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