The usual reminder that should you wish to watch the video footage included in this post, go to www.liddells.co.uk and click on Blog. There is one video in particular towards the end of the month that is especially worth a view.
1st January
It’s not the first time a cat has been captured on one of the trail cameras, however this is the first black cat. Clare decided that although it was without the traditional gifts, it was first footing Liddells. Clare and John hope its appearance signals prosperity in the coming year.
Shieldbugs/Shield buses - this Bronze shieldbug suddenly leapt on to the dashboard of John’s car while he was driving to Liddells. Maybe it was looking for the one Clare had found in the foraged foliage before Christmas.
2nd January
Over the holidays the word ‘ectoplasm’ had come up in conversation and its association with the activity of mediums. When Clare saw this clip, she thought of it again. It certainly looks haunting.
3rd January
It is official - the so-called Marsh tits, latterly Mallow tits, are indeed Willow tits. Some time ago Clare had used a bird song identifying app to come up with Marsh tits, however a more recent and more accurate app correctly identifies the birds. Clare hopes the birds enjoyed their marshmallow alter ego.
Ruth and Louis set up their mist nets. Ruth said the activity reflected the expected quiet in winter, however she sent through some photos of the day together with a BTO graph showing the catastrophic decline of Willow tits in recent years. Many thanks for their photographs.
Goldcrest
Treecreeper
Coal tit
Willow tit - these two photographs show clearly the differences are between the Willow and Coal tits.
4th January
John and Clare carried out some sapling maintenance on the Hayfield. The sheep will often knock over a tube or two while grazing and, if they can, nibble the growing tips of the plants. There wasn’t too much damage this year.
5th January
John worked on repair to the Alphabet Bridge while Clare ferried chip to the feeding station to help provide a footing in the mud around the feeders. She was delighted to see two Tree Sparrows near the feeders, birds which have been noticeable by their absence for a while now.
Clare enjoyed seeing Hawthorns festooned with raindrops and decided that Nature was making the most of Twelfth Night and leaving the decorations up till the last minute.
The Alders have already produced their catkins. Clare was pleased that a recent participant in Mastermind chose British Garden Birds as his specialist subject. Clare did well but didn’t score as many as the contestant. She learned that Siskins are attracted to red mesh garden feeders because the feeders resemble Alder cones.
In Wild Fell by Lee Schofield - an account of the RSPB’s efforts to restore the ecosystems in their Haweswater site - the author describes how trees come into flower through in the year. He notes that Hazel is first (January), Aspen, Alder and Wych Elm next (February), followed by Blackthorn (March), then Cherry and Birch (April) with Bramble and Ivy following on through the summer and into autumn. Gorse, as all Blog readers know, can be in flower throughout the year.
Alphabet soup
Each Alder tree has both male and female flowers. The catkins which house the male flowers are up to 6cm long. Young catkins appear green before turning yellow. The female flower is a smaller red structure, about 1cm long and with many hair-like structures across the surface. Once this is pollinated, it turns into the brown alder fruit or ‘cone’ which houses the seeds.
Hawthorn decorations
6th January
John is up to about L on the Alphabet Bridge. He saw 8 Long-tailed tits on the feeders today - another species that hasn’t been around the hide for a while.
7th January
John saw a Woodcock on the western side of the Pit Wood. It is always a treat to see one as they are largely nocturnal and spend most of the day in dense cover. They will be heading back to Finland/Russia as Spring arrives here.
John and Clare see Redwings and Fieldfares on Liddells on pretty much every visit. This in itself is not that astounding, however noting it does provide an opportunity to share more knowledge gleaned from Mastermind, namely that Fieldfares have a flying faecal defence system. The birds defend their nests by bombarding predators with their droppings.
8th January
Trail camera footage shows four deer together and a single buck. With both bucks the growth in their antlers is quite apparent. The lone buck looks to be bigger than either of the two remaining triplets.
15th - 17th January
Clare has repositioned the Scrub camera so that it is now points south into the centre. Hares feature frequently, even in snow, a Woodcock appears in the late afternoon one day and in lighter conditions two days later at the same time as a stoat, and a fox limps past and back again.
18th - 19th January
John and Clare took advantage of the frozen ground to fetch a couple of trailer loads of logs from home - gathering winter fu-u-el.
John completed some maintenance of the Junipers while Clare moved more barrowloads of chip to the ground round the feeders. A day or so ago John had startled a hare from cover near the story-telling circle so he decided to move his camera to overlook the area. The resulting footage captured more birds than hares, however it is interesting to see how many species the camera recorded. Clare is not sure whether they are telling or listening to stories. Or both. Blackbirds seem to be the most frequent visitors; you will also see Pheasants - one with unusually pale supercilia which makes him look supercilious, Robins, Goldcrest, Great tit, and a pair of Bullfinches. The old buck ambles through too. There are clearly other birds foraging in the background however they are harder to identify.
20th - 21st January
More fox presence - a non-limping fox and the return of the one with a limp. A mouse scuttles past close to the camera while one of the young bucks walks through in the background.
24th January
Always good to find ladybirds. This one is a 7 spot, the UK’s most common ladybird, however it has given Clare the opportunity to add a caption which amused her.
Clare also noticed a plant, probably soft rush, making good use of a crevice in a tree trunk.
Staple diet
25th - 26th January
A box of delights. The camera near the pond captures a heron going past (John had seen one fly off from near the pond the day before), a sparrowhawk (the absence of pink colouration on the breast tells us it is a female), joins the parliament of fowls recorded in the story-telling circle, four hares appear together, and then, oh joy, two hares are captured boxing near the circle. Although hares are known to box at any time through the year, March is thought to be the month when they are most active in this regard. Blog readers know that Clare has been hoping for many years to see hares boxing on Liddells. She is very happy.
28th January
John has not only completed the AZ of bridge-building but he has added a step.
29th - 31st January
Yet more rain, though it hasn’t deterred the heron.
There is more hare activity near the story-telling circle.
The hazels have produced their catkins. February might see the Aspen and Wych Elms coming into flower.