Clare’s cousin Helen emailed after last month’s blog post saying that her partner Will thought the unidentified lichen might be Cladonia furcata, which is a False Reindeermoss. It can be found on mossy rocks, which fits with its habitat on Liddells. Helen commented that Will ‘is very much into lichen and spends a lot of time identifying them - involving a microscope, an ultra violet light torch and some chemicals. They then go into storage in shoe boxes. This has extended to mosses and liverworts so the house is littered with bits of them after every walk!
1st November
Local farmer John brought 40 of his sheep to graze the Hayfield.
7th November
John felled one of the trees earmarked for removal in the Top Strip. Taking out some of the larger non-native trees allows the broad-leaved trees nearby to benefit from the increased light and space.
8th November
Clare was pleased to find a holly tree covered in berries in the Scrub. There are plenty of holly berries in the hedgerows at the moment however Liddells seems to have few female hollies and therefore few berries. Hollies are mainly dioecious (male flowers on one plant, female on another) and both need to be present for berries because pollen has to be carried between flowers by pollinators.
10th November
Clare went to check on her bees and to fix mouse guards to the hives and on returning to the Hayfield wondered why one of the sheep hadn’t run down to the far corner with the others. As Clare approached she could see that it was totally tethered by and entangled with brambles which were wrapped round its body, neck and leg. The more the sheep struggled, the tighter the brambles became. Clare channelled her inner shepherd, collected a small saw from the tool shed (John had left the car locked so there was no access to loppers or secateurs), managed to get close enough to the animal while talking in what she hoped was a soothing voice, and was able to saw through the offending bramble. The sheep hobbled off and farmer John was alerted to check on it. All in a day’s Liddells.
11th November
John began preparing planting sites in the Orchard for some fruit trees that are arriving next month.
16th November
There has been very little footage recorded on either trail camera this month however the camera in the Scrub, on the same tree as usual but pointing in a different direction, captured a couple of Redwings foraging in the leaf litter.
20th November
There is a substantial amount of gorse in flower at the moment so kissing is in fashion. John and Clare repaired the dry stone wall on the Meadow border ready for the sheep to move down and graze the last of the growth there. The leaf fall is revealing nests in branches. This one in a Hawthorn on the Wildflower Meadow was probably made by a blackbird.
21st November
John split the trunk of the felled tree ready for it to be used as replacement benches in the Story Telling Circle.
23rd November
David O delivered a bench he had promised to make for the Point of View in the Top Strip by way of a thank you for the Village Band’s picnic in the summer. He had used recycled wood from a strawberry bed. Clare and John have had ‘make bench for Point of View’ on their to-do list for several years so this was a most welcome gift.
24th November
Clare tested the water in the Big Pond which showed a PH level of 7 which is neutral in terms of acidity and therefore might not satisfy the needs of Common Hawkers. (see the beginning of last month’s Blog post)
26th November
Neither hares nor deer have seemed to be around much at the moment, probably because of the presence of the sheep, so John was pleased to see the two young bucks on the Wildflower Meadow this morning.
27th November
John felled another tree in the Top Strip with Dave G’s help.
30th November
John and Clare were delighted to welcome Ruth back to Liddells after a brief visit ten years ago; since then Ruth has trained as a bird ringer with the British Trust for Ornithology and is looking for new sites. Ruth asked if Bramblings had been seen on Liddells. None have, however Ruth said this was a good year for seeing them and wouldn’t be surprised if there were some around. Clare walked home and saw a flock of at least twelve of the birds not half a mile from Liddells so she will be looking out more closely on subsequent visits.
John and Clare set the new bench in place on the Point of View.