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.