They soared, they dived, they harrassed seagulls and filled the sky with their antics. We stood, necks craned and swivelled our bodies to track them as they flew around the Tate Modern chimney, over the Thames, past Blackfriars Bridge and buzzed the dome of St Paul's Cathedral.

I am, of course, talking peregrines. The two adults and one of their young. He must be about six months old now so this aerial dance was about…

I've an owl. It sits on the dining table and it's starting to rule my life. This is no Harry Potteresque messenger, but it constantly delivers scary news and has confirmed a suspicion I've held for some time.

My owl is a bit of technology that connects to the mains electricity supply of my house and tells me how much carbon my energy use is creating. It measure power consumption in my whole house. Why it's…