Please remember that to see the video footage in this post, you will need to access the Blog through the Liddells website: www.liddells.co.uk
What’s That Bird?
An audio clip from the Burren, a video and a photo to test your identification skills this month.
Which bird is hiding under its wing?
While on holiday…
John and Clare returned to find that not much had changed on Liddells. The older doe was captured on camera on 20th May and still pregnant. On 22nd May the young buck was seen in the Pit Wood frantically working to remove the last of his velvet - also evidence of the damage this action can wreak on saplings. A surprise came from footage from 23rd of May, which Clare has stitched together - a pair of Woodcock in the Scrub. They appear again in daylight the next day. On 26th May a badger approaches the camera for a change rather than heads away from it and this affords some good views of the animal. On the same day footage showed that the young buck’s antlers were finally clean. Alongside all these were hundreds of clips of wavy grass!
June 1st
A walk round Liddells and Clare and John heard Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, one Whitethroat, Siskins and a Redstart. They saw Swallows over the Hayfield, Goldfinches, a Long-tailed Tit family, a Whitethroat and two hares. John and Clare were pleased to be back.
Over the next few days Clare added Bistort, Orange Hawkweed, Mousear, Marsh Thistle, Aconite, Guelder Rose, Cow Parsley, White Clover, Elderflower, Stitchwort, Scurvy Grass, Foxglove, Heath Bedstraw, Prickly Sow Thistle, Russian Comfrey, Hogweed, Common Catsear, Milkwort, Pignut, Sheep’s Sorrell, Dog Rose and Ragged Robin to her list of plants coming into flower.
Milkwort
Aconite
Dog rose
June 6th - 9th
John mowed paths and strimmed in preparation for Gavin G’s arrival. Clare continued removing damaged tree tubes and Gavin G did some beautiful repair work on four stretches of the south boundary wall. John and Clare are no longer worried about one very bulging stretch of the wall collapsing on someone’s parked car.
Clare added Meadow Vetchling, Zig-zag Clover and Eyebright to her plants list.
Ruth conducted a ringing session and ringed 58 birds including lots of juveniles of Wren, Long-tailed Tit, Robin, Dunnock, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Treecreeper, Blackcap. She also ringed 2 more Whitethroat - a male and a breeding female. Ruth said she was netting Willow Warbler, Garden Warblers and Blackcap in similar numbers. She also had one Siskin in her nets. She said she was ‘too busy and damp’ to take photos!
Video footage (not included here) shows the older doe is still pregnant. The old buck seems to have recovered - he is hardly limping now.
Zig-zag clover
7 spot ladybird with additional rainwater spots
10th June
A birth! The younger doe has had a single kid, probably in the last 48 hours.
The kid is taken out at night.
11th June
Clare discovered that the Common Spotted Orchids are beginning to emerge on the Meadow and the Dame’s Violet aka Sweet Rocket is out in the Pit Wood.
She began this year’s thistle pull and took 104 Creeping Thistles out of the western part of the Meadow.
13th June
The doe and kid venture further afield. The doe is the far side of the of the fence from the kid and moments later seems to head off down the Crag. John’s footage shows how easily the kid can be hidden in the meadow grasses.
Meanwhile at the hide John photographed a juvenile Tree Sparrow.
15th June
Wood Avens, Tufted Vetch, Broad-leaved Willowherb and Wild Service trees are all in flower.
Clare headed for three Oaks in the Top Strip, all of which have been donated by friends. She freed one from its tube, cleared around and inside the cage of another and then, armed only with her trusty billhook (not to be confused with the poet bell hooks), set out to find the third which had become considerably overgrown and could not be seen at all from the path nearby.
First and largest Oak freed
The second Oak can now breathe inside its cage
After considerable hacking Clare glimpsed the third Oak’s cage
More of the cage exposed
A good strong tree inside
The third Oak with more space to stretch
Speaking of cages, Clare and John had put up an uncaged peanut feeder by the hide for Woodpeckers and were gratified when Woodpeckers arrived to take advantage of it within 24 hours. Then the squirrels cottoned on and set about gnawing their way through the first and then a second supporting branch. Frustration? Revenge? A cleverly construed plot to make the feeder fall and spill its contents? You decide.
John and Clare were delighted to see a juvenile Tree Creeper and a Juvenile Goldcrest in front of the hide however both birds proved hard to photograph.
Clare took John to see all the orchids out on the Meadow and they disturbed a hen pheasant and her chick. The hen pheasant hissed all the time and followed John and Clare until she judged them a safe distance away. Pheasants usually have several chicks - if this is the only one surviving, no wonder the hen was fierce. Both hen and her chick are very dark in colour.
In the Scrub footage shows the kid learning awareness from the doe.
16th June
The peanut feeder is in constant use through any day from just before 05.00am. When it comes to pecking order, Chaffinches and the titmice seem to feed together; Chaffinches generally give way to Tree Sparrows; with the titmice, if they are around at the same time, Great Tits feed first followed by Blue Tits then Coal Tits. Jays trump everything - one Jay stayed on the feeder for 18 minutes. Here is a small selection of videos. A juvenile Robin is the first to arrive - at this stage in its development its plumage is not very Robin-like, however its eyes are. Next to be of interest are an adult Jay feeding a juvenile. The juvenile is already as big as the adult. Although Tree Sparrows are often around the hide, they are less frequent visitors to the feeders when the hide is occupied so it is pleasing to see one take advantage of the peanuts. A juvenile Jay gets fed again and exhibits the wing fluttering that is a juvenile’s way of indicating it needs food. Then a juvenile Blue Tit does the same and is fed by an adult bird.
No Woodpeckers appeared and Clare and John have noted that they haven’t seen a Willow Tit since early March, suggesting the birds have moved elsewhere or not survived.
17th June
The kid seems to be finding its feet. There are two videos stitched together here.
18th June
John took his camera up to Liddells.
Juvenile Wren
Juvenile Robin
Still pregnant
Juvenile Chaffinch
19th June
Ruth conducted another survey and said her session was ‘productive if unspectacular’ with 46 birds netted including ‘new juveniles (for this year) of Coal Tit, Blackbird, Chaffinch, Blackcap, Treecreeper, Robin, Goldcrest, Blue Tit and Great Tit’ but ‘no young Whitethroat or Garden Warbler yet.’
20th June
Clare went up to finish her thistle pulling and added hogweed removal to the task in hand. She removed 38 more thistles (142 this year in total) and 24 hogweeds. It seems that keeping on top of them is bringing the numbers down each year.
Clare also started digging some rush out of the Roadside pond while there is very little water left in it. A frog immediately jumped out and hopped off.
Clare found Greater Knapweed, Hedge Woundwort, Meadow Cranesbill and St John’s Wort out in flower. She was also delighted to spot a Large Skipper feeding on a Common Spotted Orchid.
Meadow Cranesbill on the Meadow
St John’s Wort near the spoil heaps
Large Skipper on a Common Spotted Orchid
21st June
Finally! The Pit Wood camera captures the first footage of the older doe’s twins. Not triplets this year as John and Clare had expected (of course they weren’t the ones who were expecting). The second twin is just glimpsed as the footage ends.
Later the same day the doe and twins are in the Scrub.
While John strimmed the Story Telling Circle, Clare worked on clearing a path inside the road wall and bagged up the left over rubble from the wall repair. The rubble will come in useful to make a more solid surface for the quad bike where paths get very muddy.
23rd June
The twins are racing about in the Scrub. It is unclear whether this is due to panic or exuberance however twenty minutes later they are with the doe in the Pit Wood and being groomed.
25th June
John spotted the twins in amongst the new planting on the Hayfield and managed to film them from the car.
26th June
John noticed a frog on the west verge in the Pit Wood. It is good to know the heron hasn’t eaten them all. Yet.
29th June
Clare and John collected the camera discs for the end of the month and found little activity captured. No sign of the twins, however footage of the doe and singleton going through the Scrub on 28th shows how much the kid has grown.
Clare has been staggered by just how many Common Spotted Orchids there are on the Meadow this year. It is very hard to walk across the area without stepping on one. The photo below will give you some idea of the density.
30th June
John decided to face the heat and mow the paths again. Recent rain made the grass shoot up.
Ruth reported that her final netting and ringing session of the month was ‘very similar to the one before - plenty of Chiffchaff/Willow Warblers’ though ‘no species juveniles’. She caught two adult Willow Warblers moulting which indicated they won’t be around for much longer.
What’s That Bird?
This month’s answers are Sedge Warbler (audio clip), Trees Sparrow (photograph) and Garden Warbler (on the video clip).