tourist income to the communities where they are establishing themselves, therefore communities need to find ways of accommodating these endangered birds.

Poem - First Snow Fall by James Russell Lowell

The Poem First Snow Fall by James Russell Lowell

Discovering Nests and Grey Heron

Yesterday genuinely was a remarkable day. It had started with a disappointment, as I had gone out with the aim of trying again to film the Red Kites feeding. But the Red Kite never turned up. I had made sure that I had enough battery power and tapes, but not seeing the Kite made me feel uneasy.

What were the reasons why the Kite had not shown up. The most alarming was that that the bird had died. While that may seem alarming, Raptors (the family that Kites live within) are regularly persecuted. Thus I do remain vigilant and watch for changes in the patterns in the habits of the Kites. However thinking of all the reasons why the Kites had changed their feeding patterns, the other major reasons why the Kites had made such a change was nesting, but not just nesting but egg laying. Looking back at my notes from last year, when the pair that tried to nest on the western edge of the Woods made that change, I had suspected that the pair had started laying eggs.

While that nest was (Illegally) destroyed by the contractors harvesting the timber in my local woods, the pattern appeared to match. Therefore, I went into serious Naturalist mode. I needed to discover if they had built a nest. Even if I could not exactly locate the nest, I could look to see if the Male was visiting and returning to an area. That would strongly indicate that the male was feeding a female on the nest.

While luck played its role, an important part was the my previous observations. I was in the general area and within ten minutes I saw a Kite drop to where it could be nesting. What, made me reasonably sure of this was the bird, I presumed to be a male, was feeding the female was that the male appeared to be carrying something in its talons. When it re-emerged it was free of the suspected load.

As I walked to a point where I could try and see the possible nest site, I ran through my reasoning. Red Kites normally feed on the wing, therefore they rarely drop down to feed. Also even if the load was not food, it was likely to be nesting material.

I was expecting it to take a while to locate the likely location of the nest, but as I looked at what could have been a rooks or crows nest, the tail of a Kite appeared and the bird defecated over the side. I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing out loud. I was reasonably sure I had found the nest. Had it been a few days latter, the bursting leaf cover may well have prevented me spotting it.

While I did film the nest, as well as recording details so I could relocate it, I was just filming a nest from below. I did look around to see if I could safely film the bird in the nest, but all the options would have disturbed the bird. As the Red Kites are fully protected that was not an option even if I wanted to take it.

There was other nests that I knew of, and while I could possibly film them, I was awaiting a licence to film and photograph them. The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1980 prevents any disturbance of protected species at or near the a nest or breading ground. Even photographing them needs permission and the licence proves that the filming has been done responsibly. I explain this as when I got home the licence I had previously applied for had arrived. While last year I had applied it had not arrived until after all chicks had fledged. This time it had only taken four weeks.

So while I wanted to go to a particular location in the afternoon, I decided to make a detour to try and pinpoint the locations of the other Red Kite nests I was aware of. While I was watching one, and again I saw a bird drop into the location, I realised that was too far from any reasonable high ground to film from a level or above. Therefore, that was number C on my list. However, as I was watching a fellow birder came past. I am always happy to share knowledge as long as I am sure the person has the best intentions of the wildlife at heart. Therefore we both viewed the Kite as he, and that is an educated assumption, rose and ran the gauntlet of mobbing crows.

We talked about other Red Kite nests, and it became clear that he knew of the locations of the other two I knew. However, he had discovered better viewing locations than had I. I am more than willing to learn from others, it is how we all learn to share the delight of the creatures we love. Therefore I headed off with him up the hill to the viewing point he knew. To call it a hill however does not do the steep wooded bank justice, it was accessible and steps and paths were laid out, but this was a forty five degree slope. It is a good job that I must have mountain goat genes in my ancestry. As we went up the slope we came upon a Deer, she was just twenty feet in front of us and had a curious growth on her neck. She stood there for twenty or thirty seconds, then a dog started chasing it. The dog was a Yorkshire terrier and it looked odd seeing a tiny dog chasing a full grown doe.

As my cameras were in my back pack, I could not film her, but also I needed to climb this hill unencumbered. When we got there, there was already another birder watching the nest through a scope. I could see the nest and via the scope I was able to see the bird blinking. I set up my camera and filmed the nest and while I had to use the digital zoom that reduces the quality of the image, I was thrilled to get the film.

The main advantage though is the quality of good information that came out of the conversation. I have a whole new list of locations that I may visit. Its good to share and I was able to offer some aid to them too.

I stayed longer than I really expected, but as my plans had been flexible, I enjoyed the walk to the location I had wanted to get to. I had a particular animal in mind that I wanted to see, but I needed to start working out the behaviour patterns, so I was not expecting to see the creature. As the location is a public hide, as I arrived there were four chaps who had arrived by car just before me, their car had passed me as I walked down the track. However, when I first entered the hide I was alone.

Before entering the hide we had shared some information, and I had left them debating what they wanted to do. I was greeted with the sight of a Little Grebe, with chicks and a Grey Heron. I was unpacking my camera when the four of them came in like a bull in a china shop. This disturbance caused the wildlife to disappear.

Now I have spoken before of the frustration of inconsiderate wildlife watchers, but it really does perplex me why people folks go out trying to watch birds and then create such a disturbance that they scare off the very creatures they want to see. While that may mean they are very good at identifying the tail feathers of birds, the real delight comes from observing natural behaviour.

The contrast between the help and sharing of the people I had been with previously, and this selfish group was quite stark. Even when they settled down and the birds started to return, there was one of the four who wanted to provide a running commentary. I am well aware of the psychology of this, he is trying to show off his knowledge, but it just adds to the disturbance of the wildlife.

There have been times in the past when I have left people like this to it, but I decided to stay. At one point one of them even jumped into the seat I had been sitting in moments ago when I tried to get something from my bag. This genuinely shocked me, so I moved over to the other side of the hide.

I was sitting quietly watching for a sedge warbler that was singing, when another chap came in. He was one of the men I had been watching the Kites nest with. Talking in hushed voices we exchanged information but I added that the birds had been disturbed by these other chaps. They obviously heard this and decided to leave, saying well we will leave you in peace then. To this the other man took them to task. When the four left each slammed the door of the hide, as these were all men of retirement age, I was genuinely perplexed by such childish behaviour. Well it takes all sorts to make a world.

I personally am more tolerant of children who are excited by seeing wildlife and inadvertently disturb the fauna than adults who are just selfish. If they had more patience and been prepared to remain taciturn they would have been able to watch so much more. Is there not something about old dogs and new tricks.

Within ten minutes of them leaving, the wildlife started to re-emerge. I got some good film of the Little Grebe but not the chicks. Then from the reeds appeared a Grey Heron. I was able to film the bird engaging in some wonderful behaviour and quite clear too.

The day was drawing to a close and I needed to get home, so I walked back up the track to the bus stop. The countryside around here does not so much as undulate but has been carved to make humans fit. That's fit for nothing.

Well the film from the Kites Nest I posted yesterday, I was so excited I just had to, the film of the Heron is here now. I genuinely hope to have something else special soon too. (That is a ruthless attempt to keep people reading and watching)

Film of a red Kite sitting in her nest on Eggs

While not the best film I have ever shot, nor is there much happening, but you can see the yellow wing tag, otherwise the Red Kite would be very well camouflaged. The film was shot at some distance, so that this protected bird was not disturbed. If I can return and watch over the bird again I hope to film the chicks when they hatch too.

MPs Expenses

When my Ex Wife became Tax Inspector, there is a heavy clue there why she is my ex, she had to travel to Edinburgh for training. While personally I dislike the term training as you train a dog you educate people, as a graduate on a fast track civil service programme that was what they called it.

I personally was shocked by the way that she was able to claim advance expenses. As there was a tariff for what was allowable, she was able to claim the maximum amount yet spend only part of this on the actual costs of travel and living costs. Especially as she went with several collogues and as the training was going to last for a year they rented a flat, each was making about seventy five pounds tax free. I told her that I felt it was wrong, especially as her job was supposed to be stopping people who are on the fiddle.

To me it looked and felt wrong, immoral, as this is tax payers money. While I have no problem with the expenses being generous enough so that the people are not uncomfortable or inconvenienced. Nor should a civil servant be left out of pocket or placed in a situation where they are susceptible to a bribe. However, if it looks and feels wrong, even if it is within the rules, it becomes a form of corruption.

When the present system for enabling MPs to claim for the costs of being a Member of Parliament were introduced it was needed. The previous system meant that only the rich were properly able to carry out the full duties of an MP for their constituents. And these changes are very recent, the past thirteen or fourteen years.

However, the way that they are furtively trying to hide the details makes MPs look like they have their snouts in there and are engorging themselves.

Then the sudden announcement that Gordon Brown, our esteemed leader (in a truly north Korean sense), now wants MPs to have a daily allowance for attending parliament instead of second home expenses, well this just has so much comic potential.

I can see it now the MPs having to turn up for registration, then as soon as the bell rings for the fist class... Well some will be behind the bike shed smoking, others will be bunking off and playing truant... It will end up with some MPs being given detention.

Why do I get the feeling that this is being done for political reasons?

Follow up on the posting regarding the Police

While I tried to keep my previous posting balanced and factual, as I always do. It seems that my posting has upset a few people. While I am sorry about this, all the facts are true.

As a law abiding citizen, I recognise that the police do have a difficult job to do and when it comes to demonstrations and protests, they unfortunately have to deal with a minority that are hell bent of causing trouble. However, with the G20 in particular, the police treated everyone attending as though they were trouble makers. In fact, as with Ian Tomlinson who an innocent bystander, just being in London that day appeared to make the public a target for the police.

Just hours after posting the web log, it was reported that following a second Post Mortem it appears that Ian Tomlinson died from Internal bleeding and not from a heart attack as first reported.

Part of the point for making the posting was simply to highlight that there are now three different examples, on you tube, where the police have been filmed assaulting members of the public. One was pushed to the ground, as shown in the film posted, via the Guardian Newspaper, one woman was slapped and punched another was hit in the face with a riot shield. These along with the other examples of the police “Behaving Badly” raises serious questions about the police and there attitude to the public.

Over the years I have personally witnessed incidence where the police have had a could not care less attitude to victims of crime, not always minor crime, just because of where someone lived or because they were not dressed as “White Middle Class”. Add to this the revelations by respected investigative journalists that have shown parts of the police to be racist, homophobic and sexist, and it looks as though there is a real gulf between police attitudes and the public face the police would like to project.

Even today on the News the police were trying to justify the violence they inflicted at the G20, by saying that they had intelligence that there were people at the demonstrations that were intent on killing a police officer. Now I don't know if this is true or not, but that is no justification for the violence the police inflected upon the public. Especially as that violence may have resulted in the death of an innocent man. Not for the first time either, I still remember Blair Peach who died at a demonstration in London thirty years ago.

The police said before the G20 demo's that they would use CCTV against anyone guilty of violence, yet when it appears to be one of their own who has committed the violence, they claim there is no footage. Now the police are crying foul of the film of them abusing the public.

The simple point is the police are not and can not be above the law. Further, in so many cases where the police have been discovered to have been in the wrong, the facts have demolished the PR stories the police are so ready to tell, making the police sound like heroes. I do not want to paint the police as villains either, but we the public need honesty and integrity from the police.

Therefore, I will critique the police when they need it, just as I will criticise our politicians, business or any other institution that needs to be brought to book. The difficulty often is that most law abiding people never really have any contact with the police, and often think that the criminals have it all their way. In the past there were miscarriages of justice and I am sure they will happen again, as often the police will put two and two together and make five and not from a poor maths education. Every miscarriage of justice means the real offenders get away with the crime. I don't want to see the police stopped from doing their job, but equally I don't want to see innocent people killed or brutalised by the police.

Greeting the Day with a Wren

As the sun rose a gentle mist followed it, clinging to the valley floor. It never reached beyond three feet from the ground and was soon burnt off by growing warmth the sun brought, the spectacle was a fitting start to a glorious day.

I was heading out with the hope and intention of trying to film the Red Kites feeding. From observation I knew that within the next two hours at least one of the birds would show up. My plan was to set up a camera at low level with a very wide angle lens and by setting out food for the Kites, catch them on film swooping in to take the food.

The field I would have preferd to use was occupied by horses. This meant that if the horses were spooked by a large bird of prey coming in, would my camera survive. Also, if the horses ate the food for the Kites would it harm them? I was not prepared to take any risks with the health of the Horses or the Kites. Therefore I moved to the second location I had previously selected. I set the camera up and all I could do was wait.

However, while I was setting up I was regaled by the song of a Wren. It was perched at the top of the hedge where I planned to sit and wait. With the other camera, I tried to film the Wren, but it moved away. I did film it as it sang from the gutter of a house and then a lamp post. So while not the natural setting I wanted I was delighted to see this songster and film him belting out his greeting to the day.

I realise that there will be folks out there that think I am anthropomorphising the bird, but it really did look as though the bird was singing with delight. He was not the only one, as there were many birds that appeared in and around this hedge to sing their greeting to the morning.

After over an hour had passed I had to change the tape. The Kites had not appeared yet and I checked the skies and they were not coming yet. Having changed the tape, I settled down to watch and wait. All the while getting occasional glimpses of the small birds flitting in and out of the hedgerow.

Finally after about fifty minutes the Red Kite appeared over in the east, I would come over this way as it quartered the ground, all I could do was wait. Finally it came over and in one swift movement dropped from the sky and the chicken was gone. The Kites don't even land but snatch the food from the ground. All this happened in front of the camera so I really wanted to get the footage up loaded on to the computer. The Kite was off anyway with its breakfast, and after nearly two hours that was a good idea for me too.

Off home, I made a cup of tea and started to rewind the tape, but the battery was flat. Plugging it into the mains, I rewound the tape and played it through at double speed. Well the power had failed about five minutes before the kite showed up. Therefore this time I had not got the footage, even so it was a delight to see and the experience was not totally wasted as I did film the Wren.

Police want to be uniformed thugs

There was an incident locally last year, where a police officer knocked down and killed a young woman of sixteen. The officer in question was convicted of “Causing Death by Dangerous Driving”, that would not have been the expected if based upon the scant statements issued by the police at the time. In fact the police statements at the time made it sound as though the officer had run into a near riot. While the evidence in court was that the police officer was driving at ninety-three miles per hour in a dark street where the legal speed limit was thirty MPH. Just to really ask for trouble, he was driving at that speed with no, I repeat NO, blue lights flashing or two tone siren, known as “Blues and Twos.

I relate this story as just another example of where the police will distort the truth to protect their own. This happened in the case of Jean Charles de Menezes, where an innocent man was killed by the police on a London Tube. Statements were made that made it seem that the police had good justifiable reasons to shoot to kill. Yet, as the facts were checked and examined, alongside eye witness statements, the actions of the police there look dubious to say the least.

When a man died, initially reported as, of a heart attack at the protests surrounding the G20 meeting in London, the police first called him a protester. The police also claimed they had suffered a “Rain of Bottles and Bricks” when they tried to offer first aid. Then it emerged that the man was an innocent bystander returning home from work. The rain of missiles was a single bottle and it emerged that the man, Ian Tomlinson, had been assaulted by the police before hand.

Here is the footage

If anyone else had done what the police officer can be seen doing here, they would be charged with assault. Had the incident not been captured on video then I have no doubt the police would be cooking up some statement that would be worthy of nomination for the booker prize.

When I was a child I had full respect for the police, I actually thought they were a special breed of people. Then as I grew up I discovered that not all of them were as honest or reliable as mythology would have us believe. Throughout my life I have seen so many incidents where the police have been central to major miscarriages of justice. Further whenever there is an incident where a police officer may have done something wrong, especially in the line of duty, the police close ranks. Both metaphorically and actually.

I have never believed that the police were or are infallible, well not since I was five years old, but my trust and faith in the police has been shattered by personal experience. I realise that the majority of police officers are good people trying to do a difficult job, and a major part of the problems the police have now are created as a result of the excesses of the past. For example where police have adjusted witness statements to fit the facts has resulted in paperwork procedures that now bind the police to a desk at times. While it may mean that an officer is out on patrol, it does mean that there is a good chain of evidence and that it is less likely that an innocent person is convicted just because an officer believes him or her guilty. As occurred in the past.

Equally, the actions of a few racist, sexist and homophobic officers in the past, have resulted in legal procedural processes that make it more difficult for these people to get away with this type of bad behaviour. This has resulted in the police thinking themselves without the support of the community. When the reality is that it is because of the excesses the police can and do practice that has meant that society, the community demands the police justify their actions. Further the police believe themselves separate from the community, when in reality they must be part of the society and community to have any genuine authority.

The police must be willing to accept their mistakes and not try to cover up when something does go wrong. Further when an officer does cross the line, the police should treat the wrong doing officer the same way any miscreant is dealt with. Additionally, any officer hiding the truth to protect a fellow officer should be disciplined too.

That way the police will start to rebuild the trust and respect the police say they want and need.

All this I drafted out nearly two weeks ago, not least in my disgust at the actions of the police. I have spoken before about the danger we have of the police being given to much power, as clearly events have shown they (the police) can abuse their powers. There have now been three incidents where the police have clearly abused their powers at the G20 protests and these were only the ones caught on camera. Recently a new law came onto the statute books that makes it illegal to film or take pictures of the police. While this power has limitations and should not hamper tourists or journalists, I can already envisage the police abusing this power to protect their own.

Also I have spoken about the danger of us as a nation slipping towards a police state. While we do not yet have the police acting totally at the behest of the politicians, we are getting dangerously close to that happening. We had a very clear example of that with the announcement last week that the Member of Parliament, Damien Green, will not face charges for receiving leaked documents from the home office. It is worth remembering that these were politically embarrassing to the government, but the police (The State) used Anti Terrorist officers and powers to arrest and search the MPs offices in parliament. Saying that this was a matter of national security.

There are other examples, but the point is that the police will repeatedly abuse the powers they have if allowed. Further, the police will always want stronger and greater powers. Be this identity cards, or powers to stop and search or to detain. While the argument is always used that the innocent should have no fear of these powers, history is littered with examples where the innocent have suffered because of these powers in the past. There are many black males that were repeatedly stopped and searched quite simply because they were black and happened to live in a particular area.

Before the G20 the police were over egging the pudding by saying there would be serious violence on the streets, and were doing there level best to stop any lawful demonstration at all. While I agree that there are and sadly always will be, a minority that attend protests and rallies with the intention of causing trouble, it would be far better if the police targeted these people rather than treating every member of the public as a potential criminal. There is no faster way of creating a divide between the public and the police, than having the police thinking of the public as the enemy. Hey its the public the police are there to protect and serve.

As I have already said I have delayed making this posting as events were unfolding so rapidly, it looked as though I may not have had all the facts to have ensured I made an accurate posting, but this delay enabled me to look carefully at the facts. Then quite by chance there was an interview with an actor that stars in a retro police series. While I have not seen it myself, in this series the police regularly “ruff up” the villains. The actor in this interview said that regularly the real police tell him they would love to be able to do what he does on screen. Well that is telling, the police want to be uniformed thugs.

I realise that the police have a difficult job to do, but the police have to act with restraint and professionalism. If they genuinely need extra powers, well they need to earn the right to have them by using their existing powers responsibly.

While the justice system can and will prosecute and convict a police officer that has done wrong, often it is only when it is so serious that anything less would be seen as outrageous by the public. The good decent police officers should not tolerate or allow the bad apples to undermine the service. It was those sorts of practices in the past that resulted in police corruption and wrongful convictions. An effective police force is one that works with society and not against it.

A Pheasant Day

Early on Saturday morning I was torn between being at two location and trying to film two different animals. I have a plan to get some film of the Red Kites from a rather unusual view point and while it may not work, if it does I will be proud of myself and it could give everyone a great view of them.

Part of the trick is though getting to know the behaviour and habits well enough that I can predict what and where they will be. This was one of the places I was thinking of, but while the weather forecast was for good sunny weather, my own forecast gained from sticking my head out of the door and looking, told me that it was likely to be cloudy and dull. Therefore I went with my second option of trying to film the Deer.

Again it has taken a while to work out behaviour, ranges and likely times to see them. With the Deer I have the added complication of finding a place where I am not likely to have other people inadvertently spook them. There is a place I have found were I may get that, and where I can stay hidden and without my scent disturbing them either.

I was there very early, and had to walk there, five miles, as I needed to be there long before any buses were running. It was delightful hearing the dawn chorus start. I was tempted to stop and film some of the birds but I needed to remain focused upon the primary objective.

When I got there to the location, I set up and in the dark with the IR I spotted some movement, but at the distance I could not be sure I had Deer. Even with Infra red lights I need the animal to be reasonably close to film, but they remained just to far away. I did try and got a good imitation of a black cat in a coal cellar. As the first light of dawn broke I could see shadows in the trees, but nothing clear or distinct enough to film. After four hours I realised I had seen the best I was likely to see that morning. So I headed home and back to bed.

After a scant two hours, I was awoken by noises in the street. I did not mind, as the cat then decided I needed to be up too. When I fed her, telling her that I was sure I had fed her last week, I set to finishing the back ups of the footage I have loaded up so far. Four hours out of sixteen done so far. With that done I had lunch and decided to try for the Deer at dusk. Even though it was only mid afternoon, I went out again. This time I could get the bus there, and back.

I set up again but this time there were a few people about, walking and exercising their dogs. As there are plenty of birds at that location people thought that I was there watching the birds. While I don't mind other people being about, far to often they can be the major factor in the Deer getting spooked. I am well aware that they do not intentionally do this and are excited to see them, but I want to see more than the flash of a white rump as they bound away.

While I waited I was able to get some good footage of a few birds, nothing exceptional but they pleased me. I also got some good close up film of a Grey Squirrel that will compliment other clips I have already filmed. Also I got some good film of a Rabbit, at one point it stood up and I wondered if it had seen, heard or smelt me, my heart was in my mouth as if it could discover me then so could the Deer, but it went back to feeding. I also film a male pheasant and several females that came along too, with the rabbit there as well it looked almost as though I had staged the shot, yet it was all natural.

The Deer could come from four different directions, so I stayed quiet and waited. I was discovered by a young couple out walking and watching for birds in the evening. I chatted with them and they said unbidden that they too were hoping to see the Deer. So room was made on the log and we waited and waited. Well I did not film the Deer this time, but at both the start and end of the day I saw them in infra red, the couple were thrilled by seeing them that way too, but again to distant to film.

While it was a long one, it was a rather pleasant or should that be Pheasant day.

A Tapestry of Wildlife

Friday I ended up going hither and dither. I had to do a laundry run but even this I was was not sure I was going to get this done as I received a summons from the land owner of the land where the otter Holt is. While I was looking forward to this, it was made clear that I had to be there at a certain time and date, that was this morning. While I do try to be accommodating, I am not well disposed to being ordered about.

I attended the meeting and arrived in good time. It was clear that the land owner was used to having people jump to his bark, as when I politely introduced myself, I was curtly ordered to go and wait by the stables. No good morning in fact no servility at all. So I just stood there, to this he asked if I was deaf? While my hearing is not perfect, I told him no, but I just don't like curt orders. At this I really expected to be ordered away, but at this he laughed and this really seemed to break the ice.

Anyway while I can understand him wanting to be cautious about allowing a relative stranger on to his land, he and his family have suffered a number of thefts and burglaries, I don't see this as an excuse for rudeness. Even though we are supposed to have an egalitarian society there are still many people like this landowner who seem to believe that we still have the class structure of the nineteenth century.

While we were looking at the Holt area and I was talking about wanting to watch and film the Otters, one came swimming up the river. I broke off talking and we both watched the otter for a good five minutes.

I don't know yet if I will get permission, but I felt happy to see the otter today. I was able to get my washing to the laundry, a good job too or I would have had to become a nudist as well as a naturalist. When I went back to collect it, I had just got off the bus and was walking up the road when I disturbed a small flock of sparrows. One took off with a piece of cellophane in its beak, it flew for about twenty yards until it disappeared into a hedge, still with cellophane in beak. As the piece was longer than the bird it was amusing to watch the bird with this colourful streamer.

Everyday there is something new or different to watch when it comes to the natural world. It was funny but as I was trying to get into the the centre of the village latter after getting back with my washing, I stopped to talk to my neighbour. We were talking about the Red Kites when right on cue one appeared in the sky. As we were talking it was quartering the gardens of houses near by. A real delight for both of us.

It had been my intention to go out filming today, but with the demands of the day and my chores, I was never able to make it. But I got some clues about other things that may be worth trying to see and film. Not least from my neighbour. However, some of the best information came from a chap that was obviously going fishing. As frequently fishermen (and women) are better naturalists than most, when I saw this chap at the bus station in Consett I made good use of the chance to open a conversation.

While he was a relative new comer to fishing, the recession magicking his job away, he knew the river well and was well aware of the places where the otters are active. But it was other snippets of information that are helping build up a clearer picture of the natural history of the river. I wished him good fishing and that he did not catch to many trees. While there was a moment of satellite delay, he realised what I meant and left the bus saying that adds a whole new dimension to the tales of the ones that got away.

While it occurred a couple of days ago, there is a retired chap that I am friendly with who is interested in the local wildlife. Anyway while talking about the Lapwings nest, he said that he would ask a farmer friend of his if I could be given access to his fields as there are lightly to be Lapwings nesting there. It will be new areas for me too, and it will be close to a location where I suspect there is a Buzzard nesting.

I think I need to add a few extra days to the week to do all I want, yet I am grateful for the information I am getting. It is like I am putting together a jigsaw puzzle of tapestry of the wildlife that colours our countryside. The more pieces I garner the clearer the interactions are.

Green House Gasses Declared Pollution by EPA

Let me just repeat the title of this post, Green House Gasses declared Pollution Today the Environment Protection Agency in the US has listed Carbon Dioxide as pollution and harmful to human health.

I genuinely wish I could find something witty to say about this, but I am still in shock at the hand-break turn of the American government. While it was obvious that there would be a change in US policy and that science would be taken seriously by the new administration, the speed of this change is remarkable. Even though the previous administration was lead by the vested interests of the oil companies and the sloth of the car companies, it was incredible that the science could be ignored. Not only that but subverted and the science of Climate Change censored.

Even though many of the oil companies were originally American, and were result of the break up of Standard Oil, it really did look as though the oil companies were hell bent on damaging the American economy and destroying the planet to boot. To use an analogy; Even the tobacco companies while trying to dismiss the health risks of smoking, stopped their own executives from smoking. Yet the oil companies worked so hard to obstruct any real research into alternatives.

Not that Britain is really that much better, while our government has recognised the problem and the danger, we have adopted a policy of doing something, but only when its really to late. As exemplified by the announcement this week that there will be up to five thousand pounds ($8000) subsidy for people buying electric cars. But not until 2011, so two more years of pollution until then, then.

Mind you I can not see how they can get people to buy more cars unless they make trains really expensive, buses unreliable, cycling impossible... Oh that's what they are doing!

I realise its all to easy to be cynical, especially with our government, but I am glad that the US is taking action finally. All we need in the UK is a government that takes action rather than talks about taking action.

Torture Memos

Following the resignation of the head of anti-terrorism here in Britain, on the radio there was a comment made by a former security services officer that, politicians are more willing to restrict civil liberties than are the security services. It is for this reason we need leaders of good level headed judgement.

Well that explains why we are having to fight to stop the relentless erosion of our civil liberties here.

In contrast, in America, President Barack Obama has released the memorandum issued by the last administration that lead to the US using torture. Further, he has made it clear that there will be no prosecution of the people involved.

While prosecution may have brought about some kind of justice, it would have created a political scar that would have wounded American society. Therefore it is better that is not a witch hunt. Further, while the actions of the CIA and others in the US looked and were wrong, prosecution would only have lead to bitterness and resentment as it would be those further down the “Food Chain” that would have suffered not the political leadership that authorised the torture in the first place. Also I think that America will learn a greater lesson by drawing a line under this, and moving forward.

The great mistake made by George W Bush, Tony Blair, and still being made by Gordon Brown here, is by capitulating to the Terrorists. The terrorists, and their figure head Osama the Bin Liner, wanted to provoke a war. As in any and all wars atrocities are carried out by both sides. Thus, any action by the western powers that results in civilian casualties or deaths feeds the myths that the terrorists are perpetuating.

I have no doubt that the threat of terrorism is still real, and that we must all be and remain vigilant. However, we also need to ensure that our governments do not give the terrorists what they want by letting our governments take away our freedoms, nor must they be allowed to abuse our abusers by means of torture.

Its far to easy just to act tough, talk tough, but that can make you look like a bully eventually. That was the grave mistake that Bush made. While I can understand the desire for revenge that the appalling attacks on 9/11 generated, the political rhetoric and the actions of the US, Britain and others, was just like throwing petroleum on the fire. Now at least with the passage of time and a much more level headed leadership, the mistakes of the past can and are being sorted out.

From snippets of information that has emerged, I have no doubt that the British Government was complicit in the kidnapping and torture of suspected terrorists too. So this is by no means an attack on the Bush Administration, in the US via the ballot box, America has resolved that. In Britain perhaps we can find the leadership we need here too, but looking at the motley crew who are or who seek to lead us I doubt it.

I am just glad that in some parts of the world sense and reason has prevailed.

A link to the American Civil Liberties Union where you can read the memorandum.