Below are two more ‘What’s that bird?’ challenges (answers at the end of this post). You will have to go to the Blog page of the website www.liddells.co.uk to see the videos in the blogpost as they will not be included in the email.
1st November
The sheep left last evening, presumably to trick or treat somewhere else, maybe that is what the fox is doing too.
The trail camera footage from the Crag features mostly a single mouse running around, however on this clip there are two mice; this seemed worthy of inclusion.
4th November
A hare decides that right in front of the camera is a good place for a wash and brush-up. It’s cleaning routine lasts 6 minutes in all.
5th November
Here a doe and a kid show how they are now in their chocolatey-brown winter coats.
6th November
Stoats have been seen on Liddells several times, most often in the Scrub. There has never been one seen on the Crag before. Maybe it is after the meeces.
8th November
Last year, footage from the Scrub trail camera revealed that Woodcock had a presence there throughout the year, whereas John and Clare had thought the birds were only winter visitors. Some, however do arrive for the winter. The British Trust for Ornithology says, ‘In winter there is a strong arrival of Woodcock from the Continent, thought to increase numbers in Britain & Ireland five-fold. Recent ringing and tracking studies have shown that some individuals originate from quite far east. Areas of highest abundance in winter are in North Ireland and north-west Scotland.’
The pair of birds in the two video below look as if they might have just arrived, slightly dazed and uncertain. Or maybe that’s just how Woodcock look. Countryside folklore suggested that Woodcock arrive on the first full moon in November. These two are a week ahead of the next full moon on 15th November.
9th November
In the video below you can see how the hair on roe deer’s caudal patch is erect when the animal is alarmed, creating a much larger and whiter patch. It is more apparent here in the larger doe than in the buck kid. Deer are woodland animals and John says that the large white patch acts as a flag to other deer as it can be seen through trees and Scrub.
11th November
Dismayingly, it seems as though a fox has taken one of the Woodcock. The video is not clear, however the beak length of the captured bird suggests it is a Woodcock. The fox has clearly not read ‘the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981’ where the Woodcock ‘is listed as a Red species under the Birds of Conservation Concern 5: the Red List for Birds’.
This video is showing more false rutting behaviour. As with the clip last month, you can see the vigour with which the buck treats the sapling. Although at this distance it is not possible to be certain, this looks like the middle-sized buck who first appeared on Liddells recently.
15th November
Rachel P, a friend who works for the Woodland Trust, visited Liddells today and was generous with her thoughts and ideas about Liddells, as well as with the offer of some trees, tree guards and stakes. People have often asked if the Crag is part of the Whin Sill. The Whin Sill is one of the special geological features of the North Pennines and forms some of the area’s most dramatic landscapes. Read more about it here. The Crag is sandstone and not part of the Whin Sill, however Rachel showed John and Clare part of a geology map that revealed that the Whin Sill is part of Liddells and crosses diagonally in the north-west corner. It is not apparent overground, however John and Clare are pleased to finally know that this iconic landscape feature is part of Liddells after all.
Rachel alerted Clare and John to how Beech regeneration, particularly with Ash dieback, could lead to a monoculture. Attractive though Beech is, very little will grow below it. There is already substantial Beech regeneration in the north-west corner of the Pit Wood and at the top of the Scrub. John and Clare will need to reduce this.
Rachel confirmed that four of the plant species that appear on Liddells, Wood Sorrel, Hard Fern, Golden Saxifrage and Wood Rush are all Ancient Woodland Indicators, suggesting that woodland on Liddells is older than John and Clare have previously thought.
Rachel spotted some Common Puffballs on the path in the Top Strip. They ‘are typically found in broad-leaved woodlands but may also occur with conifers’; both types of tree are in the Top Strip. While the puffballs are at the end of their life, the Hazels are busy producing catkins for the Spring.
18th November
A surprise appearance in the Scrub - a unicorn pauses in front of the camera!
John identified this as the murder buck and it has shed one of its antlers. Roe deer shed their antlers late November - December and start regrowing them immediately. (The ‘unicorn’ appears again on camera in the Pit Wood on 28th with the remaining antler intact.)
23rd November
Clare and John awoke to snow lying and falling quite heavily, however it all quickly turned to rain. By the time they reached Liddells there wasn’t enough for a Christmas card image. Clare was amused by the handful left in the pond net, by a snow-capped camera and by evidence that a pheasant had tried skating on thin ice.
25th November
A buzzard catches something in the Pit Wood, though it is not clear what.
26th November
Two avian oddities: a Woodcock behaves strangely in the Scrub. It looks as though it is displaying, however it is the wrong time of year for that. It may be threatening and attempting to take on an animal such as a stoat. John and Clare are pleased to see that one Woodcock has survived thus far though of course it would be better to have a pair.
Then a leucistic Pheasant appears in the Pit Wood. Leucisim is a genetic mutation that causes loss of pigment in feathers so the bird looks washed out. Of course it may feel washed out. The words ‘leucism’ and ‘leucistic’ are derived from the stem leuc- + -ism/-istic, from Latin leuco- in turn derived from Greek leukos meaning white.
28th November
The doe and triplets still appear together as a family group even though they also go their separate ways at times.
What’s that bird? The first video features a Blackbird and a Robin, the second a Willow tit (the rather nasal sound).