Apparently August is known as ‘sere month’. Although Clare knew the word ‘sere’ meaning dry or withered (see Macbeth: ‘My way of life Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf’), she first came across the phrase ‘sere month’ through the solution to a cryptic crossword clue. John said that he did not know the answer ‘sere’ and when Clare looked up the definition to show him, the phrase ‘sere month’ was included. The clue was ‘Issue drinks, perhaps not very dry,’
If you are new to the Blog, go to www.liddells.co.uk and click on the Blog page to see all the video footage from this month. It is most unlikely to be included in your email.
First some left over videos from the end of July. The first two clips from the camera near the Dirty Dancing Bridge have helped to distinguish between two of the does. The first doe has a much thinner caudal patch than the second, which is a far more distinct kidney shape. The third video shows the rut continuing in the Scrub with the old buck driving a doe. You can hear her squeaking.
1st August
With the relief of the hay-making behind them, John and Clare continued their preparations for the Open Weekend, working on paths, weeding inside tree cages and devising signs to help visitors navigate and enjoy the site.
Meanwhile the trail cameras have captured a fox in the Scrub and the doe with her triplets near the Dirty Dancing Bridge.
2nd August
John started building a platform for the bench David O had made for the Point of View.
Good to consider all angles in any point of view
3rd August
The bench is complete and a fine place to sit.
Providing a platform for a point of view
A Small Tortoiseshell basking on a stone nearby - thankfully a few more butterflies are beginning to emerge
Always important to consider contrary points of view
Clare has withdrawn injured and frustrated. Weeding, scything, sickling, carrying stones and chip have proved too much for her back. She is forbidden strenuous activity so is at home making signage for the coming weekend and catching up with the camera discs.
One of the cameras records the best footage of bats yet - some compensation.
5th August
A badger makes slow, investigative progress through the Scrub just after midnight and a doe suckles her twins in the early morning.
John photographed one of the juvenile robins near the hide. It has become a Robin Redbreast.
7th August
The triplets move in and out of sync in the Scrub.
8th - 9th August
A couple of clips demonstrating a kid feeping. In the second you can see the abdomen moving to make the sound.
There was also evidence of more rutting activity near the Dirty Dancing Bridge, however the footage wasn’t brilliant, so it is not included here.
Clare was back on light duties. She was struck by the autumnal colour palette in this young Chaffinch’s plumage.
10th - 11th August
The weather gods were kind and the sun shone for the Open Days. John and Clare welcomed nearly 70 visitors, all of whom seemed to enjoy themselves. Many partook in the activities on offer (some illustrated below), most wandered around at their own pace and some simply enjoyed the scenery and company. Everyone came with great generosity of spirit and of purse and talked of how lovely it was to be able to be in, and to engage with, nature. There were sightings of deer, a hare, more butterflies in a day than have been seen thus far this year, dragonflies and damselflies, and although not as many birds as usual (the birds would have been sheltering from the heat and also there was more disturbance than usual at the hide), Susie W saw a Spotted Flycatcher on one of the Hawthorns in front of the hide. Clare was particularly pleased to hear this as she hadn’t noticed any this year. Susie also heard a Redstart calling.
John’s woodworking skills on display
Clare’s beeswax and forage produce
As she walked around at the end of Sunday, Clare noticed one of the Alders on the Wetland has begun to produce next year’s catkins.
John and Clare decided to extend the delights of the weekend with a stay in the shepherd’s hut. The sunset was a rich reward.
12th August
A glorious start to the Glorious Twelfth - John and Clare had a gentle early morning stroll round Liddells. They noticed small flocks of Willow Warblers and Goldfinches, Guelder Rose berries and Branched Burr-reed that they had been too busy to see before, and two male Common Hawkers on the Big Pond, however more delights awaited at the hide. Two Bank voles were scurrying around all the time John and Clare were there and just as Clare decided that the Spotted Flycatchers weren’t going to show, two turned up. On the way back to the Hayfield John and Clare saw Wrens, a pair of Bullfinches, Siskins, more Goldfinches and Willow Warblers; then, as they walked up and out of the Scrub, three or four more Spotted Flycatchers put in an appearance. Cherries on top of the icing on the cake.
Trail camera footage shows a kid pausing as if to listen to the Willow Warbler that is still around and singing. This kid shows how much it has grown and that it still has its spots. Later the same day that one of the kids seems to be developing an anal tush, marking her out as a doe.
13th August
Tom cut the Wildflower meadow today. Unfortunately he no longer has access to a small square baler so the hay will have to be raked up and disposed of in some way.
14th August
Ruth conducted her penultimate ringing session of the season. She reported a good session with a total of 42 birds. The highlights were an adult Spotted Flycatcher and a juvenile Whitethroat. (Clare learned recently that there are many country names for the Whitethroat, ranging from Nettle Creeper to Beardie and Hay Jack. though in this instance Net Creeper might be a more fitting name.) Ruth also recaught the Willow Tit she had ringed in the winter. There were plenty of Blackbirds, Blackcaps and Willow Warblers too. Ruth said that it is hard to know whether all the birds have bred on site this year, however ‘after fledging a lot of birds tend to flock and become quite mobile, they’ll go where there is good feeding. And the warblers will be gearing up for migration, it’s possible some of the Willow Warblers are moving down gradually from the north.’ Ruth once again demonstrates what an asset she is to Liddells and to Clare’s and John’s ongoing education.
The hares are enjoying the shade from the bales on the Hayfield.
18th August
John’s turn for some impromptu shepherding. When John and Clare arrived today they could see two sheep near the bottom gate. The sheep had jumped the wall to get in.
There are several Common Hawkers around the Big Pond. Common Darters are more obliging by keeping still for a a short while. Here is a male basking on one of the treads in the Alphabet Bridge.
Clare and John discovered that defeated by the wires now securing the lids to the seed feeders, the squirrels are going straight to the source of the food. Clare and John were greeted by the following sights when they went to the hide today.
Their frustration was, however, offset by some delightful sights.
Later in the day the oldest doe goes through the Scrub, closely followed by her feeping triplets. Kids are appearing fairly regularly on the trail camera footage however it isn’t always possible to know whether they are the singleton, the twins or the triplets as they are all becoming more independent.
19th August
Juno learned the word ‘dendrologist’, and set about investigating one of the slices of wood in the log shed. Clare and John indulged in a bit of child labour exploitation and managed to fill a dumpy with hay that they will be able to give to Barry for his goats.
20th August
John had his camera with him at the hide and managed to capture footage of a Spotted Flycatcher and of a squirrel. Clare thinks the squirrel looks decidedly smug. In retrospect she thinks it was planning its bungee jump.
21st August - 26th August
Barry R took the hay off the Hayfield on 21st. Happily, the hares that habitually use the bales as shelter have not abandoned the area and Clare and Juno saw five when they arrived. Here are a pair John photographed.
Clare noticed a patch of Harebells under the roadside beech trees. The plant thrives on dry undisturbed soil and the beeches provide exactly that. Clare has tried to establish this species from seed in the past though with no success. There have been a couple of flowers in previous years, however it seems as though they have increased in number this year. In Scotland, the harebell is sometimes known as the 'bluebell'; elsewhere, it has picked up various local names, including 'witches' thimbles' and 'fairy bells', alluding to magical associations - people believed that witches used juices squeezed from this flower to transform themselves into hares. The more prosaic reason for the flower’s name is that it grows in places frequented by hares.
The squirrels had inevitably made short shrift of one of the bungees on the feed bins. Smugness will be short lived. Metal chains are on the shopping list.
John continued working on the new fence post and strainers. The work will involve rerouting the old fence so the job keeps growing. Meanwhile Clare set about raking more meadow hay into rows ready for disposal. She filled another dumpy, however the rest was thrown in the North-East Strip into one of the old pits. It seems a shame to waste the hay, however leaving it on the ground would ultimately enrich the soil, the very opposite of what is needed for a wildflower meadow. It is hard for the photos to give a sense of the depth of the pit and Clare lost count of the number of trailer loads after the thirteenth. It was a lot.
As Clare and John worked over the Bank Holiday weekend, they decided that while most people have high days and holidays, they have hay days and no holidays. They took breaks in the hide and were pleased to see two and occasionally three bank voles feeding from spilt bird seed. On the Monday John and Clare noticed there were no voles in view. Clare decided it was because it was a Monday Bank Vole Holiday. They were both pleased to see and hear Willow Tits, which were particularly vocal. They completed the hay task, creating an inverted haystack, stackhay? in the pit.
Two plant species still in flower are Marsh and Hedge Woundwort. Both have an unpleasant astringent smell, however both were used to promote the healing of wounds.
Marsh Woundwort
Hedge Woundwort
25th August - 27th August
Trail camera clips. The triplets reveal themselves to be two does and a buck. For new readers of the Blog, sexing roe deer is from the caudal patch - the creamy coloured kidney shaped patch on the rear. Does have a downward pointing anal tush of hairs at the lower edge of this.
An unusual sight - two does and one kid. The kid is probably the singleton born to the youngest doe. This doe is often captured on camera grooming her kid.
A young buck pursues the triplets and the old buck seems to be evidencing late rutting behaviour in the Scrub. Note the difference in antler conformation between the two bucks.
28th August
Ruth ended her ringing season ‘with a bang not a whimper’ - she had 82 birds and a squirrel in her nets (no damage done to net or squirrel). Her report: ‘Highlights - several mixed flocks of tits and warblers (hence the high numbers). Lots of coal tits, sadly no willow! Two young nuthatch (first for site), two young greenfinch, LOTS of young bullfinch. And…a tree pipit, which is the first I’ve ever ringed.’ Ruth added later that the tree pipit was very fat, clearly feeding up for migration. She added that there had been 14 juvenile Bullfinches, and compared that number to the 15 Chiffchaffs and 12 Blue Tits. The two latter species are far more in evidence than Bullfinches. Bullfinches will often raise two broods of young and even three in a good year. Four to five eggs are normally laid, hatching after around two weeks, so 14 juveniles could be from a couple of pairs, each pair having two broods. Or from many other permutations; impossible to know but still delightful.
John and Clare are as thrilled as Ruth that her trial season can be declared a success and are very happy to know that the diversity of birds on Liddells is much greater than they had realised. Ruth is hoping for some autumn passage surprises.
31st August
Haws are forming, Blackberries ripening, Rowan berries reddening and Rosehips swelling - all indicating Summer is morphing into Autumn and Clare can prepare this year’s Hedgerow and Rowan berry jellies.