Foxes

February - Primaveral Season

2nd February

Today is Candlemas. ‘To me it appears that there are six principal seasons or divisions of the year, to one of which we may venture to refer to almost all the wild and most of the hardy herbaceous plants which grow in our climate. This arrangement into six instead of four seasons corresponds better with the actual course of phenomena. We may consider the first or Primaveral Season as beginning at Candlemas, on the first opening of the early spring flowers.’ Thomas Furley Forster

‘At last, winter began to gather her limbs, to rise, and drift away with saddened garments northwards…The birds fluttered and dashed; the catkins on the hazel loosened their winter rigidiy, and swung soft tassells. All through the day sounded long, sweet whistlings from the bushes; then later, loud, laughing shouts of bird triumph on every hand.’

from The White Peacock D.H.Lawrence

Mel sent the results of his first wildflower survey of the year (he is interested in seeing the difference now from his first surveys ten years ago), recording Gorse, Snowdrop, Birch (in bud with catkins not quite open), Alder (as Birch), and Heather on the Crag (variety to be confirmed). He remarked that in his very first report for January 2014 the only flower he recorded was Meadow Buttercup, although he suspects the catkins would have been showing then.

11th February

John and Clare inspected all the nesting boxes, cleaning them out and noting what repairs might be needed.

There has been much hare activity near the Story-telling Circle. The following seven clips are all captured within 14 minutes.

12th February

Not to be outdone by the hares, the pheasants are also demonstrating Spring activity.

15th February

Clare cleared weeds from the steps by the Point of View.

Walking round afterwards she noticed the first Coltsfoot in flower by the stream.

16th February

A heron and ducks have reappeared on the big pond, which suggests there may be frog mating activity any day.

Not to be left out, a badger marks his territory near the Story-telling Circle.

19th February

Clare has been looking for hazel flowers and today was successful. The  female flowers resemble a bud, with crimson stigmas that protrude when they are ready to receive pollen. The flower buds are located on the branch above the catkin, to avoid self-pollination. Each bud has several flowers. Each flower has 4 stigmas to collect pollen. If fertilised, each flower will produce one nut.

24th February

John brought the last of the bags of chip to help cover the mud near the hide. He repaired a couple of bird boxes and cleared up from working on the Alphabet Bridge.

In the hope of recording some frog mating activity, Clare had moved her camera to the edge of the pond where John had witnessed it last year. It looks as though the ducks might have the same hope.

Later the same day a female pheasant takes advantage of the pond water. The camera showed her drinking without pause for three minutes.

Later that same evening, near the story-telling circle, the trail camera captures the old buck scraping a couch. He settles in the couch with breaks for chewing the cud and personal hygiene, for just over an hour and a half before wandering off.

25th February

Clare went to meet Ruth to discuss equipment storage for Ruth’s bird-ringing activities. As soon as Clare arrived at the bottom gate, she heard a woodpecker drumming; the first she had heard this year. Ruth had netted and ringed four birds that morning. She said that she had netted Goldcrests on every ringing outing thus far. Ruth also mentioned that on an earlier visit, her son had heard Crossbills on the land. This was exciting news - John and Clare had not thought about the presence of this species. The Common Crossbill is both a resident species and a partial migrant. It is perfectly possible that the birds might appear on Liddells. A closer watch will be kept.

Clare visited the hide while Ruth packed up and had fun watching out for birds with rings. On her return Ruth did a final check on the last net and found a wren. This was the first wren she had netted on Liddells. Clare was able to watch what happened next - Ruth freed the bird from the net, stowed it in a cotton bag and brought it back to her work table. She removed the bird from the bag, measured its wing length from shoulder to tip, counted the white spots along the leading edge of the outer feather, looked at the plumage to help age the bird (there can be traces of juvenile plumage before the bird develops its full adult plumage), attempted to determine its sex (wrens are apparently notoriously difficult to sex), clipped on a ring, weighed the bird and logged all her findings before releasing it. Clare had never seen a wren so close and was surprised at how long the bill seemed.

This is a double length net and one of four Ruth puts up - Ruth says she her personal challenge is to get them in place more quickly; at the moment it takes her well over an hour

A bird in the hand…

The same day footage from near the story-telling circle show another, younger buck, with other deer running away in the background.

26th February

A heron hunts for frogs and captures a fair bit of pondweed before finding food.

More hare activity near the story-telling circle - four running around then two starting to box.

The old buck is captured anointing. John says that territorial behaviour in roe deer has been thought to begin in April. This is much earlier and John wonders whether this is evidence of a response to climate change.

A squirrel appears to ambush a hare.

27th February

A pair of mallards feed for a period of six minutes in the same spot in the Big Pond; they leave then return a couple of times over the next hour or two.

The limping fox, last seen in the Scrub, is captured near the Story-telling circle.

29th February

‘The turn of the year is certainly behind us: a thousand sights, scents, and sounds declare the fact. But exactly at what moment the mystic change took place and Nature, writing ‘Finis’ to the tale of last year, started without pause Chapter 1 of this, is a mystery. Officially, I suppose, the turn of the year is at midnight on the shortest day, when the earth starts spinning the 580 odd million miles yearly trip round the sun again. But Nature knows no calendar; and long before that moment came sap was rising, buds were swelling, and this year’s shoots pushing upwards from the soil. Earlier still, the last leaves of last year were thrust from the bough by the rsing life of this. So there seems to be no definite beginning: the seasons move in a circle.’

From The Peverel Papers, Flora Thompson

Quoted for 29th February in Nature writing for Every Day of the Year

January 2024 - ringing in the New Year

The usual reminder that should you wish to watch the video footage included in this post, go to www.liddells.co.uk and click on Blog. There is one video in particular towards the end of the month that is especially worth a view.

1st January

It’s not the first time a cat has been captured on one of the trail cameras, however this is the first black cat. Clare decided that although it was without the traditional gifts, it was first footing Liddells. Clare and John hope its appearance signals prosperity in the coming year.

Shieldbugs/Shield buses - this Bronze shieldbug suddenly leapt on to the dashboard of John’s car while he was driving to Liddells. Maybe it was looking for the one Clare had found in the foraged foliage before Christmas.

2nd January

Over the holidays the word ‘ectoplasm’ had come up in conversation and its association with the activity of mediums. When Clare saw this clip, she thought of it again. It certainly looks haunting.

3rd January

It is official - the so-called Marsh tits, latterly Mallow tits, are indeed Willow tits. Some time ago Clare had used a bird song identifying app to come up with Marsh tits, however a more recent and more accurate app correctly identifies the birds. Clare hopes the birds enjoyed their marshmallow alter ego.

Ruth and Louis set up their mist nets. Ruth said the activity reflected the expected quiet in winter, however she sent through some photos of the day together with a BTO graph showing the catastrophic decline of Willow tits in recent years. Many thanks for their photographs.

Goldcrest

Treecreeper

Coal tit

Willow tit - these two photographs show clearly the differences are between the Willow and Coal tits.

4th January

John and Clare carried out some sapling maintenance on the Hayfield. The sheep will often knock over a tube or two while grazing and, if they can, nibble the growing tips of the plants. There wasn’t too much damage this year.

5th January

John worked on repair to the Alphabet Bridge while Clare ferried chip to the feeding station to help provide a footing in the mud around the feeders. She was delighted to see two Tree Sparrows near the feeders, birds which have been noticeable by their absence for a while now.

Clare enjoyed seeing Hawthorns festooned with raindrops and decided that Nature was making the most of Twelfth Night and leaving the decorations up till the last minute.

The Alders have already produced their catkins. Clare was pleased that a recent participant in Mastermind chose British Garden Birds as his specialist subject. Clare did well but didn’t score as many as the contestant. She learned that Siskins are attracted to red mesh garden feeders because the feeders resemble Alder cones.

In Wild Fell by Lee Schofield - an account of the RSPB’s efforts to restore the ecosystems in their Haweswater site - the author describes how trees come into flower through in the year. He notes that Hazel is first (January), Aspen, Alder and Wych Elm next (February), followed by Blackthorn (March), then Cherry and Birch (April) with Bramble and Ivy following on through the summer and into autumn. Gorse, as all Blog readers know, can be in flower throughout the year.

Alphabet soup

Each Alder tree has both male and female flowers. The catkins which house the male flowers are up to 6cm long. Young catkins appear green before turning yellow. The female flower is a smaller red structure, about 1cm long and with many hair-like structures across the surface. Once this is pollinated, it turns into the brown alder fruit or ‘cone’ which houses the seeds.

Hawthorn decorations

6th January

John is up to about L on the Alphabet Bridge. He saw 8 Long-tailed tits on the feeders today - another species that hasn’t been around the hide for a while.

7th January

John saw a Woodcock on the western side of the Pit Wood. It is always a treat to see one as they are largely nocturnal and spend most of the day in dense cover. They will be heading back to Finland/Russia as Spring arrives here.

John and Clare see Redwings and Fieldfares on Liddells on pretty much every visit. This in itself is not that astounding, however noting it does provide an opportunity to share more knowledge gleaned from Mastermind, namely that Fieldfares have a flying faecal defence system. The birds defend their nests by bombarding predators with their droppings.

8th January

Trail camera footage shows four deer together and a single buck. With both bucks the growth in their antlers is quite apparent. The lone buck looks to be bigger than either of the two remaining triplets.

15th - 17th January

Clare has repositioned the Scrub camera so that it is now points south into the centre. Hares feature frequently, even in snow, a Woodcock appears in the late afternoon one day and in lighter conditions two days later at the same time as a stoat, and a fox limps past and back again.

18th - 19th January

John and Clare took advantage of the frozen ground to fetch a couple of trailer loads of logs from home - gathering winter fu-u-el.

John completed some maintenance of the Junipers while Clare moved more barrowloads of chip to the ground round the feeders. A day or so ago John had startled a hare from cover near the story-telling circle so he decided to move his camera to overlook the area. The resulting footage captured more birds than hares, however it is interesting to see how many species the camera recorded. Clare is not sure whether they are telling or listening to stories. Or both. Blackbirds seem to be the most frequent visitors; you will also see Pheasants - one with unusually pale supercilia which makes him look supercilious, Robins, Goldcrest, Great tit, and a pair of Bullfinches. The old buck ambles through too. There are clearly other birds foraging in the background however they are harder to identify.

20th - 21st January

More fox presence - a non-limping fox and the return of the one with a limp. A mouse scuttles past close to the camera while one of the young bucks walks through in the background.

24th January

Always good to find ladybirds. This one is a 7 spot, the UK’s most common ladybird, however it has given Clare the opportunity to add a caption which amused her.

Clare also noticed a plant, probably soft rush, making good use of a crevice in a tree trunk.

Staple diet

25th - 26th January

A box of delights. The camera near the pond captures a heron going past (John had seen one fly off from near the pond the day before), a sparrowhawk (the absence of pink colouration on the breast tells us it is a female), joins the parliament of fowls recorded in the story-telling circle, four hares appear together, and then, oh joy, two hares are captured boxing near the circle. Although hares are known to box at any time through the year, March is thought to be the month when they are most active in this regard. Blog readers know that Clare has been hoping for many years to see hares boxing on Liddells. She is very happy.

28th January

John has not only completed the AZ of bridge-building but he has added a step.

29th - 31st January

Yet more rain, though it hasn’t deterred the heron.

There is more hare activity near the story-telling circle.

The hazels have produced their catkins. February might see the Aspen and Wych Elms coming into flower.

February - preparations

To see the Blog with all the video footage, go to www.liddells.co.uk

Left over from January - a fox limps its way through the Pit Wood. The smaller doe squeaks her way along the same path.

1st February

Clare has long said that she wished she knew more about grasses, sedges and rushes. Today she began a course with the Natural History Society of Northumbria on exactly that topic. She learned many new words, always a personal delight, and hopes that by the end of the course she will be able to use them confidently and appropriately. ‘Awn,’ ‘glume,’ ‘tepals', ‘lemma,’ ‘palea,’ ‘stolon,’ ‘culm', ‘auricle’ and ‘ligule’ might also help improve a Scrabble game. ‘Sedges have edges’ is also a good starter phrase and easy to remember.

John began work on the fourth bench.

A fox - not limping - goes off the path in the Pit Wood.

2nd February

The older buck makes his way through the Pit Wood and the camera captures excellent footage of the velvet on his antlers. As yet there is no evidence of him fraying to remove it.

3rd February

Clare took steps to finish putting wire on the approach to the shepherd’s hut; John finished the third bench.

Should the bees emerge in warm spells, there is forage ready for them.

5th February

Clare checked that all the hives had fondant - this can be a time of year when bees starve if they have eaten all their store and there is insufficient forage available for them. If the weather warms and then goes cold again, there is a risk that the queen starts laying but the colony is still too small for the workers to keep the brood warm, so while others are enjoying balmy early spring days, Clare and other beekeepers are concerned.

Clare planted more Periwinkle that she had grown from cuttings. This time she covered them with mesh as previous shoots had been eaten.

John continued his creative recycling for the meeting room; this time the fourth bench top is made from sawn up bed slats from a bed frame he and Clare inherited when they moved house. John also finished plugging gaps in the meeting room roof to keep out the rain. Thus far this treatment seems to have worked.

Clare identified more wall repair that needs to go on the to-do list.

The pheasant feeders that came with Liddells have been removed. Clare and John are hoping that without a supply of food, the pheasants will move elsewhere and stop taking up so much camera footage and battery power.

‘Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)

From Flowers of the Field, 1885

Too well known to need any description. Fl. January - March.

Rev. C.A. Johns (1811-1874)’ From Nature Writing for Every Day of the Year

7th February

John and Clare seem to be subject to the organising zeitgeist. John created extra storage in the log shed while in the tool shed Clare channelled some of Marie Kondo’s principles.(While looking up exactly what Marie Kondo suggests, Clare noticed that under the heading ‘What are the 5 steps of the Konmari method' 6 Rules are listed:

Rule 1: Commit Yourself to Tidying Up. The KonMari Method™ is not a quick fix for a messy room or a once-in-a-while approach to tidying. ...

Rule 2: Imagine Your Ideal Lifestyle. ...

Rule 3: Finish Discarding First. ...

Rule 4: Tidy by Category, Not by Location. ...

Rule 5: Follow the Right Order. ...

Rule 6: Ask Yourself If It Sparks Joy.

It would seem that Kondo has neglected to discard one.

Clare was certainly pleased with her work, and will be joyful if her efforts are maintained.

14th February

In accord with the tradition of putting up bird boxes on St Valentine’s Day, John and Clare added a new box in the Pit Wood.

15th - 18th February

Clare discovered Woodpecker activity on a dead Elder behind the bee hives. As it is early in the year this is most likely to be from drumming to stake out territory.

Clare applied her organisational skills to the log shed and after three days’ work all the dry logs were stacked at home ready for this year’s autumn/winter burning, and all the wood that had been sawn and split ready to dry was stacked.

19th February

An entirely new experience on Liddells - John had met some detectorists working on land nearby and invited them to visit Liddells. Wayne, Mac, John and Lisa were delighted to accept the offer and spend a hard-working morning with the metal detectors. They covered the Top Grazing and the Meadow and then worked over the spoil heaps near the hives.

There proved to be no need to contact the British Museum with the finds, however there was some social history evidenced. The remains of a toastrack, a tin of Snowfire Vanishing Cream from the 1930s (here is one in fine condition https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/snowfire-vanishing-cream-alluminium-423388038), a tube of Synulox (still prescribed and used for treating a range of bacterial infections in cats and dogs, a tube of Orbenin (also still prescribed and used for the treatment of ocular infections in cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and cats), a Matchbox Series 23 Trailer Caravan (they were produced from 1965-1969; here is one in pristine condition: https://matchbox.fandom.com/wiki/Trailer_Caravan), a very rusted door handle, parts of an oil lamp, 2 spent bullets, the bowl of a spoon, the handle-end of a trowel or similar, several buttons, tuppence ha’penny (a George V penny, a George VI penny dated 193? and a George VI ship ha’penny), a nut, various unidentifiable bits of metal, inevitably the remains of a few aluminium cans, two bottle tops and some pieces of metal decoration whose origin is mysterious (top left of the photograph). If anyone has any ideas about what it might have been these last pieces decorated, feel free to email them in.

Meanwhile John and Clare planted an Oak grown and donated by their alarm maintenance engineer, wove straggly Willows into the arbour round one of the benches and completed a second section of wall repair.

The Liddells Hoard

23rd - 24th February

Dave came to help finish the wall as some of the stones needed extra lifting power.

Clare found frogspawn on the roadside pond however it was brown, which suggested it had been affected by the cold weather which had been distinctly brumous (‘Brumous’ Foggy, wintry OED Word of the Day 24.02.23).

Clare moved the camera from the Pit Wood to start this season’s Pond Watch - there were four clips of a heron within the first 24 hours and some interesting early morning visitors.

25th - 26th February

John and Clare set up a nesting box assembly line, completed 10 boxes and put 5 on trees in or near the Scrub. The boxes are mostly made from left over bits of shed not needed in the rebuilding works.

Clare planted a tray of Snowdrops in the Pit Wood and heard a thrush singing on Liddells for the first time this year. She recorded the singing which was accompanied by a Chaffinch, Robin and Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming - all suggesting the nest-box making is timely.

Clare also carried out an equipment inventory in her bee shed and was pleased that due to somewhat over-zealous prep last year, she has all the equipment she needs to start this bee-keeping year.

John saw a Woodcock near the Junipers.

28th February

Luke the Mole Man arrived with his traps - the final aspect of this month’s preparation.

January 2023 - benchmarking

1st January

To experience the Blog in all its video glory, go to liddells.co.uk and click on Blog.

Clare began her year delighted to be able to return to some bird-watching. It was as if a rainbow had come out. After a lot more rain the roadside pond seems to be holding its level.

The Pit Wood trail camera captures the old buck - you can see this year’s antlers forming and how thickly covered they are with velvet. John says the older bucks grow their antlers before the younger ones and growth begins as soon as they shed the old ones, which can be any time in November and December.

2nd January

John lit the first fire of the year in the shepherd’s hut. A stoat and two hares keep warm with activity in the Scrub.

3rd January

A hare looks contemplative in the Pit Wood and a young doe noses around.

4th - 5th January

John started work on the benches for the Meeting Room, recycling upstands from benches he made for Hal and Beth several years ago.

John provided his own caption - ‘John has been elevated to the bench’

5th - 7th January

John planted more Willows, started work on a second bench and saw fives hares as he was walking around.

The Pit Wood trail camera captured a pair of hares that looked as if they might start boxing.

In the Scrub, the doe and triplets go round in circles, disturbed by nearby shooting.

9th January

John did more work on the second bench for the meeting room and plugged some of the leaks from the recycled and storm damaged roofing sheets with a bitumen sealant. He is hoping this will work.

Clare began putting netting on the shepherd’s hut steps which are very slippery when wet.

10th - 14th January

John did some stone-walling repair work on the north boundary, worked on the second bench, added more sealant to the roof (his work two days ago seems to have been effective), and added a drip cover to one of the windows.

The first fox of the year is captured on camera in the Pit Wood. It pauses to look at the camera light.

The young buck’s antlers continue to grow.

A kid’s squeak is very clearly heard in Pit Wood footage.

The Pit Wood camera captures four roe deer and very clearly shows the difference in rump pattern between the three does and the buck.

Either one badger goes through the Scrub twice ot two badgers go through about 40 minutes apart.

15th January

The second bench is nearly complete so John started on the frame for one of the tables. Then demonstrated how they might be used.

Clare is adopting a one-step-at-a-time approach.

16th January

Snow! While John was walking round with his camera, he saw five deer moving from the Scrub, up and along the Crag, across the Top Grazing and into the Top Strip. He only managed to get four of them on camera. He said they were most likely the old buck, older doe and her three triplets.

17th January

For reasons best known to itself, the Scrub trail camera has decided to stop taking video footage in favour of stills, however it has captured a stoat with prey and a Woodcock.

19th January

Chris B met John and Clare to talk about bringing up some hard core to fill in the muddy ruts on the Top Grazing near the gate. Clare heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming nearby. It continued to drum on and off throughout the morning’s visit. John and Clare filled the feeders and sat in the hide and were rewarded by a Bullfinch feeding on bramble seeds in front of the hide. Neither John nor Clare dared move to reach for a camera. Bullfinches are resident on Liddells and often seen in the trees, however they seldom venture near the feeders so this was a particular delight.

20th January

Taking best advantage of the hard, frosty ground, Chris sent a team up to make the roadway less muddy. John was impressed not only by the speed and efficiency of the work, but by skilful digger manipulation and trailer reversal.

The result

21st - 22nd January

A Jay digs for acorns in the snow.

John made a start on a second table, using timber from the small and now outgrown bed he made for Juno.

Ice on the roadway pond looks to be in Art Deco style as it begins to thaw. The water below is draining away slightly so the ice surface is sloping.

Catkins have appeared on hazels and alders in the Pit Wood. The catkins on the old hazel tree are far more abundant though less developed than on the more recently planted trees.

23rd - 30th January

John continued his work on the table tops and started the third bench. He has sanded, varnished and planed the edges.

A badger demonstrates the meaning of rootling.

Signs of Spring activity to come are appearing - one hare is clearly interested in another; two different badgers (one larger than the other) an hour or so apart mark their territory on opposite sides of the path in the Pit Wood; a fox marks his territory in the same area; a pair of male pheasants confront each other.

The family of four roe deer are still being seen together, although the smaller of the two young does is often captured several minutes behind the others. The single doe and kid haven’t been seen on film for some time now so have probably moved on to find their own territory.

Clare noticed several deposits of a white opaque jelly round the edges and on the island of the big pond. On closer inspection these were attached to what looked like eggs. Keith thinks they are snail eggs, most likely of the water snails.

John noticed that something has been nibbling away at the trunk of one of the trees in the Orchard - possibly hares or rabbits during the cold spell.

31st January

Final benchmarks and a rainbow for the end of the month.

John wishes it to be known that he realises that the bench position in the next photograph is preferable to the arrangement above.

November - fog, fog blog

For those of you who had difficulty loading the last post, there are fewer videos this month, so it should be easier. As ever, go to the website: www.liddells.co.uk and access the Blog from there to see all the video footage.

October’s Blog was posted before John and Clare saw the Halloween activities in the Pit Wood. One hare is joined by another, but can you see the deer as well?

Although the footage is in black and white, the small birds in the Pit Wood can be identified as Bullfinches - you can see the white rump of the one flying off to the left.

An owl makes a Halloween sortie and its movements suggest it was successful.

2nd November

A fox makes its way through the Pit Wood.

3rd November

Footage of a hare nibbling shows its markings very clearly.

5th November

A fox in the Pit Wood again; it’s hard to know whether or not it is the same fox as a few days earlier, however this one seems to have a kink at the end of its tail that is not so evident in the other one.

More footage of a Jay in the Scrub and as it flies off there is a brilliant flash of the blue in its wing feathers. Jays often appear here in the Scrub as do grey squirrels. It’s possible they are raiding each other’s stashes.

6th November

John fixed catches to the shutters and a handle to the door of the meeting room. The choice of handle is particularly satisfying as it is a recycling of a fixture from the old pony shelter.

Clare found a fungus she had not seen before. It resembles tiny ghostly trees. Thus far she has been unable to identify it. Any suggestions welcome.

Footage from the Pit Wood shows the backs of two hares as they run past the camera, however the source of the squeaking is a mystery. Clare wondered if it was a roe kid, however John thinks this is unlikely given the maturity of the kids now. Any ideas?

9th November

John finished varnishing the meeting room floor.

10th November

More owl footage. A Tawny Owl again finds prey in the Pit Wood.

12th November

Clare brashed a path to the group of Aspens (two newly planted and Juno’s tree) in the Pit Wood and managed to punch herself in the nose with the long loppers. Memo: never tug towards the face. She felt very foolish and very sore and with a black eye as a momento. The path looks nice though.

13th - 16th November

Clare began the annual cleaning of the nest boxes ready for next year. She found the remains of a wasp nest in one, the vacated nest of tree bumblebees in another and lots of woodlice in several.

John worked on logging and moving the remains of the fallen oak branch in the Orchard.

The doe with two of the triplets, the buck and one of the does, forage in the Pit Wood.

The next day one of the kids appears limping. This is similar to last year although there is no obvious injury to the kid. Clare wonders whether with triplets, one might become slightly more vulnerable if it is always last in the queue for food or attention. This year the cameras have shown that one of the three kids, a doe, is habitually slightly behind and more separate from the others. Meanwhile the single kid and the other doe have been seen together and are apparently healthy. John says that in deer world generally, survival rates are thought to be in the region of 30%. In the case of roe deer the figure may well be higher.

18th November

After considerable rain yesterday, Clare was delighted to see the roadside pond fuller than it has been in months and water coming out of the overflow pipe.

19th November

The Hexham Village Band came to plant an Oak tree for one of their members who has died. It was a very touching ceremony. After the planting the band became the first users of the meeting room. They managed to squeeze in 20 players even though one end of the space was full of wood ready to be made into tables and benches. You will note the creative use of the window.

20th November

Sadly Clare and John saw first the carcass of a hare on the path below the Scrub, then Woodcock feathers a bit further on. A Sparrowhawk is probably responsible for the Woodcock. Hares continue to turn up on the trail cameras, so there are still some around.

23rd November

Mel came to help John with tree maintenance, mostly replacing stakes and tubes on the Wetland and in the Pit Wood.

26th November

John completed cleaning out the nesting boxes, which meant climbing up the the three Clare couldn’t reach.

27th November

The Scrub trail camera captures a lone doe kid with a very slight limp and what looks as if it might have been a wound near her front right shoulder. If this is so then it seems as if the kid is getting better, though separated from the family.

29th November

Clare had found a lovely passage in November’s section of Nature Writing for Every Day of the Year, and sent John off with his camera to produce some illustrations. He was somewhat hampered by the dense fog that covered the land, however he managed to augment the writing with his creative eyes and with other treats from Liddells bosky areas.

‘A Leafy November

On some of the oaks the inner leaves were still greenish, while those on the outer boughs were brown, and the mingling of the two tints seen at a little distance under the sunshine produced a remarkable and pleasing colour. Other oak trees had assumed so red a brown as to approach a copper colour…Between the dark Scotch firs the foliage of the beeches seemed warm red. The branches of the larch had a fluffy appearance, caused by the yellow needles which had partly separated but had not yet fallen…Birches, too, except just at the corners of the copses or in isolated positions, were not yet bare…while whole hedgerows full of maple bushes glowed with orange. The sun shone brilliantly day after day, lighting up the varied hues of the trees and hedges and filling the woodlands with beauty.’

From Chronicles of the Hedges, 1879, Richard Jeffries (1848-1887)

Hawthorns on the Meadow

Oak

Scots pine

Beech

Larch

Birch

Maple

Sycamore

Guelder rose

?

Hazel

Juniper

Alder

Wild cherry

Corsican pine

Clare was amused to see that today’s OED Word of the Day is bockety: ‘of a person: unable to walk without difficulty; infirm, lame. Also of a body part: injured, impaired’. The dictionary word chooser seems to know that Clare is due for a hip replacement next week. She looks forward to being less bockety in the New Year.

Thanks to Mathilda for this month’s blog post title; the month seems to be ending in typical November weather; ‘Dark November brings the fog/ Should not do it to a dog.’ (Flanders and Swan)

October - nature red in beak and talon, and under the wing

A reminder to access this Blog through the website - liddells.co.uk where you will find all the videos. They will be unlikely to play though your email, and may not even show up at all. There are some crackers this month.

Thanks to Jane E and Barbara for their suggestions for a collective noun for pond snails - ‘preponderance’ and ‘snuggle’.

1st October

Local farmer John brought 45 ewes to eat down the grass on the Top Grazing. Clare noticed two more wildflowers still in bloom that she hadn’t included last month: Field Scabious and Red Campion.

More rain has left the Big Pond within a few centimetres of being full. Water is flowing freely through the channel Clare cleared under the Alphabet Bridge.

Clare spotted a Common Puffball and an Orange Birch Bolete near the pond, and more Turkeytail fungus, this time on the trunk in front of the hide.

A badger goes through the Scrub

2nd October

A male Southern Hawker and a male Common Darter are still flying around the Big Pond and the pond level has gone up another couple of centimetres.

The trail camera shows a hare nibbling at a sapling. Hares and rabbits can damage young trees although there is often more publicity given to damage attributed to deer.

3rd October

John is interested in the varied diet of roe deer and was pleased to see a kid grazing on fungi.

Less than an hour after the kid’s browsing, a Sparrowhawk (TrogTrogBlog Chris thinks it is a juvenile), catches what looks like a Blackbird. The Sparrowhawk is mantling its prey. Mantling is hunching, crouching, or arching shoulders and spreading wings over a recent kill to conceal it from other birds and predators just as a mantle cloaks a person. In heraldry the mantling is the drapery or piece of cloth tied to the helmet above the shield in a coat of arms. In the video the sounds are coming from the captured bird. There is a ten minute gap in the footage so it is possible that the Sparrowhawk took its prey off, as Chris so vividly described, to eat it to death. A doe and kid wander through the scene of the crime and show how far their winter coats have developed. As if all the Sparrowhawk footage wasn’t striking enough, a Buzzard comes in to pick over the spoils. You can see just how much larger it is than a Sparrowhawk and it is exciting to have caught this bird on camera as well. A doe kid (who seems to end up with a feather on its nose), a hare and then a rabbit all seem to be investigating the odiferous interruption to their familiar route through the Scrub. Clare and John only saw the footage on their return on 10th October (see below) so Clare went up to see if any evidence remained. The feathers confirm the victim was indeed a Blackbird.

4th October

A stoat runs through the Scrub.

5th - 9th October

Clare and John spent a few days away visiting the RSPB reserve at Leighton Moss. Clare has had Bearded Tits, or as they are more properly called Bearded Reedlings, on her bird bucket list for some time and hoped that on her fourth visit to this reserve, she would be lucky and see them. The birds did not disappoint. Carl Linnaeus classified the birds in the genus Parus with the tits, however they were subsequently removed from this category and placed with the Parrotbills only to be recognised recently as a unique songbird with no other close relations, and placed in the monotypic family Panuridae (from the Greek panu, "exceedingly", and ουρά, "tail"). The male sports moustaches rather than a beard. Clare and John had other treats - a Great White Egret, a Bittern in flight, a Marsh Harrier hunting over and in the reeds, an otter and lots more besides. Clare decided that the time away might have been what some people call a ‘holiday’; she found the word between ‘hogwash’ and ‘holistic’ in her dictionary. Interesting concept. A selection of ‘holiday’ photography is included for Blog biodiversity.

Male Bearded Reedling on a grit tray. The birds spend the summer months feasting on insects. However, to avoid having to migrate south like the swallows and warblers, the Bearded Reedlings change their diet to reed seeds in winter. The seeds are extremely tough so the birds eat grit to make the seeds easy to digest.

10th October

The Big Pond is up to its overflow. The roadside pond is filling slowly although the shallow and deep ends have yet to join up.

A dog fox marks his territory in the Scrub.

12th October

John completed the exterior of the west wing of what he and Clare have decided to rename the Meeting Room. The new name embraces the broader use for the space that John and Clare hope will happen.

13th October

A sunny autumn day and there were several butterflies on the Michaelmas Daisies in the Meadow - a Peacock, two Commas, a Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood. The Speckled Wood proved too flighty to photograph. The flowers were also humming with bees foraging. Clare was pleased to see many honey bees adding to their stores for winter.

A large female Sparrowhawk perched briefly in an Ash tree in front of the hide before flying off. No birds were caught this time.

Clare has been waiting for the opportunity to include another crossword clue in the Blog. This time the clue was in the Guardian’s August Bank Holiday puzzle, a double-grid alphabetical crossword with no numbered lights; answers had to be filled in where they would fit. Maskarade, the setter, added a theme of given names: one of each pair of answers for a letter of the alphabet was a name, and the names beginning A-M went into one grid, and the names beginning N-Z went into the other grid. Fiendish. The clue in question is: ‘Oak’s sudden flourish mentioned by American and British Composer, Edmund, half-heartedly’ (7,5) The answer lies in the photograph (and at the end of this Blog post).

A roe doe and her kid show their gorget patches. Not all deer develop these white areas on their throat however when they do develop on an individual deer, they are most easily seen when they’re in their winter coat. ‘A gorget was originally a piece of material wrapped around a woman’s neck, during the period of time immediately after the fall of the Roman Empire. After that, it was used to describe the pieces of armour placed around the throat of a soldier, to protect them from injury during battle. Subsequently, as their effectiveness as protective amour waned, they were used as a badge to distinguish rank in the army. I’m not sure what the gorget’s functionality is on a roe deer. Unless, of course, the white patches to help with their protective camouflage, by breaking up the outline of the neck in heavy cover.’ (aboutdeer.com)

15th October

Today’s offering in Nature Writing for Every Day of the Year is all about Spindle Trees. Happily Clare had photographed the berries earlier in the week having not been wholly taken up with her house-keeping.

‘…the spindle is quite Japanese in its contortions; the boughs, with their twisted grey-green bark, seem positively to writhe, and the leaves and berries are sprinkled so sparsely that they seem to decorate rather than clothe its antiquity…the flame-coloured leaves and pink and orange berries of the spindle-wood glow like clusters of some strange exotic flower…there is something strangely unfamiliar about these berries of the spindle-wood - berries which open out into dull pink segments, like petals, and expose a bright orange centre, which is really a seed…There was a time, not so many generations ago, when even a woman who knew nothing of trees in general, and cared less, being wholly taken up with her housekeeping, would have recognised the spindle-wood at a glance. In those days when the spinning wheel flashed beside every hearth, and everything possible was made at home, the tough close-grained wood of the tree was in constant demand, and many a pair of lovers must have come to such a tree as this to choose branch and cut it, to make a spindle for the lady’s use.’

From The Peverel Papers, Flora Thompson

Today was meant to be a Green Gym day to plant trees, however it was raining substantially in the early morning so John and Clare cancelled. Then of course, the rain stopped. John and Clare decided to go up and plant some trees anyway. They planted 10 Oaks and decided on sites for more of the saplings they have waiting for the next Green Gym day in a week’s time. Clare protected the saplings with gorse, tied round the plants with Brambles.

More vulpine marking in the Scrub.

15th October

The Pit Wood camera recorded the first Fieldfares and Redwings of the winter foraging on the ground.

16th October

Clare and John saw Fieldfares flying over the Scrub and the Pit Wood.

Neighbour Chris brought his hydraulic log-splitter to Liddells and he and John worked their way through all the logs that John and Dave had brought from felling around the site. Clare indulged in one of her favourite activities, stacking the logs. Yes, she has read Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way, although she doesn’t aspire to such aesthetically pleasing log piles as the Scandinavians.

The roadside pond is filling slowly.

17th October

More Fieldfare sightings and Clare startled a Woodcock in the Scrub.

The doe with triplets spends time grooming one of the doe kids; the buck arrives, tries unsuccessfully to suckle and is subjected to a more intimate grooming.

18th - 19th October

A Tawny owl downs its prey in one and flies off; twenty minutes later it flies past the camera right to left (video not included); a minute after that the bird is on the ground again and eating something it as caught; in the early hours of the next morning it has yet again hunted successfully. The Scrub is clearly a place for small mammals. Or perhaps not, depending on whether you are an owl or a small mammal. The Barn Owl Trust has an information page about Tawny Owls. If you want to know more about their diet, click here.

21st October

Green Gym Day and the weather was on the side of planting and neighbouring farmer John had moved the sheep from the Top Grazing to the Wildflower Meadow. John and Clare were joined by six stalwart friends, one of whom brought additional trees he had grown at home, and they all set about planting 55 trees. An Apple and two Damson trees went into the Orchard, a Hazel and two Aspens were added to the Pit Wood and all the rest - Oaks, Beeches, Elm, Horse Chestnut, Willows - were planted at the east end of the Top Grazing. Each tree was given a protective circle of Gorse or Hawthorn secured round the sapling with bramble twine. Clare has devised this method after reading about how Gorse and Hawthorn scrub make perfect areas for trees to regenerate.

Walking through the Pit Wood Clare, John and Barry discovered a large area of Fly Agaric which was largely uneaten, unlike the ones in the Scrub.

The shallow and newly deep areas of the Roadside Pond have finally joined up.

After watching many hours of deer going through the Scrub, the sight of one of Texels came as a bit of a shock. Apparently it had gone awol on the trip down from the Top Grazing. It seems to have benefitted from the grazing.

22nd October

The old buck makes his way through the Pit Wood. You will see that tip of one side of his antlers has broken off.

Meanwhile in the Scrub, and much earlier than it has been seen before, the Tawny owl flies up on to a perch.

24th October

A hare and a kid browse together in the Pit Wood. Within seconds a stoat runs offstage then returns. The hare is eating apples Clare had put down in front of the camera in the hope of attracting Fieldfares and Redwings, however there are still plenty of berries on the trees for them to eat.

Later that same evening an owl is captured waiting for prey.

25th October

The Tawny Owl appears yet again in the Scrub, hunting successfully in the early hours of the morning and later in the evening.

Between the owl’s two appearances the camera captures two hares, a Jay and a high speed stoat, while in the Pit Wood a single Redwing is seen foraging in the leaf litter. Although the red under its wing is faint, the pale stripe over its eye is very clear.

30th October
Clare saw her first Goldcrest of the winter in a Hawthorn near the bee hives.

Crossword answer: Quercus rubra: Querc sounds like “quirk” = “sudden flourish” + US = “American” + RUB[b]RA = British composer Edmund.
Definition: “Oak” – the Northern Red Oak.










September - it all goes to show

For new readers - when you receive the Blog email, use it as a prompt to read the Blog on the Liddells website: www.liddells.co.uk The videos won’t be available through the email.

August Post Script

It appears that grey squirrels can eat fly agaric mushrooms, so the animated antics featured in last month’s blog may be due to the fungus’ hallucinogenic effect. Videos from 30th August show a stoat behaving similarly, however stoats are carnivores so maybe this one was naturally exuberant.

1st September

The sub-heading for this month in Nature Writing for Every Day of the Year is ‘Airy Spheres of Thistledown.’ The phrase comes from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy.

Farmer Barry took the hay off the Top Grazing.

2nd September

Clare had a friend over from Weardale and they sowed Yellow Rattle seeds on the Top Grazing. They encountered a frog near the feeders. Clare continued her work on the big pond.

The two does and their kids are obviously sharing the same space. They all go through the Scrub regularly though a single kid is now frequently seen there on its own and not all the triplets appear together each time they are caught on camera.

3rd - 4th September

More work for John on the classroom floor and for Clare on the big pond, where she saw another frog. The herons clearly haven’t eaten them all.

Clare made a note of all the recordings on the trail camera over a 24 hour period:

5.29 Eyes at hare height in the mist

6.11 Doe + large moth moving north to south in the mist

6.32 Rabbit in the half-light

7.25 Hare going east then turning south

9.29 Doe travelling west

10.17 Hare going east

12.18 Blue tit attacking the camera

12.34 Sound of camera attack and fluttering wings

15.25 Lone kid moving east

16.47 Doe foraging behind the hawthorn

20.06 Hare paused in half-light

20.07 Hare still there

20.08 Hare runs off east

20.12 Nearly dark, doe going east; blackbird alarm calls

12.15 Doe and one kid

20.15 Doe and kid eating

20.18 One kid joined by another; much scratching

20.18 Both kids foraging

20.23 Hare running through going east, several moths

22.02 Fox approaches from east, changes direction and leaves south

5th - 7th September

Clare knew two bee colonies needed feeding with sugar syrup as they had eaten all their stored honey. It was first necessary to remove the super (box with frames for honey), so Clare added a clearer board. This has a slightly complicated route for the bees to find their way through and down into the brood box, however the smell of the queen is an enticement for them to work it out. It is harder for the bees to find their way back up. Clare returned early the next morning only to find a lot of bees still in the super. This was unusual as the board had worked well on several previous occasions. Clare brushed the bees off and managed to add a syrup feeder without getting stung though did pause when she had to retrieve a crown board (the board that sits on top of the boxes and under the roof) from the shed. The penny eventually dropped - she had put the clearer board on top of the super instead of underneath. Clare then put the clearer board in the correct place under the super of the second colony and went to continue her work on the big pond feeling ever so slightly foolish. A sparrowhawk swooped through the feeding station, though again no birds were taken.

John finished using up all the boards salvaged from the storm damaged sheds last November.

Finally there is substantial rain. The island in the big pond is once more an island.

Footage of one of the kids shows how the spots on its coat are fading.

Further videos of the doe and triplets. You can see mutual grooming in the second clip.

10th September

The day began with an auspicious sign for John. The Guardian cryptic crossword featured the following clue: ‘Fishy food reportedly expensive, one ruminates’ (3,4) Answer at the end of this blog post.

Clare and John joined in with the local Village Show. Clare was thrilled to win a First Prize for her fruit scones and Second Prizes for cheese scones, rock buns and shortbread biscuits. John, however, completely swept the photographic board with photos he had taken on Liddells. So well did he do that he came home with a trophy. The label for the long-tailed tit doesn’t really do justice to John’s achievement.

Meanwhile the stoat appears in the Scrub again.

Clare declared the restoration of the big pond’s wall complete.

Footage of the kids in the evening shows they can be distinguished as two does and a buck.

11th September

John started working on the east wing of the classroom.

The deer are seen very frequently on the Scrub camera. A doe runs away and you can see how the white hair on her rump goes erect when the animal is alarmed, making a much larger white patch (target) visible. One kid appears on its own and its squeaking is audible. The triplets all try to suckle. When kids are very young is it almost impossible to distinguish what sex they are; here you can see the differentiation on their rump markings in daylight, to show that there are two does and a buck. Later the buck kid tries again to suckle, however the doe is clearly trying to deter him.

On her walk home, Clare saw an exquisite seed head lying on the path. There were no wildflowers nearby except Creeping Thistle and Yarrow and it is not from either of them.. Any identification help would be gratefully received.

12th September

Clare was delighted to show a group from the local National Women’s Register round Liddells. She had been concerned that it was a bit late in the season to see much of interest and was pleased to be proved very wrong when she did a wildflower survey the day before the group arrived. Initially she found over 30 species still in flower and this number increased to 38 by the end of the visit. Particularly striking were the violets out on the west verge of the Pit Wood. There were also Red Admiral, Large White and Speckled Wood butterflies, Southern Hawker and Common Darter Dragonflies and Emerald Damselflies, and a variety of birds on the feeders. The group made a very generous donation by way of a thank you - Clare and John have bought two Aspen saplings to join and talk to Juno’s tree, and they will buy wildflower plugs in the Spring.

After the visit Clare started digging out the channel under the Alphabet Bridge leading in to the big pond. She noticed a large number of tiny pond snails on a rock in the pond.

John completed the door to the classroom. He considers it to be the best door he has yet made. He has made a lot of doors.

Violet

Common Carder bee on Red Clover

Proliferation of pond snails - any suggestions for an appropriate collective noun will be welcome

John admiring his door

13th September

Clare dug out more of the pond channel. There have been numerous male Common Darters around but very few females. This female obligingly paused on a fence post for long enough for Clare to get her phone camera out. The male Southern Hawkers that have been around don’t rest like the darters, though they will come teasingly close, however they move so fast it is very difficult to photograph them. Clare managed to get one in a shot with her phone camera. If you would like to see really splendid photographs of dragonflies, visit trogtrogblog.blogspot.com

Every autumn Clare determines to learn to identify more fungi and then remembers how difficult it is to be sure of the identification. She thinks the bracket fungus featured below might be Turkeytail.

Female Common Darter

Male Southern Hawker

14th - 19th September

John had his trail camera on the Meadow. He enjoyed the footage of the hare so much, it was only on the third viewing that he noticed the deer in the background.

Two hares appear in the Scrub again. A kid appears to be on Robinwatch.

Two clips of a stoat in the Scrub. In one it appears to be going round in circles; in the second it is chasing a hare, which is considerably larger than the stoat.

Clare finished digging out the channel under the Alphabet Bridge. All that is needed now is the water to run through it into the pond. She saw the remains of a hare near the roadside pond - maybe the stoat had been successful in its hunting.

A rabbit is at cross purposes with a hare.

In the Pit Wood, the doe with a single kid (identified as another doe), are foraging on fallen leaves.

There is a fast and furious chase sequence involving birds, a hare and a fox.

John makes substantial progress on the east end of the classroom.

21st September

John raised the roof on the east end of the classroom. Clare saw three hares while walking round.

24th September

A successful fox hunt. It is not clear what the fox has caught.

25th September

Footage of one of the does shows her losing her summer coat.

26th September

The east end of the classroom is nearly fully boarded out. Shutters and flooring remain on the to-do list.

While smearing the stump in front of the hide with her highly popular (with the birds) peanut butter paste mix, Clare noticed a significant flourish of Sulphur Tuft fungus.

The ‘Murder Buck’ appeared again in the Pit Wood. (For any new subscribers, this is a mature buck that has antlers devoid of any tines. That is to say the antlers will resemble two long spikes, without the traditional brow and rear antler tines. The reason that this type of beast is called a 'Murder Buck' comes from the damage that this type of buck can cause to an opponent when sparring.

29th September

John and Mel planted nearly 40 hazel saplings in the stump circle and on the verge of the Pit Wood. Many thanks to Kathryn R for donating the plants.

Finally for lagophilic readers, a hare, which is somewhat startled by a blackbird, to end this post. On a whim, Clare searched to see if there were any relevant fables. She found a print instead.

30th September

For the botanists among readers, the wildflowers still out on 11th/12th September were: Bird’s Foot Trefoil, Bush Vetch, Buttercup, Chickweed, Common Cat’s Ear, Clover (Red), Clover (White), Common Daisy, Dandelion, Eyebright, Foxglove, Goldenrod, Groundsel, Hawkbit, Heather, Hedge Woundwort, Herb Robert, Hogweed, Meadow Vetchling, Michaelmas Daisy, Nipplewort, Ragged Robin, Ragwort, Red Campion, Red Hemp Nettle, Ribwort Plantain, Self Heal, Sow Thistle (Prickly), Thistle (Creeping), Thistle (Marsh), Thistle (Spear), Tormentil, Tufted Vetch, Water Mint, Wild Carrot, Willowherb (Broad-leaved), Willowherb (Rosebay), Violet, Yarrow

The answer to the crossword clue is ‘roe deer’.

July - discoveries, neither hellish nor boring

There are more than usual video clips this month - roe kids are very cute. Remember that you are unlikely to be able to access these through the Blog email. Go to www.liddells.co.uk click on the Blog and watch them through the website.

John and Clare have been waiting and hoping for sightings of this year’s roe kids, and the first glimpse was towards the end of last month, however retrieved too late to include it in the June blog post.

1st July

Kathryn L came to plant trees she had kindly donated - a beech, an oak, two birches, a rowan and a holly. Cutting gorse for protection revealed a birds’ nest tucked deep into a gorse bush near the top gate. The nest hasn’t been feathered so may not have been used this year.

Kathryn planting ‘Son of a Beech’

2nd July

The trail camera in the Scrub is showing at least six hare appearances in any twenty-four hour period.

The trail camera in the Pit Wood shows another tantalising glimpse of a roe and kid.

Earlier in the year, and on the way to check on one of Juno’s bird boxes, Clare had noticed an unfamiliar plant growing near one of the signposts to the hide. She had kept her eye on it and wondered if it might be an orchid although since the flowers have been late emerging, she dismissed the idea. More on this story later…

3rd - 6th July

The repair work from Storm Arwen continues. John finished restoring the fencing behind the sheds and started on the stretch at the east end of the Top Strip. Clare was delighted to see a pair of Bullfinches below the Scrub - she had remarked yesterday that it was a while since she had seen any. So gratifying to know the birds are listening.

At last there is a proper view of the new kid. Then one of the doe and kid together. Take a look at the shape of the doe’s muzzle. More on this story later…

The old buck chases another deer through the Scrub. John says it is a bit early for the rut (mid July to mid August), so more likely the buck is chasing another buck off his patch in readiness.

The hare is investigating a fern frond. More on this story later…

The doe appears with the kid. Then another kid. Then another kid - triplets again!

7th July

Obviously footage of the kids is irresistible. This doe’s muzzle markings are clearly visible. The edges of her muzzle are squared off.

A little later, still in the Pit Wood, a doe with a different muzzle shape appears. This muzzle tapers to a point at the sides.

8th July

The hare checks the frond again. Or it might be a different hare.

Clare and John set about collecting Yellow Rattle seeds from the Top Grazing. They were pleased to see how well the plant is establishing there.

Clare busied herself trying to photograph a wood wasp on one of the log piles, however it found a way down to the bottom and out of the camera’s view. On the way home from Liddells, John and Clare realised they had a longhorn beetle in the car which probably decided to hitch a ride while they were distracted by the wood wasp.

9th July

The buck is marking in the Scrub again. This is probably preparation for the rut, as would be chasing off any other bucks.

John and Clare are watching the footage of the new kids carefully and are a bit confused by what they are seeing - sometimes one, sometimes two, sometimes three. It is perfectly possible that sometimes a kid or two is off camera. However, the doe’s muzzle in the second of the three clips below, is just visible, and looks to be pointed at the sides. The kid on its own in the third video, may well be the third kid, following a little behind.

John and Clare are reaching the conclusion that there are two does with kids, one with three, and one with one. The doe with one kid is likely to be a youngster, no more than two years old. John says it is unusual for two does to be appearing to share the same territory.

10th - 14th July

Activity on the Top Grazing. John starts putting in the posts for the outdoor classroom. The hay is cut. (7th - 11th July is 温風至 Atsukaze itaru - Warm winds blow - in the Japanese microseasons. Good hay-making weather.)

Clare was surprised to find that the bees in the first colony she split are once again thinking of swarming. Nothing ventured, she decided to execute another split, putting the swarm cell and four other frames of brood into a nucleus hive. More on this story later…

Clare began digging reeds out of the roadside pond while it is empty, and using the opportunity to add a little more depth to the pond.

One doe and one kid appear in the Scrub on two occasions; one kid appears, and leaves, independently. Then a doe goes through with three kids.

A hare nibbles at a rose stem in the Scrub. When Clare looked closely at the stem later, she found that it had no leaves (the hare doesn’t seem to be eating leaves), and concluded that the hare must have been eating the thorns. Rabbits are known to eat all parts of roses, including the thorns; as with deer, they are drawn to plants in the Rosaceae family, so it is likely hares are too. In a later video one hare jumps out at another; the first is noticeable smaller than the second, so probably one of this year’s young being surprised by an established resident. The next clip shows the hares apparently not in conflict.

15th July

After a long interruption, Clare and John were delighted to organise a Green Gym Day. They had over 50 trees to plant - donations and their own successful germinations from acorns and conkers - however as the forecast showed days of very hot, dry weather to come, planting trees with no means of watering them seemed to be a bad idea. The other task was to harvest Yellow Rattle seeds from the Wildflower Meadow. All good plans… There was rain. Off and on, quite a lot of rain. With the hot weather still in prospect, planting was out and with the rain, seed collection was out. What to do? John and Clare had been thinking about taking up the path at the west end of the Top Strip to make it possible to cut with the flail mower. The first job was to remove all the edging logs and the stakes holding them in place.

Clare arrived early and decided to catch up with the weekly email from the Northumbria Natural History Society. The email featured a short video on the Broad-leaved Helleborine. Clare was excited to realise that this very closely resembled the mystery plant near the hide and set off to check. Helleborines are also part of the orchid family. Bingo!

The Green Gym team arrived and set about tackling the Top Strip path. They created several piles of pleasingly rotting wood that will no doubt be appreciated by the local bug life. Gratifyingly, there seemed to be no need to pull up all the membrane underneath the path as there is sufficient weed growth for the chip, which is composting anyway, not to compromise the flails. There were gaps in the rain almost long enough for a picnic lunch. Clare noticed that for the first time there were nuts on one of the hazels planted as understory several years ago.

After the work was done, Clare took Pat with her to examine the plants again, and Pat noticed that some flowers had begun to open at the base of the spike, and agreed with the identification.

The doe and three kids are seen on the trail camera, as is the lame doe who hasn’t appeared for a while.

17th July

Although they are two days apart, the clip of the limping doe is followed by a video of a limping fox.

Clare was rewarded for her frequent visits to monitor the Nettle-leaved bellflower in the Scrub, and found that it had come into flower. In spite of the plant allegedly producing copious amounts of seed, there has only ever been one plant in this area.

The Alder Buckthorns from Tim and Jane have grown beyond the tops of their tubes.

Mel had been excited to hear about the Broad-leaved helleborine, saying it was a plant he had been looking for for many years. He went to see it and reported back that there were another 15-20 plants downstream of the first. So not a random occurrence but more likely an established colony that had just gone unnoticed all these years. It is thanks to Juno’s bird boxes that they were seen at all.

Clare inspected the nucleus and hive from which it had been split. There was another queen cell under construction in the nucleus, so Clare took that down, leaving the original. The hive will remain in purdah for a month or so until any new queen has had time to emerge, mature, mate and start laying. More on this story next month… There were eggs in the other hive so it would seem as if the bees have given up on the idea of swarming. It is now late in the season for them to do so, although bees have never been known to read the text books.

Clare was pleased to see a male Linnet in the Scrub - another bird that hadn’t been noticed around for a while.

A hare breaks off a piece of the bracken frond, then leave it uneaten. Some ferns are toxic to rabbits and hares. Maybe this hare remains unsure about this particular plant and takes the safe option.

19th July

John went out for an evening’s deer watching, armed with a video camera and a squeaker that mimics a roe kid’s cry. He wondered if the squeaker would attract a doe and kids. Instead the sound attracted the old buck who came barking and leaping around the Wetland. The buck would be looking for does to mate.

John also saw a Tawny Owl fly out of the North-east Strip.

20th July

The hay was baled yesterday. Barry advised that the bales are left standing to cool down for about 10 days. If they are stacked while the hay is very warm, and in this heat, there is a risk of combustion.

Knowing that the big pond was gradually getting choked with rush and Branched Bur-reed, Clare decided to face her dislike of wading through mud and to order waders so that she could tackle the task of reducing the numbers of these plants. With the dry weather the water in the pond is fast disappearing, offering the perfect opportunity to wade in. Clare began by working round the edges of the island which has slowly been increasing in size. She has decided to call the island St John’s, not to beatify John but to reflect the increasing number of St John’s Wort plants that appear there each year.

The doe with one kid appears in the Pit Wood. There are four clips of a kid foraging on its own in the Scrub, over a period of 8 minutes.

21st July

Clare spotted a pair of mating Red Soldier beetles on Hogweed. It isn’t a very good photograph, however she wanted to use the caption.

A kid leaps off into the Scrub, and then a doe emerges from the direction in which it leapt.

Bonkers.

(Red Soldier beetles are commonly known as Hogweed Bonking beetles. They are doing what it says on the tin.)

22nd July

A fox with gait unimpaired trots through the Scrub. A couple of hours later a badger goes through with a passing interest in the fern. Another couple of hours and a badger comes towards the camera.

23rd July

More pond work. Clare noticed what appeared to be a newly emerged and not fully uncurled male Common Hawker Dragonfly very near where she was working. It obligingly moved onto her arm where John was able to take a photograph. Clare then replaced it on rush where she kept an eye on it. It straightened up over the next few minutes. Clare looked in vain for the exuvia - the cast skin from which it had emerged.

While on her way up through the Pit Wood near the hide, Clare spotted another 4 Broad-leaved Helleborines. They are several yards away from the original finds. She then went to top up the feeders and thought to have another look at the plants on the way out. Curiously they weren’t quite where she had remembered. That was because this was yet another different patch although closer to the one found earlier. Altogether there are another 9 plants; today’s finds are more fully in flower. Not including the ones that are sitting still unnoticed.

There is a sequence of four videos showing the doe, the doe with one kid, with two kids and a bit of grooming, then again a third kid appears a couple of minutes later. In the first clip, you can just see the pointed edges to her muzzle. She is being bothered by the flies.

24th July

It is the season for discoveries. Today Clare spotted another plant in the Pit Wood that she had not noticed before. She thinks it is Lesser Burdock.

On her way through the Orchard she saw two juvenile Chiffchaffs in an Elder, and on the path leading up away from the Orchard, she found a Thrush anvil.

Lesser Burdock

Empty broken snail shells by the Thrush anvil

26th July

Mel came to help dig reed and rush out of the big pond. Clare decided that as well as the phrase ‘mud in your eye’ there should be ‘mud in your ear,’ ‘mud up your nose,’ ‘mud in your mouth’ and ‘mud in your hair’. The OED Word of the Day came up with a timely offering: goopy, ‘That is viscous or semi-liquid, often in an unpleasant or disgusting way’. Clare regretted not taking a ‘before’ photograph of the pond, however she did manage an ‘after’. There were plenty of dragon flies and damselflies about, particularly emerald damselflies, and a Common Hawker laying eggs.

Mel and Clare went to visit the ‘new’ helleborines and found not eight, but thirteen. On the way Mel noticed that the red clover in the Pit Wood is Zigzag clover. The leaves are longer and more pointed that with the usual red clover, the flowers are redder and more open, and where side shoots emerge from the main stem, the main stem goes off at a slight angle, hence ‘Zigzag’.

Tim has noticed that butterflies are fewer in number and diversity this year, however at the moment there are a large number of Small Skippers around.

Zigzag clover

Small Skipper on Hogweed

29th July

The day began with rain, then warmed up, the perfect illustration of the start of 土潤溽暑 Tsuchi uruōte mushi atsushi: Earth is damp, air is humid, 29th July - 2nd August. John began fixing boards to one side of the classroom. Clare dug out some more reeds and rush and spotted an azure damselfly by her foot.

30th July

John did further work on the classroom while Clare mudlarked about in the big pond and dug out more of the roadside pond. The big pond looks a little fuller after two days of heavy rain; the roadside pond remains empty. There was plenty of life in the big pond with water boatmen, pondskaters, pond snails, water beetles all visible, as well as damsel and dragonflies flying around.

April - otterly surprising

1st April

Clare is pleased with her choice of a different site for one of the trail cameras. The hares are the first to appear in the footage.

3rd April

The Blackthorn is at last in blossom by the hives.

Clare was delighted to see not only a flock of fieldfares behind the hives today, but a Lesser Redpoll and a Siskin on the nyjer seed feeders at the hide. These latter two species have been noticeable by their absence from Liddells for many months. The partridge pair were on the Wetland.

John completed a side on the log shed and Clare set about weeding the steps up to the Point of View.

The male heron appears to be indulging in open water swimming.

4th April

The trail camera records deer in early morning snow. The big buck is captured scraping vigorously at the ground again, however this time he is making a couch. Having made his bed, he is seen lying on it later.

The male heron seems to be viewing the morning snow on the Crag.

Titmice seem to be attempting to use one of the trail cameras as a nesting site.

There were two Siskins on the feeders today, a male and a female.

7th April

The big buck is still marking his territory, this time near where the younger buck was captured in footage three days earlier.

Clare was delighted that she trusted her hunch and went to Primroseside in the Pit Wood. The primroses were out in abundance. She also found a patch of Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage in the Pit Wood that she had not noticed before. Read more about it here.

8th April

No disrespect to pheasants, however they don’t seem to manifest many signs of high intelligence.

9th April

Siskins are on the feeders daily now, though the Redpoll hasn’t been seen again. There is moss in boxes 2, 3 and J1 (Juno’s first box).

Today seemed to be tadpole hatching day on Liddells and there were clusters of what looked to be hundreds of tadpoles emerging in the Roadside and the Big ponds.

Tim and Jane kindly donated two Alder Buckthorn whips which Clare planted on the damp edge to the glade in the Pit Wood. Tim and Jane chose this species to replace trees damaged in their garden by Storm Arwen. The trees are a favourite of the Brimstone butterfly. Tim and Jane hope that with their trees and the ones on Liddells, there could be a local Brimstone corridor. Read more about the Alder Buckthon here.

Clare moved one of the trail cameras to below the hide in the Pit Wood and was delighted to see several clips of hares and deer. One of the clips shows a doe couching.

10th April

As well as a pair of Siskins, there were three Tree Sparrows around the feeders. John spent time there with his camera.

While Clare and John remain delighted at the diversity of species appearing on Liddells, it is noticeable that bird numbers, apart from the titmice, are dropping. This is in line with national, indeed global records, and dismaying.

Clare finished weeding the Point of View steps.

John thinks he may have found a form on the Wetland. Clare has set up her pop-up hide to see if she can verify this.

Clare and John watched the older doe, younger doe and young buck, and a hare all on the Top Grazing at the same time this afternoon.

Tree sparrow - note the chestnut head and black cheek spot, which differentiate it from the House sparrow

Very red-breasted Robin

Dunnock

Male Siskin with seed in its beak

Male and female Siskin

Bold Bluetit sticking its neck out

Looking in…

…and looking out

13th April

The Willow warblers are back and Clare has heard Blackcaps singing. She saw a flock of eight Tree sparrows near the feeders, which was encouraging after the comment about numbers dropping.

The herons have not been seen so often on the pond camera, perhaps because they have eaten all the frogs, however this one is successful in finding food. (PS no more herons appeared this month on the trail camera after today.)

Clare spent a couple of evenings in her pop-up hide and saw no evidence of hares near what might be a form, however she saw six deer the first evening (more than Clare and John thought were regulars on Liddells), two on the second, three hares on the first and one on the second evening, and on the second evening watched a Willow Warbler working the territory just in front of the hide for about fifteen minutes, while a Marsh tit was almost close enough to touch in a hawthorn next to her hide.

16th April

Another otter on one of the trail cameras! The camera is pointing west along a path that follows what might well have in the past been the route of a stream, and joins up with the stream from the spring. Following a suggestion from Chris (TrogTrogBlog), Clare has logged this and the earlier sighting with theotternetwork.co.uk which surveys otters in the north-east.

18th April

Spring flowers are emerging - Clare and Pat saw Primroses, Cowslips, Violets, Wild strawberries and Wood anemone in flower today. The Wood anemones are a new discovery and were close to the Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, so they might all have appeared since more light was let into that part of the Pit Wood.

Clare and Pat also saw a Great Spotted woodpecker, five Siskins and a Redpoll among the birds visiting the feeders.

John fixed the roof on to the new log shed.

A fox decides not to proceed, probably because of the red light on the trail camera.

20th April

Snake’s head fritillary are out on the Wildflower meadow and Clare is particularly pleased because she grew some of them from seed she had collected.

Clare went to photograph the Wood anemones in the Pit Wood only to find that they had vanished. This evening, browsing through a new book John is reading, about a Frenchman who spent seven years immersing himself in nature and living with wild roe deer, Clare read that ‘[h]ighly poisonous to other herbivores, wood anemones are eaten in large quantities by roe deer in the spring. Since they have no gall bladder, the toxin has no effect on them, apart from preventing certain illnesses’. So there may not be any more of these flowers on Liddells. Clare wonders if this has been the fate of the Winter aconite too.

21st April

A pair of mallards are captured mating again on the trail camera - they appear to be in a bit of a spin.

22nd April

The young buck and one of the young does take refreshment by the pond. Later the young buck appears on the second camera and a closer view shows that he is now in tatters.

23rd April

Clare heard a warbler singing and began her annual is-it-a-Blackcap-or-a-Garden-warbler challenge. She decided it was a Blackcap whereupon the bird, which was indeed a Blackcap, flew onto the gorse in front of her. As if by way of reward.

25th April

One of the pleasures of moving the trail cameras to different sites is discovering how many of the creatures on Liddells cover so much of the area. Here a Jay appears, as do the Partridge pair and a badger. As with the fox a few days earlier, the badger seems to be suspicious of the red light on the camera and changes route.

27th - 29th April

Dave has begun bringing logs from the Top Strip and the Orchard to the log shed where they can be stacked and dried.

Clare checked the hives again and discovered that one of them had eight frames of capped brood, which leaves the bees very little space for stores and more brood, and can prompt them to swarm. Clare quickly added a super and crossed all available digits.

The young buck’s winter coat is beginning to go.

30th April

One of the young does is losing her winter coat.

A last hare of the month (Clare and John saw two on the Top Grazing while on Liddells today). For a while now Clare and John have seen at least one hare on every visit, and more often that not, two or three.

To end the month and celebrate spring, John has taken a photograph of cherry blossom in the Top Strip. Enjoy the hanami.

December - clearing up and a mystery visitor

2nd December

John and Dave worked on clearing debris from the sheds. John and Clare set about replacing stakes for saplings that had been blown over by storm Arwen. One of the Alders planted in the Wetland has produced its first catkins. Inspired by the photograph of the Suffolk sheep on Liddells, Barbara sent a needle-felted version she had made.

There seems to be a consensus amongst the Blog’s readership about the appeal of hares. The trail camera in the Scrub records hares on an almost daily basis, sometimes capturing footage of them several times in a short period.

Felted Suffolk in the Shepherd’s hut - what better place for it

5th December

Repairs to trees continues. John saw the lame doe kid near the Crag, so it is managing to survive however the other deer were not with it.

The Redwings seem to find plenty to eat in the Scrub and regularly visit the patch of ground near the camera. The area is also a frequent haunt of a Jay, however for the first time the camera has captured two in the same footage.

6/7th December

A stoat darts through the Scrub and a Jay appears to be successful in retrieving buried acorns. History does not relate whether or not these were buried by this bird, by another or by squirrels.

10th December

John and Dave did more clearing up at the sheds site and then started tackling the huge Oak limb that had fallen in the Orchard some time ago, sorting brash and logs.

Clearing…

…and stacking

12th December

Beth asked if she could celebrate her birthday with friends and their children at Liddells. Hal brought a picnic and birthday cake, a fire was lit and marshmallows toasted. Clare and John were particularly delighted as they had found a variety of Pear tree called ‘Beth’ and had hoped that Beth would be able to plant it in the Orchard on her birthday. Juno is now excited that she will be able to harvest pears - a bit of patience may be required.

15th December

John arrived on Liddells this morning to discover a considerable number of large ungulate prints mainly on the path leading down from the bottom gate. On further examination the prints appeared to begin on the Wildflower Meadow up by the road wall. They left the Meadow and reappeared on the other side of the fence, went on towards the Big Pond after a diversion round the first Willow arbour; there were also some on the slope going down to the Orchard and some on the Top Grazing near the top of the Scrub. Apart from the fact that there are no cows around locally at the moment, a cow could not have made the leaps over wall and fence, so the conclusion John and Clare have arrived at is that a Red Deer had paid a visit. Unfortunately it did not have the sense to cross in front of either of the trail cameras, so the identity of the ungulate remains a matter of speculation. There have been reports of the occasional Red Deer being spotted in the area.

The foot on the right is not of an ungulate, however does give a sense of the size of the print

21st December

The doe appears to have registered the changed position of the trail camera in the Scrub then seems to be investigating a scent mark on the broken end of a branch.

22nd December

A fox has an early morning outing in the Scrub.

John and Dave pressed on with work on the Oak limb in the Orchard, presumably not wanting to be called ‘Yule-shards’ (anyone ‘who leaves work unfinished before Christmas or the New Year, but which has the curious double meaning of ‘someone who has no new piece of apparel to celebrate the season’.’ Word Perfect). Clare will add ‘apparel’ to John’s Christmas present. She will leave Dave to attend to his own wardrobe.

With the debris cleared, the damage to the tree is clearer. The remains of the Tawny Owl box have been removed

Dave bearing logs

Logs stacked

25th December

Christmas Day, and in the absence of Liddells Christmas cards, here are two creatures who habitually appear on seasonal cards.

26th December

While Clare has yet to see a hare boxing on Liddells, this year she didn’t even see a hare on Boxing Day. The early morning snow might have deterred the animals. Of course a comment about how unusual it has been to see two Jays on the trail camera was inviting contradiction - here are two Jays braving the weather - one seemingly more than the other.

31st December

John and Clare checked the cameras today in the hope of some exciting end of the year footage - no such luck, however friends saw two hares running up the Crag this afternoon.

Thank you to all readers for your support .

Best wishes for 2022.

John and Clare

November - time to plant trees and a devastating end to the month

Clare has been saving a quotation from George Orwell for this month as Scots Pine saplings, and trees grown from acorns and conkers by Sally are ready to plant.

‘The planting of a tree, especially one of the long-living hardwood trees, is a gift which you can make to posterity at almost no cost and with almost no trouble, and if the tree takes root it will far outlive the visible effect of any of your other actions, good or evil.’ (From a 1946 essay in his ‘As I Please’ column in Tribune, and quoted by Rebecca Solnit in an article entitled ‘‘Every time you commit an antisocial act, push an acorn into the ground,’ The Guardian, 16.10.21.

1-11th November

John undertook preparations for planting, collecting stakes, cutting wire, strimming, removing turves.

Clare thinks readers need at least one hare a month. This one below is in the Scrub. The hare in the video clip is in the Pit Wood.

13th November

John and Clare planted ten Scots Pines on the Wetland, caging the five larger ones and tubing the others. Having heard on The Archers that ‘the thorn is mother to the oak,’ Clare protected the caged saplings from hares and rabbits with motherly gorse cushions.

Scots Pine with protective gorse

14th November

It appears that one of the regular foxes is a vixen

15th November

One hare is a treat, two hares doubly so.

16th November

Clare and John have been watching out for the return of the Woodcock and today John’s friend Mike saw two flying from the Scrub towards the Top Grazing.

19th November

Five trees planted today - two Oaks and two Horse Chestnuts that Sally had grown and donated, and a Crab Apple that Pat had ordered from Northumberland County Council and given to Liddells. NCC had offered a tree per household as part of their commitment to act in the face of climate change. There was such demand that all trees available were taken up this year, however they are repeating the scheme nest year.

The OED Word of the Day today is ‘Wildland’: Land in a natural or uncultivated state (also in plural in same sense). Also: a region or tract of such land. Clare and John hope that Liddells has some of this quality.

21st November

Clare spent a delightful afternoon on Liddells with Bridie Jackson, ‘a musical artist based in the North-East, well known within the region and beyond for her work as a composer, performer and creative practitioner’ (also currently leading Tynedale Community Choir while Kathyrn is on maternity leave). Bridie is working with Bethan Maddocks a visual artist who has been commissioned by Museums of Northumberland. Bethan is creating a hive to sit inside a building at Woodhorn Museum and Bridie is setting Kipling’s poem ‘The Bee-Boy’s Song’ to music, and creating a soundscape for the installation. Bridie interviewed Clare about bee-keeping, particularly about the tradition of telling the bees secrets, and visited the hives where she was able to record the bees. Clare could hear where the colony were clustering in the hive from the volume of the sound as Bridie moved the microphone across the entrance. Bridie sent a snippet of her first ‘play around’ and gave permission for it to be included in the blog. The bees in the background are in Hive1.

27th November

Readers will be aware of Storm Arwen, which hit the north-east with some ferocity last night. John went up to see how Liddells had been affected, expecting to see some trees down. Trees have indeed fallen, perhaps six to eight, and several limbs broken off. However he was in no way prepared for the sickening sight that greeted him. All four sheds and the Necessarium have gone. The tool shed and the Necessarium have been lifted up, overturned and are now on the far side of the fence between the Top Grazing and the Top Strip. The hay shed, log shed and former pony shelter have been reduced to planks and are scattered widely over the area behind where the sheds were. John and Clare are finding it hard to know where to start with clearing up. The shepherd’s hut, bird hide , bees and bee shed are all fine thank goodness. And no-one was hurt.

It has also been snowy and very cold on site, so not the most pleasant of conditions in which to work. Susie Dent offers some regional words for cold in Word Perfect on 17th November: ‘ ‘nithered’ is a favourite in northern England and Scotland, and ‘shrammed’ survives in the south and south-west); there is also the evocative ‘hunchy’ in Cambridgeshire. These words often derive from dialect verbs meaning ‘to shrivel’ or ‘to make numb’.’ Dent also refers to ‘some now long-lost words English dialect words that describe November’s comfortless elements. They include the word ‘gwenders’, defined in the English Dialect Dictionary as ‘a disagreeable tingling sensation in the extremities during cold weather’.

John and Clare have retrieved footage from both trail cameras. The scene in the Scrub, captured at 9.30 am, was after the storm had begun to die down. Three hours later all is calm in the Pit Wood.

While the storm’s destruction has been metaphorically ‘thwankin’ (‘from Scots, a thudding term applied to clouds that gather together in thick and gloomy succession’, Clare found metaphorical ‘Devil’s smiles’ (in Yorkshire, ‘gleams of sunshine among the darkest clouds’) in the catkins appearing on some of the young Hazels in the Top Strip.

Life goes on. As do the deer, although the wounded doe kid has not been seen since the beginning of the month. John says to notice in the second video the buds developing on the buck kid’s head which are signs of the antlers that will grow.

This Silver birch at the western top of the Crag shows some of the force of the storm.

30th November

John and Clare have been making inroads on the damage. It seems possible that, with help, the tool shed could be manoeuvered back into place although it will need a new base constructing before that can happen.

In checking through the Blog before publication, Clare was struck by the opening quotation and how poignant it seems at this end of the month. John has been given permission to include a photograph taken of the wood that lies just a few hundred yards from Liddells. The image shows just a fraction of the damage the wood sustained.

All the more reason to keep planting trees.

October - Autumn arrives

1st October

Forty Suffolk ewes arrived to eat the grass off the Top Gazing which has grown substantially since being cut for hay. The Suffolk Sheep Society’s website says that the ‘Suffolk is the flag-ship domestic breed in the British Isles and is recognised as the leading terminal sire on a variety of commercial ewes to produce top quality prime lamb. The breed has been in existence since the late 1700s.’

Digesting in the sun

2nd October

Twenty ewes arrived on the Wildflower Meadow. Synchronously Word Perfect today refers to ‘aftermath’, now used metaphorically, however originally meaning ‘an ‘after-mowing’: a second crop or new growth of grass after the first had been harvested.’ So all sixty sheep are dealing with the aftermath.

John has finished the plumbing for the necessarium.

6th October

‘ “Most people look at a forest and say, ‘Here are trees and there is dirt.’ They see nothing of interest unless someone takes them by the hand. I am astonished at how little most people can manage to see.” ‘ (from Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver)

John manages to see plenty, including the first Fieldfare of the year. They arrive in flocks with Redwings. Clare was delighted that Liddells is on a par with Ambridge - Jim Lloyd heard the first Redwing on this same day.

Marsh Tit

Female Chaffinch

This male Chaffinch has been ringed

According to Word Perfect, the Japanese have the expression kasa koso for the rustling sound of dry leaves.

7th October

The ewes did a great job on the Wildflower Meadow and have been moved to join the Suffolks on the Top Grazing.

9th October

John and Clare noticed a Goldfinch near the hide that seemed to be struggling although it was feeding and able to fly.

John and Clare were amused by the trail camera footage below.

10th October

While John added stronger stakes to some of the larches in the verge, Clare visited the hide and found that the Goldfinch had died there. Clare noticed that it was ringed so John sent the details to EURING. A reply came through very quickly:

Dear John Halliday

Thank you for taking the time to report to us details of a bird ring you found. Information about this bird and its movements is given below.

Ringing Scheme: London Ring Number: AJK9171 Species of bird: Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

This bird was ringed by S C Enderby as age definitely hatched during current year, sex unknown on 21-Nov-2019 time unknown at near Acomb, Northumberland, UK

OS Map reference NY9365 accuracy 0, - co-ordinates 54deg 58min N -2deg -6min W accuracy 0.

It was found on 09-Oct-2021 time unknown at near Hexham, Northumberland, UK

OS Map reference NY9269 accuracy 0, - co-ordinates 55deg 0min N -2deg -7min W accuracy 0.

Finding condition: Dying

Finding circumstances: Found Sick, Definite Single cause NOT Known

Extra Information: Sickly. Unable to fly well. Dead the next day.

It was found 688 days after it was ringed, 4 km from the ringing site, direction NNW.

Bird Ringing in Britain & Ireland is organised by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). Each year over 900,000 birds are ringed by over 2,500 highly trained bird ringers, most of whom are volunteers. They follow a careful training process that can take several years to complete to ensure that they have the necessary skills to catch and ring birds. The bird’s welfare is always the most important consideration during ringing activities.

Ringing began over 100 years ago to study the movements of birds. While it continues to generate information about movements, it also allows us to study how many young birds leave the nest and survive to breed as adults, as well as how many adults live from year to year and how many birds disperse to different breeding sites. Collection of this information helps us to understand why bird populations increase or decrease − vital information for conservation. Details of how many birds have been caught and where and when they have been found are available on the BTO website at www.bto.org/ringing-report.

Some interesting facts discovered from ringing data....

Oldest bird – Manx shearwater, 50 yrs 11 months

Furthest travelled – Arctic Tern from Wales to Australia 18,000 km

Strangest recovery – Osprey ring found in stomach of a crocodile in The Gambia!

Many thanks again for reporting this bird and contributing to the work of the Ringing Scheme. If you would like to find out more about the BTO please check out our website www.bto.org.

With best wishes

The Ringing Team

11th - 12th October

Having established that there are indeed three kids this year, they were seen again on the trail camera in the Scrub. The next night the doe went through. John says you can see not only what fine condition she is in, but her two gorget patches. They are on the underside of her neck, show that she is an older doe and help in identification.

15th & 19th October

A fox appears twice on the Scrub camera.

22nd - 23rd October

Footage of hares always proves irresistible. The Scrub camera recorded one passing through several times on these two days; on 22nd at 17.49 and 21.46, and on 23rd at 09.50, 13.49 and 14.05. Of course they may all be different hares. Below is one piece of footage from the selection, the white tail with its black tip and the black tips to its ears showing quite distinctly.

The sheep were taken off the Top Grazing. Again they have done a splendid job in taking the grass down ready for Spring growth.

The Jay is a bird often heard but not so often seen, or maybe you see a flash of the white rump as it flies away. The Woodland Trust describes the Jay as ‘a highly intelligent loudmouth’. (woodlandtrust.org.uk) In its Latin name, garrulus glandarius, the ‘garrulus’ means chattering, babbling or noisy. You can listen here. The whole name can be translated as ‘babbler of the acorns.’ The bird hides acorns for later consumption and it is thought that the ones whose whereabouts have been forgotten can be credited with the growth and spread of oak trees since the last Ice Age. In the footage below, it is unclear whether the Jay is burying or seeking to retrieve acorns, however it is great to have such a clear view of the bird.

A badger appears in the Pit Wood, probably rootling for worms.

24th October

The Scrub proves to be a popular foraging ground for the newly arrived Redwings.

26th October

The trail camera reveals time and again just how watchful and alert the wildlife is all the time. Below you will see a rabbit standing on its hind legs, possibly to see if the surrounding area is safe. Although footage of grey squirrels doesn’t make it into the Blog, the sound of a squirrel chattering is quite dramatic - a subsequent piece of footage (not included), suggests that it is the pheasant that is the source of agitation. Having never seen a kid squeaking before this year, John is delighted that the trail camera is offering so many examples of this phenomenon. Of course saying earlier this month that Jays are rarely seen was asking for contradiction. Not hiding at all. The badger is back - Clare fancifully imagines its satnav saying, “Rerootle, rerootle"!”

28th October

It would seem as though roe deer experience sibling rivalry.

The pheasants have their own back on the hare.

The third piece of footage is calling out for a caption. Any offers….?

29th October

A trio of videos of birds foraging in the Scrub. While Redwings and Titmice share the space, the Pheasants seem to claim it as theirs.

30th October

When Clare went to collect the camera discs today she saw and heard far more Blackbirds than usual - the overwintering visitors have arrived. There was also a large flock of Fieldfares in the Orchard. Sadly the camera has shown that one of the doe kids is limping badly and has lost condition. She hasn’t been seen with the adult doe and other two kids for a while. The young buck displays a passing interest in the bird feeder in the Scrub.

July - delights, surprises and floribundance

1st July

An exciting start to the month - Clare and John saw Tree Sparrows on the feeders in front of the hide. Their presence on the feeders suggested they were already familiar with the availability of food there, although they seemed very flighty and camera shy. John had made a nesting box suitable for Tree Sparrows and placed it behind the sheds a few years ago and not only was it not used, but the birds were never seen on Liddells, even though it would seem to offer the right kind of habitat for them. The nest box was duly moved home where Tree Sparrows are seen regularly - again, never used. Maybe another move, back up to Liddells, might see it used in the future.

John and Clare worked on preparing the shepherd’s hut for habitation. Sally, hearing of Clare’s wish to furnish the hut in as eco-friendly way as possible, donated a washing-up bowl for which she had no use.

2nd July

Another donation from friends - Gill and Mark offered a set of pans, a corkscrew and a cheese grater for the shepherd’s hut. Clare is amused that her list of essentials began with wine glasses, coffee and Marmite. Her friends are more realistically or more practically minded. John and Clare will be able to stay in fine style.

Kitchen essentials

4th July

John took to his camera as an antidote to hut interior work. He was especially thrilled to see Bullfinches on the hide feeders. While Bullfinches have been seen on many occasions on Liddells, this is the first time they have ever been seen on the feeders. John said that the feeders were particularly busy - this may be because there had been very heavy rain for the previous two to three days and birds were very hungry as a consequence.

Foxglove Digitalis: ‘The origins of the name foxglove are unclear, but can be traced all the way back to the Anglo-Saxon period. It’s thought the ‘glove’ part of the name is simply due to the flowers looking like glove fingers. Less certain is the connection to foxes. One theory is that people believed foxes wore the flowers on their paws to silence their movements when hunting. Another is that the flower is often found growing close to the earths where foxes raise their young… Foxglove contains a chemical called digitalis that can be used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure by raising blood flow and increasing the body’s defence mechanisms. However, the plant is poisonous if consumed directly, and can cause a number of health problems. Other names for foxglove include goblin gloves, witches' gloves and dead men's bells.’ (woodlandtrust.org.uk)

Dog rose Rosa canina: ‘The dog rose is a common symbol in medieval heraldry. It has a less regal connotation in Germany where it is linked to the Devil and its fruits were said to be used by fairies to make themselves invisible…Rose hips are high in vitamin C and were traditionally used to make syrups taken to boost levels. Rose-hip oil is also a popular skincare product. The hairs inside the hips are an irritant and are extracted to make an itching powder.’ (woodlandtrust.org.uk)

Orange hawkweed Pilosella aurantiaca: ‘The name of 'Fox-and-Cubs' refers to the way that many of the as-yet un-opened flower heads hide beneath those that have opened.’ (wildflowerfinder.org)

Hogweed: ‘The hollow stems of hogweed were traditionally used in many children's games as water guns, pea-shooters and swords. Its sap is less toxic than that of giant hogweed (and some other umbellifers), so doesn't cause the same skin irritation.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Ox-eye daisy: ‘The Latin name Leucanthemum is said to have originated from the ancient Greek word ‘leucos’, meaning white.

It was thought to be strongly linked to divination, particularly in France, where it would be used in romantic predictions. These links to divination have filtered down to the modern game of ‘he loves me, he loves me not’ where petals are picked to determine luck in love.’ (woodlandtrust.org.uk)

Red dead-nettle - newly spotted on Liddells, and welcome: ‘Lots of different species of long-tongued insects visit the flowers of red dead-nettle, including the red mason bee and bumblebees. The caterpillars of garden tiger, white ermine and angle shades moths feed on the leaves.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Red dead-nettle - newly spotted on Liddells, and welcome: ‘Lots of different species of long-tongued insects visit the flowers of red dead-nettle, including the red mason bee and bumblebees. The caterpillars of garden tiger, white ermine and angle shades moths feed on the leaves.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Bullfinch pair, male on the left

Female Bullfinch (John was playing with camera settings here and was rather pleased with the painterly quality of this image)

Bullinch and Siskin

Bullinch and Siskin

Finch feeding frenzy

Common carder bee on Marsh thistle Cirsium palustre: wildflowerfinder.org shows several examples of fasciated plants (abnormal fusion and flattening of plant organs due to physical damage or weed-killers, virii, an infection, infestation, or several other causes). Clare read fasciated as fascinated and was appropriately fascinated.

5th July

Clare is enjoying the challenge of fitting whatever is needed into the hut in a way that uses least possible space. The plate rack is an example.

11th July

The shepherd’s hut now has three rooms prepared. John and Clare were delighted to see Tree Sparrows on the feeders by the hut. They may be the same birds as in the Pit Wood, or they could e a second colony.

Dining room

Sitting room

Kitchen

Kitchen

13th July

Another excursion with his camera for John. He particularly enjoyed taking photographs of juvenile birds round the feeders.

Redpoll and juvenile.

Juvenile Redpoll

Juvenile Dunnock waiting for food…

Juvenile Dunnock waiting for food…

…patience rewarded

Juvenile Chaffinch preening

Full house - juvenile Great Tits

Treecreeper (of indeterminate age)

Ringlet

Bugle ajuga reptans: ‘Bugle is much loved by bumblebees. The ‘reptans’ in its Latin name is derived from ‘repto’, meaning ‘creeping, crawling’. It was a popular ingredient in herbal remedies, particularly for stopping bleeding.’ (plantlife.org.uk)

Self-heal Prunella vulgaris: ‘As its common name suggests, selfheal has a long tradition of being used in herbal medicine for everything from stopping bleeding and healing wounds, to treating heart disease and sore throats.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Bittersweet Solanum dulcanara: ‘Despite being a member of the nightshade family, Bittersweet (also known as 'Woody Nightshade') is one of the less toxic plants in this group, althought its berries are still poisonous…The leaves smell of burnt rubber when crushed.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Rowan blossom Sorbus aucuparia: ‘Greek mythology tells of how Hebe, the goddess of youth, dispensed rejuvenating ambrosia to the gods from her magical chalice. When, through carelessness, she lost this cup to demons, the gods sent an eagle to recover the cup. A fight ensued and the eagle shed feathers and drops of blood. These fell to earth where each of them turned into a rowan tree. Hence the rowan derived the shape of its leaves from the eagle’s feathers and the appearance of its berries from the droplets of blood… In the British Isles the rowan has a long and still popular history in folklore as a tree which protects against witchcraft and enchantment... The tree itself was said to afford protection to the dwelling by which it grew, and residents would make sure not to damage them.’ (treesforlife.org.uk)

John and Clare are relieved that the shepherd’s hut will be protected by the nearby Rowans. Also Clare’s rowanberry jelly is delicious with cheese (and a firm favourite with Neil).

15th July

Final touches to the shepherd’s hut - John made a boot rack. He was particularly pleased with his efforts as he had seen a teak version on sale for £165 (in a sale) whereas his, made from oak, cost him £8. Of course that was not taking into account building and equipping the woodworking shed in which it was created, which will have upped the costs somewhat.

16th-17th July

The OED must have known. The Word of the Day for 16th July is ‘staycation’: to holiday at home or in one’s country of residence. John and Clare set out to spend two nights in the shepherd’s hut and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Clare honoured the occasion by putting the flags out. The weather was stunning, the sunset sublime, and the night sky filled with stars. They can’t wait to repeat the experience. While Clare sat in the sun and read, John continued with his efforts to document as much of the flora (and some of the fauna) on Liddells as possible. He was particularly delighted that he finally managed to get a photograph of a Tree Sparrow.

Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, identifiable from the red spot on the front of the head.

Spot the Pheasant

Juvenile Chiffchaff - this bird has often been seen close to the hide. It doesn’t seem to have learned yet to be wary.

Juvenile Chiffchaff - this bird has often been seen close to the hide. It doesn’t seem to have learned yet to be wary.

And finally - Tree Sparrow. Well worth John’s persistence.

There have been more Common Spotted Orchids this year than ever before on Liddells. The area in front of the hide is particularly orchidaceous.

St John’s Wort Hypericum perforatum: also known as devil chaser, devil's flight, devil's scourge, God's wonder plant, herb John, human blood, Klamath weed, penny John, rosin rose, St Columba's flower and often used to treat mild depression.

There is a small clump on the Wildflower Meadow, however there are a large number on the island in the Big Pond though not round the margins. (gardenia.net)

Agrimony: ‘Some people use agrimony to represent thankfulness or gratitude.Partly due to its astringent qualities, it has many uses in herbal medicine including for ulcers, to stop bleeding and for gallstones. Also for unsettled digestive systems and catarrh.Dioscorides recommends it against snake-bite, dysentery and upsets of the liver.Local names include Aaron's rod, Church-Steeples, Clot-Bur, Fairy's wand, Money-in-both-pockets, Salt-and-pepper and Sweethearts (from the clinging receptacles of the fruit).’ (plantlife.org.uk)

Agrimony: ‘Some people use agrimony to represent thankfulness or gratitude.

Partly due to its astringent qualities, it has many uses in herbal medicine including for ulcers, to stop bleeding and for gallstones. Also for unsettled digestive systems and catarrh.

Dioscorides recommends it against snake-bite, dysentery and upsets of the liver.

Local names include Aaron's rod, Church-Steeples, Clot-Bur, Fairy's wand, Money-in-both-pockets, Salt-and-pepper and Sweethearts (from the clinging receptacles of the fruit).’ (plantlife.org.uk)

Lady’s Bedstraw: ‘Historically, Lady's bedstraw was used to curdle milk in the process of cheese-making - a convenient vegetarian replacement for rennet, which is made from the stomach lining of cows.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Honeysuckle: ‘It was once believed that if honeysuckle grew around a home’s entrance, it would bring good luck and stop any evil spirits from entering. It has also long been considered a symbol of fidelity, and in Victorian times young girls were banned from bringing honeysuckle into the house because it was believed the strong smell would make them have suggestive dreams! Honeysuckle has been used to make beautiful walking sticks which were once popular with Scots music hall performers. They were created as the honeysuckle entwined itself around branches, causing the branches themselves to become twisted.
While the berries are poisonous, the leaves, flowers and seeds have been used for medicinal purposes for a variety of conditions.’ (woodlandtrust.org.uk)

Sitka Spruce cones

Bladder Campion: ‘Bladder campion is one of the foodplants of the attractive red-and-black froghopper - an insect known for wrapping itself in a frothy mass we call 'cuckoo-spit'.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

20th - 23rd July

The good weather persisted and Tom was able to cut the Top Grazing on Tuesday evening. Wednesday and Thursday he turned it and by Friday it was made.* Tom rowed it up and Barry was able to bale it the same day. John and Clare spent an energetic hour and a half raking up before Barry arrived. There were 20 bales, 7 more than last year.

*Clare had always assumed that ‘hay-making’ referred to the process of drying, rowing, baling, stacking, however she now knows that hay is ‘made’ when it is ready to be baled. Clare learned the difference between hay, haylage and silage: ‘There are two main methods of forage conservation: controlled fermentation where the pH is reduced to a level where growth of bacteria ceases, or dehydration, where moisture content is decreased to reduce microbial activity. 

Hay is an example of forage that is conserved using dehydration – the main challenge with preserving forage in this way being that it requires a longer period of dry weather to produce, whereas haylage is an example of grass preserved using controlled fermentation (and so is silage).

As a rule, when considering the digestibility of a forage, the more mature a grass becomes, the higher the potential yield, but the lower the digestibility (as it has higher levels of lignin). While very young grass in a growing state is much more digestible, if hay or haylage were to be harvested at this point, yields would be very low. There is however a point in between these two stages where a balance can be struck between digestibility and yield.‘ (haygain.co.uk)

Barry said that horses can eat hay and haylage, whereas cattle and sheep , and eat hay, haylage and silage.

Rowed up and nearly ready

The rake’s progress

21st July

While on his photography walks, John discovered deep excavations just below the west end of the Crag. There were bumble bees flying around the newly dug out earth, so the likely explanation is a badger in search of a bees’ nest.

22nd July

Clare discovered a pair of ichneumonid wasps inside the shepherd’s hut. It was difficult to photograph them because of their position on the window, however the shot of the underside from outside the hut proved more successful. Apparently they forage on Hogweed which is abundant in the strip behind the hut but not evident inside. Without going through all of the 2,500 UK species, Clare’s best guess is that this is Alomya debellator.

‘Ichneumon wasps are solitary insects which are closely related to bees and ants. Most ichneumons are parasitoids. The females lay their eggs into, or onto, the young of other insects and spiders, and the young which hatch out feed on that host insect. The host is eventually killed and consumed by the larva just before it pupates.’ (uksafari.com)

John and Clare are pleased to have the trail camera back and working. The young buck seen earlier in the summer, is still around although seems to have incurred some damage. John suspects this buck will have been in a fight with the older one. As the older one has not been seen for a while, it would seem that on this occasion youth has triumphed, which gives the lie to John’s father’s belief that, in sport at any rate, ‘a good old ‘un will beat a good young ‘un’.

24th July

John and Clare were delighted to discover that the roe deer have bred successfully. The mother is likely to be the oldest of the three does seen regularly, the two younger would not have been mature for mating until this year. It so happens that this is the time for the roe deer rut, which may account for the young buck’s presence.

25th July

Sally visited Liddells to see the Wildflower Meadow and sent some of her photographs. Her artistic way of seeing always results in beautiful shots. John is pleased she sent images of Valerian as he was finding the whiteness of this flower hard to capture in close-up.

Valerian Valeriana officinalis: ‘Sleeping potions known as Valerian were derived from this plant; they were used not only as a treatment for insomnia but also reputedly by thieves who spiked the drinks of intended victims. Valerian is still used as the source of sedatives for relaxing the central nervous system… The generic botanical name Valeriana comes from the Latin verb valere, meaning 'to be healthy'. In similar vein the specific epithet officinalis, literally meaning official, indicates that this plant was recognised as having valuable pharmaceutical /medicinal properties.’ (firstnature.com)

Hal, Beth, Juno and Juno’s cousins Charlie and Jonny visited today. As well as enjoying the hay bales as an outdoor gym, they amassed quite a collection of feathers for Mathilda’s cat - Buzzard, male and female Pheasant, Rook, Wood pigeon and Greenfinch. Charlie and Jonny’s eagle eyes also spotted a fox making its way across the Crag.

26th July

John set out to record more wildlife before the end of the month. (Clare realised she had forgotten to ask for an image of Yarrow, so took one on her phone. She would not like readers to think that John’s standards had slipped).

Yarrow Achillea millefolium : ‘Centuries ago, Yarrow was used as a charm against bad luck and illness. Although it was also used to stop wounds from bleeding, it was believed to cause nosebleeds if put up the nose.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Sneezewort Achillea ptarmica (also known as Batchelors’ Buttons)‘: The strongly pungent smell is said to induce sneezing, indeed the dried and powdered leaves have been used as a sneezing powder. An essential oil can be extracted which is used medicinally (although your author has yet been unable to track down the chemical ingredients of this oil). Although its bitter tasting leaves have been used in salads, the plant is poisonous to some farm animals like horses and cows, with symptoms slow to develop, which include fever, tachycardia, difficulty breathing, weight loss, drooling, spasms, and convulsions.’ (wildflowerfinder.org)

Betony Stachys officinalis (also known as Common Hedgenettle): ‘Betony is first referred to in a work by the Roman physician Antonius Musa. He claimed it was effective against sorcery.It was one of the great ‘all-heals’ of medieval herbalists.Betony is commonly found in old country churchyards, where it was planted in the past for its medicinal value and in the belief that it had powers that would ward off ghosts, goblins and other unwelcome spirits.’ (plantlife.org.uk)English botanist and herbalist Nicholas Culpeper, writing in the early 1600s, said that Betony (a Stachys species) '... preserves the liver and bodies of men from the danger of epidemical diseases...' which sounds credible until you read on '... and from witchcraft also.' (first-nature.com)

Betony Stachys officinalis (also known as Common Hedgenettle): ‘Betony is first referred to in a work by the Roman physician Antonius Musa. He claimed it was effective against sorcery.It was one of the great ‘all-heals’ of medieval herbalists.Betony is commonly found in old country churchyards, where it was planted in the past for its medicinal value and in the belief that it had powers that would ward off ghosts, goblins and other unwelcome spirits.’ (plantlife.org.uk)

English botanist and herbalist Nicholas Culpeper, writing in the early 1600s, said that Betony (a Stachys species) '... preserves the liver and bodies of men from the danger of epidemical diseases...' which sounds credible until you read on '... and from witchcraft also.' (first-nature.com)

Marsh Woundwort Stachys palustris: ‘This wildflower has a long history of use in herbalism, and as its common name implies it was used for dressing cuts and other wounds, and it is reputed to cure aching joints when made into an ointment and to have antispasmodic and sedative properties when taken internally.’ (first-nature.com)

Wild parsnip pastinaca sativa and Bluebottle Calliphora vomitoria

‘Wild parsnip is the progenitor of the cultivated parsnip.

Despite its, to humans, unpleasant habits, feeding largely on decaying meat, rubbish and faeces, the Bluebottle has its uses - ‘females deposit their eggs on rotting corpses, making them important forensic insects, as their eggs and timing of oviposition can be used to estimate time of death.’ (wikipedia.org). This one appears to be a vegetarian.

Great Burnet Sanguisorba officinalis: ‘The crimson heads of Great burnet were once used to make wine in Cumbria, and herbalists used them to stop bleeding.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Common or Black Knapweed Centaurea nigra: ‘Common knapweed is a huge favourite of all kinds of butterflies, including Common blues, Marbled whites and Meadow browns, and is sometimes covered in these species.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

‘In days gone by eligible young women would play a love-divination game by pulling out the rays and putting the plucked knapweed flower in their blouse. When as-yet unopened florets began to bloom it would tell her the man of her dreams was near. This game to foretell the future of love is also played with Broadleaf Plantain Plantago major.

Most of the local names including Bachelor's buttons [see also Sneezewort above , though note the difference in the placement of the apostrophe. Only one bachelor benefitted from Knapweed], Blue bottle and Iron knobs are explained by the hard, knobby heads, the bottle-shaped involucre and the toughness of the plant.

Knapweed was used for ruptures and wounds, bruises, sores, scabs and sore throat, etc.’ (plantlife.org.uk)

Field Scabious Knautia arvensis: ‘Field Scabious has a rough and hairy stem similar in texture to scabby skin. According to the 'Doctrine of Signatures' - where herbalists treated illnesses with plants that resembled the body part associated with illness - this association probably led to it being used as a herb to treat scabies, mange and itches.

The juice of 'scabiosa herba' (from whence its common name derives) was given to alleviate plague sores.

In Belgium a girl would pick Scabious "buttons", give each a lover's name, and then choose her husband by the one that flowered best…

The 'pom-pom' like nature of its flower has also given rise to alternative names such as Lady's pincushion, bachelor's buttons and blue bonnets.’ (plantlife.org.uk)

Bachelors sure had a lot of buttons.

Meadow Brown on Greater Knapweed Centaurea scabiosa

Meadow Brown in full view

Small Tortoiseshell on Marsh thistle

Small Skipper: ‘The Small Skipper almost exclusively uses Yorkshire-fog (Holcus lanatus), although several other grasses have been recorded as foodplants, for example, Timothy (Phleum pratense), Creeping Soft-grass (H.mollis), False Brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum), Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis), and Cock’s-foot (Dactylis glomerata). (butterfly-conservation.org)

This above information has reinforced Clare’s desire to know more about the different kinds of grasses seen on Liddells. As far as she can tell, this grass is none of the above!

And lest readers think that dragonflies have been forgotten this year - Common Darter

While looking at the ponds…

Upright water millefoil Myriophyllum crispatum

29th July

Mel walked around Liddells this morning and noted 71 plants in flower (Clare walks regularly back from Liddells and often makes a similar count along her route. The highest number she has seen yet this year is 63, so Liddells would seem to be doing well. Mel noticed the Water Figwort that Sue D had donated and planted, and also Enchanters Nightshade Circaea lutetiana, which is another newly seen species on the site. (Photograph to follow)

Spiked water millefoil Myriophyllum spicatum: ‘The closely related Parrot's Feather was introduced into the UK in the 1960s as a garden pond plant, but soon escaped into the countryside, probably as a result of garden waste containing fragments of it. It is now an invasive weed.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Water figwort Scrophularia auriculata: ‘Many emergent wetland plants, such as Water Figwort, provide resting places for aquatic insects, such as Caddis flies and Alder flies.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

April - not at all taxing

3rd April

Clare saw the first Dandelion of the year out on the Meadow. Juno managed to find all the eggs Clare had concealed. Maybe the spotty paper wrapping made them easier to see.

4-6th April

The middle path through the Pit Wood proves as popular as ever with local fauna. Chris Wren says that the badger is musking - marking territory.

8-9th April

John and Dave began working on a quad bike friendly entrance to the Top Strip.

Sue D donated several Water Figwort plants and began planting some by the Big Pond.

10th April

Hal, Beth, Juno and marshmallows got toasty warm with a fire in the story-telling circle.

A pair of Mallard seem to be considering setting up residence on or near the Big Pond.

Clare planted the rest of the Water Figwort and Clare and John added twelve Purging Buckthorn hedging plants into the developing hedge in the Orchard.

11/12th April

Clare and John have started to create a pond in their garden. This has produced hugs amounts of surplus soil which John and Dave are bagging up, taking to Liddells and using to build up the roadway on the Wetland.

John spotted tadpoles in the roadway pond - a great relief as there was a risk the frogspawn would have been killed off by the cold weather. The ducks are probably feasting on any tadpoles remaining in the Big Pond.

There appears to have been a pigeon social in the Pit Wood.

17th April

After starting work on creating an extension to the east-west fence along the north edge of the Wetland, John had another excursion with his camera.

The ducks have flown - probably having exhausted the tadpole supply. Unfortunately with no access to expenses the ducks had to go without a duck house to entice them to stay.

Wetland fencing 2.JPG
Hare J photo.JPG

Bank vole

“Clare said it was rude to stand on the table.”

18th April

Anticipating summer, John built a shelf onto the outside of the shepherd’s hut in the hope that a swallow might be tempted to nest there. He saw a Woodcock heading for cover near the signs to the hide, clearly taking the signage literally. Cowslips are out on the Meadow.

19th April

Clare opened her hives for the first time this year and was dismayed. One hive had very few bees and no brood. This had been a weakish colony going into the winter and Clare suspects the recent period of very cold and then wet weather proved too much. The second colony was full of bees and had three to four frames of brood. They were quiet on the frames and clearly ok. The last colony had a lot of very bad tempered bees, probably because there did not appear to be a laying queen. Clare will add a frame with eggs in the hope that the bees will create a new queen.

Clare’s mood was improved by seeing more footage of a Tawny Owl.

20th April

John decided to have an evening visit to Liddells and saw about six hares on the Top Grazing.

21st April

Hares are the most frequently captured creature in trail camera footage. They usually seem to be taking their time on the path, however these two are showing quite a turn of speed.

22nd April

Clare had her first drive of the quad bike and loved it. Using it certainly speeds up getting about on Liddells. The badger too seems to be putting on a spurt. As it is going in the opposite of its usual direction, perhaps it had forgotten something.

25th April

Clare and Barry teamed up to look at Barry’s hives and Clare came away with a frame of larvae and eggs to offer to her colony that looked as if it would survive with a new queen.

Violets are out on the Wetland and in the Pit Wood.

26th April

John and Dave tackled some of the fallen trees in the Pit Wood and John started making a quad bike-friendly track so the the wood can be brought out.

In the absence of Willow and accompanying music, the buck has taken to stripping the raspberries. John says he is a very fine specimen and a youngster - his antlers remain quite thin and his head is held high. With older deer, the head droops more as they walk.

27th April

John saw Siskins and a Greenfinch on the feeders - firsts this year for both species.

A fox appears very interested in the trail camera.

29th April

Clare bimbled round Liddells (OED Word of the Day 01.04.21 ‘bimble:’: to move at a leisurely pace, esp. on foot, to amble, wander). She added Oxlips, Cherry blossom, Bluebells, Wood sorrel, Soft rush and Wild strawberry to plants that have come into flower this year.

30th April

Mel donned his waders and planted more pond plants. The female mallard was on the Big Pond when he arrived and he found more goose faeces and a pair of Greylags were circling over the land. John and Mel removed more large stones from potential quad bike + flail mower paths.

Clare and John saw three hares on a last-of-the-month visit to Liddells today. Clare was delighted that Siskins visited the feeders while she was there. There has been a thrush singing frequently very close to the hide recently. Clare and John like to think it is the one captured by the trail camera.

Marsh tit - back…

…to front

March - screeching with delight

1st March

The trail camera captured footage of a hare sniffing. Sniffing, or olfactory sampling, is integral to olfactory perception, and necessary and sufficient for generating neural activity in the olfactory area of the brain. At this time of year the hare may be sniffing for evidence of a mate or a rival.

Dave came to help John with logs. The log shed now has two full rows drying. Clare planted more Snowdrops in the Pit Wood and went in search of a Daffodil to mark St David’s Day.

3rd March

Mel came to help plant Willow whips and move brash from the Top Strip into the Quarry.

7th March

The trail camera captured hares again - the three clips are only minutes apart. More sniffing - this time a fox who may well be hoping for more to eat.

After a long absence, a Goldfinch appeared near the feeders again. Clare and John think the nyjer seed had become wet and started to ferment and the birds avoided it. Clare found nesting material in some of the bird boxes.

9th March

Nesting material in more boxes.

10th March

Mel returned for more work on Willows and with brash. As he was planting in the Stank (the boggy area of the Wetland below the Crag, newly named after John had come across a reference to The Great Stank in a book about deer), Mel noticed goose droppings. This may indicate a goose was looking for a nesting site.

11th March

Clare spotted the first of this year’s frogspawn in the Roadside Pond.

15th March

Not only is today the Ides of March, but, according to Word Perfect, it is the festival of Anna Parenna, a Roman goddess of renewal, life and the returning year (hence the word ‘perennial’). Clare and John refixed a nest box that had been used by bumblebees last year, sowed seeds and transplanted Snowdrops round the Shepherd’s Hut, spotted a Ladybird and found a very large amount of frogspawn in the Big Pond and more in the Roadside Pond. And all without Anna Parenna’s annual sacrificial expulsion of an old man or criminal in a ritual designed to purify. There were no criminals to hand and Clare really needs John’s help.

7 spot ladybird, Coccinella septempunctata: overwintering sites include wood edges and under tree bark

More frogspawn in the Roadside pond

This gives an idea of just how big the frogspawn patch is

16th March

The buck has appeared again on the trail camera. John says that you can see that the buck has started fraying the velvet of its antlers - they look less smooth and dark. The footage of the hare listening is rather charming.

17th - 20th March

St Patrick’s Day and John wore green. He usually does. He and Mel planted three Yews in the Pit Wood. The Yews are part of a number of trees that John was able to buy as a result of selling some of his books in a ‘Books for Trees’ project.

In Word Perfect Susie Dent points out that March is the month for World Book Day and writes about how the history of the book is intertwined with trees in ways that extend beyond the production of paper. ‘The original word, in Old English, was spelt boc, ‘beech’, for it was on the bark on that tree, or upon beechwood itself, that runes were cast and inscriptions engraved; to this day the German for a letter of the alphabet is Buchstabe, ‘beechstaff’. ‘Folio’, which today refers to a book of a very large size, is from the Latin for ‘leaf’…It seems entirely appropriate that the tree - whose name shares an ancient root with ‘true’, because truth is loyalty, steadfastness, and solidity - was the birthplace for books.’

It is not evident that the hares are experiencing vernalagnia (see below) however John and Clare hope they may be.

P1010964.JPG

John added barley straw to the Big Pond in the hope that it will help counteract algae growth.

21st March

Susie Dent again - on this day in Word Perfect she offers ‘vernalagnia’: a recently coined word that combines the Latin vernalis, ‘relating to spring’, and lagnia, ‘lust’; she refers to the beginning of spring as a time when ‘buds are erumpent’ with vigorous growth. Yesterday was the Spring Equinox and today Clare heard the first Chiffchaffs of the year calling in both the Scrub and the Pit Wood. (Last year she heard them first on 17th March.) Clare took the mouseguards off the beehives as there are so many bees flying now they will be able to defend themselves from hungry vermin looking for a quick sugar fix. Clare found the first Primroses in flower in the Pit Wood.

22nd March

Mel and John took to planting again - three Wild Service trees - part of the ‘Books for Trees’ sale. The Wild Service tree, Sorbus torminalis, is now quite rare and can be an indicator of ancient woodland, growing with Oak and Ash. It is hermaphrodite and the fruits are sometimes called ‘chequers’; the tree is a favourite with wildlife like the Wood pigeon whose gut softens the seeds for propagation. A good service to provide.

26th March

John saw a mallard duck and drake take off from the Big Pond. The badger pauses on his usual route through the Pit Wood, having no idea he was being watched.

27th March

John points out that the buck’s antlers are now clean of velvet. Clare and John hope not many saplings were harmed in the process.

28-29th March

Even though it is only a brief glimpse, John and Clare are delighted to see that there is still a Tawny Owl frequenting Liddells. They also hope that the weasel escapes the owl’s clutches. Clare is always delighted to see footage of hares so has included a clip of the last of the March hares. Of course she hopes there will be April hares too. John has included the footage of the roe doe scenting the air and he says you can see how she licks her lips to intensify her sensing.

30th March

Clare and John decided to have an afternoon walk round Liddells to see what might be in flower. They found Celandine, Daisy and Coltsfoot. As they walked close to the Oak tree at the west end of the Crag, a Barn owl flew out of the Barn Owl box. It is one of the most exciting moments they have had on Liddells. While John watched to see where it flew, Clare took the opportunity to check a small nest box close by. John helpfully pointed out that it was unlikely that the Barn owl could have got through the hole. John and Clare decided to return in the early evening to see if the owl would be out hunting. They arrived at about 7.30 to see the owl flying and then perching on fence posts on the southern edge of the Pit Wood. Two roe does emerged from the Scrub, a hare ran off from near the bug hotel and two hares were sitting on the path near the roadside pond. It was a good visit.

Larch

Coltsfoot

31st March

It was too cold for Barn owl watching this evening, however John saw a Heron fly off the Big Pond. There may be less frogspawn than before.

February - Mud-month

(According to Susie Dent, in Old English this month was known as 'Solomona∂' or 'Mud-month'. It seemed too good a phrase not to use.) The weather made working on Liddells difficult this month, however after a frustrating time with the trail camera not working properly, February has seen it back functioning as it should, so there follows plenty of footage to show all the activity that goes on when John and Clare turn their backs. The footage also reveals the gradual accumulation of snow and tracks.

1st February

The trail camera has picked up a female blackbird in the Pit Wood. They are usually not as much in evidence as the males. John and Clare have learned from Keith that any larger male blackbirds with black beaks might be from Scandinavia, while smaller ones with black beaks will be young birds. Apparently for native blackbirds, the more orange the beak, the more desirable the male is to the female. The male pheasant in pursuit of the female is puffing himself up to appear more desirable. The female remains unimpressed. A male then seems to be offering himself up for a festive image.

4th February

John and Clare saw three deer on the Crag today. Clare checked her bees and again saw activity in two of the hives while the third is keeping its status well guarded.

6th February

Clare saw a hare on the north edge of the Pit Wood, two deer jumping out from near the bees and running up into the Scrub, and a Tree Creeper in a Hawthorn near the hide. Recent snow and rain has meant the old spring site is still in full spate and joining the run-off water from the current spring.

7th February

The trail camera has captured another first for Liddells - two foxes. Foxes mate in winter so this may be a pair.

11-14th February

The snow has its attractions. Tim walked over Liddells with his camera, John took his camera up too and Clare topped up the feeders. Keith visited to look at tracks. During his visit Keith heard a Woodpecker drumming and a Marsh Tit singing. Admittedly not a huge range of notes but lovely to hear. The footage of the bounding doe above demonstrates what different tracks this action makes - sets of four prints, each set about 6 to 8 feet apart.

When icicles hang by the hut… Tim pointed out that the icicles are directly in line with the furrows in the roofing sheets

Not a carefully dug path but the result of snow drifting

Large pond from the south

The Wetland and Crag looking east

Scots Pine with snow decoration

Brown hare print

Brown hare tracks

Fox print with size indicator

Fox tracks - Keith says they are much more direct than those of a dog, which would wander all over the place

Roe deer print

Roe deer tracks

John’s image of deer tracks across the Top Grazing

Blackbird

Pheasant

Wood pigeon

Resting Wood pigeon (‘probably’ Keith added)

Rabbit prints and size guide - a shorter span that that of a hare

Yak

Meadow and path west

Wetland showing desire paths - unofficial shortcuts which become worn into the land (the term was coined in relation to planned city parks to illustrate how architects of these spaces sometimes fail to anticipate the needs and desires of the users. Here the desire paths show animals’ habitual routes

15th-25th February

Still no work possible on Liddells, so the trail camera is coming in to its own recording other activities. There is much pairing going on and evidence of territory marking. The badger appears most nights nearly always going in the same direction and has more than once appeared twice on the same night going in the same direction, which begs the questions - is it one badger or two and, if it is one badger, why does it come back round again?! The fox, too, seems to prefer the same directional route and pees/marks the same tree most times.

John notes that the footage of the buck shows that it will have a very fine set of antlers this year. It is almost certainly the same buck caught on camera last year, when it had noticeably irregular antlers.

Clare’s annual hopes that she might see hares boxing on Liddells are raised.

Clare heard her first singing Thrush this year on 22nd. It was a sunny day and she noticed a couple of bees flying in and out of Hive 1, the hive where the bees hadn’t touched the fondant and so where Clare was a bit concerned about their survival.

26th February

Clare and John risked the rootling badger’s appetite for bulbs and transplanted Snowdrops in the north side of the Pit Wood. John had s few camera moments.

The waxing February Snow moon

The last of the snow in a shaded north-facing hollow in the Quarry

Bluebells emerging

Long-tailed tit

Great tit affronted by Pheasant table manners

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Yes, it’s twin prop

27th February

John took delivery of a flail mower, which will cut the time spent on strimming.

Hal, Beth and Juno visited Liddells. Juno sowed wildflower seeds she had been given for her birthday. She chose to sow them round the hide. She then made potions from things she had collected - moss, lichen, bark, feathers, leaves, pine seeds, etc. - all stirred up in pond water with magic powder (ground turmeric and beetroot). While Clare was collecting pond water she heard a male frog’s mating call and saw a sudden flurry of activity in the water. She’ll be looking out for frogspawn soon. Juno ended her visit with a ride on ‘Grandpa’s toy’!

There were lots of bees flying in and out of all three hives. They will most probably be foraging on Snowdrops, Gorse, Hazel and Alder catkins on Liddells and any flowering bulbs in nearby gardens.

As Clare walked home, she heard her first Curlew song of the year, about a mile away from Liddells. Jane W who lives near Liddells, had heard a Curlew the day before in the fields close to Liddells.

Mower awaiting grass to cut and demonstrating its dominance over the strimmer

November - a concerted effort

1st - 11th November

Clare put her efforts into preparing the path in the Top Strip ready for new chip, This is another way of saying she was weeding the path. AGAIN. John worked on the interior of the shepherd’s hut, completing the fire surround.

John moved the trail camera back to a much used place in the Pit Wood, overlooking one of the main and much used paths. The trail camera often captures deer seemingly bemused by its small red light.

12th November

Dave arrived with his chain saw and set about the stack of branches that Hal had helped bring up to the shelter. In a concerted effort Dave and Clare worked their way almost through the whole pile and stacked the logs ready to dry for next winter. Clare started adding chip to the path.

13th November

Thanks to a gift from Pat, Clare has been reading John Lewis Stempel’s The Private Life of the Hare, a delightful compilation of history, mythology, religion, literature, science, anecdote and statistics. Clare has discovered that the Scottish ‘malkin’ or ‘mawkin’ means both cat and hare, and a common general name for the hare in England was ‘puss’. Apparently hares are interchangeable with cats when it comes to those who opt for broomstick travel. Maybe Clare and John should be more concerned about Pit Wood activities.

14th November

Clare continued working on the path. John constructed a hinged work top from one of a pair of benches he had made to go with a table he had also made for Hal and Beth.

The trail camera captured several deer movements in the Pit Wood. The three that follow show three different deer a few minutes apart. When John and Clare first saw the clips, they thought it was one deer and couldn’t understand how it had managed to keep going back to the same place. See if you can spot the differences.

17th November

Mel came to help and he and John turned their efforts to weeding round the trees in cages on the Top Grazing and in the Scrub.

18th November

Another mound of chip spread on to the path. Here is one photo to show Clare’s achievement, though she acknowledges it is very similar to several photographs over the years showing the freshly chipped path. For a variation she took a photo of the tarpaulin that she and John use as a base for both brash and chip. Some readers might recognise it. When John and Clare got married in July 2009, they decided to have a celebratory party in their garden at home. Mindful of the vagaries of British summer weather, John constructed magnificent roofs for both lawns. It was just as well he did. The rain began in the early hours of the morning and continued heavily, and without respite until well into the next day. Several guests arrived in wellies and one wag turned up in a snorkel. The tarpaulins in use at Liddells were the covers for the garden. They continue to give excellent service.

Still going strong, just like John and Clare

19th - 21st November

Dave finished sawing and stacking the last of the logs then John directed Dave’s efforts into digging up several boulders on the Top Grazing that are a hazard when it comes to cutting. Clare had noted the OED Word of the Day on 11th of this month - ‘earthfast’ (Especially of a stone: fixed in the ground). Today one became earthloose.

Although knowing that gorse can flower throughout the year, Clare has noticed more in flower this month than ever before. Presumably this is down to the mild weather.

John and Clare made a concerted effort to bag up chip and move it on to the path.

Birds are arriving in great numbers at the hide. John decided to see if he could tempt one to feed from his hand.

A pheasant tried to seduce the trail camera with some sweet sounds. Clare thinks it sounds like a cat purring - could this be another witchy transformation.

The doe on the trail camera displays a perfect example of what is called ‘being on alert’. You can see her lift her head and neck and stare intently at something which has grabbed her attention. She is also lifting one foreleg, which is also typical.

To give an idea of just how big the stone is, the boot is a size 9

John failing to channel St Francis of Assissi

Socially distant kissing is in fashion. Certainly no ‘slummocking’ (OED Word of the Day 29.11.20: to kiss amorously n aparticularly wet and slobbery way)

28th November

Jane E and Pat spent some time in the hide and Jane saw Redpolls - this is the first record of them this season.

29th November

John did some tidying up and planning in the shepherd’s hut, designing a table and benches. Also, he had spotted an imminent bit of wall collapse in the NE Strip so pre-empted disaster by taking a section down and rebuilding.

Clare hefted all the hives to check the bees had sufficient stores (they did) and left them with fondant in case supplies run low. With the mild weather, the bees are more active and eating more than usual at this time of year.

Meanwhile in the hide, Adele and Rachel put their concerted efforts into making music. They had asked recently if they could play at Liddells and John and Clare were delighted to make the space available. As well and nurturing wildlife, John and Clare wish to provide a space for the arts and the imagination. Clare enjoyed a private concert while she was attending to the bees. The recording shows the birds enjoying Adele and Rachel playing Telemann’s Sonata for Flute and Violin. Adele and Rachel played for about three hours and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. What an excellent ending to the month.

Hut with shelves and mug storage

Another stone on the wall

Adele (flute) and Rachel (violin)

February - colds, wind and rain

1st-2nd February

John and Clare carried out bird box cleaning and maintenance ready for Spring. They also moved some that had never been used, and lowered some that were out of Clare’s reach, even with a ladder. Clare now has plans to make sure there are steps added to stiles that have been built for persons under six foot tall. Clare was delighted to put up the new box that David O had made for her birthday last year. No 25 remains missing and presumably has fallen into the Liddells equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle.

Strong winds had ripped some of the sheeting for the rainwater collection so that needs further repair.

The first snowdrops of the year have appeared in the Top Strip.

5th-6th February

The trail camera is back in the Pit Wood and caught a hare, a vixen and the sound of a Tawny Owl calling and then flying off. The vixen appears to be scent marking.

7th February

John and Clare are delighted that this year Sue Dunne, a local ceramicist, and Linda France, a local poet, are going to be making monthly visits to Liddells. Linda has recently been announced as Climate Writer in Residence by Newcastle University and New Writing North.

Sue made her first visit of the year today and filled a bag with things that had caught her eye. As Neil was on the land planting nine trees he had grown at home, Sue did not escape work detail. Neil has added Limes, Horse Chestnuts, Maples and Ash to the Top Grazing.

Sue and Clare spent some time in the hide and both were delighted to see a female Siskin on the nyjer seed - another first for Liddells.

Gorse out in time for Valentine’s Day

8th February

John and Sue W visited with grandchildren William and Annabelle who had to find and learn about animal homes for their homework. Liddells provided plenty to discover - squirrel dreys, a buzzard’s nest, mouse and vole holes, the bee hives, the bug hotel and more besides.

William looking every inch the experienced birder

Negotiating the Dirty Dancing Bridge en route to the squirrel dreys

Annabelle in charge of note-taking

10th February

John and Clare learned that Storm Ciara had taken its toll - a stretch of wall on the north boundary had collapsed - annoyingly it included the patch John and Mel had repaired only a week ago.

11th February

John had help from Dave G to start the wall repair - they started with sorting and organising the fallen stones before tackling the base layers.

Juno inspecting the damage

Day 1’s repair work

12th February

With the stormy cold weather, the birds are getting through the food in the feeders very quickly. John and Clare went up to replenish them and were happy to see a Siskin make several visits. It would seem to be one of last year’s juveniles that is now developing its male colouring.

14th February

Today marks the start of National Nesting Box Week and while Clare was at the hide, she saw a Blue tit investigating Box 8 which can be seen from the hide. It was as if he knew.

16th February

George C came to visit Liddells with a view to taking down the overhanging branches on the north boundary. Clare enjoyed the contrast in woodland working garb.

John and Clare have seen the hare in daylight several times recently. The trail camera has too.

George will be seen clearly while John will merge into the landscape

18th February

Neil and Lesley make the most of half term with family and take some of them to the bird hide. Clare gave Juno, who shares this birthday with Lesley (and Pat) her first pair of binoculars.

Bird watchers with intent

Juno bird-watching at home. History does not relate what she saw

20th February

Nikki and Megan, two teachers from a local First School, came to visit with a view to a Forest School day. Clare and John are crossing all available digits.

The trail camera has captured the hare again, this time ruffled by the storm.

21st February

Storms, wind and bouts of what Clare’s sister refers to as ‘there’s-a-lot-of-it-about’ has meant little activity on Liddells this month, however John has been given permission to collect some Broom regeneration from a local woodland and today he and Clare planted 11 small Broom plants on the Crag.

New brooms, too young to sweep

22nd February

John is pursuing his photography challenge and has mastered the art of enlarging and cropping, so here are some of his results.

Bank vole banking on scattered bird food

Tree creeper showing clearly that it is not the short-toed variety

The RSPB says:

Accentors are small, inconspicuous, streaked birds, with sharp, pointed bills and a slightly robin-like, pot-bellied shape. They live mostly close to the ground, with a quick, shuffling and hopping action when feeding.

Dunnocks are often overlooked, not only are they small, brown and grey with a slender beak, they also like to creep around under bushes in a mouse-like way.

Keith points out the vermiculation, a quality he particularly enjoys in avian plumage.

Male siskin

Goldfinch and Siskin feeding together - often the Siskins will fight the Goldfinches off

This might be a juvenile male coming in to adulthood - an immature male will have a dark bill; this one’s bill seems to be turning yellow

Marsh tit

Coal tit showing some of the differences from the Marsh tit - the colouring on the cheeks and the white streak on the back of the head

Male chaffinch withstanding storm Dennis

Female chaffinch looking much calmer

Great tit looking great

25th February

Finally wind, rain and viruses had abated sufficiently for John and Mel to tackle the partly rebuilt wall. Clare and John habitually use excellent thick leather gloves for work on Liddells and between them, have got through several pairs, however when the gloves get wet, they can leech warmth from hands. John transformed his working experience today by discovering some heavy duty waterproof gloves in a local store and wore these over fleece liners. The gloves were so efficient that John probably worked longer than was wise and now has a sore back. Maybe there are advantages in having wet, cold hands. However, much more importantly, the wall now stands.

Mel at work in the remains of Monday’s snow

Through stones, ‘through’ in this context is pronounced locally as ‘thruff’

Through Mel, pronounced locally as Mel

Finishing touches

Repair complete

26th February

Clare went to change the disc in the trail camera and was amazed to see a lot of water bubbling out of the original site of the Pit Wood spring; there was also considerable water running into this stream from the path under the Dirty Dancing bridge.

Clare found clear evidence of a badger’s presence very near to the camera, however it seems to have evaded the camera’s gaze.

A quick visit to the hide to top up the feeders and Clare saw four Redwings that seemed to be investigating the feeding station but were not quite bold enough to partake. Another species for John to photograph and they bring the total number of bird species seen from the hide to 26.

Maybe footprint casts have to go on the to-do list

27th February

John and Clare decided it was time to finish the half-made drainage ditch leading away from the new pond. They are making a french drain so first Clare gathered up the rubble left from the wall repair to repurpose as a bed for the drainage pipes, then she and John set about excavating more of the ditch. It was very muddy however neither managed to fall over although there was a fair amount of mud slinging. The ditch is now fully dug however needs more rubble in which to bed the pipes.

The two side pipes will feed into the central ditch which currently awaits its gravel and pipe

Peppa Pig is not the only one who likes muddy puddles

December - boardom

1st December

Encouraged by identifying the type of spider’s web last month, Clare photographed a web with a different structure but found it hard to decide what kind of web it is. It most resembles the kind of web created by a spider after a dose of caffeine.

Work on the bird-watching screen (which is becoming more substantial than Clare had originally envisaged and is now more like a hide), involved adding floorboards.

See the image on the right towards the bottom of this page

5th December

More framing.

6th - 7th December

Although the deer have not been captured by the trail camera for a while, badger, fox and hare are all evident in the Pit Wood. The hare appeared on the camera in exactly the same spot, at exactly the same time on consecutive days - so hare today and hare tomorrow.

9th December

As Clare is doing her share of the building, she insisted this contribution be noted for the record.

Framed!

10th - 11th December

Work progresses. The hammer is a shadow of itself. The fox is still around and the camera catches the hare in the dusk.

12th - 13th December

The lower boarding at the front is complete and the roofing sheets are in place although awaiting a few more fixings.

18th December

Adding boards for the opening at the back of the shelter means that the frame is complete. The secondhand timber from the Mart Sale has been nearly enough for the whole structure, however John and Clare will need to buy a bit more to finish. There are some thicker boards left that will be used to make the benches for the inside. Sadly this grand design does not run to a coffee machine.

23rd December

While Clare was involved with things seasonal at home, John decided he was able to work on the screen without Clare’s oversight.

John says it’s quirky. Clare will be micromanaging in future

26th December

Many people go for a walk on Boxing Day. Not Clare and John.

Ready for work

27th December

While Clare looked after Juno, John headed for the gramadoelas (Remote rural region, the backwoods, the sticks; OED Word of the Day 3.12.19). He did some brashing, tree tube maintenance and cleaned out bird boxes in the Top Strip. Clare was pleased he was morigerous (Obedient, compliant, submissive; OED Word of the Day 30.12.19) and resisted further attempts to introduce quirkiness to the screen, since she tends towards being perjink (Exact, precise, extremely accurate; OED Word of the Day 28.12.19).

The trail camera captured a deer on its way through the Pit Wood so at least one is still around. You can see how well it is camouflaged in its winter coat.

28th December

The outer structure is nearly complete. Clare and John turned their attention to the furnishings. They are hoping that they will be able to complete the - well it really is more than a screen, so has been upgraded to a hide - by the end of the year.

John bringing supplies

Trying out bench heights

29th December

Walking down to road to the bottom gate, Clare felt she was being watched. Beech is associated with femininity and thought to be the the queen of British trees. Clare hoped this tree was casting a kindly eye on her. Back at work John wrestled with finishing details on the boarding while Clare dug holes for a pole and a dead tree trunk that will support feeders. Together they fixed a bench along the front and imported two chairs for the side openings. Clare was suitably zealous with her new broom.

Pole and tree trunk in place

A new broom really does sweep clean

Almost ready

30th December

John fixed poles into the posts, added shelving and tried out how the feeders will hang.

31st December

A sunny, frosty day to end the year on Liddells. Clare filled the feeders then grappled with the guardian for the ground feeder which eventually surrendered to her efforts. She then fetched the last two telegraph poles from the sheds and part rolled and part dragged them to the hide site. They will support the remaining feeders. Thanks are due to Eilidh for the poles which she originally donated for Paul’s training. We are pleased to have been able to use so much secondhand and repurposed timber on the hide. Clare dug holes for the last two posts and left with the hope that the birds will not take too long to find the food.

A Happy New Year to all our readers. We are always delighted to hear that people read and follow this blog. Thank you for your support.

Awaiting birds

Soft rush on the Wetland

November - dig this

1st November

Along with familiar footage of deer, badger, fox and grey squirrels, John and Clare were delighted to see some birds captured by the trail camera. Although John and Clare have seen Redwings most winters, this is the first time the birds have been caught on camera.

Jays are often heard and sometimes seen on Liddells, however this is the first movie footage to show one.

2nd November

An addition to life on Liddells has arrived. It is not as tall as expected and is not clad in bright colours. We do believe it is capable of work of great strength. Its feet are conspicuously free of curly hair.

Pass the parcel 1 - the crate

Pass the parcel 2 - the inner box

Pass the parcel 3 - the bindings

It really is very small

The Hobbit revealed…

…and it comes with its own tiny dustpan and brush, seen next to normal size ones

Moving the stove out of the car boot, up the shepherds hut steps and into the hut took all of John and Clare’s combined strength.. It is made of cast iron. They worked their way through all the layers of packaging (see above) and John initially thought the instruction manual was missing, however found it cunningly concealed in the ash can. On Page 4 Clare found vital information. If only they’d known!

9-11th November

There are noticeably more blackbirds visible and audible on Liddells now. The overwintering birds from Scandinavia must have arrived.

John has almost finished laying the lino floor in the shepherds hut. As it is best cut when not too cold, he and Clare had to empty their kitchen and spread it out on that floor in order to have enough space to unroll and cut it almost to size.

John loves the Collective and Farmstock sales at the local Mart and has picked up many bargains there for Liddells - roofing sheets for sheds, fence posts, flat bed trailer, and more besides - having created a design for the bird-watching screen and hence a shopping list, he was prospecting even more purposefully than usual at the recent sale and discovered that not only was there plenty of the kind of timber that was needed, but also roofing sheets. He was successful at bidding and he and Clare then made three journeys with their little trailer to collect it all.

Load number 1 waiting to be stacked behind the bottom gate

12th November

John’s pool playing has unexpected dividends - two fellow players volunteered to help carry all the sale timber and roofing sheets to where they will be needed. This was no small undertaking - hauling wet and heavy boards and awkwardly-shaped sheets along several hundred yards of sodden and slippery ground and then over a stile. Clare thinks John must be such an asset to the pool team that they will do anything necessary to keep him playing.

Employing strong arm tactics

The trail camera has captured the following footage. John thinks this is the roe buck that has been around for a while and that it has recently shed its antlers and may be scratching where they have been.

13th November

John made the final cuts to the lino in the shepherds hut and worked on the support for the stove.

A fox came closer to the trail camera than ever before. It looks as though it has either a thick winter coat or is pretty well fed.

14th November

John and Clare were particularly pleased to discover that along with the familiar footage of deer, badger, fox and squirrels, the camera had captured a Sparrowhawk perched in the Scrub. Sparrowhawks will eat anything they can manage, including squirrels, so this squirrel was lucky. It is just possible to see the barring on the Sparrowhawk’s tail.

18th November

The sheep have eaten all they can from the Top Grazing so have been moved to the Meadow for a few days.

Juno is going through a phase of interrupted sleep. John is teaching her to count sheep.

There has only ever been one badger captured at any time by the camera. This may be a lone animal for whom Liddells is within its patch. Clare read that badger territories are roughly hexagonally-shaped areas, each border touching that of a neighbour's range, such that they form a honeycomb mosaic. Each sett is roughly in the middle of the territory and badgers forage closest to the sett first, moving further away as they exhaust the food reserves. The hole that John and Clare found near the Meadow has not been further excavated so may have been made by a badger unearthing a bumblebee nest.

22nd November

Having discovered that there is no spring at the base of the Crag, which John and Clare had thought a possibility, and that the wet area there is due to drainage from the land above, plans for an even larger pond at the base of the Crag had to be scrapped since there would be insufficient water flow to maintain such a pond. However John and Clare took advice and realised they could extend and improve the big pond instead. An 8 ton digger with operator arrived today and Carl set about the work. By the end of the day, he had enlarged and landscaped the borders of the big pond, enlarged both roadside and crag ponds, created a new pond, opened some of the grips and improved the roadway east of the roadside pond. While supervising all this activity, John saw a Woodcock fly out of the Pit Wood so at least one has arrived for the winter. Clare marked out the site for the bird-watching screen and was pleased to note that the willows woven into a screen were showing plenty of signs of life.

Arriving for work

Working

More working

The new pond seen from the Crag

Signs of life

23rd November

There had been substantial rain overnight so John and Clare went to check on the ponds and were delighted to see that they had already filled to their newer capacity.

Here’s the big pond 364 days ago. Note the rain

And here it is now

And from the south

The trail camera has captured footage of the roe buck again and here you can clearly see the remains of the pedicles where the antlers were attached.

24th November

Work began on the bird-watching screen. Clare dug holes for the first two posts and, with John’s help, put them in.

One post

The not-8-ton digger

Two posts

25 and 29th November

Work on the screen again - the second two posts in place, the subframe finished, the first floorboards fixed.

Liddells is saturated at present and not very appealing, however the rushes on the Wetland were covered in spiders’ webs and looked beautiful. Clare wondered if it might be possible to identify the kind of spider that would create this kind of web. The Natural History Museum came up trumps and Clare was able to recognise the webs she saw as sheet webs built by the spider family that includes the money spider. Coincidentally The Guardian’s Country Diary on Friday 29th was written by Susie White, who lives near Allendale, and she too commented on ‘the delicate hammocks of money spiders’.

Three posts and John thinking

Three posts and John thinking

Four posts and level checking

Sheeting

Flooring

30th November

Today was chosen by the Woodland Trust for their Big Climate Fight Back tree planting campaign. It just so happens that Clare’s friend Barbara had generously offered to give Clare trees to mark her recent birthday and they would only be ready at the end of this month. A plan was hatched: Barbara would come up from West Sussex in time to plant the trees on the 30th. The tree nursery’s delivery date was set back because the ground was so wet that they couldn’t lift the trees, then the haulage company’s scanner broke and they could give no assurance that the trees were loaded for delivery, however the tree gods and goddesses were obviously on The Woodland Trust’s side and the trees arrived on the 29th and were duly planted today. Clare had chosen a Hornbeam, a new species for Liddells. Barbara had generously bought two and a Rowan, so Barbara, Clare and John had a tree each to plant. Liddells was looking particularly beautiful in the heavy frost.

Dig a hole and insert tree…

Dig a hole and insert tree…

…with help if need be…

…hammer in stakes…

…well done John…

…wrap netting around the stakes

A localised climate fight back and three fewer trees for Corbyn to plant

Clare has long recognised Barbara’s artistic and creative abilities and was delighted Barbara left her mark on the shepherd’s hut