Liddells has been quiet this month so this Blog post is mainly video footage. A reminder that to see the videos, you will have to visit www.liddells.co.uk and click on the Blog.
This month’s title quotation comes from the poem “Hope” by Oliver Herford, an Anglo-American writer.
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December,
A magical thing,
And sweet to remember:
"We are nearer to spring
Than we were in September."
It seems appropriate to follow those lines with:
What’s that bird?
1st December
John and Clare set about cleaning tree protection tubes ready for reuse. They are pleased that apart from the 100 small tubes for hedgerow whips several years ago, they have bought no new tubes at all. With donations and recycling they still have enough for the new trees next year.
Clare noticed Woodcock feathers scattered on the bottom roadway. They may be from the fox’s visit last month. The feathers are rather beautiful, the implications not.
6th December
A Tawny owl appears in the rain in the Pit Wood. In the first video it is almost motionless; ten minutes later it is still there and there have been no interim videos triggered by movement. The bird then seems to have a flurry before settling in almost the same place. As it is on the ground, it may have been captured after a kill.
A Ring-necked or Common pheasant demonstrates one of the plumage variations that can occur in this species - this one has white eyebrows and feathers on the sides of its head. The white eyebrows and feathers form horn-like or ear-like tufts.
9th December
Clare’s first thought on seeing the following video was that the Jay might be ahead of itself in preparing for Spring. A more plausible and likely explanation is that the bird is pecking for insects in the moss on the tree bark.
10th December
Last month’s Blog post included a video showing how the hairs of a roe deer’s caudal patch are erect when the animal is alarmed. Below a video shows how quickly the patch can return to normal afterwards.
12th December
Unwieldy bouquets are delivered to John and Clare’s house - the new trees have arrived.
The trail camera in the Scrub is the one which usually picks up footage of a fox; this time the fox appears in the Pit Wood and seems to check out the camera.
14th December
Clare finds a roe deer’s squeaking rather an unlikely sound for such an animal and she is drawn to footage that confirms that the sound really does belong with the deer. Here the link between sound and doe is incontrovertible. The cause of the alarm is most probably shooting on neighbouring land.
14th - 19th December
Bud growth and there a sample of the substantial amount of gorse in flower. Long-standing readers of the Blog will know that this latter means that kissing is in fashion.
The doe, her triplets and the oldest buck, probably the father of the triplets, go past the camera in the Pit Wood. It is not that usual to see the whole family together.
20th December
While the hares below do not actually box, they seem to be preparing to do so. Hares can be seen boxing at any time of year although it is most frequently seen in the Spring.
A trio of stoat videos next, captured on different days, maybe the same stoat each time. All three show how fast they move. In the second a stoat is running round in circles, maybe chasing a mouse or vole, the last shows a stoat apparently making a quick exit stage left. The Woodland Trust says that stoats are widespread and thought to be common, but there is a lack of reliable evidence on their numbers. The loss of hedgerows and a decline in the rabbit population are factors that may have a negative impact on the species. Good to see they have a presence on Liddells.
27th December
John has spent several sessions making good after the sheep - they always push over a few tube and stakes - and preparing areas ready for planting the new trees. Today he saw a Woodcock in the Scrub. It is good to know at least one bird has survived. Ruth and her son went in the evening in the hope of netting and ringing some of the more nocturnal birds such as a Woodcock. They had no luck on that front but did see half a dozen Mandarin ducks on the big pond. Clare will move a camera in the hope of capturing some footage.
The handful of subsequent videos, a rather crude version of time lapse photography, show the rate of antler growth in the bucks this month. In the final video the velvet covering the new antlers is very clear.
31st December
Clare braved the gales and rain to collect the trail camera discs in the hope of some last minute footage for this post. There was a considerable amount of footage of wavy branches, lots of clips of hares in the Pit Wood however no ducks on the Big Pond. John and Clare hope the Mandarins will return and if they do, they will appear in the next post.
Until then thank you to all Blog readers for your interest and support and may you have many delightful encounters with the natural world in 2025.
What’s that bird?
The Jay is accompanied by a Long-tailed tit; the second video features the aggressive calls of a Goldfinch.