1st January
John and Clare chose a site on the Wetland for 7 Scots Pines, one of which is a memorial tree for land neighbour Kay. John removed posts and rails from outside the sheds, no longer needed without the ponies, ready to make a protective cage for Kay’s tree.
Rails for recycling
First post in place
Clare, to mark her bird hide’s first birthday, recorded the visits made to the bird table within 5 minutes. The Coal Tits (lowest in the titmice pecking order and therefore speedy opportunists) made 63 visits; Blue Tits 16, Great Tits 12 and Nuthatch(s) 8. 99 visits in total. Meanwhile all the other feeders were being visited too.
2nd January
John worked on the Scots Pine cage and then enjoyed using his camera.
Walking on thin ice
Evidence of secret skaters
6th January
John counted 130 visits to the bird table within 5 minutes. He is frustrated by the holes he has dug for the Scots Pines filling up with rain and melt water as soon as his back is turned.
7th January
John panted the six small Scots Pines with tubes and stakes.
9th January
John needed height to drive in the posts for the tree cage and decided standing in the trailer would work. Accordingly he set off to collect the quad bike in order to tow the trailer into place. He discovered that the first of the two locks to the container was frozen, and after much huffing and puffing, risk of hyperventilation and of becoming a Big Bad Wolf, the lock gave. John then discovered the second lock was frozen too. More lupine activity. After freeing the locks, John found that the mechanism enabling reverse gear had frozen too, so he had to push the quad out of the container over frozen mud, into a position where he could go forwards. Having mastered this challenge he arrived at the first of the field gates on the route to Liddells. This was shut and held in place by deeply frozen muddy ruts and ridges. Undeterred he dug the gate free and proceeded to the next gate. Same process. At last he arrived at Liddells only to find that the lock on the bottom gate had frozen too. Lesser mortals might have given up at this point. John remembered he had a flask of peppermint tea with him and sacrificed it to the icy lock. The lock gave. After all this, John managed to get two posts driven into place. What a hero. And a modest round of applause for peppermint tea.
10th January
Spurning any need for a rest after the previous days efforts, John returned to the tree cage challenge and made good progress in spite of the water filling the hole.
12th January
Monica came to help plant the tree for Kay.
15th January
John checked on the bees’ fondant supplies again. Mathilda has given Clare another rich source of words and etymology in Word Perfect by Susie Dent. Dent has several usable words today alongside the main one, ‘hibernacle’: the place a hibernating animal passes the winter months. Bees don’t hibernate but are ‘dormative’ (inclined to sleep through the winter) and they are definitely ‘smudging’ at the moment (remaining snug and quiet). Alternative snuggling words she offers are ‘croozling’, ‘snerdling’, ‘snoodling’, snuzzling’ and ‘neezling’. Clare thinks the bees probably try them all.
21st January
The snow melt and rain have made Liddells very wet. John found that water was running from the old site of the spring, several metres from its current position. The stream below the spring was running very fast and full.
The old site of the spring
Downstream
26th January
Storm Christophe has brought down a Hawthorn in the Scrub. You can see from the photographs that there had been a ‘smirr’ (a smattering of snow, Word Perfect 12.01.21). Mel came to help John and together they removed the last fence posts from the west end of the Wetland, moved the reclaimed posts to be used for quad bike gateways into the Top Strip, dealt with the fallen Hawthorn and rescued a frog. Clearly the last task was the most important. John and Mel were walking past the scrape pond on the Wetland and John spotted the frog, which was perfectly still and John and Mel wondered if it was stuck and frozen into the ice. Mel tapped the ice round the frog with his spade and the frog reacted but didn’t move away, so Mel continued to cut round it, made a little ice plate and lifted the frog out and put in on the grass. After a moment or two, the frog freed itself and slowly hopped into the grass.
Fence fully removed
Post on its way to the Top Strip
30th January
It’s the weekend of the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch and Clare opted to do her watching and counting at Liddells. She recorded the following largest numbers of species during the hour: 3 Pheasants, 2 Blackbirds, 3 Robins, 2 Dunnocks, 4 Chaffinches, 9 Coal Tits, 6 Blue Tits, 5 Great Tits, 2 Nuthatches and 5 Bullfinches. The Bullfinches were a particular treat. They didn’t come to the feeders but were perched in a nearby Hawthorn. The Marsh Tits stayed away on this occasion however Clare had watched them a couple of days ago. While she was there she experienced a ‘flindrikin’ (a slight snow shower, Word Perfect, 12.01.21).
31st January
Inspired by gardener Alys Fowler’s column in The Guardian yesterday, Clare went to have a look at the Hazels and Alders. She was not disappointed, however this far north the female flowers are a little later to appear.
Clare also visited the hide again and was delighted to see 8 Long-tailed tits on the feeders. They didn’t make it into The RSPB count, however it is always a delight to see them.
Welcome glimpses of life on this last day of the month.
Male Hazel catkins
Male Alder catkins …
…an cones