Bird Brains

Crow soaking a piece of dry bread in a puddle

Listened to the fascinating BBC Radio 4 series 'The Life Scientific' on what it is like to be a scientist, the subject of which this week was Nicky Clayton and her research into the evolution of intelligence in birds - particularly corvids. I felt a particular affinity with this scientist's work as I have often seen birds manifesting intelligence in many situations - admittedly mostly to do with obtaining food.

The photo here shows a crow dipping a piece of dry bread in a puddle to make it soft enough to eat. Another crow looks on, hoping for his share of the bread.

Intelligence and cooperation: not just human traits.

Woodland and a Peregrine

Local wood in Autumn

I love to walk in the woods. There is nothing more re-creational than a few moments spent taking in the beauty of this habitat. There is a particular atmosphere in these English woodlands, many of which are relatively ancient, having been preserved by a mixture of chance and the imperatives of royal hunts. A few commons also remain, untouched by the Enclosures, open to those who know them. I would bet that most people in this area don't know these woods and are ignorant of their beauty. Is this a surprise ? Probably not. I read recently that most children in London never go to green spaces during the year. What a great pity, and how indicative of their parents' and teachers' lack of concern for their wellbeing, beyond what they are 'taught' and the latest gadget or fad.

The air was still and the pitter patter of water droplets could be heard falling onto the leaf litter, even the individual falling of leaves could be perceived. The chit chat of long-tailed tits came down from the canopy, the raucous conversation of the crows and the nimble progress of a grey squirrel from branch to branch. All could be discerned above the clamour and clanging of human activity in the nearby factories and the squeaking of the passing train. Here indeed was a haven of peace, where small creatures live unconcerned by the city, as they have always done.

I moved on up the path and over the footbridge across the railway. The area is more open; the wood, reduced to a strip now, continues to the east along the golf course; a path goes south along the tracks, and to the left of it is the expanse of land once taken up by sludge beds, now left to nature. I take this path and stop when I see the outline of a bird on a treetop and watch for a few moments. A sparrow hawk rests awhile before striking off to continue its search for prey. I resume my progress, passing under the high voltage electricity pylons, sizzling in the humid autumnal air. High above I glimpse the outline of another bird soaring high above, gliding before beating its wings three or four times. The unmistakable form of a peregrine. A marvellous sight, made all the more memorable because it is in the middle of this metropolis, but unseen by most of the thousands of people roundabout. My little secret. The heart is uplifted. The day is made.

True Value

How much is a Ladybird ?

Who can put a price on Art or Nature ? What price a species wiped out by humans through greed or stupidity or usually both ?

Look at paintings such as the many versions of the Card Players or the representations of apples by Paul Cézanne or innumerable works by Claude Monet or Pablo Picasso or any of the other great painters of the 19th and 20th centuries. These works are beyond monetary value; whether they are in public or private collections they belong, in some sense, to all humans, such is their profound emotional presence. Having seen the recent BBC programme in the Storyville series about the Barnes collection - 'valued' at $25 billion, I have my reservations about putting a price on things, and about those who do so for their own mercantile motives. Some things are simply too precious and valuable to be judged in terms of some currency or other. It is common knowledge that money can all of a sudden become worthless, but throughout the short history of humanity, value still remains. From the earliest stone tools, to the first representations of animals or humans, to the cave paintings at Lascaux to the most exuberant Matisse, some of the things made by humans are the most loving, joyful, masterful creations of the Tribal Monkey.

Who can dispute this profound emotionality who has approached the Guernica by Pablo Picasso in the Reina Sofia in Madrid. It's presence is brooding and felt even when it is out of sight - probably because you are treated to some of the artist's sketches and drawings in preparation for the painting as you draw near. When you actually see it it is rather like a blow to the stomach such is the wave of emotion which fills you and overwhelms you. What is the value of this painting ? If it were to be sold, who could afford it ? Spain might be tempted in its hour of economic need. Its sale could make a dent in the deficit no doubt, but whether a price could be put on it is uncertain.

One thing on which a price has been put but which is not valued is energy and energy production. We have been brought up to believe that energy, be it electricity or petrol or gas or coal is freely available in unlimited quantities and can be bought cheaply, so cheaply in fact that it matters not how much we use or waste. Modern societies are founded on the fact that vast quantities of energy on a scale unimaginable to our ancestors who were limited to mainly wind, wood and animal power are immediately available to us for transport, manufacturing, home heating etc. Now that is probably less so now than it was only a few years ago mainly because speculators have driven up the price of oil, but it must be said that the price of fossil energy particularly bears no relation to how precious and finite a resource it is. Air transport in particular pays no premium of any kind on its use of energy. Nor does the price take account of the damage to the earth system done by large scale emissions of carbon dioxide and the risks that this implies for the future stability of our climate,  and the availability of food and water for the multitudes of humans now present on this planet.

Would it not be better to price energy fairly and enable people to use less of it and more efficiently in a society which is good at using small amounts of energy from mainly renewable resources to produce prosperity and stability ? The means, financial and technological, already exist for us to achieve this. What is lacking is the will to do so. Our governments must act to produce the conditions for this to happen. Oil companies would do well to divert their vast resources into energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. We as individuals should look at the little things we can do to make our own lives more efficient, less wasteful, more at peace with existence. What is the cost of a species lost through our fault or more precisely negligence. What price can you put on a Ladybird or a Great Auk, an Otter or a Peregrine ?

Who Are you ?

Yes. It's like the Who track. And it's a very good question which we all ask ourselves at one time or another. It is also a very difficult question to answer, as the answer will change over time. There is no central core of being which is immutable and will be forever the same, which we can produce like some identity document. Who we are depends on where and when we are, who we are with and may be different at different times, even times of the day. It was reading Harry Eyres' column in the FT which made me think back to who or what I was.

Who was I many years ago when I was a young dog, to coin a phrase ? I thought there would be no need to learn to drive a car for various reasons, among them was the development of public transport and the scarcity of hydrocarbons. How mistaken was this assumption ! I did not feel the need for owning too much property: in fact I could pretty much pack all my belongings into one bag and take off at almost a moment's notice; the heaviest and most prized item being a Brother portable typewriter on which I taught myself to type and tapped out all my university dissertations along with miscellaneous scraps of poetry. I aspired only to being and seeing with a cold though observant eye and perhaps writing about what was seen. I used to think I might be a photographer but could never scrape together enough cash to get some decent kit. Cash was king at the time: you had no ability raise money through credit for anything. You had what you had. I never thought you could own a house or land or acquire these things. I did drift along, not achieving very much, not really knowing what I was here for.

I met a very old friend some time ago whom I had not seen for many years. She was surprised I was not in fact a photographer. She was convinced I would be one. This made me think about why I had not, and about how and why I had been doing what I had been doing for so many years. I had become ensnared by the illusion that you could work hard at some job and find personal and financial rewards enough to then have time to do all those things...Of course you do not find reward in working at some job, even though you may have a few baubles like a very nice car and a nice house and no particular worries about the end of the month coming long after the money has run out. You also find that your brain has become atrophied and sterile and incapable of thought or creation. You find that you cannot consume for ever more. You find that you borrow money against all your instincts to buy a house even though all you want is a bit of land with a small dwelling and a large garden, you get cars and mobile phones and computers and all those things which are good but tinged with evil, and which are but distractions from...From what ? Could it be philosophy, poetry, the contentment of being ? You feel, you think, that you are trapped. And then comes liberation.

You find one day that the corporate world no longer needs you, even after all you have done for them over the years. You give up the car because you have to. You spend time in the garden, planning which vegetables you will put in etc. You draw diagrams of your plot and its various areas given over to herbs, wild flowers, fruit, potatoes etc You suddenly think that it is two years since you boarded a plane on some boring business trip. It all does wonders for your carbon footprint. But somehow it doesn't feel right because you are not enjoying it; because you somehow think that those who have remained in the rat race are having more fun. You somehow feel guilty for having been made redundant and not being able to get a job because let's face it, you are that age. You are over the hill. The problem is you, not the economy, not the banks, not the spineless career politicians. But is it ? You have probably simply changed, that is all; and all things considered you may be much better for it. A better human being.

Unimaginable

Could be more productive !

Much has been made of the arrival of the 7 billionth human. This is a very large number indeed: 7 to the power of 9; 7 followed by 9 zeros. Counting one person every second it would take over 200 years to complete the count. It is an unimaginable number; an overwhelming number of people, most of whom are children; all of whom will need to be able to have enough food, enough fresh water, enough power to cook and to light the darkness, to be educated, to find work to support themselves, to enjoy life, to go on holiday - to do all the things we like to do and not have a second thought about it.

Given the struggle it is to produce enough vegetables from an allotment for two people, the challenge of feeding this multitude is unfathomable. Of course this little garden of 125 m2 is hardly very productive. We do not spend too much time working on it. We  know that if some crop fails or the weather is not great we can go to the shop and buy food. We still have money to do this. We could produce a lot more from our plot if we really put our minds to it. But feeding 7 billion ?! What a daunting task, particularly if people are to be fed like Europeans or North Americans. Is it possible ? Who can say ? It probably is, but at what price for the natural world and all the other creatures we share the Earth with...We will need to get our thinking caps on to achieve this without destroying the natural environment.

What can be done on a personal level ? Have less children here in our very rich countries is one very easy thing to do, given the voracious drain on resources our offspring represent. I have been lucky enough to father one child, who is grown up now; but I will not have any more - to the initial dismay of my girlfriend who would have liked to have one or more. But is is simply not fair on those who are trying to bring up children in poor countries with no resources and not fair on the Earth. So I have renounced all child making. You could also change your diet; have meat only at weekends; eat more locally produced food. It's not difficult and not painful and your health will be the better for it. These are first steps: you could then look at using less energy, insulating your house, walking or cycling more. There are many things that can be done, few of which cost anything, all of which are linked to changing behaviour. They do not involve giving up freedom or our democratic principles. They are a matter of choice and the choice is ours.