We recognise that we are fortunate that going and working on Liddells falls within ‘driving to the countryside for exercise’. We are also making Liddells available for other people to do the same - we keep an eye on visits and make sure overlaps don’t occur. We are appreciative that you are sensitive to this.
Some of you seem to be experiencing difficulty seeing the videos in the emails that arrive. This might be to do with either your browser or your email settings (John’s and Clare’s IT understanding stops at those words). The videos do appear on the website, so when your monthly blog email arrives, go to www.liddells.co.uk and access the blog there. Another possibility is that you have an Ad Blocker at work. If you use one, try disabling it when you go through the blog post.
1st April
John and Clare completed the framing and seats for two of the willow screens. They discovered that one had already been occupied for bird-digesting rather than bird-watching - an owl pellet lay right in the middle of the membrane. As you can see, it fits the description of a tawny owl’s pellet.
Clare, unusually, without binoculars
Owls do not need binoculars
John with imaginary binoculars
2nd April
Pat went to the hide today and let Clare know that she had seen a Siskin keeping Greenfinches off the feeders. Clare, who has never seen or heard Greenfinches on Liddells, assumed that the finches were gold.
3rd April
Clare thought she heard the first of the returning Willow Warblers but couldn’t be sure. There is moss appearing in some of the nesting boxes.
4th April
John spotted a Chiffchaff in a hawthorn near the big pond and he and Clare spent a delightful quarter of an hour watching it, although John was regretting his choice not to take his camera. The Willow Warblers are not yet in full throat; they are calling (Wheet-wheet) but not singing.
5th April
Lunch in the hide and a pair of Greenfinches were using one of the peanut feeders! Another new species for Liddells. Clare let Pat know that she was the first to record these birds on Liddells and felt suitably chastened. John was able to get a photo of the male.
6th April
John is worried that Clare, having eradicated every weed in the garden, is at a loss for ways in which to occupy herself. He came into the kitchen to find her using two cocktail sticks to dissect the owl pellet. Clare thinks this is a perfectly understandable activity and would like to share the results.
All of these and many smaller fragments that were too tiny to pick out…
…were inside all of this
6th April
Mel, deprived of his usual work outlets due to Northumberland Wildlife Trust reserves being shut, kindly offered to contribute his energies to Liddells. John and Clare asked him to start removing a superfluous fence on the western boundary. Mel might have been distracted by the urge to create a sculpture. John and Clare realised that the fence Mel had removed was indeed superfluous. Mel has offered to return to remove the fence John and Clare had had in mind.
Mel’s title - ‘Standing for the leadership of the Labour Party’
7th April
Nesting box activity is increasing. John positioned the trail camera perfectly on No 32 in the Scrub. If pecking order applies to accommodation as well as to food, the Blue Tit may have to look elsewhere.
8th April
One of the female pheasants is getting bolder round the feeders and so John was able to add her to his species list. John also spent some time extracting algae from the ponds ready to add oxygenating plants, and was delighted to see tadpoles. Returning to his car he saw a hare sitting out in the sun.
Here hitch-hiking hare here
9th April
Today John did have his camera with him by the big pond and …
Pecking order seems to have been overthrown.
10th April
While Clare delved, John spun wonders with the strimmer in the Scrub, creating pathways and easier access. Unfortunately, since then he has been in strimmer pain. Clare thinks the strimmer (you guess whether she means the machine or the machinist) is a pain. Clare is, however, delighted with the improvements to the Scrub.
Completed ditch, augmented by lawn edge trimmings from home
Clare had another attack of pareidolia
A new path through the Scrub
11th April
John witnessed the origin of new life in the butterfly kingdom.
Birds do it, bees do it, even peacock butterflies do it
Cherry blossom out in the Top Strip
14th April
The second superfluous fence no longer exists - thanks again to Mel. More wildflowers are in evidence.
An ex-fence
The first Cowslip opened on the Meadow
Wild strawberry in the Scrub
Dandelions provide early forage for the bees
15th - 22nd April
The emerging wildflowers and wildlife have given John the chance to spend more time with his camera. Clare was disappointed but not surprised to discover that the weakest of her bee colonies has not survived. The remaining two are going strongly. Both Clare and John were delighted one evening to watch two hares crossing the Wetland into the Pit Wood. It is highly likely they are a pair. The trail camera shows more visits from the Blue tits to Box 32 however they still seem undecided. Maybe they were hoping for a garage or extra bedroom. Some birds are never satisfied.
Female Cranefly (Mummy Longlegs) laying in soft mud at the edge of the roadway pond
The primroses on the south facing slope in the Pit Wood are particularly good this year. Recently Linda France suggested that John and Clare might rethink how they name different areas of Liddells. Clare thought ‘Primrose Side’ would be a fitting name for the bank, because she recalled this was the name of the farm where John had been brought up.
A round table meeting of our cabinet
Someone has done a runner - Dom?
Clare is enjoying creating Liddells based activities for Juno and family. She has set up an Easter Egg hunt, making a pizza for the birds and a stile challenge. Juno added her own activities such as swinging and bridge-jumping.
Juno familiarising herself with Grandma Clare’s instructions
All our own work
Watching an appreciative Blue tit
The Great Liddells Stile Challenge involved going over all 13 stiles, in order for the route to work, some had to be crossed more than once. Juno crossed 17 times. Very stilish!
26th-30th April
When John and Clare arrived at the hide today, a female Lesser Redpoll was perched on one of the feeder supports. She was far too quick for John to get his camera ready however it was lovely to see the bird and to know that at least one is still around. Lesser Redpolls are resident all year.
John has recovered sufficiently from his attack of Strimming Syndrome to embark on a new project. He is clearing a path though the eastern area of the Pit Wood. The work involves a chain saw. Ear defenders are in use. Hearing aids have been safely boxed during the process. The work has thrown up new discoveries - a large Hazel in flower, a Wild Gooseberry and Oxlips. Clare helped.
Now Spring is well under way, there is abundant evidence of new life. About a third of the nest boxes appear to be in use with eggs evident in a couple. Mel had a botanical stroll and combined with or own observations there are about thirty plant species in flower.