2nd February
Today is Candlemas. ‘To me it appears that there are six principal seasons or divisions of the year, to one of which we may venture to refer to almost all the wild and most of the hardy herbaceous plants which grow in our climate. This arrangement into six instead of four seasons corresponds better with the actual course of phenomena. We may consider the first or Primaveral Season as beginning at Candlemas, on the first opening of the early spring flowers.’ Thomas Furley Forster
‘At last, winter began to gather her limbs, to rise, and drift away with saddened garments northwards…The birds fluttered and dashed; the catkins on the hazel loosened their winter rigidiy, and swung soft tassells. All through the day sounded long, sweet whistlings from the bushes; then later, loud, laughing shouts of bird triumph on every hand.’
from The White Peacock D.H.Lawrence
Mel sent the results of his first wildflower survey of the year (he is interested in seeing the difference now from his first surveys ten years ago), recording Gorse, Snowdrop, Birch (in bud with catkins not quite open), Alder (as Birch), and Heather on the Crag (variety to be confirmed). He remarked that in his very first report for January 2014 the only flower he recorded was Meadow Buttercup, although he suspects the catkins would have been showing then.
11th February
John and Clare inspected all the nesting boxes, cleaning them out and noting what repairs might be needed.
There has been much hare activity near the Story-telling Circle. The following seven clips are all captured within 14 minutes.
12th February
Not to be outdone by the hares, the pheasants are also demonstrating Spring activity.
15th February
Clare cleared weeds from the steps by the Point of View.
Walking round afterwards she noticed the first Coltsfoot in flower by the stream.
16th February
A heron and ducks have reappeared on the big pond, which suggests there may be frog mating activity any day.
Not to be left out, a badger marks his territory near the Story-telling Circle.
19th February
Clare has been looking for hazel flowers and today was successful. The female flowers resemble a bud, with crimson stigmas that protrude when they are ready to receive pollen. The flower buds are located on the branch above the catkin, to avoid self-pollination. Each bud has several flowers. Each flower has 4 stigmas to collect pollen. If fertilised, each flower will produce one nut.
24th February
John brought the last of the bags of chip to help cover the mud near the hide. He repaired a couple of bird boxes and cleared up from working on the Alphabet Bridge.
In the hope of recording some frog mating activity, Clare had moved her camera to the edge of the pond where John had witnessed it last year. It looks as though the ducks might have the same hope.
Later the same day a female pheasant takes advantage of the pond water. The camera showed her drinking without pause for three minutes.
Later that same evening, near the story-telling circle, the trail camera captures the old buck scraping a couch. He settles in the couch with breaks for chewing the cud and personal hygiene, for just over an hour and a half before wandering off.
25th February
Clare went to meet Ruth to discuss equipment storage for Ruth’s bird-ringing activities. As soon as Clare arrived at the bottom gate, she heard a woodpecker drumming; the first she had heard this year. Ruth had netted and ringed four birds that morning. She said that she had netted Goldcrests on every ringing outing thus far. Ruth also mentioned that on an earlier visit, her son had heard Crossbills on the land. This was exciting news - John and Clare had not thought about the presence of this species. The Common Crossbill is both a resident species and a partial migrant. It is perfectly possible that the birds might appear on Liddells. A closer watch will be kept.
Clare visited the hide while Ruth packed up and had fun watching out for birds with rings. On her return Ruth did a final check on the last net and found a wren. This was the first wren she had netted on Liddells. Clare was able to watch what happened next - Ruth freed the bird from the net, stowed it in a cotton bag and brought it back to her work table. She removed the bird from the bag, measured its wing length from shoulder to tip, counted the white spots along the leading edge of the outer feather, looked at the plumage to help age the bird (there can be traces of juvenile plumage before the bird develops its full adult plumage), attempted to determine its sex (wrens are apparently notoriously difficult to sex), clipped on a ring, weighed the bird and logged all her findings before releasing it. Clare had never seen a wren so close and was surprised at how long the bill seemed.
This is a double length net and one of four Ruth puts up - Ruth says she her personal challenge is to get them in place more quickly; at the moment it takes her well over an hour
A bird in the hand…
The same day footage from near the story-telling circle show another, younger buck, with other deer running away in the background.
26th February
A heron hunts for frogs and captures a fair bit of pondweed before finding food.
More hare activity near the story-telling circle - four running around then two starting to box.
The old buck is captured anointing. John says that territorial behaviour in roe deer has been thought to begin in April. This is much earlier and John wonders whether this is evidence of a response to climate change.
A squirrel appears to ambush a hare.
27th February
A pair of mallards feed for a period of six minutes in the same spot in the Big Pond; they leave then return a couple of times over the next hour or two.
The limping fox, last seen in the Scrub, is captured near the Story-telling circle.
29th February
‘The turn of the year is certainly behind us: a thousand sights, scents, and sounds declare the fact. But exactly at what moment the mystic change took place and Nature, writing ‘Finis’ to the tale of last year, started without pause Chapter 1 of this, is a mystery. Officially, I suppose, the turn of the year is at midnight on the shortest day, when the earth starts spinning the 580 odd million miles yearly trip round the sun again. But Nature knows no calendar; and long before that moment came sap was rising, buds were swelling, and this year’s shoots pushing upwards from the soil. Earlier still, the last leaves of last year were thrust from the bough by the rsing life of this. So there seems to be no definite beginning: the seasons move in a circle.’
From The Peverel Papers, Flora Thompson
Quoted for 29th February in Nature writing for Every Day of the Year