More Surprises

I don't know what the weather thinks it's doing, really I don't. I mean, it's blazing sunshine out there..anyone would think it was summer or something..?!?

After another merry week in the little tin box, you might guess I have very little to report. But wait! This is not so..

Monday night was witness to some shock audiomig! There I was, lying in my bed when I hear a loud series of calls from above; "Now that's a wader!" Not just any wader, either; one of those 'Oh, I know that one...' calls that irritate you into getting out of bed and firing up BWPi...  LRP! Which of course I should have remembered as I heard that call [in between floods of rain] by the Otter earlier this year... Still, not to smack myself over the head for what is a Patch Tick! :D


That moment of excitement aside... I've finally been able to actually see House Martins occupying nests in the local colony and just today, two new juvenile Blackbirds have shown up :) An utter lack of any finches coming into the Garden is worrying, as is the absence of House Sparrows in the nest boxes or next door, though others further off seem to be doing ok.



Rather than stop here, I'm going to start rambling at you [["Start?!?" I hear you cry..]].
First of all... Holy Shit have you seen that Frigatebird?!?!???!!!!!!!!! Conveniently located at Bowmore [home of rather nice whisky for toasting Seconds for Britain] and not dead either, which is a bonus. Unlike that poor White-throated Needletail... I could very easily got into full-on rant mode here. In fact I stopped myself blogging last week because I knew I would.

I shall limit myself to a quickie: Wind turbines kill birds. Fact. Statistics can be massaged to say whatever the buyer wants - found birds do not equal all birds, especially when scavenger populations soar - and the sea hides many sins..
As for the 'they're green and good and can do no wrong' argument; Wind turbines require a 100% subsidy [think about it] to even operate. They also require 100% coverage by conventional [ie. burning things] power stations because the wind is not predictable, which also means they often can't run when the wind is blowing because there's too much capacity. Those power stations run less efficiently due to the stop-start nature of the demand. The turbines themselves are anything but green to build, import [yes, all of them], and dispose of after their operational life [which is much less than a power station].
That said, I think they're still preferable to a fucking tidal barrage...

In a marked contrast to most naysayers, here are some actual alternatives; submarine tidal - no barrages, turbines in pods - already in trial but much less lucrative than building a massive silt trap; nuclear - the only source of energy that doesn't involve burning carbon and does work right now. Get over the propaganda and look up pebble bed reactors; wave action - again in trials, though probably less useful than tidal; geothermal - even if only to provide hot water for heating, this could make a big difference; solar - every south-facing roof not covered in grass should have panels.



Yes, that was the little rant.



And now for something completely different..
I spend far too long online. I know this. I blame all those birds that I'm compelled to look for news of. After I've done that, I indulge in another of my addictions - no not that you filthy-minded perverts ;) - webcomics..
I'll share a couple with you, on the off chance you've a day or twenty to lose. Even if you've never thought of that sort of thing as appealing, give 'em a go. Nice big archives to lose yourself in - I spent my recent lay up catching up on the years of this sci-fi beauty; Schlock Mercenary  Just little strips with the odd full page, nice simple style and plenty of humour.
A much classier affair is Girl Genius, whose tagline 'Adventure! Romance! Mad Science!' ain't the half of it. Winner of three consecutive Hugo Awards and imho the Best Thing Online..



Well, first in-blog links ever. What's wrong with me? Must be something to do with too much sunshine, too much coffee, and finally not needing painkillers... Next thing you know, I'll be plugging blogs!
Oh wait, did that already.