March 31, 2024

March - new life

March 31, 2024

4th March

A jay, and then a second jay join the procession of creatures that have appeared in the story-telling circle.

A heron demonstrates why there might be very few frogs in the big pond.

6th March

The older buck seems to have an offstage interchange with the younger buck. You can see that the older buck is no longer in velvet while the younger one still is.

The hares are still in evidence near the story-telling circle. Here are three manoeuvring round each other. There is a delightful early morning chorus of birds in the background.

8th March

Clare’s attempts to capture footage of frogs mating have thus far been unsuccessful although there are plenty of videos of herons hunting frogs; unfortunately because of the camera angle, the herons are mostly headless. Here is one that is not beheaded and showing the black spots on its foreneck.

11th March

The old buck is captured scraping vigorously - he is clearing debris from the ground to make a couch. To put it differently, he is making his bed so he can lie on it.

12th March

A mallard drake defends his territory against another drake. The second drake seems to have got straight back in the water although it is chased off again.

Clare noticed that the regenerated elm in the north-west corner of the Pit Wood has lost more of the original trunk, leaving a very slender strip to support life, and yet the tree is sprouting. The buds resemble small raspberries.

13th March

There have been no Mandarin ducks on the big pond this year until now. They seem far less active than the Mallards. Neither John nor Clare have been able to find out from whence locally come the ducks. (Clare has just read an article on not ending sentences with a preposition, a rule that she was taught at school.)

16th March

There are thrushes singing from many high perches on Liddells at the moment. It is pleasing to see one on the ground in the story-telling circle.

The Chiffchaffs are back and singing, although ‘singing’ is a generous description of the sound they make. The collective noun for Chiffchaffs is ‘a confusion’ - maybe this is because looks-wise they are similar to Willow Warblers. Chiffchaffs have blackish legs, Willow Warblers’ legs are pale yellow/brown - so as not to be confused, Clare thinks ‘Chiffchaff/charcoal’.

Another visit from a Jay to the story-telling circle; this one presents a great close-up view.

Although the camera missed capturing any frogs mating, Clare was delighted to see that there is frogspawn in four ponds, so frogs have clearly been busy. She heard a Tawny Owl calling in the daytime, discovered that there is now a much larger patch of Coltsfoot in the north-west corner, the primroses are out on Primroseside (the north bank of the spring stream), she saw at least five Bullfinches on her visit and half a dozen Goldfinches on the feeders - far more than in recent weeks, celandines are beginning to appear in flower and the native Daffodils planted in the Top Strip have not only begun to clump up but are now appearing in places in the Top Strip other than the original planting sites. It’s all very Springlike and yellow.

17th March

A warm and still day, so Clare took a gamble and opened the hives for the first time. She was pleased to see all three marked queens, one of whom had started spring laying. As all three colonies have come through the winter and have plenty of stores, there is no need to disturb the bees again for a little while. This is the earliest Clare has ever been able to open the hives.

19th March

Clare has moved one of the cameras to the feeding station - she has noticed how quickly the nyjer seed is being eaten in spite of very few birds seeming to be on the nyjer feeders - and decided to investigate. Although Clare has heard a Woodpecker drumming recently, she hasn’t seen one on the feeders until this footage appeared.

A male Mallard displays, and a Mandarin is heard calling.

20th March

World Rewilding Day. Clare had a delightful morning hosting a friend of a friend’s nephew. Moritz had come to Hexham to give a concert and, having visited Liddells before, expressed a wish to return. Nature obliged and in spite of seeing no Siskins or Redpolls this season thus far, there were several of both on the feeders, numerous Goldfinches, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a couple of Tree Sparrows (also notable for their absence recently). A pair of Bullfinches perched nearby and two hares ran through the Pit Wood as Clare and Moritz strolled along. There was a peacock butterfly in the far north-west corner and a Buff-tailed bumblebee queen searching for a nest site in the same area. In spite of all these sightings, Clare only managed to capture a photo on her phone of three different finches sharing a feeder. Yesterday she had moved a trail camera to overlook the feeders so expected to find all this activity recorded, however disappointingly the camera had recorded nothing that day.

21st March

Delighted by all the finches, Clare and John went back to the feeders and John took his camera.

A pair of hares pause in the story-telling circle.

22nd March

The trail camera has recorded some activity on the feeders; the first footage provides a nice example of pecking order, the second more amicable feeding.

24th March

Clare had moved one of the cameras to an entirely new position - on an old stone gatepost looking along the north-east boundary between the Pit Wood and the Orchard. It transpires that this is a favourite pheasant run so much deletion of footage followed. Three deer, a doe and two kids, appear grazing near the camera and you can see that the young buck is still in velvet.

31st March

Ruth planned to have a ringing session today, the last of her practice runs before starting regular ringing in May. She was surprised by netting and ringing at least ten Chiffchaffs. Quite a confusion. Clare was interested to see that each bird showed a clear yellow feather on the leading edge of the wing. Ruth showed her how the Chiffchaff can be identified by the emargination to the sixth primary feather, whereas the emargination on the Willow Warbler is only to the fifth primary. Of course Clare first had to learn that emargination is a slight indent along one edge of the feather. Clare will probably stick to ‘Chiffchaff/charcoal’. The Chiffchaffs varied in weight from 6.8g to 8.1g. 6.8g is barely more than a level teaspoon of salt. In addition Ruth ringed two Dunnocks, a Long-tailed tit, a female Bullfinch and, after Clare had left, two Tree Creepers one of which had been ringed on an earlier occasion.

After the ringing Clare wandered around looking to see what plantlife might be emerging. There are dandelions flowering on the Meadow and Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage brightening up the Pit Wood. Although the Blackthorn is still not in flower, Wych Elm, Aspen, Hawthorn and Larch are all greening up.

A ladybird was sunning on the gatepost and John noticed some badger scat on one of the paths - it looks very like wrought iron.

A fitting end to a month of new life - the camera on the edge of the Orchard captures a doe who is clearly pregnant. The cycle goes on.

Clare and John

July 31, 2019

July - we kid you not

Clare and John

July 31, 2019

1st July

After the sadness of the ponies leaving, Clare and John were especially delighted by footage captured on the trail camera. They had placed the camera in the Pit Wood on the path where Clare had seen the roe doe and her kid. Since it is very unusual to see a roe kid (the doe usually hides them in long grass) there are several clips included here. The cuteness factor is very high.

3rd July

After a longer delay than expected, John and Clare borrowed a horse box and took Paul over to Cumbria. They were concerned he might not be willing to go into the box having not been in one since he arrived at Liddells, however at Sally and Becky’s invitation he walked straight up the ramp. Becky (Rowbeck) was pleased to see him again and emailed the next day to say that he had settled in just fine.

The doe and kid continue to enchant and the Pit Wood path proves to be a main highway for wildlife.

I’ve a feeling we’re not in Northumberland anymore

4th July

Clare received a parcel - the postie thought it was a shovel and was rather disappointed to hear it was a pond-dipping kit. Perhaps the thought of a shovel based crime was more appealing, though probably not to John.

5th July

Mel generously offered John and Clare an anthomaniacs’ day (OED Word of the Day 3rd May - a person who is (excessively passionate or enthusiastic about flowers). They reckon to have found about 110 different species in flower. Mel was struck not only by how many more species there were, but also how more numerous the flowers were since his last survey in 2014. John and Clare felt very encouraged. You can see Clare’s list, arranged by habitat here. On the way across the Top Grazing, Clare had another look under the newt’s log and thought she was seeing double, if not treble - look closely at the top left corner of the photograph and see what you think.

Tim sent Clare a copy of the North East England Branch Butterfly Conservation Butterfly Summary 2018 and she discovered Liddells gets a mention in relation to Green-veined Whites:

‘Spring generation notable counts came from Ian Findlay with 33 from Upper Teesdale on 18th May, Andrew Craggs, 31 on Lindisfarne on 15th May and Tim Wrigley with 25 at Liddells Wood near Hexham on 20th May.’

Any lepidopterists among this blog’s followers might like to read the whole report.

6-11th July

The ponies’ departure means that the area round the sheds and shepherd’s hut does not need to be proofed against mud and post damage. John spent some time rethinking and building new fencing. He has also adjusted the height of the steps into the hut so that persons of smaller stature can use them more easily. Clare is grateful and considers it to be an act of bonification (OED Word of the Day 2nd May: the action or an instance of making something good or better; esp reclamation of land for cultivation, construction, etc..) The kid continues to offer entertainment.

Clare was pleased to see John taking the business of levels so seriously…

12th July

Hal came to help John put up a swing in the Pit Wood. Juno approved. Clare, Beth and Juno had a first go with the pond-dipping net and tray. Juno took her responsibility as identifier very seriously.

John appears to be stuck inside the ladders

13th July

Clare, while hiding behind a hawthorn tree for Juno to find her, noticed a large hole in the bank near the roadside pond. There were a lot of white-tailed bumblebees in the entrance however the hole was far too big to be a nest for them. It did look the right size for a badger. The trail camera was moved…

16-18th July

John and Clare had three days away near Easingwold in Yorkshire and were dismayed to experience almost a complete absence of birds, even in the Yorkshire Arboretum. On return they went straight up to Liddells to reconnect with the birds there and almost immediately in the Pit Wood saw a family of Goldcrests and moments later a Spotted Flycatcher, a species they had not seen on Liddells for three years. This did a lot to offset their Yorkshire related dismay. They also collected the disc from the trail camera.

19th July

Having seen swallows fly in and out of the sheds, John fixed some shelving to make it easier for them to build nests should they choose to. Coincidentally, John and Clare have discovered there are swallows nesting at home for the first time in the fifteen years they have spent in their house. The badger hole site continues to attract visitors.

23rd July

John completed the new gate into the shepherd’s hut enclosure. While John and Clare were working there, a bat flew from behind the hut in broad daylight. There are no signs of bats nesting there, however it was good to see one. Clare changed the protection for the Field Maple on the Top Grazing; the tiny tree had become very lost in the growth around it. Clare put chip down round the tree as she had seen at the Yorkshire Arboretum.

25-26th July

John saw 7-spot ladybird on Creeping Thistle. Clare saw a Common Darter , probably male, flying round the big pond. Tantalisingly, the only place it came to rest was on a stone on the island which was too far away to take a photograph. The trail camera showed how the roe deer rut has started. The video clip shows the buck pursuing the doe. Maybe there will be more kids next year.

28th July

Clare and John have been smartening up the area round the sheds and shepherd’s hut. John has been levelling off the fencing and Clare has started weeding the paths before putting down membrane and new chip.

Phases 1 and 2, weeded and membrane down in one section

30th July

Mike, a long time friend of John, brought his quad bike over for the day. Much wood was moved. While Mike and John were loading and ferrying the wood, Clare continued with her efforts to smarten up the shed area.

31st July

Bee update:

Yet more rain today so no work on the land. Instead Clare has produced an update on the apiary:
There are now three thriving colonies. Two are headed by this year’s queens, both marked green (this mnemonic helps remember the right colour: Will You Raise Good Bees/White, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue). The third has one of last year’s queens and was created by taking her, some frames of eggs and some nurse bees and setting them up in a new hive, while allowing a queen cell that had been created in the original hive, to mature and for that queen to hatch, be mated and start laying. This third queen is marked red and eluded being spotted for a long time. Clare finally saw her and was able to mark her. Clare’s bee buddy Barry named this queen The Scarlet Pimpernel. There is a fourth colony created by taking a frame with a queen cell from one of Barry’s hives when his bees had made several queen cells, and putting it in a 5 frame hive, called a nucleus hive, with frames of brood and stores and some nurse bees. The queen must have hatched because the queen cell had vanished (bees recycle the wax) but was nowhere in evidence when Clare looked, so she gave them a frame of eggs from The Scarlet Pimpernel from which they drew up two queen cells. Clare left one and that hive is now in purdah to leave the new queen time to emerge, mature, be mated and start laying. Unfortunately the wet and colder weather means that this might be unsuccessful. A new queen needs a few hot dry days to be sufficiently mated.

Although two colonies produced a lot of honey in the spring, so much so that Clare added extra supers (boxes with frames exclusively for honey into which the queen cannot go and lay eggs because she is kept out by a queen excluder). However there was a longer than usual nectar-gap in June because of poor weather, and the bees needed to draw on their own stores for food. This seems entirely fair, if a bit disappointing for honey lovers. If not much honey remains, Clare might leave it on for the winter bees which will reduce the need for sugar feeds.

Clare and John

June 30, 2019

June - Dragons! Damsels and Distress

Clare and John

June 30, 2019

1st - 8th June

John and Clare were struck by two pieces of feedback from the June blog post - ‘that was your longest blog post ever’ and ‘you must be at Liddells all the time’. Pause for thought. The second comment does sometimes seem true.

The last few days have seen John and Clare attending to small tasks of routine maintenance: collecting logs, algae fishing, pruning suckers from fruit trees, mending tree protection netting and path weeding. They are proud to be within yards of finishing weeding the path in the Top Strip which seems to take for ever.

Two new discoveries while working. The ladybird was on a stile post near pines and the Bird Cherry Ermine Moth caterpillars were, unsurprisingly, on the Bird Cherry. Clare had seen these before but thought they were spiders’ webs. The caterpillars might well be providing food for all the nestlings.

The trail camera did capture more images of birds leaving the Great Tit nest, however none clearly showed nestlings taking their first flight.

Clare has been much occupied with her bees and how they defy all the text books. She was recently alerted to the presence of a swarm in a hawthorn near the hives but could do nothing about it while on grandchild duty. Four days later - the books suggest swarms only hang around for a couple of days while scout bees look for a new site - the swarm was still there, so nothing daunted, Clare set about collecting it. When she returned later in the day to introduce the swarm to the hive - a traditional way is to lay a white sheet on the ground leading to the hive entrance and the bees walk up it - she noticed a very small swarm still in the tree. This could have alerted her to the fact that she might have failed to collect the queen and therefore the bees would be reluctant to leave her and go into the hive. They were very reluctant to go into the hive, however some started to and lots followed. The guard bees were doing a good job around Clare so she had to walk away in the hope they would go back to the swarm. Eventually they did so that Clare could leave and as she walked past she saw a small swarm hanging in exactly the same place on the hawthorn. She also thought she could hear the distinct sound of bees laughing.

Barbara R alerted Clare to a call for volunteers to record sightings of spittle and spittle bugs - froghoppers. Clare thinks the scientists missed a trick in not calling this campaign ‘Spot the Spit’.

9th June

Weeding the path in the Top Strip is finished, however it is rather like painting the Forth Road Bridge and now needs starting again.

12th June

Jane B sent Clare a link to a page about hay meadows on the Northumberland National Park website. If you have 12mins to spare, listen to the soundscape of a hay meadow. It demonstrably proves the value of these meadows for wildlife.

13th June

In spite of the atrocious weather, there were birds singing on Liddells today and Clare was delighted to hear and see Linnets in the Top Strip.

14th June

Clare and John walked over the Meadow and listed all the plants in flower. They identified 22 different species. The list is here.

15th June

The largest pond is offering a local mallard an opportunity for a bath.

17th June

Clare had another encounter with a sabre wasp. It was on one of the seats in the story-telling circle and probably laying eggs there.

18th June

More insect excitement for Clare. She watched a Broad-bodied Chaser darting over the Roadside pond. The dragonfly lived up to its name and proved hard to photograph. It also lived up to the textbook as apparently they often find new ponds. Clare also watched a Willow Warbler family feeding in the top Strip, calling to each other as they moved through the trees.

Sabre Wasp. The ovipositor is extending forward from her tail and pointing down into the wood left of her legs

22nd June

A friend offered Ox-eye daisies from his meadow for the Meadow at Liddells where they have not yet become established. John and Clare went to collect them today and then Clare transplanted six clumps on the Meadow. Clare saw a baby frog near the big pond and then was delighted to see damselflies. They proved hard to photograph too as they were too busy being flighty to wait for the camera, however photographs were taken and then the damselflies could be identified. They are Large Reds and Common Blues. John was lucky to see two of the Common Blues mating though he couldn’t get a photograph.

The frog was only two to three centimetres long and easily hidden in the grasses and leaves

Clare found these two young crows having a snooze

Male Large Red Damselfly momentarily perched on the Alphabet bridge

23rd June

This was to be a distressing day for John and Clare. For a long time they had been concerned that they were not doing Paul justice. He is a young and strong pony and could well live for another twenty years - this cannot so easily be applied to John and Clare. After much painful deliberation they realised that Paul could fulfil more of his potential with another owner and knew that however painful and sad, this was the right decision. William could be returned to the Moorland Mousie Trust and would be sent somewhere else to continue his excellent grazing skills. Fortunately, Becky, who sold Paul to John and Clare, was happy to take him back and sell him on. Both ponies were due to leave on the same day and William was collected much to Paul’s distress. Unfortunately the transport for Paul didn’t quite fall into place as planned and with John and Clare due to go away for a few days the following day, John made hasty arrangements for Paul to go to a local stables where he has often been for brief stays. This meant that he was not alone and distressed on the land while plans were redrawn and he could be boxed and transported to Cumbria from there. When John and Clare walked Paul to the stables, they realised that Paul had left Liddells for good.

27th June

John, sans camera, watched a female Broad-bodied Chaser laying eggs on the big pond. Not to be outdone in the delights department, Clare saw a roe doe running down into the Pit Wood from the Orchard and as she followed, came across a roe kid tucked up on the side of the path into the Pit Wood. It stayed very still but ran the moment Clare tried to get her camera out. It was about the size of a large hare and still in its spots. Tim sent us a photograph of some of the Ragged Robin on the Wetland. The plants are spreading each year and are a particularly raggedy delight.

28th June

John spent some time filming by the big pond and as a result both Clare and John realise that the ponds need a webpage of their own. This will happen soon and John’s film from today will go on there. Suffice it to say John saw more dragon and damselfly action, more dragonfly egg-laying, a newt and a creature as yet to be identified…

29th June

As the ponies have left Clare and John set about dismantling the arena that John had created. Clare found wildlife under the logs that had supported poles and was able to identify a moth that rested for a moment. After the arena work Clare and John treated themselves to a bit of pond-watching - the dragon and damselflies continue to be a source of delight and new learning. They watched a Large Red Damselfly laying her eggs. To mate, damselflies join together in the “wheel” position and commonly fly in tandem this way. Afterward, the male will usually remain attached to the female as she lays eggs. When doing so he retains his grip on the front portion of the female’s thorax, using claspers located at the tip of his abdomen. On the way to the pond they found a patch of orchids where John had strimmed to make a path and therefore let light in. At a rough count there were nearly one hundred. Further up the same path Clare saw some Bittersweet, also known as Woody Nightshade, a plant she had not seen on Liddells before. The final discovery provides evidence that more squirrel work is needed.

European Garden Spider or Cross Orb-Weaver

Newt, looking like a piece of wrought ironwork. Clare thinks it is a Great Crested Newt. They have full legal protection in the UK and it is an offence to disturb them Clare replaced the log under which she found it

Four Spotted Chaser (males and females both look alike)

This looks to Clare like a photo from a ‘Guess the Mysterious Object’ game

Since seeing the roe kid John and Clare had been hoping the trail camera might capture it on video. No luck so far, however there was some nice footage of the doe.

30th June

Completing this month’s blog post also marks the last of Clare’s 30 Days Wild. We hope you have had an equivalently wild month.

Clare and John

September 30, 2018

September - the earth moves for John and Clare

Clare and John

September 30, 2018

1st September

John was rather taken with the sight of a large patch of Creeping Thistle that had gone to seed. Clare enjoyed them too as they were outside the Meadow. This patch is a favourite one for butterflies. More fungi are appearing as autumn gets closer. Clare has heard that all fungi are edible, but some of them only once. John has made a new gate to give access through the mud barricades, which are now finished.

Please feel free to contribute identification info

4th September

Clare helped John raise the first roof panel for the shepherd’s hut to see how it will look. He realised the main supporting beam needs to be slightly raised. Clare continued her fungi discoveries.

The Turin Shroud fungus (this is not a real type of fungus, however Clare was taken by the face she could see), or possibly Larch Bolete…

…which appears to have a smiley face on the underside

6th September

Barry kindly lent us his ATV so that we could collect logs from the Wetland and the Pit Wood, while Paul recovers his confidence with hauling. To this end, Eilidh and John managed to persuade him to wear his collar again and walk round with it on.

8th September

Robbie cut logs and started felling conifers in the Pit Wood; he also removed the two trees that were inside the story-telling circle. Robert helped to haul dumpies of logs out to where we can load them into the trailer.

9th September

We borrowed some sheep again to graze off the meadow. Having brought the logs home, we filled the second shed, with a little help.

Yan tan tethera pethera pimp…no we haven’t lost our mind, just trying to count the sheep. This old method may still be used by some shepherds. After a dispute because of fidgety sheep, we settled on twenty-five, which is figgot (20) and pimp

10th September

We returned the Groundhog. Clare spotted a trio of tree stumps on the Wetland, each of which was sporting a crop of fungi.

11th September

John raised the roof beam on the shepherd’s hut and managed to cut his finger rather badly.

12th September

More fungi

There is a particularly fine crop of Fly Agaric in the Scrub

This looks likely to be Turkey Tail or Coriolus Versicolor — This looks likely to be Turkey Tail or *Coriolus Versicolor*

14th September

The trail camera caught a fox in the Orchard by the bonfire.

One of the bee colonies has been much beset by robber bees. Clare has followed all the advice available - blocking the entrance so only one bee can get in at a time (the guard bees have more time to deal with invaders), putting a glass sheet in front of the entrance (presumably the robbing bees bash their heads against it while the resident bees can reroute around it), sticking leafy branches in front of the hive (to confuse the robbers - “This doesn’t look like Kansas anymore”), covering the whole hive with a wet sheet for a couple of days (the robbers then think the hive has disappeared or become ghostly and give up); all of these were to no avail. What worked? Would you believe smearing the hive liberally with Vicks Vaporub. The robbers gave up. They can, however, breathe more easily. As of course can the bees who are no longer under threat.

15th September

We are planning to dig out a couple of ponds on the Wetland, so we spent some time marking them out. We are going to use two areas that are already wet, remove some of the rush and dam one edge of each.

One of the Spindle Trees is looking particularly autumnal.

Yet more fungi.

The underside would suggest this is a waxcap of some kind

16th September

Mike arrived to help John fix the first of the roof panels on the shepherd’s hut. Both were pleased with the result. Clare is in awe of what John is doing - he hates heights. The proliferation of fungi this year extended to the inside of one of the sheds.

Inside the shed. Possibly a Tawny Grisette

17th September

Clare helped with the fixing of the last three roof panels with a certain amount of lifting and a lot of encouraging.

18th September

All the panels are now firmly fixed in place. We moved the ponies to the Meadow for 48 hours so that their hooves would chop up the sward a bit, in preparation for sowing wildflower seeds. We started stacking logs in the log shed at Liddells which we had emptied over last winter.

Clare is concerned that John might have misunderstood her request for steps to get into the hut

20th September - Green Gym Day

We were delighted to welcome eight volunteers today, including three new recruits. Many thanks to Mark and Gill, John W, Tim, Barry, Sally, Jane E and Pat, and apologies to all for the paucity of photographs recording all the stupendous effort that went into the day. Clare was engrossed in seed sowing and rather forgot her role as recorder. By 3pm we had ticked all our tasks off the list - wall repair, adjusting the tubing to trees in the Top Strip, felling and logging after some of the damage in the wake of Storm Aileen, path weeding, clearing brambles and ivy out of the roadside wall and sowing wildflower seeds on the Meadow. Within seconds of tidying away at the end, the rain set in.

John, John and Sally seem to have an opinion about Barry’s lunch

The discerning amongst you might spot that the stakes are now secured outside the tubes rather than inside as we had done mistakenly before

The painstaking work of making small holes in the meadow and inserting pinches of seed

While we were all working, these ladybirds were indulging in their own choice of exercise. This gave rise to a question in the group as to the collective noun for ladybirds. Barry came up with ‘a Bangkok’! **

Bramble and ivy free wall, and this only shows a small section of the whole length that was cleared

A large limb off a dead tree in the Pit Wood. It’s good to leave dead trees as a habitat for insects and birds

** If you don’t get Barry’s joke, try saying the name of the insect with a Bronx accent

21st September

Eilidh began to prepare William for receiving a bit - she coated a stick with molasses. Once William realised he liked the taste, Eilidh managed to position the stick in his mouth to replicate how the bit will be. Both ended up very sticky.

There are still butterflies around. This Comma is on Purple Loosestrife in the Meadow

22nd - 26th September

John has been working on the panels that will fill the spaces below the roof on the shepherd’s hut. John and Clare finished sowing the last of the seeds on the Meadow; this included introducing our own Yellow Rattle seeds to the top quarter where the plant has yet to get established.

27th September

The first day of a week’s machinery hire. John is creating his own version of two radical movements from the Civil War and seeking to make an even platform for the hut. The first job was to make a drain behind where the hut will go.

Clare spotted this Red Admiral enjoying the late summer sun while she was on her way to reposition the trail camera

Our very own version of the Lambton Worm

Not quite a red carpet for the ponies, however we added the final touch to the extended mud barricades

28/29th September

Clare had spotted a lot of acorns in the Pit Wood and set the trail camera hoping to catch either a badger and/or a jay collecting or eating them. The camera picked up lots of activity, sadly most of it by grey squirrels although the very first capture was of a badger, even if you don’t get to see much of it. The sound is quite striking! We think the bird darting behind the tree in the fourth video, is a Jay.

29th September

Robbie arrived to dig out the first of the ponds. On the way he dug a trench for a new land drain near the spoil heaps by the Meadow. He also cleared some of the grips leading in to the pond to help with the water flow. John cut down and logged a couple of trees at the top of the Pit Wood.

30th September

Robbie finished the larger of the two ponds, adding an island with a Heron perching stone. He then moved on to work on the second pond, excavating this, creating another small island with Heron perch and establishing a roadway at the dammed end and had this all finished by early afternoon. And this from someone who was out carousing the night before - pretty impressive! John cut down more trees at the top of the Pit Wood to let light and space in for the younger planting. He also finished the drain Robbie had dug yesterday, making a French drain that is filled with gravel.

Looking north; Heron island left of centre

Looking south with opened up grips allowing for easier water flow

The spindly looking trees will not need to put on so much growth to reach the light

The smaller pond with Heron perch and opened grip

Finished! This shows the new roadway with the Meadow in the distance. Delightfully for us, Robbie is as excited about the new ponds as we are. All we need now is quite a lot of rain.

Clare and John

April 18, 2014

Early April 2014 - beaks and troughs

Clare and John

April 18, 2014

1st April

Pussy Willow in Scrub below Top Grazing; Larch in flower in Pit Wood.

2nd April

Crab Apple moved from home to Orchard.

4th April

Brashing and strimming on Wrigley Walk in Top Strip. Juliet Roger from the Moorland Mousie Trust visited to discuss the possibility of her Exmoor ponies grazing the land. All parties in agreement, they arrive the week after next!

6th April

Wrigley Walk now cleared along its length. A sparrowhawk flew out of the quarry area, a peacock butterfly was on the gorse near the gate. We saw swallows on the corner by Crag House on our way home.

12th April

Fence on southern edge of Pit Wood repaired and hurdle into orchard.

13th April

Brashing along southern edge of Pit Wood; water trough cleaned; 2 bumble bees on top pasture; moss in Nest Box 2.

14th April

More brashing on southern edge of Pit Wood; bird boxes up in Pit Wood, verge and top strip; work on trough (much flooding!). Ladybirds everywhere, several bumblebees and peacock butterflies; hunting buzzard; Mel doing wildflower survey.

15th April

More work on water trough; more bird boxes in Pit Wood; Wrigley butterfly survey; work started to clear southern tip of western boundary fence. Deer ran out of Pit Wood, across Wetland up Crag, over Top Grazing and jumped into top plantation. Wood Sorrell at west end of Top Strip. Butterflies (peacock).

16th April

Wild Cherry blossom in plantation; trough finished; more work on western boundary fence (stapling complete); 5 bird boxes in top plantation.

18th April

Moss in bird box 8; more moss in number 2; chiffchaff seen and heard in Pit Wood.

Wood Sorrel emerging where brashing has let light in

Rainwater collection trough under construction (thanks Lynne & Richard for the photograph)

The leisurely position for fixing a bird box

Clare and John

December 31, 2013

December 2013 - a busy month to end the year!

Clare and John

December 31, 2013

3rd December

We met Duncan Hutt and Mel from the Northumberland Wildlife Trust at Liddells. Duncan was interested in our idea of leaving the land to the NWT. He offered help and we talked about grazing options.

We planted 2 patches of Pheasant's Eye Narcissus either side of the crossbase, 3 clumps in the verge and some inside the boundary wall north of the gate and by the beeches.

4th December

40 Fritillaria planted in lower east meadow - our chosen site for wildflowers (we had originally thought of developing the area above the crag, but Duncan's visit prompted a rethink).

Clump of Narcissus Felindre (Poeticus Daffodil) on bank approaching Bird Cherry tree. 2 clumps by the Bird Cherry.

6th December

50 Snowdrops and 16 Narcissi in the woodland. John saw ladybirds appearing to hibernate in a Scots Pine, south edge of Pit Wood.

18th December

Ian Everard from the Forestry Commission visited the land with us and advised on making subcompartments/grant applications. He was encouraging and offered help with forms.

20th December

We cut out own Christmas tree and one for Jane B.

26th December

Boxing Day - 2 hours freeing trees from plastic tubes in NE Strip.

27th December

More tree freeing/logging/clearing

28th December

Brashing/logging/clearing; bags of rubbish to dump; logs stacked in shed on Top Grazing; Freelander stuck in mud overnight!

29th December

After more unsuccessful attempts on John's part to free the Land Rover, he went off to get help. Determined not to be beaten, Clare managed to drive it out just as Derek arrived with a tractor. So proud!

Brashing/logging/clearing - more logs stacked; trailer mended; common earthball fungus identified east of path under wires.

The North-east Strip looking more open after brashing and thinning

30th December

Office work on planning/forms etc.

31st December

Diary update.