For many years we have been keen bird-watchers. Liddells sits in an area where modern farming practices can compromise bird life. We are doing what we can to offset this. We’ve made nesting boxes, persuaded a local shoot to stop shooting Woodcock, at first we put up feeders (though not heavily used so we brought them home where they were), then in the autumn of 2019 we built a bird hide and feeding station and both are well used (see below). Each year we conduct a breeding bird survey with the help of Keith, a local birding expert. 

In the early days we had a resident Tawny Owl. Either it or another has reappeared as of winter 2017. In May 2016 daily, over several weeks, we watched a Barn Owl hunting over the Wetland. John set about making a Barn Owl box, which remains available To Let. In the same year we were delighted to see a Redstart family resident in or near the Orchard. Other highlights have been 10 Long-tailed Tits on the electricity wires over the Meadow sitting like a row of toy soldiers, regular winter glimpses of Woodcock slipping quietly away into the woodland, and a hunting Sparrowhawk passing about a yard away within feet of the ground.

In 2019 Clare decided to build a bird-watching screen and feeding station to mark her 70th birthday; she invited friends to contribute rather than give conventional gifts. The donations were so generous Clare and John were able to build a large hide, using largely recycled timber and roofing sheets and to have it finished by December 31st of that year.. The hide and feeders proved to be an instant success. Two bird species, Lesser Redpoll and Siskin, that had never before been seen on Liddells, appeared on the feeders, and frequent visits by a pair of Marsh Tits suggest they are resident.

If you are interested in the annual survey results, click here.

These are all the birds recorded thus far on Liddells, listed in the order you’d find them in a field guide:

Grey Heron, Mallard, Mandarin Duck, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Red-legged Partridge, Grey Partridge, Pheasant, Woodcock, Snipe, Common Gull, Woodpigeon, Tawny Owl, Barn Owl, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Swallow (FO), House Martin (FO), Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Redstart, Song Thrush, Redwing, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Spotted Flycatcher, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Marsh Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Magpie, Jay, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Raven (FO), Starling (FO), Chaffinch, Linnet, Lesser Redpoll, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Siskin, Bullfinch, Yellowhammer

(FO = flying over) 

Clare's OED Word of the Day email informed her that 'ramage' not only means the collective branches of trees but 'the song or cry of birds in trees' and, of hawks, 'having left the nest and begun to fly from branch to branch.' We live and we learn.

Call and responses