Moths

August - adopting ‘an antic disposition’*

What’s That Bird?

Clare was surprised to hear the songster in the first video clip so late in the season. He must have still been hoping for a mate. The second clip features an avian quartet. Can you identify all four?

A reminder that you will need to visit www.liddells.co.uk and click on Blog to see the videos. The files are too big to be included in an email.

A follow-up to last month’s Blog post. You may remember the photo of the Marmalade Hoverfly (reproduced below). Clare’s friend and loyal Blog reader Barbara has again pointed Clare to a Simon Barnes article in The Observer where he imagines life as a creature. This time he has embraced living as a Marmalade Hoverfly. You can read the piece here. Clare especially enjoyed Barnes’ claim that the insect’s hobbies include ‘Dynamic stillness’.

2nd August

A Tawny owl appears in the Pit Wood in the early hours.

John and Clare set about raking up the cut hay on the Meadow. They are frustrated that they have no means of baling the hay however Barry came to take some for his goats. After several trips he had 15 dumpies full of hay in his shed. Clare managed the hay-raking equivalent of painting herself into a corner which caused John some amusement.

3rd August

Usually John and Clare have no wish to encourage grey squirrels by giving them any sort of attention, however this one does seem to have earned its 15 seconds of fame.

4th August

The squirrel proved not to be the only entertainer in the wood. A hare takes a dust bath which is clearly invigorating and a stoat seems also to be afflicted with the antics bug. A fox strolled through in the early hours today, however as it offered no comedy interlude it has not been given a place in this Blog post. Foxes take note.

6th - 7th August

There have been several clips of the doe going through both Pit Wood and Scrub with the buck following minutes later. Neither John nor Clare have found evidence of a driving circle this year, however the pursuit suggests the rut is in progress.

The twins appear together fairly frequently in the Pit Wood. They arrive at 07.08 on 7th, then hang around for a while with a bit of grooming before one starts to prepare a couch then settles into it. The second twin does the same though off camera. They stay in place for about an hour ruminating then get up with some stretching and amble off.

8th August

Clare and John arrived to rake up some of the remaining hay on the Meadow. They were met with another stretch of fallen wall. Gavin describes this section against the post as the ‘cheek’. The neighbouring landowner had put cattle on the land outside Liddells and they must have clustered in the gateway. Cheeky. John has decided to put up a breasting wire to deter them in future.

Before and …

A badger pauses while going through the Scrub and seems to be listening to a Tawny Owl.

9th August

More hay-raking. Farmer Barry collected the bales from the Hayfield. Clare and John both chose to vary their clearing up activities and worked on the aftermath of the Ash felling. There is a lot of wood to move, saw and stack.

The sun brought out the pollinators.

10th August.

BBC’s Tweet of the Day featured the Chiffchaff. You can listen to the episode here.

Yet more hay-raking. John and Clare were delighted by several visits to an Ash in front of the hide by a Spotted Flycatcher. Clare thought she had seen one in the same place a few days ago however the visit was so brief se could not be sure. Yet more Ash clearing.

The highlight of the day for Clare was assembling and starting her own strimmer. John has discovered that strimming can aggravate an injury leaving him needing rest. As the strimmer is too heavy for Clare she now has a lighter one.

Noon flies on Hogweed

His and hers

Tapered Drone fly on Ragwort

11th August

One of the bucks warns off the twins while he is in pursuit of the doe. They follow anyway.

12th August

Gavin has mended the wall and has as ever, done a beautiful job. He said, “Takes a little more time but wasn’t in good condition. No offence to any previous waller”. John and Clare are not in the least offended.

…after.

13th August

Again not wishing to pander to any narcissistic tendencies in Grey squirrels, however this one is up to hijinks again but seems to be drawn to the spot where the doe kid created a couch.

15th August

Now the hay is gone, it’s prep time for the arrival of the sheep later in the autumn. John and Clare cleaned out the rainwater collection trough and John fixed the leaks.

He also put in the first straining post for the breasting wire near the bottom gate.

One of the bucks re-marks a tree in the Pit Wood. This is regular behaviour during the rut and soon after. Video clips suggest that sometimes the same buck repeatedly marks his spots, other times different bucks mark over previous markings.

17th August

Clare and John frequently find video clips with insects and more often birds, seemingly attracted to the trail cameras. Clare and John usually delete the clips, however here is one so you can speculate on what it is that attracts the birds in the first place.

Finally all the hay has been raked off the Meadow and dumped into the sunken pit in the North-east Strip. It seems such a waste of good hay. Eagle-eyed John spotted a Common Grasshopper hitching a lift on the final load. See if you can spot the Grasshopper in the haystack.

Grasshopper in hiding

18th August

Ruth had a very busy ringing session this morning. She reported ‘89 birds in total, of which 31 were Blue Tits (all juvenile). Also well represented were Blackcap, Coal, Tit, Robin, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Bullfinch, Wren, Dunnock, Blackbird. The most notale bird was a juv Siskin.’ She also commented that fewer nest boxes being used doesn’t mean a less successful breeding season. She has one more survey to complete this year however has said that numbers are up a bit this year though maybe without the same variety of species. Clare and John are delighted to have the first ever evidence of Siskins breeding on Liddells.

20th August

The roe twins seem to like the small clearing in the Pit Wood. Today they were there from 9.15 until 10.44. The trail camera recorded 38 videos over this time. To begin with the twins were couched and ruminating together. After 22 minutes one (which later proved to be the doe) seemed restless, got up, moved to the scrape from a few days ago, stayed there for a minute, got up and down again, indulged in some grooming, yawned, got up and settled down again facing the other way, then at 10.35 she got up and settled down again, getting up and leaving a couple of minutes later. The buck kid meanwhile sat still throughout then at 10.44 got up, stretched and left. Clare wondered whether John might identify with the sedentary male.

24th August

Clare was watching all the Emerald Damselflies on Pond Maggiore when she noticed several insects unfamiliar to her on the Mint beside the pond. It proved to be a Tachina fera (Linnaeus, 1761) commonly known as a Tachinid Fly. This is the description of the fly from the Gedling Conservation Trust: ‘Over all length 10 - 14mm. The head and thorax are dark, marked with brown streaking. The scutelum is rich brown. The abdomen is orange with a broad, black line down the centre and very hairy. The veins at the wing bases are tinged orange.’ Clare is delighted to include Gedling Country Park in this blog post as she has visited it often with her daughter Mathilda, who is the creator of this website.

John hung the new gate on the Hayfield and was delighted that it was bang on the horizontal. The slope of the ground might suggest otherwise, the spirit level doesn’t lie.

John illustrating a pub sign - The Gate Hangs Well

25th August

A solitary fox wanders through the Pit Wood in daylight - maybe it was on a Bank Holiday outing.

Clare cleaned out the Meeting Room and Shepherd’s Hut while John fixed more of the sheep netting round the Shepherd’s Hut. Clare had a look at Pond Maggiore and managed a photo of a Common Darter. She noticed that there is hardly space for any more berries on some of the Rowan trees. Almost time to make Rowan Berry jelly. When John returned the quad to its storage place on the local farm, he noticed a spider on the door to the container.

This is a Canestrini’s Harvestman. From the description here, this one would seem to be a male. The British Arachnological Society notes that regarding the species’ habitat and ecology ‘Opilio canestrinii is found in the typical urban habitats and brown-field sites favoured by a number of recently introduced, long-legged species of harvestman. It is frequently found on buildings and walls, in gardens and parks and extending into semi-natural woodland. Its prevalence on buildings and in gardens means it is a very readily seen and recorded species.’ Where does a container in Northumberland farmland fit in with this? Maybe another Bank Holiday day out.

28th August

One of the Pit Wood trail cameras captures a hare sniffing at the sapling marked by the roebucks. The hare seems to be adding a mark of its own. Curious.

29th August

In spite of foraging independently, the singleton kid is till suckling. You ca see how its markings are fading as it grows.

The weather was kind for a family visit and even the short burst of rain produced a welcome aftermath. The sunset was a great background for playing frisbee.

30th August

Clare has noticed several patches of Eyebright on the bottom path - the plant is having a second burst of flowering.

Clare carried out a butterfly transect and found a Speckled Wood camouflaging itself on a speckled leaf; she delighted to find a Common Blue by Pond Maggiore. On the way round the transect Clare found several Sneezewort plants in flower, not in the usual place where she finds them. The Spindle Trees are as abundant as every other fruiting tree seems to be this year. A Copper Underwing moth proved reluctant to leave the shepherd’s hut so Clare gave it a helping hand whereupon it became reluctant to leave her hand.

* Hamlet, Act 1, Scene V

What’s that bird? 1 - Willow Warbler 2 - Bullfinch, Siskin, Goldcrest & Chaffinch

August - Hay nonny nonny nonny yes

Video footage can be seen through the website: www.liddells.co.uk

1st August

The heather on the Crag is starting to come into flower and offers late summer forage for many insects although Clare has never seen a honey bee taking advantage of the on-site nectar. Clare and John are still hoping for some dry, warm days when the grass can be cut, however the rain persists.

3rd August

There haven’t been many hares on the Blog of late, mainly because they mostly just run past the cameras, so to make up for their absence, here is a two-for-one offer.

5th - 20th August: the rut - these dates are not precise, however they do give an idea of the period involved. John has been watching out for signs of the rut for a while; the trail cameras have provided some evidence. (* denotes footage below, PW = Pit Wood, SCR = Scrub). John thinks the height of the rut this year was on the 13th, thereafter the activity declined, the bucks’ movements are less intense and the kids start to reappear. The footage demonstrates that over a short period of time there have been three bucks, one doe with one kid and one doe with two kids (probably the remaining two of original triplets) sharing the same territory.

5th PW 05.21, 05.49, 07.19, 08.31, 11.08, 11.11, 13.20, 14.51 and 17.53 (big buck, the younger buck at this point seems to have got the message from the older one and left)

6th PW 01.11 (buck), 06.20 (buck), 07.03 (buck), 10.15 (doe), 10.16 (buck), 10.18* (a buck chasing a doe, however John spotted that this is a different and younger buck. The antlers are shorter and the tip of one looks as though it might be broken. The coronet at the base and the pearls are pronounced. It could be one that was around last year drawn back by the prospect of mating), 10.39 (big buck), 13.31 (doe)

7th PW 6.02, 11.55, 14.52, 16.54, 20.48 and 22.41 (big buck)

7th SCR 05.10, 10.44, 14.00, 17.35, 17.36 and 23.49 (big buck)

8th PW 00.15 (big buck), 06.35 (doe), 08.27 (big buck), 08.28* (big buck driving a doe), 11.39 (big buck), 11.54 (doe), 12.07 (doe), 14.15 (big buck), 22.22 (big buck)

9th PW 05.38 (doe), 05.52 (doe), 12.30 (big buck), 23.27 (doe), 23.51 (big buck)

10th PW 08.35 (doe)

11th PW 11.48 (doe), 12.54 (big buck), 12.58 (big buck

12th PW 18.55* (two bucks)

13th PW 04.26 (big buck), SCR 05.45 (‘broken antler’ buck), PW 09.02* (‘murder’ buck has returned and is seen chasing off a kid, another deer maybe the doe in the background), PW 09.18 (two deer, one definitely a buck), PW 09.24 (big buck), SCR 10.37 (buck ? broken antler), PW 12.01, 13.08, 16.06 (broken antler), 19.38, 19.44 (doe) 19.55 (broken antler buck and doe)

14th SCR 06.18 (deer ? sex), PW 06.42, 06.46 (doe), 07.05* (‘murder’ buck driving doe), 07.21 (broken antler), 08.24 (2 kids), 08.25 (doe),08.46, 08.55 (broken antler buck), 16.29 (doe) 19.05* (doe and kid; this shows the rain on hayfield cutting day)

15th SCR 04.54 (doe), 06.19* (doe and two kids), PW 07.58 (deer ? sex), 09.35 (doe), 09.36 (doe), 09.39 (doe and kid)

16th PW 05.57 (doe)

17th SCR (doe + two kids), PW 18.08 (doe and kid); 23.30 (doe)

18th PW 06.05 (big buck), 07.14 (doe), 17.29 (big buck)

19th PW 17.54* (big buck), 19.10 (big buck)

20th PW 16.05* (kid - possibly a buck), 16.07* (second kid), SCR 19.59 (doe), 20.00 (kid).

Meanwhile:

6th August

There is a tiny bit of footage, too brief to include, from the Scrub (the camera’s batteries were failing) showing the kid with the doe. The kid hasn’t been seen for a while on either camera. The remaining battery life allowed for a glimpse of a stoat.

An insect feeding on Ragwort caught Clare’s eye. It is an Eriothrix rufomaculatus, described in Wikipedia’s somewhat disparaging tone as ‘a rather common fly,’ which inhabits hedges, grasslands, fields, meadows. Surprisingly for a common insect, it only has a Latin name.

John’s car offered a perch for this Willow Beauty moth Peribatodes rhomboidaria. Apparently ‘the adults can be found by day at rest on tree trunks’. And Land Rovers.

Chris arrived with his log-splitter which made short work of the timber John had brought up to the shed. Clare went into stacking mode.

A hen pheasant shepherds her two chicks in the Pit Wood.

8th August

Clare is pleased to see insects taking advantage of the last of the flowering plants on the Meadow. In the foreground, on Knapweed, is a Buff-tailed bumblebee. (The bee in the background may be the same however the focus is not good enough to be sure.)

9th August

A hare has a change of mind in the Pit Wood and footage from the Scrub reveals the reason for the Blackbird’s alarm calls.

11th - 12th August

Walking around after stacking logs, Clare noticed a Yellow-sided sawfly Tenthredo notha, and acorns developing on one of the Oak trees. Tim reported that he had seen Purple Hairstreak butterflies at the top of an Ash next to the Oak where they were seen last year.

Although in two different video clips, footage shows the kid still with the doe. It would seem that this kid is a buck. Footage in daylight shows that it has pretty much lost its spots.

13th August

John and Clare had planned a barbecue to celebrate looking after Liddells for 10 years. Fortunately the rain held off and it was all good fun. The barbecue John built worked splendidly as did the barbecuer. Mathilda, Hal, Beth and Juno had brought thoughtfully chosen gifts and their continuing support. Clare had devised a Nature Charades game which induced much hilarity. The day ended with an unplanned bit of log rolling. Mathilda and Clare saw Common Darters on the Big Pond. The Shepherd’s Hut is proving to be a magnet for moths, usually Large Yellow Underwings Noctus pronuba, however on Saturday there was also a Dark Arches moth Apamea monoglypha. There were several butterflies on the thistles on the Hayfield and Clare was appropriately proud of her photograph of a Peacock. The Village Show is not far off; maybe Clare will challenge John for a photography prize this year. Clare and John had a walk around after the others had left and found (what Clare thinks is, but didn’t want to get too close to and disturb), a Southern Hawker perched on a willow whip. Clare and John decided they might just take a well-earned break and do non-Liddells things for a week. This proved wise as the weather continued to be wet and it would have been too disheartening to keep seeing the hay not being made.

The cake was made (not by John or Clare) using honey from Clare’s bees, foraged blackberries and edible flowers

You might notice that only three people are putting in any effort. There are two supervisors

14th August

Tom had been unable to cut the Hayfield and Meadow on Sunday so came this morning instead. It was drizzling but not too bad, however the rain developed with the day and turned into probably the wettest day of the summer thus far. Heigh ho, or rather hay no.

15th August

Better weather and the hay showed signs of drying out. All digits are crossed for the weather to hold until the hay is baled. Clare has begun her annual attempt to learn more about fungi. She also rescued a Hawthorn fly from the roadside pond.

Rufus milkcap

Rufus milkcap showing gills

Sulphur tuft

Meadow waxcap

and gills

Imperilled Hawthorn fly

Drier Hawthorn fly - no CPR required

17th August

An example from the Scrub of how different species can be indifferent to each other; although at first the doe appears to notice the hare and the hare to pause when it confronts the doe, both animals carry on with whatever they are busy doing.

22nd August

The hay is still on the ground - it keeps getting nearly dry and then the rain starts again. All very dispiriting, however today two families visited with young children and they lifted spirits with their enthusiasm. Both families enjoyed pond-dipping and found baby newts, water spiders, water boatmen and lots more besides. Sharp ears detected a Common Field Grasshopper and sharp eyes a Harelquin ladybird. Jane noticed Purple Brittlegill fungus. The afternoon group asked for a story in the story-telling circle and Clare began a dramatised version of Goldilocks. At the point where Goldilocks tries Baby Bear’s chair and breaks it, Clare sat on one of the benches and it broke! Her commitment to the theatrical arts is second to none. No one was hurt during the performance.

The Guelder rose plants in the Orchard are looking very autumnal.


She sat in the small chair. “This chair is just right,” she sighed. Just as Goldilocks settled down into the chair to rest, it broke into pieces!

One of the does is showing clear signs of beginning to lose her summer coat.

One of the kids looks as if it might be a buck and the other a doe, however it is still too soon to be absolutely sure.

23rd August

Barry was able to get up to Liddells and bale the hay at last. Sixteen and a half bales this year. The meadow has to wait a bit longer for Tom to be free with his square baler.

Proof of baling

26th August

John decided to start picking rowan berries for this year’s rowan berry jelly. Back at home he called Clare over to see a Hawthorn Shieldbug on the kitchen table that had probably hitched a ride with the rowan berries. The photo is included in the Blog as the bug came from Liddells.

29th August

Just when the rut seemed to be over, the new buck on the block chases a doe through the Scrub.

30th August

Tom has rowed up the hay on the Meadow ready for baling. With good luck and the proverbial following wind, there may be bales by the end of the month.

Leaving Liddells today, Clare noticed how many plants are making their way through the rubble roadway. She identified Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Dwarf Spurge, Fat Hen, Groundsel, Greater Plantain, Rosebay Willowherb, Mousear, Marsh Thistle, Forget-me-not, Creeping Thistle and Creeping Buttercup - it will soon be a green road.

Row, row, row your hay

Two more moths perched for long enough for Clare to take quick photographs. The first is a Pale Straw Pearl, which Clare thinks sounds like a colour in the Whites section of a paint chart. It is a frequently seen tiny white moth, barely over two centimetres in length. The second is medium sized - a Shaded broad-bar. Clare found another fungus new to her. It is a Blushing Bracket fungus Daedaleopsis confragosa; Clare wondered how Daedalus had become involved in the name and thought the smaller piece resembled a moth. Honeysuckle is still in flower - always good to see forage for pollinators late in the season.

Pale Straw Pearl moth

Shaded Broad-bar moth

Blushing bracket fungus

31st August

Squeaking, or rather chirruping into the Blog at the last minute, a Common Green Grasshopper appeared almost exactly where the Common Field Grasshopper had been seen a few days ago. Hard to get a photo, however you can see that it is green.

STOP PRESS! The meadow hay was baled this afternoon. Phew!

May - doing the splits

1st May

John saw the two Mandarin ducks on the big pond in daylight. Unfortunately they were too far away for his phone camera.

2nd May

The local Community Choir with which Clare sings, has the bonkers habit of meeting at the local bandstand to sing in the sunrise on the first of the May Bank Holidays. They then eat breakfast together. Three years ago this day coincided with International Dawn Chorus Day so Clare took several singers with her for a walk round Liddells after the breakfast, in order to listen to some birdsong. This year she repeated the offer and nine others joined in. She began the walk by suggesting people kept their eyes open for hares as it was very unusual to be on Liddells and not see one. They heard Pheasant, Blackbird, Crow, Song thrush, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Willow warbler, Garden warbler, Great tit, Wren. Three Swallows flew over, the first Clare had seen over Liddells this year. Other identifications included a frog, jelly ear fungus, and several flower species. Maggie saw two deer as they jumped away over a wall. No hare appeared.

Later that morning Clare returned and saw two hares - they clearly have a sense of humour. She saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker twice at the hide. She planted a third Field Maple grown and donated by Mel. Now the saplings can have three-way conversations and encourage each other to grow.

Clare started a cowslip survey organised by Plantlife (if you have or know of cowslips nearby, go to Plantlife.org and consider joining in). Apparently cowslips are heterostylous - flowers which have style and anthers of different heights. Long style and low anthers = L-type, short style and high anthers = S-type. This is needed to prevent self-pollination and therefore ideally there will be an equal amount of both flowers in any location. An unequal balance might mean that the flowers are not doing so well. The survey began in Estonia in 2019, where a citizen science campaign, Looking for Cowslips began, in order to see if the landscape, grasslands in particular, was supporting the flowers’ wellbeing. The idea spread to Europe and the UK. The results showed that the balance was more skewed in smaller populations and in urban areas, indicating that human activity may be having a negative impact on the species. Grassland preservation and protection is imperative.

Clare was pleased to record that her survey of 100 plants showed 52 S-type and 48 L-type.

She also valued the experience as an example of ‘opsimathy’: Learning conducted or acquired late in life; an instance of this. Of course Liddells has been offering that for the last nine years.

Meanwhile John saw the pair of Mandarin ducks on the big pond again, however they flew away as soon as they became aware of him.

Listening and watching

‘[w}ild-scatter'd cowslips bedeck the green dale’ Robert Burns

‘Among the many pleasing purposes to which these favourite flowers are applied by children, none is prettier than the making of Cowslip Balls. The method, which may not be known to all my readers, is as follows:

The umbels are picked off as close as possible to the top of the main stalk, and from fifty to sixty are made to hang across a string stretched between the backs of two chairs. The flowers are then carefully pressed together, and the string tied tightly so as to collect them into a ball. Care should be taken to choose such heads or umbels only as have all the flowers open, or the surface of the ball will be uneven.’ Rev. C.A. Johns From Flowers of the Field, 1885

4th May

John has moved one of the cameras back to the middle of the Pit Wood. A hare showed up almost immediately. You can also hear just how much birdsong there is, even in the middle of the day.

5th May

John and Clare were joined at Liddells by three officers from the Northumberland Wildlife Trust to see how the site was doing (readers may recall that Clare and John intend to leave Liddells to the NWT), and in particular to see whether it might qualify for Local Nature Reserve (LNR) status. It is always excellent to walk round with people who bring expertise to the land and this was no exception. Duncan, Geoff and Alice - a curatorium: A group of curators (in various senses), typically acting as an advisory body, OED Word of the Day 18.05.22 - were very encouraging and although didn’t think that Liddells would yet have the required species richness over the whole site for LNR designation, there were pockets in which that richness was there or almost there. The amount of Adder’s Tongue Fern on the Meadow proved to be quite exciting, and the way Yellow Rattle has established. Duncan and Geoff puzzled over exactly which Lady’s Mantle they found in the Meadow, subsequently sending the identification Hairy Alchemilla: Alchemilla filicaulis subspecies Vestita. Geoff spotted moths mating on the outside of the hide, though wasn’t confidently able to identify them. As part of a general discussion at the end of the visit, Alice commented that the root plates exposed by trees felled by Storm Arwen are offering excellent opportunities for mining insects. More investigation called for.

Before he left, John saw Redpolls and Siskins, and a Greenfinch on one of the peanut feeders at the hide. Greenfinches have been notable for their absence for a while, however Tim had sent a photograph of one in his garden (half a mile away), this very day.

Pale Pinion moths - very many thanks to TrogTrogBlog Chris who responded to Clare’s identification plea. Chris added that this moth ‘is uncommon in the north but occurs regularly in Dumfries & Galloway (see http://www.dgmoths.org.uk/species/macro-moths/pale-pinion). Stewart Sexton sees it every year up the coast at Boulmer (https://boulmerbirder.blogspot.com/search/label/Pale%20Pinion?m=0). And this is the right time of year. This is the NBN atlas, not always the most reliable source’. As Chris pointed out, the moths are exquisitely disguised on the wood grain.

Redpolls, male on the left

Two female Redpolls

Particularly rosy male Redpoll and male Siskin

Greenfinch

To add to the colours - Bluebell

‘We call wild flowers common because of their quantity. But this is just where we strike the great difference between productions of Nature and the productions of Man. When we produce many samples of the same thing they are of poor quality and we speak of them as mass-produced. The mass productions of Nature do not fail at all in terms of quality. Take the bluebell. There indeed is quantity. Yet every year we are freshly struck by their quality. Only a flower-snob could fail to see that any one of those bells on the uplifted belfry is as delicate a construction as any tulip or rose. I will not say more beautiful, or less, for in this realm of flowers we are actually in the presence of abundant examples of - perfection. I think that perfection is the key to the emotion that flowers cause in us.’ John Stewart Collis From Down to Earth, Part II, The Wood, 1947

6th May

Another example of the camera light transfixing a badger. The camera has recorded badgers going away from the camera several times. This one seems stopped in its tracks.

7th May

The two cameras recorded deer activity at about the same time in different places in the Pit Wood. The old buck is anointing again. Three minutes later and a hundred yards away, the young buck and doe appear by the bottom of the stream. Six minutes after that the doe appears where the big buck had been. The old buck shows no signs of losing his winter coat, while the two youngsters’ summer coats are clearly on their way.

10th May

Saturday’s Guardian suggested that one of the ‘60 Ways to Turn Your World Upside Down’ (should you feel the need), would be to tune in to the Japanese concept of micro-seasons. Today is the start of the five day 蚯蚓出 Mimizu izuru, or Worms Surface. Others might feature later in the Blog as appropriate. Prepare to be upended.

John has been investigating all the different plants roe deer will eat. The young doe here is eating Water Avens.

13th May

Here the young doe is joined by the young buck. The camera has captured excellent close-ups of both. The young buck is no longer in velvet.

14 -16th May

John and Clare returned from a few days in Cumbria listening for and watching cuckoos. Derek, who farms next to Liddells, says there used to be cuckoos every year locally.

A pair of Greenfinches turned up at the feeders.

Clare inspected the bees having done so on Sunday 8th before she went away, when she spotted that one of the queens had lost her marking. Clare re-marked her, feeling pleased that this would make swarm management easier. Today she was amazed to see that the stronger colony had taken advantage of her absence and created several swarm cells. One way of hoping to prevent a swarm is to remove the queen and establish a small colony - the theory being that this mimics swarming. So Clare set about finding the queen. After going forwards and backwards through the frames four times she gave up. She returned in the afternoon with John hoping that two pairs of eyes would solve the problem. It didn’t, even after taking each frame out three times. She returned the next day and was relieved to see that the bees still hadn’t capped/closed the cells (capped swarm cells means the bees have already swarmed). Three more goes at finding the queen proved as unsuccessful as the previous seven. Much harrumphing ensued. Fortunately her old bee-keeping mentors responded very promptly to a plea for help and suggested an alternative method of swarm control. Clare geared up to do this on Monday but was thwarted by heavy rain and hoped the bees would be too.

17th May

Barry came to help Clare split the colony with queen cells. As Barry’s bees were not thriving, he and Clare took the opportunity to see if they could create two new colonies. First they identified two large queen cells and brushed all the bees off the frames where these were; these frames went into a new brood box; all except one of the brood frames were added to this box having shaken off all the bees (so that the queen remained in the old brood box). It was important to check that this remaining frame had eggs from which the bees could create a new queen cell in case the queen swarmed anyway. The new brood box was placed on top of the old one with a queen excluder between them, and left till next day. The theory is that the nurse bees will move up to look after the brood. Next morning the new brood box, which had plenty of bees in it, was removed; the two frames with queen cells were put into two nucleus boxes (smaller than a regular brood box and suitable for raising new colonies); the remaining brood frames were shared between the boxes. Syrup was added in feeders. The nucs were then left for a few days. Any flying bees in the nucs would make their way back to the old hive.

18th May

Keith came to help Clare with the annual breeding bird survey. Clare is always surprised by the birds they don’t hear, and rather disappointed that they then can’t be included in the count, however as Keith says, this is only an audio equivalent of a snapshot - it could be repeated every hour on the same day, and the results might vary. One of the highlights was watching a Chiffchaff go in and out of brambles near the wall, suggesting there was a nest there.

19th May

Meanwhile the territorial disputes between the bucks continues - the old buck is captured marking again. John says it is unusual for bucks to share the same territory, although it can happen when the stronger animal doesn’t consider the other to be a threat, and will tolerate its presence.

20th May

Keith has often expressed his surprise that there have been no Whitethroats on Liddells, since the land offers ideal habitat for them - plenty of low vegetation like scrubs, bushes and brambles. Last year Clare thought she had seen one in the Scrub, however with no further sightings, concluded it must have been wishful seeing and more likely a Garden Warbler. Today she was thrilled to see a Whitethroat hopping about in the raspberries and brambles close to the hide, close and visible enough for there to be no doubt about identification, and thought that maybe she hadn’t been mistaken last year after all. She dared not move and scare the bird away, so couldn’t reach for her phone to take a photo.

The old doe appeared in the Pit Wood looking decidedly pregnant. Roe does have their young between mid-May and mid-June. In Northumberland the births tend to be at the later end of this period. This is the doe that had triplets last year so it will be exciting to see what young appear this year.

21st May

Clare had to inspect the second of her hives today and again found queen cells - the evidence the colony is preparing to swarm. This time she decided against endless searches for the queen and repeated the splitting procedure. As it was early morning, she was able to return later in the day and move the new brood box into its new position.

And on the theme of boxes, a Greater Spotted Woodpecker has been showing interest in J2 where Great tits are raising a brood. John has made a metal cover with a smaller hole for the box to deter the intruder.

Clare began her annual thistle cull on the Meadow, removing 106 plants on this first go. No doubt there will be more.

Clare also saw the first damselflies out on the Big Pond. They were Large Reds and too far away to photograph.

22nd May

Clare returned to the apiary to check on progress with the first split. She discovered the queen present in the original hive and laying well. Phew. When she opened the nucleus however, the queen cell was open, so the queen had already hatched. Clare went through the frames extremely cautiously and destroyed the one further queen cell that the bees had made. This nucleus will now be in purdah for at least three weeks to allow for the queen to mature, go on mating flights and start laying eggs.

23rd - 24th May

There is much feeding activity at both J1 and J2. Clare is hoping the trail camera on J2 will capture the fledglings leaving the nest. So far it has recorded the earliest food delivery at 4.46am, and the latest at 20.37pm. This article from the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology), gives more detail about the birds and breeding, noting that an excess of 10,000 caterpillars might be delivered to a typical brood. Clare has noted that parent birds from both J1 and J2 take food from the hide feeders and deliver it to the nest boxes. The birds also remove material from the nest to keep it clean. Both birds are involved in managing the brood.

25th May

A badger makes its way through the Pit Wood and returns 12 minutes later.

27th May

Clare went for an evening’s watching, hoping to see the Whitethroat but saw a Spotted Flycatcher instead. She also saw a bat in The Pit Wood however it was too fast to make any clearer identification.

28th - 29th May

The camera in the Pit Wood, which John is hoping will capture the doe and any kids some time soon, shows that the doe is still pregnant; the older buck ignores the branch he usually marks.

It was time to check on the bees after the second split. There were a couple of new queen cells in the newly created brood box so Clare took one down and took the other to Barry to see if it would hatch successfully and provide a new queen for his failing colony. The original hive had no evidence of a laying queen so she may have swarmed after the split; it was puzzling that the remaining bees hadn’t raised another queen cell from the eggs left behind, so Clare took a frame with eggs from the thriving colony and will check again in a few days time to see if the bees have created what they need. ‘Swarm control’ is a phrase created by beekeepers to help them think they are ahead of the bees’ game. Hmmm.

Clare visited the pond again to find dozens of damselflies in the air. She managed to get a couple of shots with her phone though they are not of great quality. The most interesting was seeing a newly emerged damselfly. It clung to the rush but would move to the far side of it every time Clare tried to get close with her phone. TrogTrogBlog Chris - another of the curatorium - suggested waving an outstretched hand to one side can help to get the damselfly to move round a bit more - as Clare dropped her phone in the pond on the first attempt, she is not that keen to try again.

On 26th May, in Nature Writing for Every Day of the Year, ed. McMorland Hunter, there is a passage from Our Village, by Mary Russell Mitford, 1824:

‘Walking along these meadows one bright sunny afternoon, a year or two back, and rather late in the season, I had an opportunity of noticing a curious circumstance in natural history. Standing close to the edge of the stream, I remarked a singular appearance on a large tuft of flags. It looked like bunches of flowers, the leaves of which seemed dark, yet transparent, intermingled with brilliant tubes of bright blue or shining green. On examining this phenomenon more closely, it turned out to be several clusters of dragon-flies, just emerged from their deformed chrysalis state, and still torpid and motionless from the wetness of their filmy wings. Half an hour later we returned to the spot and they were gone.’

Mating Large Red Damselflies - usually the first of the Odonata to emerge each spring

Adult male Azure Damselfly - TrogTrogBlog’s Chris says you can see the coenagrion spur on the side of the thorax. (Yes, Clare had to look up coenagrian too.) Chris suggested this, from www.odonata.org.uk is a great help to tell the difference from a Common Blue.

Teneral (of, relating to, or constituting a state of the imago of an insect immediately after moulting during which it is soft and immature in colouring) female azure damselfly

30th May

Tims sent this article about Brimstone butterflies in the north-east. Apparently they are prospering. Clare is pleased that the Alder Buckthorns Tim and Clare donated are now in leaf.

31st May

There are fewer videos of hares this month and John and Clare have seen fewer hares, although they are still about and Clare saw a small one on the Top Grazing which would seem to be one of this year’s young. It may be the adults are fully occupied in looking after them.

Next month is the Wildlife Trust’s annual challenge to everyone to do one wild thing every day throughout the month. John and Clare hope Blog readers will be inspired to join in.