First the familiar reminder that to watch the trail camera footage, go to the Liddells website, click on the Blog: the videos will be there in all their glory.
1st May
Clare decided to honour International Dawn Chorus Day by arriving at Liddells just before 5am to listen to the birds. She decided on an anti-clockwise route for a change and so quickly arrived at the bottom of the Scrub having heard Blackbird, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Robin, Song thrush, and Willow warblers on the way. At this point she realised she was looking at an odd shape between two Hawthorns on the Meadow. It was a tarpaulin shelter under which was a pair of boots and a bundle. This was not what Clare was expecting and she was quite scared. She backed off quietly and walked away thinking about what to do. Guessing this was a wild camper, but not knowing how wild, she made her way up to the tool shed to see if there was a suitable weapon with which to defend herself. Rejecting the idea of a rake or a hammer, she realised her best weapon was her mobile phone camera. Thus armed, she locked the top gate and made her way on the road to the bottom gate, keeping it locked and between her and the camper. She could see he was up and was starting to pack. He did this very slowly and methodically and was obviously careful to leave no trace. He saw Clare and as he approached asked if this was the Hadrian’s Meadow camping field. Clare pointed out that had it been, it was unlikely to have had a padlock and chain. Kush was profusely apologetic, particularly when he realised how upset Clare had been and that he had somewhat compromised her delight in the dawn chorus. He was courteous, thoughtful and interested in the Liddells project. He asked if there was a café anywhere soon along the route where he could top up his water bottle, then went on his way. Knowing there is no café nearby, Clare drove back home, gathered some portable breakfast goods and water and drove back to find him on route. Kush was very touched by the gesture and gave permission to be included in the Blog. He may well be reading this.
A postscript - Clare knows she is dilatory about checking the Liddells email and was both embarrassed and delighted to see, far too late in the month, that Kush had sent a kind and generous email after his stay on the Meadow, appreciating how Clare and John are engaging with Liddells and appreciative of his stay and his breakfast.
Clare did manage a few recordings so for those who would like to listen, the audio clips feature the following dominant songs (you will hear others in the background):
Wren (often described as the having loudest birdsong per body weight)
Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Garden Warbler (the Blackcap has a deeper tone, slightly more tuneful, while the Garden Warbler has more by way of burbles in among the notes. Then sometimes the Blackcap burbles and the Garden Warbler sings more tunefully.)
Chiffchaff, Chaffinch (Clare often thinks of this song as resembling a build up to a sneeze and ending with the ‘p’choo’ of the sneeze at the end)
Willow Warbler (again for Clare, as if building to a sneeze but then the sneeze goes away in a series of descending notes), Magpie, Coal Tit
2nd May
Juno came to help John and Clare flatten the last of the molehills on the Top Grazing. Not a mountainous job and Juno set about the task with enthusiasm. And a back hoe.
6th May
Clare and John took a break in the hide after strimming the Orchard and protecting Bird Cherry trees with tubes and cages. They were surprised to see a Willow warbler round the feeders and even more surprised when it went into the caged ground feeder. It was not after food though - the bird emerged with a small feather and set off to a Hawthorn not far away. The bird made several trips across the front of the hide collecting several small feathers. Clare went to see where it was taking them and saw it disappear into the base of a clump of rush. While the bird was away Clare had a quick look and saw a small hole with a mossy cup inside. This was very exciting.
7th May
More tree protection in the Orchard. John and Clare are mindful that the younger buck is still in velvet and they have found fraying damage.
8th May
An evening visit to Liddells after a day of heavy rain. As John approached the bottom gate he said, “If there’s not a deer out after that rain, I’ll eat my hat,” whereupon he and Clare saw the younger buck on the Meadow. John’s hat collection remains intact.
9th May
John had noticed a hare on the Top Grazing which frequently ran for cover from the same spot. On closer investigation he found the hare’s couch. It is more likely to be a temporary resting place than the hare’s form. Below you can see the couch and where it is on the Top Grazing.
Clare had moved her trail camera to a site near the Willow warbler’s nest and was pleased to pick up some footage of three deer. First a doe eating raspberries. She is still in her winter coat but looking very shaggy; then a splendid view of the older buck in hard horn (regular readers may remember why this phrase, although often used, is technically incorrect), and winter coat; last the younger buck still in velvet and winter coat. Not a velvet winter coat. The clips are all captured within a twelve minute period.
10th May
Clare had moved her camera again after capturing no footage of the Willow warbler near the nest. The camera had recorded a lot of footage showing the abundance of St Mark’s flies, (so called because they emerge close to St Mark’s Day, 25th April); they are also known as Hawthorn flies. They do seem to be attracted to Hawthorns in particular.
11th May
Keith generously offered his annual help with a breeding bird survey and met Clare at 7.15 in the morning to walk round listening and making a note of what they heard and saw. They enjoyed the usual Blackcap or Garden Warbler challenge. The results of the survey are here.
Clare took Keith to see the Willow warbler’s nest and was dismayed to see that it had been pulled out and apart, and was empty. Culprit unknown. Clare saved the nest and weighed it - it was 8 grams - light as a few feathers.
The destroyed nest…
…and where it was hidden
Clare commented that she hadn’t seen or heard any Bullfinches for a while. Later in the day walking home, she saw one on an apple tree in the garden at home.
12th May
Bullfinches clearly have a sense of humour - there were two on the Meadow as Clare arrived today.
John and Clare are seeing hares on nearly every visit. Below are a couple caught on camera.
13th May
A gloriously sunny day so, as Tim and Jane were away, Clare completed the weekly butterfly transect. Tim has often said that although the transect year begins in April, nothing much happens in this part of the county till later. Nonetheless Clare saw 8 Orange Tips, 4 Speckled Woods and a Small Tortoiseshell on the Liddells part of the transect. After completing the transect Clare went for a wander into a part of the Scrub that is less accessible and was delighted to see a pair of Tawny Owls. They had obviously been roosting together and flew out surprised by Clare’s proximity.
A sequence of clips from the trail camera showed a doe browsing Hawthorn for several minutes before couching at 7.15 am. She doesn’t get up until 8.43 when she begins browsing again for 2-3 minutes before wandering off.
14th May
John and Clare cleared the last of the barley straw bale from the Top Grazing and distributed it in front of the hide where the ground had become very muddy. The pheasants had a great time moving it about as they hunted for the odd grain.
A doe, possibly the older one, and in her summer coat, looks very pregnant. The kids will be born some time in the next few weeks.
15th May
All the trees in the Orchard are now fully protected either with tubes or cages. It’s a time-consuming but necessary part of routine maintenance. John’s friend Mike saw the Tawny Owls in the Scrub.
16th - 18th May
Clare found 6 of the Willows in Sylvia’s Avenue on the Wetland had been frayed and a couple pushed out completely, so she set about putting tubes on them. Clare and John have a commitment to recycling materials whenever possible in their work on Liddells; it was particularly pleasing to use the hedging tubes that originally came with the plants for the hedge by the apiary. There were exactly the right number for the willows.
Clare had moved her camera to a different area near the hide wondering if the deer might be using it. They weren’t, however she was pleased to have recorded this night time activity.
Clare moved her trail camera again, this time in the hope of capturing the owls on film. The camera proved its worth again. The very first clip after moving it provided evidence of both birds with the too-wit-too-woo calls. Although people might assume this is the call of a single Tawny, in fact the female calls ‘too-wit’ and is answered by the male’s ‘too-woo’. A couple of days later one owl is recorded coming into the tree. (Since then there have been no more sightings.)
20th May
Clare was having a gentle walk round Liddells noticing which plants were in flower. She had had cataract surgery a couple of days earlier and was amused that the first flowers that caught her attention were Eyebright.
Clare also saw Large Red damselflies mating near the Big Pond, the first damselflies of the season. She has been waiting for several months to include nuggets of information from a programme called Dragons and Damsels. First nuggets - these creatures have been around for 330 million years (not the ones Clare was seeing obviously). Both dragonflies and damselflies cover great distances in search of suitable spots; their eyes can detect polarised light reflected by water surfaces and this means they can not only detect a pond however small, but also tell a lot about the water quality and submerged vegetation.
21st - 25th May
Clare decided to pursue the idea suggested by Linda France a while ago - to think of more creative names for the different areas of Liddells rather than the prosaic terms used thus far. So the Top Grazing is henceforth the Hayfield - I think you will agree that this is an improvement in terminology. Clare is working on the Top Strip, dividing it in her mind into sections - the Quarry Walk, Up to a Point - the west end awaits a name.
While on the Hayfield Clare noticed several insects that looked rather like Daddy-long-legs, although this is the wrong time of year for them. She managed to photograph a pair mating and sent the photo to the Royal Etymological Society, as ever receiving a very quick response: ‘Tipulidae are tricky to identify, as many of the colour characteristics that look so straight forward are in fact continuous between species, such that many species are difficult to distinguish one from another without careful attention to other characters often not apparent in photographs. Nonetheless, if I'm not too much mistaken, based on the eye, wing and abdomen colouring, this is a mating pair of Tipula (Lunatipula) vernalis. The species has a preference for sweet-grassland or chalky grassland where the larvae thrive in drier soils.’
John and Clare began mapping and maintaining the trees at the east end of the Hayfield. They were pleased to note that from all the planting over a few years, particularly with the very small trees planted last autumn, there are now 37 Oaks, 18 Horse Chestnuts, 3 Beech, 3 Birch, 3 Hornbeam, 3 Field Maples, 2 Limes, 2 Hazels, 1 Ash and 1 Crab Apple. Every one of these is now protected with either a tube or a cage depending on size. Less than a handful of the trees had failed.
Wandering through the Quarry Walk later in the day, Clare found a wildflower that she had never seen on Liddells before. She thinks it is Charlock.
26th May
More damselflies around both the Big and Roadside ponds (yes, these need new names); this time Azures were abundant with much mating activity. Next nugget - Azure males will sometimes attempt to mate with female Common Blues though with no success.
Clare found a mystery creature inside one of the folding chairs in the shed. John thought it might be a tick however it seemed to be too big, then revealed itself to be a spider - a False Widow Spider.
27th May
Water Crowfoot is in flower on the Big Pond. You can also see a photo-bombing pond snail.
28th May
Clare fashioned a step into the meeting room using half an unwanted pallet. John finished extracting nails and other fixings from fenceposts and rails he had collected from different areas of Liddells which had been discarded during a previous ownership. The retrieved wood is now sawn and stacked. Clare added another layer of protective wire to the third of the Oaks that are descendants of the Leper Oak on Hexham golf course.
Clare also completed this season’s nesting box survey. 13 are in use this year - not a huge number, although clearly there are birds nesting without recourse to the boxes.
While she was walking round, Clare noticed Holly in flower which hasn’t caught her attention before. She also found another face in a tree. regular Blog readers may recall that seeing such things is called pareidolia.
30th May
Both male and female Broad-bodied Chasers were flying round and over the Big Pond. Clare waited patiently to spot the frequently used perches and waited beside them only to be outwitted by the Chasers which immediately moved to different resting points, then returning to their original places as soon as Clare had moved. Nonetheless, here is her attempt at a photo of a female. And more information - dragonfly larvae have forward-facing eyes giving them stereo vision, and jaws that can shoot out an additional half length of their body to catch prey. The ideas in ‘Alien’ were far from original.
Clare saw a juvenile Blue Tit in the Orchard.
31st May
In keeping with all the other surveys this month, Clare has been keeping a record of the plants as they bloom. Thus far the following have been in flower this month:
(the flowers are listed as you would find them in a field guide)
Nettle Family - Nettle
Dock Family - Bistort, Common Sorrel, Broad-leaved Dock
Pink Family - Greater Stitchwort, Common Chickweed, Field Mousear, Red Campion, Ragged Robin
Buttercup Family - Marsh Marigold, Meadow Buttercup, Creeping Buttercup, Lesser Celandine, Common Water Crowfoot, Wood Anemone,
Cabbage Family - Charlock, Cuckoo Flower, Garlic Mustard, Common Scurvy Grass, Hairy Bittercress,
Saxifrage Family - Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage
Rose Family - Lady’s Mantle, Raspberry, Wild Strawberry, Water Avens, Herb Bennet, Tormentil, Silverweed, Crab Apple, Rowan, Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Wild Cherry, Bird Cherry
Pea Family - Gorse, Broom, Bush Vetch, Bird’s Foot Trefoil, Red Clover, White Clover
Wood-Sorrel Family - Wood Sorrel
Geranium Family - Meadow Cranesbill, Herb Robert
Milkwort Family - Common Milkwort
Spindle-tree Family - Spindle Tree
Violet Family - Sweet Violet, Common Dog Violet
Carrot Family - Cow Parsley, Pignut
Heath Family - Heather, Bilberry
Primrose Family - Primrose, Oxlip, Cowslip, Yellow Pimpernel
Bedstraw Family - Woodruff, Heath Bedstraw, Common Cleavers
Borage Family - Common Comfrey, Lungwort, Field Forget-me-not,
Labiate Family - Bugle, Water Mint
Figwort Family - Germander Speedwell, Common Field Speedwell, Eyebright, Yellow Rattle
Plantain Family - Ribwort Plantain
Honeysuckle Family - Guelder Rose
Daisy Family - Daisy, Ox-eye Daisy, Perennial Cornflower, Dandelion, Common Catsear, Orange Hawkweed
Lily Family - Lily of the Valley, Ramsons, Bluebell
Of course some are past their flowering period and there are others yet to come. Clare was particularly please to see Common Spotted Orchid leaves appearing in several places.
Readers may note that Clare has made no further mention of the course she joined on Grasses, Rushes and Sedges. She felt that she insufficient botanical background and inadequate eyesight (at least while she still had a cataract), to derive most benefit from the sessions, so she withdrew. She still has a field guide so hopes to learn a few specimens in her own time.
Another juvenile Blue tit near the Big Pond and three juvenile Thrushes in the Pit Wood.
John and Clare had an afternoon walk on Liddells - yes, they can just walk without any need to work - and spent a lot of time by the Big Pond observing dragon and damselflies. Thanks to Chris W’s wonderful blog, Clare had read of his experience watching a dragonfly emerge from its exuvia and so today she thought to inspect some of the rushes in the pond. One plant had at least seven nymphs, another three or four; luckily John was there with his camera. A splendid way to end this month’s Liddells experience.
Male Broad-bodied Chaser
Female Broad-bodied Chaser
Here are some we prepared earlier - Clare is not quite certain about what is shown here and as this all happened just as this post is about to be published, she hasn’t had time to check in with Chris. Her guess is that three dragonflies have emerged and are yet to develop their full colour; the darker smaller form is a nymph that is yet to split and release a dragonfly or it maybe the exuvia from which a dragonfly has emerged, Clare is also uncertain what kind of dragonflies these are. So much still to learn. Clare hope to follow up on this great photograph next month.
A reminder that June is the month for 30 Days Wild - readers may enjoy the challenge to engage with nature in the month ahead by being in, watching, listening, reading, creating, discovering, questioning, learning, or any other ways…