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Yesterday, I had the need to go into Consett to do some shopping and I was just leaving the village when I spotted one of the Red Kites. As there are roadworks being undertaken, the bus had to halt at the right spot so that I was able to observe the Kite for three minutes as it circled in its search for food. In the low winter sun the Red Kite was beautifully illuminated. A delight that made the job of doing the shopping much more pleasant.
Then today while writing the previous post, I saw a pair of Red Kites on the horizon. I stopped to drink in the spectacle and my delight was increased as further Kites appeared. A small group of five Red Kites were out foraging together. I was able to watch for more than two minutes as they came closer and flew almost overhead in their search for food.
While there are many problems associated with living here, it is the wildlife and the natural history that really makes it worthwhile.
As I started writing this posting I don't know when I will be able to post it. As this morning, Sunday, I was taking my better half to the bus stop so she could catch the bus home. On the route walking to the Bus stop we pass the Telecoms switching box that handles most if not all the telecoms traffic for the village. It had been vandalised and was covered with a protective canvas cover and police tape. As we had approached the location, a telecoms van was just pulling away and obviously all work that could be done to restore service had been carried out, but it still took another couple of hours before I had telephone or Internet.
As an act of mindless vandalism this really does stand out as being particularly stupid, as it disabled the telephone system for a number of people. In my village there are a number of elderly residents who need the telephone for their safety and security. It is not infrequent that I see an ambulance speeding to the locations where the elderly folks live. Therefore this mindless action could have seriously endangered life.
While there are some things that happen in life that I can get into the mind of the people that do stupid things, there are other times when I just really can not. This is one of the latter. Why anyone would want to destroy such a vital part of the infrastructure is just beyond my comprehension. There has to be a serious cancer at the heart of our society for this to happen. At least from the enquires I have made so far, no one was harmed by this, but who knows what hidden harm has happened as a result of this mindless act.
Had it not been for the wonderful, informed and insightful response to my posting on the Tawny Owls and my wish to follow up on that, I would have been posting on this issue yesterday. As the first news story that I found on the BBC news website was this issue of a BBC News Photographer who was stopped from taking pictures.
As I recounted, when watching the Owls I had probably been seen by the police, and they had started to look for me. As they saw the Fox and possibly assumed that was the movement they saw, I did not suffer the interference that can happen. While I have recounted a couple of the instances where I have been stopped by the police while out watching wildlife, I get stopped on a depressingly regular basis.
While I realise that anyone roaming about in unusual places and at strange times could be suspicious and needs to be checked, it has reached the stage were I feel as though I am living in a police state akin to Eastern Europe of twenty years ago. In fact I was considering posting on this very issue for the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
There is crime and criminal behaviour that the police need to prevent and detect crime, but police are abusing their powers under the anti terrorist act. If they have no other reasonable excuse they will cite section 44 and stop you anyway. Often the rational for the police stopping me is simply that I am on foot and carrying photographic equipment. It seems that if I had been in a car I would not have been harassed
However, the issue goes far wider than my inconveniences. While I realise that the terrorist threat is real, there is no sense in stopping and harrying people who are going about their lawful business. The most disturbing aspect of the way the government have reacted to the terrorist threat is the way the very freedoms the terrorists want to deprive us of, the government has taken away.
There is a culture that has developed in the police that treats the general public as, if not the enemy, something to be controlled. In interviews with senior police and politicians about policing issues, the answers that the authorities give create images in my minds eye of the footage we see of places like North Korea.
There is a lack of logic behind the police actions in stopping people from taking photographs. As in the press reports of terrorist trials, often one of the supporting aspects of the evidence is the film and photographs of the intended target. Therefore by stopping people from taking pictures the police will reduce the evidence base that can be used to convict these thugs.
Fortunately we don't yet live in a police state. No matter how much the police may think this would solve crime, it did not stop crime in Eastern Europe where there were police states. Also the more the police alienate themselves with the public, the less support and help the police will get. Just yesterday something happened that illustrates this.
My better half and I had been able to spend the day together. As part of this we went into Consett to do a little shopping. I really know how to treat a girl! Just as we were getting ready to get the bus back, I wanted to have a smoke. I was standing around outside the covered shopping market while my better half went back into a shop we had previously been in. While I was waiting I witnessed a child of about 11 or 12 dealing drugs. With the first transaction I was not totally sure that I had really seen what I knew I had seen. But the second one was blatant and clear.
I did consider calling the police but as I was concerned for my safety and that of my GF, I did not. Could I or should I have called the police latter? I don't know, I did not call or inform the police. I can justify this in my own mind as even if I had informed the police latter it was likely that I would have been identified by the dealers as the likely informant.
As much as I detest drugs and the harm they cause, I feel so dissatisfied with the police that I don't want to have contact with them if I can avoid it. It is the way the police are abusing their powers that is creating this situation, and in the past I would have considered it my civic duty to help prevent crime.
A link to the BBC Story
This is where the Inter-Web thing is so amazing, following my posting on the owls I have a real expert responding. Thanks Romillyh.
The behaviour that I witnessed is unusual, not least because Tawny Owls do have a strong pair bond and the normally mate for life and more importantly hunt together as a pair. While out watching Badgers I have seen this in action where if one bird fails to make contact with the hunted prey, the second bird has made the kill. The first time I saw this I thought it was competition for prey, so it shows how careful an observer has to be basing interpretation upon one or a few observations.
This is why I recounted my observations as well as adding my speculations. As the new juvenile is not banded or marked, I can not know for sure that the “new” female is not one of the offspring of the established pair. However, as normally the parent birds do drive off all their brood, it is a reasonable assumption to make.
That said I also voiced some of my speculations as to what is happening. Is the new bird an insurance for a hard winter? The honest answer is I do not know, yet when I was much younger and talking to senior birders in the past this was an observed occurrence. It appeared to decrease as winters in Britain became less severe. Therefore while it may not have been recorded scientifically, older amateur observers recounted this happening. While this may be behaviour that was lost in the populations in the South East of England, it could be that in areas like the North East where winters are harder, this aspect of behaviour is retained. I fully realise that at the moment I am speculating. However based upon anecdotes and others observations and some educated guess work, it could be that I have seen something rare and seen only in populations where conditions create this behaviour.
Also while I have not heard reports of a male mating with more than one female in Tawny Owls, I have heard of Barn Owls. Also there are many species of birds that do this. It would only be likely if there is sufficient resources to keep two families. Again I am speculating and trying to ask questions that could explain the behaviour, but it could be that local conditions have ensured plentiful prey. This in turn may make it possible for the male to support two females.
It is one of the delights of observing wildlife that there is always something new to learn. In time further observations may help answer some of the questions I have. Other peoples observations also help in gaining a clear picture too. It may be that time will show that my speculations are incorrect, but at the very least the observations have sparked my curiosity and I may be able to answer some or all of my questions in time. Equally I may never get to know or understand what was happening. Either way these Owls provided a wonderful night of wildlife watching.
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