Insects

October - What’s that bird?

A surprise visitor (no, not Tim and Jane waving at a camera this time), and another bird heard on trail camera footage and not previously seen or heard on Liddells, prompted an idea for this and the next few blog posts. The trail camera clips often feature bird song. Below are two such clips. Your challenge is to identify the bird. Answers at the end of this post. As always, you will need to access the clips through the website. Go to www.liddells.co.uk and click on Blog to bring up the post.

3rd October

The Big Pond is a temporary resting place for all the Willow whips John pruned from a neighbour’s tree. Clare spotted a hoverfly nearby. She identified it as a Sun fly Helophilus pendulus; the scientific name means ‘dangling marsh lover’, while the ‘Sun’ is quite possibly from a misreading of '‘Helo-’ as ‘Helio-’. The insect’s stripy thorax has led to an alternative name ‘The Footballer’ although Clare has been unable to identify from which team; she thinks the black and yellow stripes look like a Regency waistcoat but then she is not a fan of football. (Stop Press: John says Borussia Dortmund play in black and yellow stripes.)

5th October

John mowed the paths for the final time this year.

6th October

John replaced the leaking roof sheet on the hide. He and Clare watched Long-tailed tits, Chiffchaff and Tree sparrows on or around the feeders and then saw Redwings and Fieldfares fly over the Wetland.

Clare wondered about beginning her annual attempt to learn more about fungi and was fairly confident she had found some Boletes near the Big Pond however, although believing she was correct in this instance, the following paragraph on wildfooduk.com has dampened her already moist enthusiasm. ‘A common and easy to identify family of mushrooms, the Boletus family is a large genus of mushrooms which until recently was split into a few smaller families, the main three being; Boletus, Leccinum, and Suillus. With the genome of mushrooms now being sequenced the family has been split much more with the scientific names changing regularly, this can lead to confusion with identification so for the purposes of foraging we consider any mushroom with a stem and pores instead of gills a Bolete.’

Fly agaric, however, are always attractive to look at although not to eat unless you are a roe deer. The trail camera on the Crag captured the doe and triplets having a Fly agaric picnic. (The sharp-eyed amongst you may query the date on the clip - the date needed altering after battery replacement.) There were several clips over a few days, of the deer returning as more of the fungi emerged.

Footage from the Scrub shows two of the kids, one couching while the other forages. While John and Clare often find places where the deer have obviously been couching, it is unusual to see them doing so. The posture and word ‘couching’ echoe the heraldic use of ‘couchant’ to describe an animal represented as lying on its stomach with its hind legs and forelegs pointed forward.

8th October

John has stitched together a delightful sequence of the doe with a singleton engaged in mutual grooming. It is tempting to attach interpretations to this behaviour: cleaning, building relationship, teaching, because it is pleasurable, etc.. The truth is we don’t know why the animals do it, however they do it quite frequently.

9th October

Farmer John negotiated with John to put 55 Suffolk cross lambs onto the Hayfield to graze it down. John H failed to find out what they are cross about.

The wall collapse last month proved a job too far for John and Clare, however Farmer John recommended his waller Gavin, who tackled the breach in the Liddells wall today and made a beautiful job of the repair.

No kye in the corn, however this is a bonny morning photograph. For readers left bewildered by this last sentence, click here.

Before.

After. We think you will agree that this is an excellent repair.

10th October

Clare decided to face the stickiness and process the honey from the frames. The first task is to slice off the cappings (the wax covers sealing the honey in the cells). At this point the honey begins to drip out, so positioning the frames in the spinner quickly is important. Clare’s spinner takes three frames at a time; the frames need reversing after the first bout of spinning so that the honey is released from each side of the frame. After all the spinning the tap on the spinner is opened, the honey drips through a double sieve and into a bucket.

11th October

A jay captured on camera in the Scrub provides a glorious flash of its blue feathers as it flies off. Clare has a fondness for Radio 4 quiz programmes and was delighted that the most recent episode of Brain of Britain, which she listened to before working on this blog post, included the information that the Jay’s scientific name, Garrulus glandarius, means ‘talkative acorn eater’.

12th October

Footage from the Scrub camera shows one of the two older bucks (neither John nor Clare can be sure whether this is the oldest buck or the recently arrived mature buck), engaged in territorial defence. You can see the damage that can be wrought on young trees by this activity. John is pleased to have the footage as this period in October can be referred to as the ‘false rut’, which is believed to be due to the presence of doe kids. Bucks will mark their territory by scraping and rubbing their antlers and front hooves on vegetation and the ground to spread their scent. Later the same day, the murder buck investigates the site.

A close-up of a hare on the Crag shows how well it is camouflaged against grasses in autumn.

13th October

Hares always seem to bring a smile so here are two; they seem to synchronise as they go through the Scrub.

John and Clare have an ongoing task choosing and preparing planting sites ready for the new trees when they are delivered later this autumn. After putting in posts for 10 Alders not far from the hide, they decided to have a break watching the birds. There was quite a lot of bird song so Clare used Merlin for help. The first bird Merlin identified was a Bullfinch, which was in sight however Clare knew there was another call not attributable to the Bullfinch. Merlin offered some more identifications of which the first three fitted with the birds in sight, and then ‘Yellow-browed warbler'. Just as Clare said ‘I don’t think so!” she saw it. There was indeed a Yellow-browed warbler in the hawthorns in front of the hide. Clare immediately sent messages to Ruth the ringer, who said she would come up next morning, and to Keith, who said that these birds mostly turned up on the east coast on their migration from the Siberia taiga forests to south-east Asia. This RSPB webpage suggests the same.

14th October

Against all expectations, Ruth netted and ringed the warbler! She had put a short net up by the feeders. She was busier than she had expected to be, catching the first Chaffinch she had had on Liddells, two new Tree creepers, a couple of Chiffchaffs, several Blackbirds and some titmice.

The Yellow-browed warbler in all its tiny glory. It is similar in size to a Goldcresr.

Clare saw the warbler again each of the next three days before there was no further sight or sound of it around.

Meanwhile on the Crag a mouse moves at astonishing speed, then a badger ambles slowly past, apparently sniffing where the mouse has been.

18th October

A Sparrowhawk flies up onto a perch in the Scrub.

19th - 21st October

Some autumnal delights: a 7-spot ladybird rests on a stile post, a Bullfinch pauses while eating Hawthorn berries, a Red Admiral basks in the sun, the glory of one of the beeches on the Crag, the seeds of a Yellow flag iris show their autumnal beauty, and lichen.

Clare and John visited the John More Museum in Tewkesbury recently. John Moore (1907-1967) was a British author and naturalist who wrote about the English countryside and campaigned for its preservation. In one of his books, The Seasons of the Year, he wrote that October is the ‘hangover season in the countryside: no new flowers, and old ones already drooping, the bents brown along the hedgerows and no birds singing’. John and Clare are pleased to have provided evidence that there is some bird song in October and that in spite of the absence of new flowers, there is still colour to be seen.

23rd October

Going through the camera discs Clare heard a bird that she hadn’t heard before or seen on Liddells. She called on Merlin and a couple of other human listeners for confirmation and all agreed it is a Reed Bunting. Clare recognises this bird by thinking of it as an old-fashioned bailiff with black bowler hat, white collar and tweed jacket. See what you think. Ruth said the species is one she was expecting might be around. It is present in the UK all year.

26th - 28th October

John prepared more sites for new trees. Farmer John moved the sheep onto the Wildflower Meadow. He reckoned they would only take five days to graze it.

More mouse activity on the Crag - mountaineering this time.

30th October

As the young buck kid turns sideways in the clip below, you can see the ‘buttons,’ which are the start of antlers growing.

The answers to the bird quiz: in the first clip you can hear a Goldfinch, in the second a Magpie is chattering before a Carrion Crow calls at the end of the clip.

January 2024 - ringing in the New Year

The usual reminder that should you wish to watch the video footage included in this post, go to www.liddells.co.uk and click on Blog. There is one video in particular towards the end of the month that is especially worth a view.

1st January

It’s not the first time a cat has been captured on one of the trail cameras, however this is the first black cat. Clare decided that although it was without the traditional gifts, it was first footing Liddells. Clare and John hope its appearance signals prosperity in the coming year.

Shieldbugs/Shield buses - this Bronze shieldbug suddenly leapt on to the dashboard of John’s car while he was driving to Liddells. Maybe it was looking for the one Clare had found in the foraged foliage before Christmas.

2nd January

Over the holidays the word ‘ectoplasm’ had come up in conversation and its association with the activity of mediums. When Clare saw this clip, she thought of it again. It certainly looks haunting.

3rd January

It is official - the so-called Marsh tits, latterly Mallow tits, are indeed Willow tits. Some time ago Clare had used a bird song identifying app to come up with Marsh tits, however a more recent and more accurate app correctly identifies the birds. Clare hopes the birds enjoyed their marshmallow alter ego.

Ruth and Louis set up their mist nets. Ruth said the activity reflected the expected quiet in winter, however she sent through some photos of the day together with a BTO graph showing the catastrophic decline of Willow tits in recent years. Many thanks for their photographs.

Goldcrest

Treecreeper

Coal tit

Willow tit - these two photographs show clearly the differences are between the Willow and Coal tits.

4th January

John and Clare carried out some sapling maintenance on the Hayfield. The sheep will often knock over a tube or two while grazing and, if they can, nibble the growing tips of the plants. There wasn’t too much damage this year.

5th January

John worked on repair to the Alphabet Bridge while Clare ferried chip to the feeding station to help provide a footing in the mud around the feeders. She was delighted to see two Tree Sparrows near the feeders, birds which have been noticeable by their absence for a while now.

Clare enjoyed seeing Hawthorns festooned with raindrops and decided that Nature was making the most of Twelfth Night and leaving the decorations up till the last minute.

The Alders have already produced their catkins. Clare was pleased that a recent participant in Mastermind chose British Garden Birds as his specialist subject. Clare did well but didn’t score as many as the contestant. She learned that Siskins are attracted to red mesh garden feeders because the feeders resemble Alder cones.

In Wild Fell by Lee Schofield - an account of the RSPB’s efforts to restore the ecosystems in their Haweswater site - the author describes how trees come into flower through in the year. He notes that Hazel is first (January), Aspen, Alder and Wych Elm next (February), followed by Blackthorn (March), then Cherry and Birch (April) with Bramble and Ivy following on through the summer and into autumn. Gorse, as all Blog readers know, can be in flower throughout the year.

Alphabet soup

Each Alder tree has both male and female flowers. The catkins which house the male flowers are up to 6cm long. Young catkins appear green before turning yellow. The female flower is a smaller red structure, about 1cm long and with many hair-like structures across the surface. Once this is pollinated, it turns into the brown alder fruit or ‘cone’ which houses the seeds.

Hawthorn decorations

6th January

John is up to about L on the Alphabet Bridge. He saw 8 Long-tailed tits on the feeders today - another species that hasn’t been around the hide for a while.

7th January

John saw a Woodcock on the western side of the Pit Wood. It is always a treat to see one as they are largely nocturnal and spend most of the day in dense cover. They will be heading back to Finland/Russia as Spring arrives here.

John and Clare see Redwings and Fieldfares on Liddells on pretty much every visit. This in itself is not that astounding, however noting it does provide an opportunity to share more knowledge gleaned from Mastermind, namely that Fieldfares have a flying faecal defence system. The birds defend their nests by bombarding predators with their droppings.

8th January

Trail camera footage shows four deer together and a single buck. With both bucks the growth in their antlers is quite apparent. The lone buck looks to be bigger than either of the two remaining triplets.

15th - 17th January

Clare has repositioned the Scrub camera so that it is now points south into the centre. Hares feature frequently, even in snow, a Woodcock appears in the late afternoon one day and in lighter conditions two days later at the same time as a stoat, and a fox limps past and back again.

18th - 19th January

John and Clare took advantage of the frozen ground to fetch a couple of trailer loads of logs from home - gathering winter fu-u-el.

John completed some maintenance of the Junipers while Clare moved more barrowloads of chip to the ground round the feeders. A day or so ago John had startled a hare from cover near the story-telling circle so he decided to move his camera to overlook the area. The resulting footage captured more birds than hares, however it is interesting to see how many species the camera recorded. Clare is not sure whether they are telling or listening to stories. Or both. Blackbirds seem to be the most frequent visitors; you will also see Pheasants - one with unusually pale supercilia which makes him look supercilious, Robins, Goldcrest, Great tit, and a pair of Bullfinches. The old buck ambles through too. There are clearly other birds foraging in the background however they are harder to identify.

20th - 21st January

More fox presence - a non-limping fox and the return of the one with a limp. A mouse scuttles past close to the camera while one of the young bucks walks through in the background.

24th January

Always good to find ladybirds. This one is a 7 spot, the UK’s most common ladybird, however it has given Clare the opportunity to add a caption which amused her.

Clare also noticed a plant, probably soft rush, making good use of a crevice in a tree trunk.

Staple diet

25th - 26th January

A box of delights. The camera near the pond captures a heron going past (John had seen one fly off from near the pond the day before), a sparrowhawk (the absence of pink colouration on the breast tells us it is a female), joins the parliament of fowls recorded in the story-telling circle, four hares appear together, and then, oh joy, two hares are captured boxing near the circle. Although hares are known to box at any time through the year, March is thought to be the month when they are most active in this regard. Blog readers know that Clare has been hoping for many years to see hares boxing on Liddells. She is very happy.

28th January

John has not only completed the AZ of bridge-building but he has added a step.

29th - 31st January

Yet more rain, though it hasn’t deterred the heron.

There is more hare activity near the story-telling circle.

The hazels have produced their catkins. February might see the Aspen and Wych Elms coming into flower.

September - time to rest

As usual, video footage can be accessed through the Blog page of the website: www.liddells.co.uk

2nd September

John and Clare have decided that the next ten years will involve less hard work, accordingly they had a stroll to begin the new month. Clare found a Harvestman occupying the Necessarium, Purple Loosestrife offering late forage for pollinators and the first fir cones on one of the young Scots Pines.

3rd September

Enough rest - Clare did some preparatory work for a small wall repair on the west boundary while John repaired fencing on the Hayfield in readiness for the sheep to come later in the year.

Clare found a Violet already in flower on the edge of the Pit Wood.

Clare was delighted to see a Spotted Flycatcher from the hide. These birds haven’t been seen since early in the season. This one may have been feeding up en route south or it may have been around the whole time.

A hare in the north-west corner of the Pit Wood demonstrates the art of stretching.

4th - 5th September

John and Clare completed the wall repair then John extracted an unused hurdle from long grass while Clare used a crowbar to dig up some buried coping stones on the Hayfield. Unfortunately the crowbar slipped. As Clare takes most of the photos, not many of her appear in the Blog - good to swing the balance a bit; it would have been better not to swing the crowbar.

There has not been much activity on the roadside pond this season so Clare was delighted to spot this female Southern Hawker ovipositing near the edge.

9th September

Always good to see later flowering plants for the pollinators. Here a bee forages on Michaelmas daisies in the Meadow.

It was the local Village Show this morning and John won a first prize for his photo of a Spotted Flycatcher taken earlier in the summer, and Clare won a second prize for the Red Admiral photograph from last month’s blog post.

A kid shows off its pronking skills in the Pit Wood.

11th - 12th September

Another new insect discovery, this time a Sun fly Helophilus pendulus. It is a hoverfly and its scientific name means ‘dangling marsh-lover.’ It was neither dangling nor on a marsh. While Clare was giving some syrup to the bees, she noticed a beetle had fallen into one of the wasp traps. She fished it out and wrapped it in a tissue to bring home to check the identification. It was a Smooth Ground beetle and as you can see from the photograph, appeared pretty much dead, however the next day Clare was surprised to see it climbing out of the compost bucket where she’d put it. Another dramatic drowning insect rescue and revival.

In the gloom a badger marks territory on the edge of the Pit Wood.

13th September

John and Clare were delighted to welcome Linda F back to walk round Liddells with a view to some creative writing activity in the future. While Linda and Clare were exploring they saw a male Southern Hawker basking on a tree trunk and a female Common Darter basking on a stone, both by the Big Pond. They also noticed a group of Puffballs that had released their spores.

After Linda had left, Clare went foraging for this year’s Hedgerow Jelly and foraged quite a few creatures with the fruit - two different shield bugs and two species of spider. None of them will go into the jelly. Clare also videoed a Speckled Wood foraging on the blackberries. The butterfly seems to prefer the fruits that have gone over slightly.

Hawthorn Shield Bug

Birch Shield Bug - this is about the size of a ladybird

Eurasian armoured long-jawed orb-weaver Metellina segmentata

Clubiona comta

14th September

The doe with twins sets about grooming them.

22nd September

Clare discovered that as well as the familiar Bluebottle fly, there is a Greenbottle - here is one on Michaelmas daisies.

23rd September

Catching Covid has left John and Clare unable to do little more than gentle strolls on Liddells, however today Clare enjoyed sixteen sightings of hares - of course several were probably the same hare or hares, however the views certainly helped lift the spirits. There were five at one time on the Hayfield.

25th September

Yet another recuperative stroll and watching a hare run away on the edge of the Pit Wood alerted Clare to an Elm tree she had never noticed before. It’s quite small and much higher up the bank than the ones already identified. Liddells continues to surprise.

26th September

One of the does shows how much her coat is changing to winter colours. She also shows gorget patches. John has read some commentators who think that these are more prominent in winter.

28th September

John may not be working much, however Clare discovered that he had invested in a new toolbox dedicated to spanner activity. It takes all sorts. Clare was amused by the double sense of this and decided to see if there are any spanner jokes available. Of course there are. Once again Liddells proves to be a route to consciousness raising.

29th September

Michaelmas Day - the day that marks the end of harvest, the start of winter and the beginning of shorter days. Oak leaves are on the turn.

The doe with twins is quite clear with them that milk is off the menu. Maybe she too needs a rest. It looks at this stage as if both kids might be bucks.

Hares seem to be playing Hide and Seek.

August - Hay nonny nonny nonny yes

Video footage can be seen through the website: www.liddells.co.uk

1st August

The heather on the Crag is starting to come into flower and offers late summer forage for many insects although Clare has never seen a honey bee taking advantage of the on-site nectar. Clare and John are still hoping for some dry, warm days when the grass can be cut, however the rain persists.

3rd August

There haven’t been many hares on the Blog of late, mainly because they mostly just run past the cameras, so to make up for their absence, here is a two-for-one offer.

5th - 20th August: the rut - these dates are not precise, however they do give an idea of the period involved. John has been watching out for signs of the rut for a while; the trail cameras have provided some evidence. (* denotes footage below, PW = Pit Wood, SCR = Scrub). John thinks the height of the rut this year was on the 13th, thereafter the activity declined, the bucks’ movements are less intense and the kids start to reappear. The footage demonstrates that over a short period of time there have been three bucks, one doe with one kid and one doe with two kids (probably the remaining two of original triplets) sharing the same territory.

5th PW 05.21, 05.49, 07.19, 08.31, 11.08, 11.11, 13.20, 14.51 and 17.53 (big buck, the younger buck at this point seems to have got the message from the older one and left)

6th PW 01.11 (buck), 06.20 (buck), 07.03 (buck), 10.15 (doe), 10.16 (buck), 10.18* (a buck chasing a doe, however John spotted that this is a different and younger buck. The antlers are shorter and the tip of one looks as though it might be broken. The coronet at the base and the pearls are pronounced. It could be one that was around last year drawn back by the prospect of mating), 10.39 (big buck), 13.31 (doe)

7th PW 6.02, 11.55, 14.52, 16.54, 20.48 and 22.41 (big buck)

7th SCR 05.10, 10.44, 14.00, 17.35, 17.36 and 23.49 (big buck)

8th PW 00.15 (big buck), 06.35 (doe), 08.27 (big buck), 08.28* (big buck driving a doe), 11.39 (big buck), 11.54 (doe), 12.07 (doe), 14.15 (big buck), 22.22 (big buck)

9th PW 05.38 (doe), 05.52 (doe), 12.30 (big buck), 23.27 (doe), 23.51 (big buck)

10th PW 08.35 (doe)

11th PW 11.48 (doe), 12.54 (big buck), 12.58 (big buck

12th PW 18.55* (two bucks)

13th PW 04.26 (big buck), SCR 05.45 (‘broken antler’ buck), PW 09.02* (‘murder’ buck has returned and is seen chasing off a kid, another deer maybe the doe in the background), PW 09.18 (two deer, one definitely a buck), PW 09.24 (big buck), SCR 10.37 (buck ? broken antler), PW 12.01, 13.08, 16.06 (broken antler), 19.38, 19.44 (doe) 19.55 (broken antler buck and doe)

14th SCR 06.18 (deer ? sex), PW 06.42, 06.46 (doe), 07.05* (‘murder’ buck driving doe), 07.21 (broken antler), 08.24 (2 kids), 08.25 (doe),08.46, 08.55 (broken antler buck), 16.29 (doe) 19.05* (doe and kid; this shows the rain on hayfield cutting day)

15th SCR 04.54 (doe), 06.19* (doe and two kids), PW 07.58 (deer ? sex), 09.35 (doe), 09.36 (doe), 09.39 (doe and kid)

16th PW 05.57 (doe)

17th SCR (doe + two kids), PW 18.08 (doe and kid); 23.30 (doe)

18th PW 06.05 (big buck), 07.14 (doe), 17.29 (big buck)

19th PW 17.54* (big buck), 19.10 (big buck)

20th PW 16.05* (kid - possibly a buck), 16.07* (second kid), SCR 19.59 (doe), 20.00 (kid).

Meanwhile:

6th August

There is a tiny bit of footage, too brief to include, from the Scrub (the camera’s batteries were failing) showing the kid with the doe. The kid hasn’t been seen for a while on either camera. The remaining battery life allowed for a glimpse of a stoat.

An insect feeding on Ragwort caught Clare’s eye. It is an Eriothrix rufomaculatus, described in Wikipedia’s somewhat disparaging tone as ‘a rather common fly,’ which inhabits hedges, grasslands, fields, meadows. Surprisingly for a common insect, it only has a Latin name.

John’s car offered a perch for this Willow Beauty moth Peribatodes rhomboidaria. Apparently ‘the adults can be found by day at rest on tree trunks’. And Land Rovers.

Chris arrived with his log-splitter which made short work of the timber John had brought up to the shed. Clare went into stacking mode.

A hen pheasant shepherds her two chicks in the Pit Wood.

8th August

Clare is pleased to see insects taking advantage of the last of the flowering plants on the Meadow. In the foreground, on Knapweed, is a Buff-tailed bumblebee. (The bee in the background may be the same however the focus is not good enough to be sure.)

9th August

A hare has a change of mind in the Pit Wood and footage from the Scrub reveals the reason for the Blackbird’s alarm calls.

11th - 12th August

Walking around after stacking logs, Clare noticed a Yellow-sided sawfly Tenthredo notha, and acorns developing on one of the Oak trees. Tim reported that he had seen Purple Hairstreak butterflies at the top of an Ash next to the Oak where they were seen last year.

Although in two different video clips, footage shows the kid still with the doe. It would seem that this kid is a buck. Footage in daylight shows that it has pretty much lost its spots.

13th August

John and Clare had planned a barbecue to celebrate looking after Liddells for 10 years. Fortunately the rain held off and it was all good fun. The barbecue John built worked splendidly as did the barbecuer. Mathilda, Hal, Beth and Juno had brought thoughtfully chosen gifts and their continuing support. Clare had devised a Nature Charades game which induced much hilarity. The day ended with an unplanned bit of log rolling. Mathilda and Clare saw Common Darters on the Big Pond. The Shepherd’s Hut is proving to be a magnet for moths, usually Large Yellow Underwings Noctus pronuba, however on Saturday there was also a Dark Arches moth Apamea monoglypha. There were several butterflies on the thistles on the Hayfield and Clare was appropriately proud of her photograph of a Peacock. The Village Show is not far off; maybe Clare will challenge John for a photography prize this year. Clare and John had a walk around after the others had left and found (what Clare thinks is, but didn’t want to get too close to and disturb), a Southern Hawker perched on a willow whip. Clare and John decided they might just take a well-earned break and do non-Liddells things for a week. This proved wise as the weather continued to be wet and it would have been too disheartening to keep seeing the hay not being made.

The cake was made (not by John or Clare) using honey from Clare’s bees, foraged blackberries and edible flowers

You might notice that only three people are putting in any effort. There are two supervisors

14th August

Tom had been unable to cut the Hayfield and Meadow on Sunday so came this morning instead. It was drizzling but not too bad, however the rain developed with the day and turned into probably the wettest day of the summer thus far. Heigh ho, or rather hay no.

15th August

Better weather and the hay showed signs of drying out. All digits are crossed for the weather to hold until the hay is baled. Clare has begun her annual attempt to learn more about fungi. She also rescued a Hawthorn fly from the roadside pond.

Rufus milkcap

Rufus milkcap showing gills

Sulphur tuft

Meadow waxcap

and gills

Imperilled Hawthorn fly

Drier Hawthorn fly - no CPR required

17th August

An example from the Scrub of how different species can be indifferent to each other; although at first the doe appears to notice the hare and the hare to pause when it confronts the doe, both animals carry on with whatever they are busy doing.

22nd August

The hay is still on the ground - it keeps getting nearly dry and then the rain starts again. All very dispiriting, however today two families visited with young children and they lifted spirits with their enthusiasm. Both families enjoyed pond-dipping and found baby newts, water spiders, water boatmen and lots more besides. Sharp ears detected a Common Field Grasshopper and sharp eyes a Harelquin ladybird. Jane noticed Purple Brittlegill fungus. The afternoon group asked for a story in the story-telling circle and Clare began a dramatised version of Goldilocks. At the point where Goldilocks tries Baby Bear’s chair and breaks it, Clare sat on one of the benches and it broke! Her commitment to the theatrical arts is second to none. No one was hurt during the performance.

The Guelder rose plants in the Orchard are looking very autumnal.


She sat in the small chair. “This chair is just right,” she sighed. Just as Goldilocks settled down into the chair to rest, it broke into pieces!

One of the does is showing clear signs of beginning to lose her summer coat.

One of the kids looks as if it might be a buck and the other a doe, however it is still too soon to be absolutely sure.

23rd August

Barry was able to get up to Liddells and bale the hay at last. Sixteen and a half bales this year. The meadow has to wait a bit longer for Tom to be free with his square baler.

Proof of baling

26th August

John decided to start picking rowan berries for this year’s rowan berry jelly. Back at home he called Clare over to see a Hawthorn Shieldbug on the kitchen table that had probably hitched a ride with the rowan berries. The photo is included in the Blog as the bug came from Liddells.

29th August

Just when the rut seemed to be over, the new buck on the block chases a doe through the Scrub.

30th August

Tom has rowed up the hay on the Meadow ready for baling. With good luck and the proverbial following wind, there may be bales by the end of the month.

Leaving Liddells today, Clare noticed how many plants are making their way through the rubble roadway. She identified Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Dwarf Spurge, Fat Hen, Groundsel, Greater Plantain, Rosebay Willowherb, Mousear, Marsh Thistle, Forget-me-not, Creeping Thistle and Creeping Buttercup - it will soon be a green road.

Row, row, row your hay

Two more moths perched for long enough for Clare to take quick photographs. The first is a Pale Straw Pearl, which Clare thinks sounds like a colour in the Whites section of a paint chart. It is a frequently seen tiny white moth, barely over two centimetres in length. The second is medium sized - a Shaded broad-bar. Clare found another fungus new to her. It is a Blushing Bracket fungus Daedaleopsis confragosa; Clare wondered how Daedalus had become involved in the name and thought the smaller piece resembled a moth. Honeysuckle is still in flower - always good to see forage for pollinators late in the season.

Pale Straw Pearl moth

Shaded Broad-bar moth

Blushing bracket fungus

31st August

Squeaking, or rather chirruping into the Blog at the last minute, a Common Green Grasshopper appeared almost exactly where the Common Field Grasshopper had been seen a few days ago. Hard to get a photo, however you can see that it is green.

STOP PRESS! The meadow hay was baled this afternoon. Phew!

July - rain, rain, go away!

As usual, a reminder to go to www.liddells.co.uk to read this blog post, where the videos will be found in all their glory.

First some trail camera footage from the last day of last month. The buck seems to be in festival mode, certainly festooned.

1st July

This month began on a musical footing with the Hexham Village Band arriving to visit the tree they had planted as a memorial for one of their players and for a picnic. Clare provided the band with maps and several members enjoyed a walk around the site; one group were lucky enough to see a doe with a kid. In her mission to extend the range of Yellow Rattle in the county Clare made sure a few people took away envelopes full of seed.

Clare photographed a fly that caught her eye. It is a Noon or Noonday fly, Mesembrina meridiana and is jet-black with orange on the base of its wings, on its feet and face. If you read this article, you will understand why Clare thinks it is the insect embodiment of the phrase ‘where there’s muck there’s brass’, or gold.

Shortly afterwards Clare saw the hoverfly below. She thought this too was rather attractive. A bit of identifcation work proved it to be a Tapered Drone Fly, Eristalis pertinax. Furthermore she discovered that ‘the larva of E. pertinax is a rat-tailed maggot and lives in drainage ditches, pools around manure piles, sewage, and similar places containing water with high organic load and low oxygen concentration’. (uknaturalst.org) She found it by the Roadside pond which has a lot of algae at the moment. Where there’s muck, there’s maggots.

On a wander through the Pit Wood Clare noticed that the path down to the spring was covered in Self-heal and reminded her that the tutor on her Orchids course told the group that as a child he and his sister were frequently given Self-heal tea by their mother who believed the plant to have considerable medicinal qualities. The plant’s alternative name Heal-all would support her view.

Clare also used her time to pull the flowers off Hogweed plants in the Meadow and on the Hayfield - behogheading? The plant is highly successful, as is Cleavers. Clare thinks they may well take over the world. She also began her annual Yellow Rattle seed harvesting.

While the band were picnicking and making music, the doe and a single kid were captured on camera in the Scrub and shortly afterwards in the Pit Wood. The next day a kid is seen on its own in the Scrub, then late that night doe and kid are together in the Pit Wood.

4th July

TrogTrogBlog Chris visited to fulfil an offer he had made last year which was to return to Liddells with his Lunar Hornet Moth lure to see whether the moths could be found on Liddells. Chris had looked at last month’s blog post and offered the recording of the up-till-now called Marsh Tit to his new bird identification app, which concluded that the call was that of a Willow Tit. So, either the Marsh Tits have been wrongly identified all this time or there are both species on Liddells. Many specialists find it hard to distinguish between the two species, however the wizardry of the Merlin app showed no hesitation in its identification.

Chris’ lure failed to attract any Lunar Hornet moths on this occasion, however on a visit to a different site he discovered that ‘the moths are not evenly distributed, even in suitable habitat,’ so it may be worth trying again next year in different places on the site.

Clare ordered a sweep net which Chris said he had used for collecting Yellow Rattle seeds.The net is also of course for catching insects for examination.

5th July

Clare was surprised to notice that the Yellow Iris growing on the edge of the overflow to the Big Pond which she had been expecting to come into flower for a while, had grown very long foliage and turned into Reed Mace or Bullrush. Goodness only knows how the plants arrived, however they are very welcome. After last month’s beetles bonking on Hogweed but not Hogweed Bonking beetles, here are some not bonking Hogweed Bonking beetles.

6th July

It is approaching time for the rut and the younger buck is making sure his presence is established in the Scrub. He is captured anointing and scraping.

8th July

Clare spent a day on Lindisfarne looking for orchids and came across Ragwort with Cinnabar Moth caterpillars. Ragwort enjoys a troubled reputation because it is toxic to grazing animals, however the animals will not eat it in the wild. The plant becomes a threat when it finds its way into hay and the animals eat it unaware. There is Ragwort on Liddells however Clare monitors the Hayfield and the Meadow and pulls it out if it appears there. She leaves it on the Wetland where it can benefit insects. This article illustrates the benefits. She saw several Dark Green Fritillaries and met a new insect when it landed on her lunchbox lid. It proved to be a Stiletto Fly Thereva nobilitata and did indeed seem rather noble.

A kid on its own in the Scrub again and in a week it has grown considerably.

9th July

Emerald damselflies are now around in abundance and Clare thought she caught a glimpse of an Emperor Dragonfly however it was never still and so hard to be sure about the identification. The Emeralds were more co-operative. Below is a male, a pair mating and a male attempting to sabotage a mating pair. John Lewis-Stempel describes dragonflies and damselflies as the ‘flying jewels of the British natural world,’ and tells how they ‘share a mating method requiring Kama Sutra dexterity. When interlocked, the two insects form a ‘wheel’ or ‘heart’ shape’. The mating can take place on the wing, or perched on vegetation or on the ground. There is also a photo of a water spider having trapped a damselfly in its web and enjoying its prey.

Damsel in distress

John and Clare have been curious about the fate of the triplets, they haven’t been captured on either of the trail cameras since the first footage last month, however there has been footage of the doe with two kids. It seems likely that one of the triplets has not survived.

July 10th - 16th

While Clare was away for a week in the East Midlands, where she saw large numbers of Gatekeeper butterflies, which she hasn’t ever knowingly seen on Liddells, John spent time repairing the fencing on the Meadow ready for the sheep later in the year. Originally John and Clare only needed to rabbit proof the Meadow so used chicken wire. The sheep put on in recent years made short shrift of that so John has replaced sections with sheep netting.

Final preparations for the first school visit have involved strimming paths and the story-telling circle. At the last minute Clare noticed three wasps’ nests in the meeting room where they would have been a hazard too far for the children. The nests are beautiful and it seemed a shame to destroy them, however the risks of an allergic response to a sting outweighed aesthetic and environmental considerations. ‘Providing for herself, the queen settles on a location and starts to build. She constructs using wood mixed with saliva. This forms a malleable pulp that is perfect for moulding. The queen lays eggs into the hollow spaces - the cells - she creates. The eggs hatch and grow to become her first worker wasps. When they reach adulthood, the new workers take over the responsibility of foraging for supplies and building the nest. The queen is then resigned to laying eggs for the rest of her life.’ nhm.ac.uk

18th July

The forecast could not have been much worse for today’s school visit however nothing ventured…

The children arrived with wellies and waterproofs and the weather held until they left. Some of the children were a little nervous at first - Catherine, their Head, reminded John and Clare that as four year olds, they had been much affected by lockdown, especially in their spatial awareness and confidence outdoors, so Liddells felt particularly big to them. Clare and John welcomed them into the meeting room and Clare told the story of how Liddells got its name, said a little bit about what Liddells was for and invited a discussion about what creatures might live on Liddells. Some of the children had found a Violet Ground Beetle on their way and so that was examined under a microscope along with some moths that Clare had collected from the Shepherd’s Hut. Outside someone found a Silver Y moth and then noticed that its wings were vibrating. Apparently shivering before take-off allows moths to increase the temperature of their flight muscles until the power output of these muscles is sufficient to lift the insect's body mass. A great new discovery for a school day. Then everyone set off to explore the site. A pause by the big pond provided an opportunity for pond-dipping and seeing baby newts, whirligig beetles, pond skaters and more. Of course there was a story told in the story-telling circle followed by toasting marshmallows on the fire. More walking round with an opportunity to try out the swing, then back to the meeting room for lunch. After that the children were all more confident and so were happy to run around and around some logs that Clare had set up as a slalom course. They left just as the rain began. The whole visit was a success for all concerned and plans are afoot for more.

Story-listening

Story-telling

Attentive listeners

The soporific power of stories by the fire

Wet and weary, but much more confident

John and Clare were pleased to see that there is still a kid around although no doe appears.

21st - 22nd July

Clare was pleased to see a few more of the Broad-leaved Helleborines in flower. There are fewer of the plants this year than last and Clare was wondering about whether they had been eaten by the deer, however apparently the plants can flourish in alternate years. Clare hopes this is the case. She also noticed an insect she hadn’t knowingly seen before and discovered it is a Yellow-sided Clover-sawfly Tenthredo nothra. They are widespread and common in grasslands and other legume-rich habitats. The nocturnal larvae feed on clovers and vetches. Adults fly in July and August. They are avid flower-visitors, especially buttercups, umbellifers and thistles, and can carry prodigious amounts of pollen. Clare also saw a Marmalade Hover Fly Episyrphus balteatus on some Hogweed, which reminded her that Hogweed has its benefits.

23rd July

A lot of rain is falling and has been for several days. It is feechie (‘Dirty, filthy, disgusting. Also (of weather): foul, rainy.’ OED Word of the Day 13.05.23), leaving the ground queachy (‘Of ground: swampy, boggy, unstable.’ OED Word of the Day 28.04.23. Probably good weather for a pad (‘A toad. Later also: a frog.’ OED Word of the Day 24.04.23

Readers might correctly assume that the weather is inhibiting work on Liddells so Clare and John have to find other things to do, such as updating this month’s Blog post.

24th July

A break in the rain. John and Clare had a walk around Liddells with a view to updating their to-do list. Instead they were distracted by seeing cherries on the Wild Cherry trees and hazelnuts on the first Hazels they planted in the Top Strip.

Then Clare noticed a web woven around the top of some grass and saw that there was movement inside the web. The spider is a Furrow Orb Weaver Lariniodes cornutus. You can see the distinctive dark V on its abdomen. This specimen was over 10 cms so is most likely a female.

There was more to discover - two more insects demonstrating the value of Hogweed. First a Black and Yellow Mud Dauber Sceliphron cæmentarium, a solitary parasitoid wasp that builds nests out of mud. These sphecid wasps collect mud balls at puddle and pool edges for constructing nests. Then a Golden Dung Fly Scathopharga stercoraria which was overwhelming a Marmalade Hover Fly. In seeking information about this latter insect, Clare came across this article and was struck by how similar her photograph was to the one heading the article.

Last year a mystery plant appeared in the Pit Wood and it has now revealed its identity. It is Burdock. Apparently the roots taste like a cross between sweet chestnut and parsnip ‘but most often require major excavation to remove them from the usually hard and stoney ground. You need to forage the roots in Autumn or Spring of the first years growth to be of any worth. The roots can be roasted like parsnip, sliced finely and stir fried or made into a puree. The stems of the younger plants can be eaten until about May when they become woody and bitter. The tough outside of the stem needs to be removed first revealing a thin vegetable that can be treated like asparagus or used raw in salads. The leaves best use is to wrap and protect food when cooking in a ground or clay oven or in campfires…Recent studies have shown that the extracted oil from the root of Burdock is rich in essential fatty acids and phytosterols…Burdock was commonly used in cooking in the UK in times past but has long been forgotten about’. The article adds the helpful suggestion that the plant’s leaves make a useful umbrella if you are caught in the rain. https://www.wildfooduk.com/edible-wild-plants/burdock/

25th - 29th July

Clare took the last three cages off the Larches in the west end of the Hayfield. She then set about painting the new boards on the outside of the meeting room. Some of the boards at the back have been sitting on soil so are damp at the bottom. Clare dug a small trench below them and will have to wait for the boards to dry out before she can complete the job. The rain is frustrating this year’s hay-making, however Tom who cuts the hay has reassured John and Clare that the hay won’t be spoiled and that August will not be too late for the job.

Clare cut several willow whips from the first willow seat and used them to replace those that had been frayed in Sylvia’s Avenue. She was pleased to see that several of the frayed cuttings had sprouted and hadn’t died as she had thought.

Clare secured the new netting on the Meadow to the top wire and found 9 more Creeping thistles in the process - the total is still under 100, so a distinct improvement on previous years. The flowers were alive with bees foraging. Clare noticed a Dandelion seed head that had expanded to a beautiful structure, and a Six Spot Burnet Moth Zygæna filipendulae busy feeding on nectar from a Scabious - you can not only see the spots very clearly, but also the proboscis going down into the flower.

Other insects enjoying some sunshine - a Red Admiral, a Seven spot ladybird and a Common Drone Fly Eristalis tenax. The Common Drone Fly is a bee mimic and Clare was pleased to notice it as a recent email from NHSN had included a piece about bee mimics.

Meanwhile the trail cameras have captured several videos of the deer. First a doe runs through the Scrub with the older buck in pursuit a couple of minutes later.

The rut continues - the next sequence shows the doe with her kid, then the buck a minute later, the doe running five minutes after this and finally the buck again a minute later. The kid is still too young for John to be confident of its sex although Clare has put a small bet on it being a doe. You can see along its back that the buck is just beginning to lose its summer coat.

The final video of the month. The kid alone in the Pit Wood shows how its spots are fading and how much it has grown.

30th July

Clare did some preparatory work for wall repair in the Pit Wood by cutting down a small ash tree that was threatening to undermine the wall, removing the loose stones and excavating fallen ones from under the moss. Meanwhile John made several quad and trailer trips to collect wood from near the Trapezium bridge. The logs will cut, split and stacked this weekend if it is dry.

June - the call of the wild

First corrections and clarifications from last month. Chris, ever supportive, helped untangle the mysteries of the dragon/damselfly emergences. Chris says that the last photo of the May blog post shows ‘four damselfly exuviae and two damselflies.  The white threads coming out of the back of the two in the centre are the nymphs’ spiracles and are evidence that emergence has occurred.  Bottom left, hidden by a leaf…there are two more, one behind the other.  The upper damselfly is a female large red, recently emerged and beginning to colour up.  The lower one has only just emerged and has no colour or visible markings so we can’t say what it is, although it will be a large red or an azure.  It is still in the process of expanding its wings which will go clear like the one above’. Chris also commented that the penultimate photograph shows a Four-spotted chaser, not, as Clare had labelled it, a female Broad-bodied chaser. He pointed out the extra spots on the wings; he said that without a clear view of the abdomen, it isn’t possible to determine the sex.

NB remember that to see the videos (and there are some particular delights later in the Blog) go to the website www.liddells.co.uk and click on the Blog page.

1st June

Clare decided to embark on her 30 Days Wild - readers take note, this Wildlife Trust challenge has been featured in The Archers this year - by having a stroll round Liddells to see what she could see. She wondered about attempting some grass/rush/sedge identification but decided life was too short. She made for the Big Pond where she realised that almost every upright growth in the water had several damselfly exuviae attached.

She noticed a pair of Pied Wagtails flying away from the Hayfield, and what she guessed was a juvenile Rook hopping along the boundary wall while a parent bird appeared to caw encouragement from the top of an Ash tree.

A juvenile’s beak appears quite thin

She was keeping an eye open for any glimpse of a doe and kids and did hear a deer bark but with no sign of the animal. As she approached the north-east corner of the Pit Wood, she kept her eye out for Spotted flycatchers. It’s the part of the wood where she has seen them in previous years although she had spent a while looking there without success two days previously. She was delighted to see a pair of the birds and watched them for about half an hour as they fluttered between an Ash and a Hawthorn. Next she went to the hide to fill the feeders and was amazed to see a Spotted flycatcher on top of one of the Hawthorns in front of the hide. It flew off towards where she had just been watching them. Neither Clare nor John have ever seen this species near the hide before. While she was watching, a Tree Sparrow, usually very shy about coming on to the feeders if someone is in the hide, spent a lot of time taking mixed seed. Then a pair of Siskins perched nearby. These have not been seen for months here. A good bird-watching episode. All these sightings are a reminder that the breeding bird survey doesn’t account for all the birds that may be around. It was also a great start to Clare’s 30 Days Wild.

Clare then had another unexpected experience - she realised that about a dozen sheep and lambs from the neighbouring field had pushed against the bottom gate, freeing the bolt though the chain was still in place, and opening it sufficiently to force their way through the gap, and were busy grazing on the Meadow. Clare set about some impromptu shepherding. This involved unlocking the gate while not letting any more animals in. At the sound of the padlock some cows and calves came running down to the gate so they had to be sent on their way first. While this was happening some of the sheep had made their way up through the Scrub and were near the open gate into the Hayfield. Clare managed to head them off at the pass, get to the gate before them and close it but then had to make a wide arc round the sheep to encourage them back down. She also had to keep an eye on the neighbouring field to check nothing else was getting in. This involved a lot of running up and down hill seeking different routes from the sheep. Fortunately the splinter group made their way out of the gate. Clare then sought to move the Meadow sheep. She managed to encourage them out of the Meadow and she closed the hurdle - not an easy task as it hadn’t been moved for ages and the chicken wire at the bottom had become enmeshed in grass. As she moved them towards the gate they broke back into the Meadow by forcing themselves through the wire. Hurdle off again. Clare felt like a beginner at a sheepdog trials as they sheep kept circling the Meadow, approaching the entrance and then going off in a different direction. At last they left the Meadow but then chose to go back into the Scrub. Clare wanted to head them off before they reached the top so went up through the Scrub by a different path. The sheep, intent on getting to the top, were ahead of her. Clare went back down to the bottom, through the gate and up the road, in through the top gate and approached them from above. This seemed to work and the sheep headed down the main path. Clare took the other path and hoped to stop them turning left at the bottom rather than right and through the gate. This was a good plan except the sheep were slower than Clare had expected and were still quite a way up the path when Clare appeared at the bottom. Guess what - they went back up the path. Clare repeated the last section of the plan and this time the sheep came all the way down the path and turned right and out through the gate. Clare reckons this counts as a wild experience. She can also see that it does all sound quite amusing. One day she hopes to be able to laugh about it. Fortunately she was soothed on her walk home by seeing a pair of Linnets and a mile further on, a pair of Greenfinches.

June 2nd

Clare noticed that the cattle grazing with the sheep had been munching on the Sycamores overhanging Liddells’ road wall, probably because they are sweet with honeydew at the moment, and the cattle had knocked down quite a section of the wall. Clare made her way down to the NE Strip to prune the Sycamores there and reduce the risk of more damage. As she approached the Meadow she saw a ewe and two lambs happily grazing there. They must have split off at some point during yesterday’s shenanigans and returned to the Meadow after Clare had left. Fortunately Tim and Jane were walking past at just this moment so the business of removing the sheep only took a couple of minutes. Hardly wild at all.

The Flycatchers were still in the same area of the Pit Wood and using the same perches as yesterday. Clare returned a deer’s bark with one of her own, a skill learned from John. She saw a large newt in the Big Pond and a green Weevil on the road gate.

Clare thinks this is Polydrusus cervinus although the description does not include metal gates as a habitat.

A clip from the trail camera in the Pit Wood - although no wildlife is to be seen the footage is included here because the bird calling is a Marsh tit. They are often seen on the feeders but not so often heard.

Later that same evening the camera captures a wonderful close up of the older buck’s head. You can see the gutters (grooves) and pearls (the knobbly bits) on his antlers, and just what a fine head he has.

June 3rd

Clare did more Sycamore brashing while John repaired the wall. After that strenuous work John went to see if he could photograph the Flycatchers. He was very pleased with the result. Rightly so.

Clare had a leisurely walk around and several wild encounters - a Goldcrest, a Treecreeper, a Sparrowhawk and the Flycatchers. She sat in the hide for a while and noticed a Great tit make numerous trips to peck up some of the peanut butter-based paste that she makes and leaves on the tree trunk feeder. The bird took the paste to the nestlings in J2.

By the pond she saw a female Broad-bodied chaser ovipositing, a Small Copper butterfly and had an up close and personal encounter with a Large Red damselfly.

Keen film fans might recognise a film from 1970 referenced here (answer at the end of this post)

4th June

Mel arrived to complete a wildflower survey. He showed Clare the difference between a Bulbous buttercup and a Meadow buttercup. In the latter the sepals are turned downwards.

John created a Sycamore Gap on Liddells by removing the spindly trees in the NE Strip which were not only tempting the cattle but crowding out some Oaks.

Bulbous buttercup

Meadow buttercup

John thinks the footage below is of the younger doe and is left wondering if she is pregnant. Time may tell.

5th June

Clare often hears Blackcaps singing on Liddells however with all the foliage she rarely sees one. Today one perched in one of the Hawthorns in front of the hide. Catching up with some old episodes of Tweet of the Day later on, Clare was reminded that the bird is referred to as the ‘Northern Nightingale’.

Clare set about some preparatory work for the school visit next month by beginning to weed the steps up to the Point of View ready to add new chip.

Mel sent his updated record of the wildflowers on Liddells. It’s an impressive and encouraging record and John and Clare are hugely grateful to Mel for the time he has given and the thoroughness with which he has done this. You can see the record here. Mel was interested to find several specimens of White Bugle not far from the hide. He commented that these are quite rare. He also enjoyed the Orange Hawkweed on the Meadow and the Water Violet in the Big Pond.

White bugle

Mel prefers the name Grim the Collier:

‘Although Pilosella aurantiaca (more commonly known as Fox-and-cubs) is a native of northern Europe, it must’ve been introduced to Britain a very long time ago as it gets a mention in Gerard’s 1633 Herbal. Gerard called it Grimme the Collier, which seems to me a most intriguing name. I’ve read speculation that the name may have been coined because the plant’s hairs resemble coal dust on a miner’s beard (really?) but there was also a play that originated in the early 1600s called Grim the Collier of Croydon and that was apparently based on a real-life character from the mid 16th century. It would seem more likely that the plant’s name relates to the person or the play but, in that case, I can’t help wondering: was Grim tall with a head of bright orange hair? Was Grim an invader from northern Europe? Were these particular flowers mentioned in the play?’ (Earthstar.blog)

Water Violet

6th June

Hares and roe deer are predominant on the trail cameras however Clare and John are always pleased to see evidence of other life (except grey squirrels).

8th June

Clare was working on the steps when she saw a Red and Black Froghopper. Struck by their colour she thought about London buses and wondered if several would turn up together. Sure enough within a few minutes she had seen four, clearly the Routemasters of the insect world. Here are a couple:

John has been surprised to see the younger buck still around, particularly as this is the time when does give birth and have usually pushed the former year’s youngsters away by now. You can see that this one has, in roe deer head terms, a rather poor set of antlers.

However the older buck seems aware of the younger one’s presence as he sniffs at this branch and the next day is seen chasing him through the Scrub.

9th - 11th June

Clare noticed the first of the Common Spotted Orchids out in flower on the Meadow and a profusion of Ragged Robin at the base of the Crag. A female Broad-bodied Chaser perched long enough for Clare to get a photograph and she watched a family of Willow Warblers near the apiary. One juvenile stayed still for long enough for a short video.

13th June

Clare was delighted to be receiving a new colony of bees today - a small colony that was the result of swarm control by beekeepers in a nearby village. The delivery was due early in the morning as it was so hot and when Clare arrived at Liddells the dew revealed a mass of webs all over the grass.

‘Sheet webs are usually built by the Linyphiidae. This is the largest family of spiders in the UK, with 280 species. It includes the tiny money spiders said to bring good luck if you find one wandering over you.

The smallest species tend to build their sheet webs on depressions in the soil, others on low vegetation and some on tree bark.

The money spider hangs beneath its web, waiting for dinner to land above.’ (https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/spider-webs.html)

14th June

John and Clare have been keen to retrieve the trail camera discs as they have been expecting the roe does to have their kids at any time now, however here is the older doe still pregnant.

15th - 21st June

While metaphorically pacing the corridors of the maternity ward, John and Clare enjoyed welcoming Hal, Beth and Juno for an afternoon on Liddells, continued their preparations for group visits in July and for John’s inaugural talk on roe deer which he is giving at a local village hall. Clare also completed this year’s assault on the Creeping thistle on the Meadow - she was delighted to have found only 78 in total, well down from previous years.

Positioning the first post for what will become a tree house. Beth would like it noted that John is not carrying anything and that carrying it over, she had the heavy end

Juno and Hal indulge in a bit of tree climbing…

while John assumes the role of Health and Safety Officer

Juno joined in Insect Week by finding and examining the nymph of a Froghopper inside Cuckoo Spit. She couldn’t resist finding a use for Foxglove flowers.

John took his camera to the pond.

Male Broad-bodied chaser

Azure damselflies mating

John also spotted the creature below on a leaf on the pond. Clare thinks it belongs in a cartoon or animated film. The Royal Entomological Society has a wonderful insect identification service and the response to Clare’s enquiry about this one was that it is ‘one of the leaf beetles from the family Chrysomelidae with some 280 UK species. This one could be Plateumaris sericea or a related species. They have a variety of colour forms and are found near ponds where the larval food plants are’.

After leaving the bees alone to settle in for a few days, Clare moved them from the nucleus hive (5 frames) to a full size brood box. The bees had built wild comb on top of the frames - Clare thinks they must be upwardly mobile.

John says that bucks often seem to be invisible in the summer months however the older buck is maintaining his presence for the trail camera in the Scrub.

22nd June

The day before John’s talk ‘A Year in the Life of the Roe Deer’, Clare decided to change the discs in her camera. Imagine her delight when she saw the perfect postcript for the talk.

Clare reckons the one at the back is destined for a career in comedy. The doe has had triplets for the third year running.

The doe is picked up by the camera in the Pit Wood later the same day though only two kids appear.

23rd June

One kid appears on its own in the Scrub.

24th/25th June

With paths needing chip, John and Clare hired a chipper and invited a few friends to come and work extremely hard in return for some cake. Fortunately they have great friends. Five piles of brash were converted to the wood equivalent of mincemeat, about two dozen bagfuls were used on paths and the rest bagged up for future use. Clare was so focussed on the work she forgot to take photographs until the end so it looks as though Jane E did all the work. Clare and John would like to extend their thanks to all who took part - Barry, Jane B, Mel, Pat and Jane E. As ever they all pitched in with huge amounts of effort, great good humour and a much valued generosity of spirit. Thanks too to local farmer John R who donated lots of bags to reuse.

Jane B discovered a visitor on her jacket which Jim Hardie of the Royal Entomological Society identified as ‘an adult female meadow plant bug, Leptopterna dolabrata which is a plant/capsid bug, family Miridae of which there are some 230 UK species’. Good for it to appear in Insect Week. Also supporting Insect Week - Clare noticed these beetles bonking on Hogweed while she was walking home. Regular readers of the blog will know that in spite of their location and activity, these are not Hogweed Bonking beetles, although they may be trying to emulate them. These are Speckled Longhorn beetles Pacyytodes cerambyformis.

Adult female meadow plant bug

‘In the UK it is locally common in the south of England and the west midlands, throughout Wales and more local and scarce through most of Scotland. Adults are active from May until July … the typical habitat is deciduous woodland and wooded parkland but they fly well and will travel some distance to visit flowers and so may occur away from wooded areas, e.g. we found specimens on umbel flowers beside a busy A-road in Surrey far from any woodland, they are very active and on warm days may display a habit of hovering above flowers and moving rapidly, in the way a hoverfly might move. Mating occurs throughout the season and pairs may be seen on the leaves and flowers of various shrubs and herbaceous plants, typically umbels but also meadowsweet.’ (ukbeetles.co.uk)

Clare saw these beside a path between woodland and a road.

Crossing the Hayfield to some of the brash piles on Saturday, Clare noticed three very small couches all close together, suggesting the triplets had been left to lie up there. John says very young kids are scentless so their presence can’t be detected by the likes of a fox. On Sunday Clare arrived early and went onto the Meadow to remove some Hogweed flower heads and found a single couch. She thought this might not be one of the triplets who would most likely be together. Seeing a movement out of the corner of her eye, she realised she was looking at a single kid at the far end of the Meadow. It ran backwards and forwards along the fence line for a while watching Clare. No other kids appeared, nor a doe, so Clare left it confident that it would either find a way out or be found by the doe. John and Clare are left wondering if a second doe has given birth.

Clare also had a couple of delightful butterfly encounters on the Meadow.

25th June

Footage from the Scrub camera suggests that there is indeed a doe with only one kid.

28th June

Two video clips from the Scrub camera both seem to suggest that there is a doe with just one kid, maybe the kid Clare saw on the Meadow. The triplets have not appeared all together on the cameras since 22nd June. In the first clip it looks as though the doe stops to groom the kid just out of range of the camera.

29th June

John and Clare set about the last of the preparations for the Hexham Village Band’s visit on Saturday. Clare then went to Barry’s for some beekeeping and was delighted to spot a new queen fairly quickly - cataract surgery and new spectacles seem to work. Once a queen is identified she can be marked and this makes the whole process of swarm control considerably easier. Queens born this year are marked red although Barry’s queen was marked green as this was the pen to hand; clearly Clare and Barry are catering for red/green colour blindness.

If you have taken up the 30 Days Wild challenge, John and Clare hope you have enjoyed it.

The answer to the film question posed on 3rd June is Claire’s Knee, directed by Eric Rohmer. Clare remembers going to see this film as a student in the days of power cuts. The film had hardly started before the cinema was plunged into darkness whereupon Clare heard a disgruntled voice behind her complaining, “We haven’t even seen Claire, let alone her knee!”

July - discoveries, neither hellish nor boring

There are more than usual video clips this month - roe kids are very cute. Remember that you are unlikely to be able to access these through the Blog email. Go to www.liddells.co.uk click on the Blog and watch them through the website.

John and Clare have been waiting and hoping for sightings of this year’s roe kids, and the first glimpse was towards the end of last month, however retrieved too late to include it in the June blog post.

1st July

Kathryn L came to plant trees she had kindly donated - a beech, an oak, two birches, a rowan and a holly. Cutting gorse for protection revealed a birds’ nest tucked deep into a gorse bush near the top gate. The nest hasn’t been feathered so may not have been used this year.

Kathryn planting ‘Son of a Beech’

2nd July

The trail camera in the Scrub is showing at least six hare appearances in any twenty-four hour period.

The trail camera in the Pit Wood shows another tantalising glimpse of a roe and kid.

Earlier in the year, and on the way to check on one of Juno’s bird boxes, Clare had noticed an unfamiliar plant growing near one of the signposts to the hide. She had kept her eye on it and wondered if it might be an orchid although since the flowers have been late emerging, she dismissed the idea. More on this story later…

3rd - 6th July

The repair work from Storm Arwen continues. John finished restoring the fencing behind the sheds and started on the stretch at the east end of the Top Strip. Clare was delighted to see a pair of Bullfinches below the Scrub - she had remarked yesterday that it was a while since she had seen any. So gratifying to know the birds are listening.

At last there is a proper view of the new kid. Then one of the doe and kid together. Take a look at the shape of the doe’s muzzle. More on this story later…

The old buck chases another deer through the Scrub. John says it is a bit early for the rut (mid July to mid August), so more likely the buck is chasing another buck off his patch in readiness.

The hare is investigating a fern frond. More on this story later…

The doe appears with the kid. Then another kid. Then another kid - triplets again!

7th July

Obviously footage of the kids is irresistible. This doe’s muzzle markings are clearly visible. The edges of her muzzle are squared off.

A little later, still in the Pit Wood, a doe with a different muzzle shape appears. This muzzle tapers to a point at the sides.

8th July

The hare checks the frond again. Or it might be a different hare.

Clare and John set about collecting Yellow Rattle seeds from the Top Grazing. They were pleased to see how well the plant is establishing there.

Clare busied herself trying to photograph a wood wasp on one of the log piles, however it found a way down to the bottom and out of the camera’s view. On the way home from Liddells, John and Clare realised they had a longhorn beetle in the car which probably decided to hitch a ride while they were distracted by the wood wasp.

9th July

The buck is marking in the Scrub again. This is probably preparation for the rut, as would be chasing off any other bucks.

John and Clare are watching the footage of the new kids carefully and are a bit confused by what they are seeing - sometimes one, sometimes two, sometimes three. It is perfectly possible that sometimes a kid or two is off camera. However, the doe’s muzzle in the second of the three clips below, is just visible, and looks to be pointed at the sides. The kid on its own in the third video, may well be the third kid, following a little behind.

John and Clare are reaching the conclusion that there are two does with kids, one with three, and one with one. The doe with one kid is likely to be a youngster, no more than two years old. John says it is unusual for two does to be appearing to share the same territory.

10th - 14th July

Activity on the Top Grazing. John starts putting in the posts for the outdoor classroom. The hay is cut. (7th - 11th July is 温風至 Atsukaze itaru - Warm winds blow - in the Japanese microseasons. Good hay-making weather.)

Clare was surprised to find that the bees in the first colony she split are once again thinking of swarming. Nothing ventured, she decided to execute another split, putting the swarm cell and four other frames of brood into a nucleus hive. More on this story later…

Clare began digging reeds out of the roadside pond while it is empty, and using the opportunity to add a little more depth to the pond.

One doe and one kid appear in the Scrub on two occasions; one kid appears, and leaves, independently. Then a doe goes through with three kids.

A hare nibbles at a rose stem in the Scrub. When Clare looked closely at the stem later, she found that it had no leaves (the hare doesn’t seem to be eating leaves), and concluded that the hare must have been eating the thorns. Rabbits are known to eat all parts of roses, including the thorns; as with deer, they are drawn to plants in the Rosaceae family, so it is likely hares are too. In a later video one hare jumps out at another; the first is noticeable smaller than the second, so probably one of this year’s young being surprised by an established resident. The next clip shows the hares apparently not in conflict.

15th July

After a long interruption, Clare and John were delighted to organise a Green Gym Day. They had over 50 trees to plant - donations and their own successful germinations from acorns and conkers - however as the forecast showed days of very hot, dry weather to come, planting trees with no means of watering them seemed to be a bad idea. The other task was to harvest Yellow Rattle seeds from the Wildflower Meadow. All good plans… There was rain. Off and on, quite a lot of rain. With the hot weather still in prospect, planting was out and with the rain, seed collection was out. What to do? John and Clare had been thinking about taking up the path at the west end of the Top Strip to make it possible to cut with the flail mower. The first job was to remove all the edging logs and the stakes holding them in place.

Clare arrived early and decided to catch up with the weekly email from the Northumbria Natural History Society. The email featured a short video on the Broad-leaved Helleborine. Clare was excited to realise that this very closely resembled the mystery plant near the hide and set off to check. Helleborines are also part of the orchid family. Bingo!

The Green Gym team arrived and set about tackling the Top Strip path. They created several piles of pleasingly rotting wood that will no doubt be appreciated by the local bug life. Gratifyingly, there seemed to be no need to pull up all the membrane underneath the path as there is sufficient weed growth for the chip, which is composting anyway, not to compromise the flails. There were gaps in the rain almost long enough for a picnic lunch. Clare noticed that for the first time there were nuts on one of the hazels planted as understory several years ago.

After the work was done, Clare took Pat with her to examine the plants again, and Pat noticed that some flowers had begun to open at the base of the spike, and agreed with the identification.

The doe and three kids are seen on the trail camera, as is the lame doe who hasn’t appeared for a while.

17th July

Although they are two days apart, the clip of the limping doe is followed by a video of a limping fox.

Clare was rewarded for her frequent visits to monitor the Nettle-leaved bellflower in the Scrub, and found that it had come into flower. In spite of the plant allegedly producing copious amounts of seed, there has only ever been one plant in this area.

The Alder Buckthorns from Tim and Jane have grown beyond the tops of their tubes.

Mel had been excited to hear about the Broad-leaved helleborine, saying it was a plant he had been looking for for many years. He went to see it and reported back that there were another 15-20 plants downstream of the first. So not a random occurrence but more likely an established colony that had just gone unnoticed all these years. It is thanks to Juno’s bird boxes that they were seen at all.

Clare inspected the nucleus and hive from which it had been split. There was another queen cell under construction in the nucleus, so Clare took that down, leaving the original. The hive will remain in purdah for a month or so until any new queen has had time to emerge, mature, mate and start laying. More on this story next month… There were eggs in the other hive so it would seem as if the bees have given up on the idea of swarming. It is now late in the season for them to do so, although bees have never been known to read the text books.

Clare was pleased to see a male Linnet in the Scrub - another bird that hadn’t been noticed around for a while.

A hare breaks off a piece of the bracken frond, then leave it uneaten. Some ferns are toxic to rabbits and hares. Maybe this hare remains unsure about this particular plant and takes the safe option.

19th July

John went out for an evening’s deer watching, armed with a video camera and a squeaker that mimics a roe kid’s cry. He wondered if the squeaker would attract a doe and kids. Instead the sound attracted the old buck who came barking and leaping around the Wetland. The buck would be looking for does to mate.

John also saw a Tawny Owl fly out of the North-east Strip.

20th July

The hay was baled yesterday. Barry advised that the bales are left standing to cool down for about 10 days. If they are stacked while the hay is very warm, and in this heat, there is a risk of combustion.

Knowing that the big pond was gradually getting choked with rush and Branched Bur-reed, Clare decided to face her dislike of wading through mud and to order waders so that she could tackle the task of reducing the numbers of these plants. With the dry weather the water in the pond is fast disappearing, offering the perfect opportunity to wade in. Clare began by working round the edges of the island which has slowly been increasing in size. She has decided to call the island St John’s, not to beatify John but to reflect the increasing number of St John’s Wort plants that appear there each year.

The doe with one kid appears in the Pit Wood. There are four clips of a kid foraging on its own in the Scrub, over a period of 8 minutes.

21st July

Clare spotted a pair of mating Red Soldier beetles on Hogweed. It isn’t a very good photograph, however she wanted to use the caption.

A kid leaps off into the Scrub, and then a doe emerges from the direction in which it leapt.

Bonkers.

(Red Soldier beetles are commonly known as Hogweed Bonking beetles. They are doing what it says on the tin.)

22nd July

A fox with gait unimpaired trots through the Scrub. A couple of hours later a badger goes through with a passing interest in the fern. Another couple of hours and a badger comes towards the camera.

23rd July

More pond work. Clare noticed what appeared to be a newly emerged and not fully uncurled male Common Hawker Dragonfly very near where she was working. It obligingly moved onto her arm where John was able to take a photograph. Clare then replaced it on rush where she kept an eye on it. It straightened up over the next few minutes. Clare looked in vain for the exuvia - the cast skin from which it had emerged.

While on her way up through the Pit Wood near the hide, Clare spotted another 4 Broad-leaved Helleborines. They are several yards away from the original finds. She then went to top up the feeders and thought to have another look at the plants on the way out. Curiously they weren’t quite where she had remembered. That was because this was yet another different patch although closer to the one found earlier. Altogether there are another 9 plants; today’s finds are more fully in flower. Not including the ones that are sitting still unnoticed.

There is a sequence of four videos showing the doe, the doe with one kid, with two kids and a bit of grooming, then again a third kid appears a couple of minutes later. In the first clip, you can just see the pointed edges to her muzzle. She is being bothered by the flies.

24th July

It is the season for discoveries. Today Clare spotted another plant in the Pit Wood that she had not noticed before. She thinks it is Lesser Burdock.

On her way through the Orchard she saw two juvenile Chiffchaffs in an Elder, and on the path leading up away from the Orchard, she found a Thrush anvil.

Lesser Burdock

Empty broken snail shells by the Thrush anvil

26th July

Mel came to help dig reed and rush out of the big pond. Clare decided that as well as the phrase ‘mud in your eye’ there should be ‘mud in your ear,’ ‘mud up your nose,’ ‘mud in your mouth’ and ‘mud in your hair’. The OED Word of the Day came up with a timely offering: goopy, ‘That is viscous or semi-liquid, often in an unpleasant or disgusting way’. Clare regretted not taking a ‘before’ photograph of the pond, however she did manage an ‘after’. There were plenty of dragon flies and damselflies about, particularly emerald damselflies, and a Common Hawker laying eggs.

Mel and Clare went to visit the ‘new’ helleborines and found not eight, but thirteen. On the way Mel noticed that the red clover in the Pit Wood is Zigzag clover. The leaves are longer and more pointed that with the usual red clover, the flowers are redder and more open, and where side shoots emerge from the main stem, the main stem goes off at a slight angle, hence ‘Zigzag’.

Tim has noticed that butterflies are fewer in number and diversity this year, however at the moment there are a large number of Small Skippers around.

Zigzag clover

Small Skipper on Hogweed

29th July

The day began with rain, then warmed up, the perfect illustration of the start of 土潤溽暑 Tsuchi uruōte mushi atsushi: Earth is damp, air is humid, 29th July - 2nd August. John began fixing boards to one side of the classroom. Clare dug out some more reeds and rush and spotted an azure damselfly by her foot.

30th July

John did further work on the classroom while Clare mudlarked about in the big pond and dug out more of the roadside pond. The big pond looks a little fuller after two days of heavy rain; the roadside pond remains empty. There was plenty of life in the big pond with water boatmen, pondskaters, pond snails, water beetles all visible, as well as damsel and dragonflies flying around.

August

Corrections and clarifications:

The bird in the photograph below is not, as declared last month, a juvenile Redpoll, but a juvenile Spotted Flycatcher. With no disrespect to the Redpoll fraternity, this is a bit more exciting! Thanks to Keith and TrogTrogBlog Chris for helping with identification.

1st August

John continued his pursuit of flora, one of the twins pursued an opportunity, the young buck recollected himself.

Fleabane Erigeron bonariensis: ‘Its curious scent, with hints of carbolic soap and chrysanthemum, is an insect repellent. In the past it was kept in houses specifically for the purpose of driving away fleas. Bunches were dried and burned as a fumigant or hung in rooms.

To Gerard it was called Conyza, whilst the Konuza of Dioscorides, drove away midges in addition to fleas. It is in fact a relatively close relative of pyrethrum, which supplies the insecticide.

Other past uses include treatments for unspecified eye ailments and dysentery.

Local names include Camels, Harvest flower (since it blossoms in August and September), Job's tears, Mare's fat and Pig-daisy.’ (plantlife.org.uk)

Yellow Loosestrife Lysimachia vulgaris: ‘Lysimachia, the genus name, is in honour of Lysimachus, (c. 360BC - 281BC), a Macedonian general who, as one of the successors to Alexander the Great, became ruler (king, in effect) of a large part of the divided Macedonian Empire that had all been Alexander's realm.

King Lysimachus is reputed to have fed 'loosestrife' plants from this genus to his oxen in order to calm them down whenever they became agitated and difficult to manage. The name Loosestrife means 'lose (or forget about) strife'. No worries, then!

The specific epithet vulgaris means common.

Yellow Loosestrife tied around the necks of oxen was reputed to keep irritating flies away from them. In the distant past these and several other kinds of 'loosestrife' plants were also used to get rid of infestations of flies in houses. The plants were dried and burned indoors, and toxins in the smoke drove out the flies (and no doubt also any human occupants).’ (first-nature.com)

Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria: apparently no relation to Yellow Loosestrife, was ‘[i]ntroduced into North America in the 19th century. Purple-loosestrife is now an invasive weed, forming impenetrable stands that are unsuitable as cover for native animals and shade out native plants.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

However, ‘Purple loosestrife is a beauty. Like the Buddleias growing in railway sidings it's so common people don't notice it. Purple loosestrife flowers around the same time, and it seems to me to be just as a good a plant for pollinators.’ (habitataid.co.uk)

Upright Hedge Parsley Torilis japonica: ‘[I]n Chinese traditional medicine it has been used for treating haemorrhoids, spasm, uterine tumours, fever, and dysentery. Recently, medical studies have shown that Japanese Hedge Parsley may have a potential for combatting cancer. A substance known as torilin can be extracted from the plant and has been shown to be a potent inhibitor of 5 alpha-reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT (dihydrotestosterone) Torilin is a compound from the fruits of the plant and has been shown to inhibit the growth of blood vessels in tumour development from benign to malignant and thus has a toxic effect on tumours. It also has been found to inhibit the conversion of testosterone to androgen, which is being studied further in the treatment of prostate cancer and alopecia. (wikipedia.org)

2nd August

John and Clare are very much enjoying the repaired trail camera. It was a treat to see a Jay in the Pit Wood. They are often heard, less often seen. The roe twins are always a delight - in this footage their ears seem particularly active.

3rd - 4th August

Clare had a visit from the Bee Inspector. This was the second time she had been visited and so was less nervous and knew this wasn’t the equivalent of a tax inspection. Although Mathilda likes to think of each individual bee being inspected and emerging with a certificate and mortarboard to throw in the air, the Inspector checks for signs of diseases or pests, provides help and advice on good husbandry and how to tackle any problems he, she or they might find. Clare has always learned from watching other beekeepers and gained from their experience. This time the Inspector noted a few instances of Deformed Wing Virus, which is most often spread by Varroa mites. Autumn is a good time to treat for Varroa although Clare heard an edition of Inside Science two days later which featured research on how honey bees were coping to resist the mites without any chemical control being used.

Clare spent a considerable amount of time pointing out to John the location of a small insect which was clinging to a Marsh thistle stem on he island in the Big Pond. The first task was to find the correct thistle. The island has many thistles. Clare could only see the creature through her binoculars (and what seems like three net curtains - she is waiting for eye surgery), and only realised why John was having such difficulty when, after several fruitless attempts at location description, she looked through his camera lens. She is still unsure of the identification, although it might have been a grasshopper. At one point Clare was tempted to name it a ‘Could-lead-to-divorce’ insect.

John found the mating Common Darters easier to spot. Clare was pleased to see her first Painted Lady of the season on Knapweed in the Meadow.

John took photographs of some of the last plants to flower this season and noticed the prospect of autumn fruitfulness.

It is the time of the Roe deer rut and the trail camera has captured footage which would seem to provide evidence of this on Liddells. In the second clip you can clearly see the scent glands on the buck’s rather crooked hind legs. The squeaking sound in the background could well be one of the kids, and the sound may well have attracted the buck as he would know the doe would be close by.

The trail camera also provided evidence that the big buck is back. John believes there are three bucks around Liddells at the moment - the big old one, the one with the broken antler, and the one with rather crooked hind legs.

Common Ragwort Senecio jacobaea: is the foodplant of the black-and-red cinnabar moth: sometimes its black-and yellow-barred caterpillars cover the plant, totally stripping the leaves…Common ragwort is one of the most frequently visited flowers by butterflies in the UK and more than 200 species of invertebrate have been recorded on it.’ (wildlifetrusts.org) Many people know that this plant is poisonous to livestock, however it is not as well known that livestock will not graze on the plant. It is only poisonous if it is chopped up and mixed in hay, when animals eat it not knowing it is there. John and Clare always check the top Grazing and Meadow and remove Ragwort if they find it there, however the plant is left alone in other locations.

Mugwort Artemesia vukgaris: The mugwort plant has been traditionally used for everything from digestive disorders to beer-making, insect repellent, and more…The aerial parts of the mugwort plant are used as an essential oil. The plant is also burned in moxibustion practices.* In addition to its medicinal use, mugwort has been used for smudging, protection, and inducing vivid dreams (when placed underneath a person’s pillow).

Historically, mugwort was used by the Romans, who are said to have planted it by roadsides, so that marching soldiers could put the plant in their shoes. This was done to relieve aching feet. St. John the Baptist was said to have worn a girdle of mugwort.’ (verywellhealth.com)

* Moxibustion is a type of traditional Chinese medicine. It involves burning moxa, a cone or stick made of ground mugwort leaves, on or near your body's meridians and acupuncture points. Practitioners believe that the resulting heat helps stimulate these points and improves the flow of qi (energy) in your body.

Burdock Arctium: ‘Recent studies have shown that the extracted oil from the root of Burdock is rich in essential fatty acids and phytosterols.Burdock was commonly used in cooking in the UK in times past but has long been forgotten about. In Asia Burdock is still used to this day where it is collected commercially and called Gobo. Starting in 1948 George de Mestral, a Swiss inventor, created Velcro after walking his dog and noticing the ‘burs’ from Burdock sticking to his dog. If you are lucky to be near some Burdock when it starts to rain the leaves are big enough to make a foraged umbrella!’ (wildfooduk.com)Readers may also remember drinking the very sweet Dandelion and Burdock fizzy drink.

Burdock Arctium: ‘Recent studies have shown that the extracted oil from the root of Burdock is rich in essential fatty acids and phytosterols.

Burdock was commonly used in cooking in the UK in times past but has long been forgotten about. In Asia Burdock is still used to this day where it is collected commercially and called Gobo.
Starting in 1948 George de Mestral, a Swiss inventor, created Velcro after walking his dog and noticing the ‘burs’ from Burdock sticking to his dog.
If you are lucky to be near some Burdock when it starts to rain the leaves are big enough to make a foraged umbrella!’ (wildfooduk.com)

Readers may also remember drinking the very sweet Dandelion and Burdock fizzy drink.

Canadian Goldenrod Solidago canadensis: probably originally naturalised from garden stock, now well established as a wild flower and much visited by bees, ‘Three colours of dye, mustard, orange and brown, can be extracted from the whole plant.

It is poisonous containing some pyrrolizidine alkaloids,’ (wildflowerfinder.org.uk)

Nipplewort Lapsana communis: one wildflower recorder proposes that ‘Nipplewort derives its name from the nipples within the spent flower going to seed, a very distinctive feature of Nipplewort. They appear to shine as stars within the dark interior of the 'sepal tube', which is a row of bracts which distinctively has eight 'teeth'. (wildflowerfinder.org.uk)

Young leaves can be harvested and eaten as microgreens or cooked and used like spinach. ‘The plant is said to have an overall calming effect, reportedly helps the kidney function, and can help stop the flow of milk when breastfeeding mums want to wean.’ (wildplantguides.com)

Rosebay Willowherb Chamerion angustifolium: ‘Rosebay Willowherb is able to colonise new areas because of its specially adapted seeds - fitted with tiny, cottony 'parachutes' they are able to disperse across long distances on the slightest breeze. Each plant can produce up to 80,000 seeds and the heat from fires and bonfires can help to germinate them, hence another common name of 'Fireweed'.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Hedge Woundwort Stachys sylvatica: the usp of this plant is its unpleasant and astringent smell, particularly strong when the plant is crushed. Fortunately bees are not deterred by this as they pollinate the plant.

‘[T]his wildflower was used as a herbal remedy to staunch bleeding and heal tissue…

Its Latin name Stachys means 'spike of flowers', and Sylvatica means 'of the forest'.

It is also known as Wood Woundwort, Hedge Nettle, Red Archangel, and Whitespot.

The London based herbalist John Gerard would use Hedge Woundwort to treat injuries received in pub brawls during the 1600' (plantlife.org.uk)

Heather or Ling Calluna vulgaris: ‘Historically, Heather has been used for many purposes, such as fuel, fodder, building materials, thatch, packing and ropes. It was also used to make brooms, which is how it got its Latin name - Callunais derived from the Greek word meaning 'to brush'.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Wild Raspberry aka Hindberry Rubus Idaeus: Clare is fond of collecting berries for her hedgerow jelly. ‘The leaves can also be used to make tea, simply steep them in boiling water for a few minutes. The tea is said to relieve stomach cramps and diarrhea. But care must be taken if you are pregnant.’ (totallywilduk.co.uk)

Bramble Rubus fruticosus: An excellent food source. ‘Bramble flowers are a food source for honey bees and bumblebees and other wild animals. Leaves are eaten by certain caterpillars as well as some grazing mammals, especially deer. Ripe berries are eaten and their seeds dispersed by several mammals such as fox and badger, and small birds.’ (woodlandtrust.org.uk)

John adds that Bramble is a favourite food of the Roe. And when all of those have eaten their fill, any berries left go into the aforementioned hedgerow jelly.

Beech Fagus sylvatica: ‘The ancient Greeks believed that beechnuts or ‘mast’ were the first food eaten by humans. The nuts are edible but should not be eaten in large quantities…[as e}xcessive consumption of the raw nuts may cause poisoning.’ (eatweeds.co.uk)

Beech Fagus sylvatica: ‘The ancient Greeks believed that beechnuts or ‘mast’ were the first food eaten by humans. The nuts are edible but should not be eaten in large quantities…[as e}xcessive consumption of the raw nuts may cause poisoning.’ (eatweeds.co.uk)

6th August

The buck is in pursuit of the doe again.

7th August

The shepherd’s hut offered more insect identification challenges. Both the ladybird and the wasp were on one of the windows looking north.

A limb has broken away from a large Oak in the Orchard. Unfortunately it has damaged the top of the Tawny Owl box however as the box has only been used by squirrels, John and Clare are not too upset about that, although the damage to the tree is upsetting.

Another wildflower for the records and more ingredients for hedgerow jelly.

Clare’s best guess is that this is a Cream-spot ladybird Calvia quattuordecimguttata. By chance the Natural History Society of Northumbria has recently included a feature on ladybirds and this helped.

Another Ichneumenoid, however it has been hard to identify it in its deceased state

Enchanter’s Nightshade Circaea lutetiana

A close-up of the flower. The plant is related to the Willowherb family, not to Deadly Nightshade as might be assumed.

‘The Latin name Circaea relates to Circe, an enchantress sometimes depicted as the Greek goddess of magic, who was known for her knowledge of herbs…Enchanter’s nightshade has been used treat wounds and as a flavouring in Austrian tea. In the Scottish Highlands it was thought to be an aphrodisiac.’ (woodlandtrust.org)

However -

‘Despite its evocative name, there are no known herbal uses or supposed powers attributed to enchanter's nightshade.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Perhaps the discrepancy in understanding is part of how it enchants.

Hawthorn berries - these are plenteous this year so when ripe will provide plenty of food for birds over the winter (and be included in hedgerow jelly).

Rowan berries - jam jars are ready

8th August

One of the bucks is on the trail of something. One of the kids is beginning to forage for herself, and one of the kids is in pursuit of one of the bucks, maybe its father.

9th August

Juno looks ready to create her own enchantments.

Footage from the trail camera is causing John and Clare to think the doe may have had triplets not twins, however it is more likely that there are twins to a young looking doe.

10th August

Clare remembered to take a photograph of one of the last of the year’s wildflowers to appear on the Meadow- Tansy - while John took one of Meadowsweet on the Wetland. Tim sent an image of a ‘stunning creature’ that he thinks is a second generation Speckled Wood.

Tansy Tanacetum vulgare: ‘Tansy leaves were traditionally eaten at Easter to help kill off the worms that the diet of fish at the time caused. They were quite bitter, so were mixed with eggs, milk and flour in a kind of pancake or omelette.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria: also known as Mead wort, Queen of the meadow, Pride of the meadow, Meadow-wort, Meadow queen, Lady of the meadow, Dollof, meadsweet, and Bridewort. ‘The flowers of Meadowsweet are sometimes used in wine, beer and vinegar, or to give jams a subtle almond flavour. In fact, the common name of this plant likely arose as a result of it being used to flavour mead.’ (wildlifetrusts.org). A natural black dye can be obtained from the roots by using a copper mordant. A tea can be made from the flowers and the leaves and drunk to help treat rheumatism, gout, infections, and fever.

Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood

11th August

Clare spotted a hoverfly waiting its turn to enter a Foxglove flower. Clare’s niece and family visited Liddells for the morning and Julian sent some of her photographs. She has perfectly captured the different qualities of the two boys. Much fun was had pond-dipping.

After the fun, the hard work as John and Clare began prepping the Meadow for cutting, strimming the edges and brashing the Hawthorns.

Marmalade hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus: apparently the UK’s most common hoverfly, getting its name from the orange and black bands across its body.

Tristan in serious dipping mode

Bron in less serious identification mode.

Newt

Newt

12th August

More Meadow prep. Clare and John are going to use the Hawthorn brash to provide natural protection from deer fraying for some of the saplings where the tubes need removing.

Tom was able to cut the Meadow this evening.

Small-leaved lime protected from fraying

13th - 23rd August

A most frustrating time - after a couple of warm breezy days when Tom was able to turn the hay and row it up, there followed days of cold and rain. The hay was ruined as a food crop though can be used for bedding. Clare and John are very disappointed and recognise the annual dilemma with the Meadow, which is late -flowering - cut early and lose the benefit of seeds setting and falling; cut late and risk losing the whole crop because of August rains.

Walking past the roadside pond, a female pheasant scuttled away leaving two chicks - a moment of delight to offset the Meadow disappointment.

Before the rain came, the roadside pond had almost dried out, revealing some pond snails. They can feed on algae which is A Good Thing although they can also eat pond plants which is A Bad Thing. Apparently there are over 30 different species of freshwater snail in Britain. Another area for study and learning.

Clare found a grasshopper basking on a warm stone in the boundary wall. It was far easier to see and identify than the creature on the pond island and led to no matrimonial conflict whatsoever.

The trail camera has captured more footage of the deer - a kid showing its inexperience and being unsure what lies ahead, the doe without the kids, and the different behaviour of the two kids, one seemingly more venturesome than the other.

Spot the stripes

Here they are

Common green grasshopper Omocestus viridulus: no stridulation to be heard at this sighting

24th August

Clare, with John’s help, took a super of honey from one of the hives. The other hive is subject to robbing from wasps which have dug a nest in the Meadow. Clare has done what she can to help the bees defend their forage, confusing the wasps with a glass sheet in front of the hive entrance and reducing the entrance to a small hole which the guard bees can more easily defend. The next step will be destroying the wasps’ nest. Clare saw a Wall Brown by the hives and was amused by the idea of a Wall Brown sitting on the fence.

25th August

The deer family are captured altogether and attending to their hygiene.

29th August

Just when Clare had thought that there were no more wildflowers to emerge this year, she saw a plant in front of the hide that she had not seen before. Initially she was alarmed that it was Japanese Knotweed however Mel has provided a more reassuring identification - Pale Persicaria, which is in the Knotweed family though not as troublesome.

Clare set about destroying the wasps’ nest on the Meadow and hoped that this will alleviate the honey bees’ struggles to defend their stores.

One of the roe kids demonstrates how it she is learning behaviour from her mother, while the other can be heard and seen squeaking - watch her abdomen moving.

Pale Persicaria Persicaria lapathifolia: aka Pale Smartweed, Curlytop Knotweed and Willow Weed. The seeds may have arrived in the bird seed mix and dropped from the feeder above.

July - delights, surprises and floribundance

1st July

An exciting start to the month - Clare and John saw Tree Sparrows on the feeders in front of the hide. Their presence on the feeders suggested they were already familiar with the availability of food there, although they seemed very flighty and camera shy. John had made a nesting box suitable for Tree Sparrows and placed it behind the sheds a few years ago and not only was it not used, but the birds were never seen on Liddells, even though it would seem to offer the right kind of habitat for them. The nest box was duly moved home where Tree Sparrows are seen regularly - again, never used. Maybe another move, back up to Liddells, might see it used in the future.

John and Clare worked on preparing the shepherd’s hut for habitation. Sally, hearing of Clare’s wish to furnish the hut in as eco-friendly way as possible, donated a washing-up bowl for which she had no use.

2nd July

Another donation from friends - Gill and Mark offered a set of pans, a corkscrew and a cheese grater for the shepherd’s hut. Clare is amused that her list of essentials began with wine glasses, coffee and Marmite. Her friends are more realistically or more practically minded. John and Clare will be able to stay in fine style.

Kitchen essentials

4th July

John took to his camera as an antidote to hut interior work. He was especially thrilled to see Bullfinches on the hide feeders. While Bullfinches have been seen on many occasions on Liddells, this is the first time they have ever been seen on the feeders. John said that the feeders were particularly busy - this may be because there had been very heavy rain for the previous two to three days and birds were very hungry as a consequence.

Foxglove Digitalis: ‘The origins of the name foxglove are unclear, but can be traced all the way back to the Anglo-Saxon period. It’s thought the ‘glove’ part of the name is simply due to the flowers looking like glove fingers. Less certain is the connection to foxes. One theory is that people believed foxes wore the flowers on their paws to silence their movements when hunting. Another is that the flower is often found growing close to the earths where foxes raise their young… Foxglove contains a chemical called digitalis that can be used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure by raising blood flow and increasing the body’s defence mechanisms. However, the plant is poisonous if consumed directly, and can cause a number of health problems. Other names for foxglove include goblin gloves, witches' gloves and dead men's bells.’ (woodlandtrust.org.uk)

Dog rose Rosa canina: ‘The dog rose is a common symbol in medieval heraldry. It has a less regal connotation in Germany where it is linked to the Devil and its fruits were said to be used by fairies to make themselves invisible…Rose hips are high in vitamin C and were traditionally used to make syrups taken to boost levels. Rose-hip oil is also a popular skincare product. The hairs inside the hips are an irritant and are extracted to make an itching powder.’ (woodlandtrust.org.uk)

Orange hawkweed Pilosella aurantiaca: ‘The name of 'Fox-and-Cubs' refers to the way that many of the as-yet un-opened flower heads hide beneath those that have opened.’ (wildflowerfinder.org)

Hogweed: ‘The hollow stems of hogweed were traditionally used in many children's games as water guns, pea-shooters and swords. Its sap is less toxic than that of giant hogweed (and some other umbellifers), so doesn't cause the same skin irritation.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Ox-eye daisy: ‘The Latin name Leucanthemum is said to have originated from the ancient Greek word ‘leucos’, meaning white.

It was thought to be strongly linked to divination, particularly in France, where it would be used in romantic predictions. These links to divination have filtered down to the modern game of ‘he loves me, he loves me not’ where petals are picked to determine luck in love.’ (woodlandtrust.org.uk)

Red dead-nettle - newly spotted on Liddells, and welcome: ‘Lots of different species of long-tongued insects visit the flowers of red dead-nettle, including the red mason bee and bumblebees. The caterpillars of garden tiger, white ermine and angle shades moths feed on the leaves.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Red dead-nettle - newly spotted on Liddells, and welcome: ‘Lots of different species of long-tongued insects visit the flowers of red dead-nettle, including the red mason bee and bumblebees. The caterpillars of garden tiger, white ermine and angle shades moths feed on the leaves.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Bullfinch pair, male on the left

Female Bullfinch (John was playing with camera settings here and was rather pleased with the painterly quality of this image)

Bullinch and Siskin

Bullinch and Siskin

Finch feeding frenzy

Common carder bee on Marsh thistle Cirsium palustre: wildflowerfinder.org shows several examples of fasciated plants (abnormal fusion and flattening of plant organs due to physical damage or weed-killers, virii, an infection, infestation, or several other causes). Clare read fasciated as fascinated and was appropriately fascinated.

5th July

Clare is enjoying the challenge of fitting whatever is needed into the hut in a way that uses least possible space. The plate rack is an example.

11th July

The shepherd’s hut now has three rooms prepared. John and Clare were delighted to see Tree Sparrows on the feeders by the hut. They may be the same birds as in the Pit Wood, or they could e a second colony.

Dining room

Sitting room

Kitchen

Kitchen

13th July

Another excursion with his camera for John. He particularly enjoyed taking photographs of juvenile birds round the feeders.

Redpoll and juvenile.

Juvenile Redpoll

Juvenile Dunnock waiting for food…

Juvenile Dunnock waiting for food…

…patience rewarded

Juvenile Chaffinch preening

Full house - juvenile Great Tits

Treecreeper (of indeterminate age)

Ringlet

Bugle ajuga reptans: ‘Bugle is much loved by bumblebees. The ‘reptans’ in its Latin name is derived from ‘repto’, meaning ‘creeping, crawling’. It was a popular ingredient in herbal remedies, particularly for stopping bleeding.’ (plantlife.org.uk)

Self-heal Prunella vulgaris: ‘As its common name suggests, selfheal has a long tradition of being used in herbal medicine for everything from stopping bleeding and healing wounds, to treating heart disease and sore throats.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Bittersweet Solanum dulcanara: ‘Despite being a member of the nightshade family, Bittersweet (also known as 'Woody Nightshade') is one of the less toxic plants in this group, althought its berries are still poisonous…The leaves smell of burnt rubber when crushed.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Rowan blossom Sorbus aucuparia: ‘Greek mythology tells of how Hebe, the goddess of youth, dispensed rejuvenating ambrosia to the gods from her magical chalice. When, through carelessness, she lost this cup to demons, the gods sent an eagle to recover the cup. A fight ensued and the eagle shed feathers and drops of blood. These fell to earth where each of them turned into a rowan tree. Hence the rowan derived the shape of its leaves from the eagle’s feathers and the appearance of its berries from the droplets of blood… In the British Isles the rowan has a long and still popular history in folklore as a tree which protects against witchcraft and enchantment... The tree itself was said to afford protection to the dwelling by which it grew, and residents would make sure not to damage them.’ (treesforlife.org.uk)

John and Clare are relieved that the shepherd’s hut will be protected by the nearby Rowans. Also Clare’s rowanberry jelly is delicious with cheese (and a firm favourite with Neil).

15th July

Final touches to the shepherd’s hut - John made a boot rack. He was particularly pleased with his efforts as he had seen a teak version on sale for £165 (in a sale) whereas his, made from oak, cost him £8. Of course that was not taking into account building and equipping the woodworking shed in which it was created, which will have upped the costs somewhat.

16th-17th July

The OED must have known. The Word of the Day for 16th July is ‘staycation’: to holiday at home or in one’s country of residence. John and Clare set out to spend two nights in the shepherd’s hut and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Clare honoured the occasion by putting the flags out. The weather was stunning, the sunset sublime, and the night sky filled with stars. They can’t wait to repeat the experience. While Clare sat in the sun and read, John continued with his efforts to document as much of the flora (and some of the fauna) on Liddells as possible. He was particularly delighted that he finally managed to get a photograph of a Tree Sparrow.

Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, identifiable from the red spot on the front of the head.

Spot the Pheasant

Juvenile Chiffchaff - this bird has often been seen close to the hide. It doesn’t seem to have learned yet to be wary.

Juvenile Chiffchaff - this bird has often been seen close to the hide. It doesn’t seem to have learned yet to be wary.

And finally - Tree Sparrow. Well worth John’s persistence.

There have been more Common Spotted Orchids this year than ever before on Liddells. The area in front of the hide is particularly orchidaceous.

St John’s Wort Hypericum perforatum: also known as devil chaser, devil's flight, devil's scourge, God's wonder plant, herb John, human blood, Klamath weed, penny John, rosin rose, St Columba's flower and often used to treat mild depression.

There is a small clump on the Wildflower Meadow, however there are a large number on the island in the Big Pond though not round the margins. (gardenia.net)

Agrimony: ‘Some people use agrimony to represent thankfulness or gratitude.Partly due to its astringent qualities, it has many uses in herbal medicine including for ulcers, to stop bleeding and for gallstones. Also for unsettled digestive systems and catarrh.Dioscorides recommends it against snake-bite, dysentery and upsets of the liver.Local names include Aaron's rod, Church-Steeples, Clot-Bur, Fairy's wand, Money-in-both-pockets, Salt-and-pepper and Sweethearts (from the clinging receptacles of the fruit).’ (plantlife.org.uk)

Agrimony: ‘Some people use agrimony to represent thankfulness or gratitude.

Partly due to its astringent qualities, it has many uses in herbal medicine including for ulcers, to stop bleeding and for gallstones. Also for unsettled digestive systems and catarrh.

Dioscorides recommends it against snake-bite, dysentery and upsets of the liver.

Local names include Aaron's rod, Church-Steeples, Clot-Bur, Fairy's wand, Money-in-both-pockets, Salt-and-pepper and Sweethearts (from the clinging receptacles of the fruit).’ (plantlife.org.uk)

Lady’s Bedstraw: ‘Historically, Lady's bedstraw was used to curdle milk in the process of cheese-making - a convenient vegetarian replacement for rennet, which is made from the stomach lining of cows.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Honeysuckle: ‘It was once believed that if honeysuckle grew around a home’s entrance, it would bring good luck and stop any evil spirits from entering. It has also long been considered a symbol of fidelity, and in Victorian times young girls were banned from bringing honeysuckle into the house because it was believed the strong smell would make them have suggestive dreams! Honeysuckle has been used to make beautiful walking sticks which were once popular with Scots music hall performers. They were created as the honeysuckle entwined itself around branches, causing the branches themselves to become twisted.
While the berries are poisonous, the leaves, flowers and seeds have been used for medicinal purposes for a variety of conditions.’ (woodlandtrust.org.uk)

Sitka Spruce cones

Bladder Campion: ‘Bladder campion is one of the foodplants of the attractive red-and-black froghopper - an insect known for wrapping itself in a frothy mass we call 'cuckoo-spit'.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

20th - 23rd July

The good weather persisted and Tom was able to cut the Top Grazing on Tuesday evening. Wednesday and Thursday he turned it and by Friday it was made.* Tom rowed it up and Barry was able to bale it the same day. John and Clare spent an energetic hour and a half raking up before Barry arrived. There were 20 bales, 7 more than last year.

*Clare had always assumed that ‘hay-making’ referred to the process of drying, rowing, baling, stacking, however she now knows that hay is ‘made’ when it is ready to be baled. Clare learned the difference between hay, haylage and silage: ‘There are two main methods of forage conservation: controlled fermentation where the pH is reduced to a level where growth of bacteria ceases, or dehydration, where moisture content is decreased to reduce microbial activity. 

Hay is an example of forage that is conserved using dehydration – the main challenge with preserving forage in this way being that it requires a longer period of dry weather to produce, whereas haylage is an example of grass preserved using controlled fermentation (and so is silage).

As a rule, when considering the digestibility of a forage, the more mature a grass becomes, the higher the potential yield, but the lower the digestibility (as it has higher levels of lignin). While very young grass in a growing state is much more digestible, if hay or haylage were to be harvested at this point, yields would be very low. There is however a point in between these two stages where a balance can be struck between digestibility and yield.‘ (haygain.co.uk)

Barry said that horses can eat hay and haylage, whereas cattle and sheep , and eat hay, haylage and silage.

Rowed up and nearly ready

The rake’s progress

21st July

While on his photography walks, John discovered deep excavations just below the west end of the Crag. There were bumble bees flying around the newly dug out earth, so the likely explanation is a badger in search of a bees’ nest.

22nd July

Clare discovered a pair of ichneumonid wasps inside the shepherd’s hut. It was difficult to photograph them because of their position on the window, however the shot of the underside from outside the hut proved more successful. Apparently they forage on Hogweed which is abundant in the strip behind the hut but not evident inside. Without going through all of the 2,500 UK species, Clare’s best guess is that this is Alomya debellator.

‘Ichneumon wasps are solitary insects which are closely related to bees and ants. Most ichneumons are parasitoids. The females lay their eggs into, or onto, the young of other insects and spiders, and the young which hatch out feed on that host insect. The host is eventually killed and consumed by the larva just before it pupates.’ (uksafari.com)

John and Clare are pleased to have the trail camera back and working. The young buck seen earlier in the summer, is still around although seems to have incurred some damage. John suspects this buck will have been in a fight with the older one. As the older one has not been seen for a while, it would seem that on this occasion youth has triumphed, which gives the lie to John’s father’s belief that, in sport at any rate, ‘a good old ‘un will beat a good young ‘un’.

24th July

John and Clare were delighted to discover that the roe deer have bred successfully. The mother is likely to be the oldest of the three does seen regularly, the two younger would not have been mature for mating until this year. It so happens that this is the time for the roe deer rut, which may account for the young buck’s presence.

25th July

Sally visited Liddells to see the Wildflower Meadow and sent some of her photographs. Her artistic way of seeing always results in beautiful shots. John is pleased she sent images of Valerian as he was finding the whiteness of this flower hard to capture in close-up.

Valerian Valeriana officinalis: ‘Sleeping potions known as Valerian were derived from this plant; they were used not only as a treatment for insomnia but also reputedly by thieves who spiked the drinks of intended victims. Valerian is still used as the source of sedatives for relaxing the central nervous system… The generic botanical name Valeriana comes from the Latin verb valere, meaning 'to be healthy'. In similar vein the specific epithet officinalis, literally meaning official, indicates that this plant was recognised as having valuable pharmaceutical /medicinal properties.’ (firstnature.com)

Hal, Beth, Juno and Juno’s cousins Charlie and Jonny visited today. As well as enjoying the hay bales as an outdoor gym, they amassed quite a collection of feathers for Mathilda’s cat - Buzzard, male and female Pheasant, Rook, Wood pigeon and Greenfinch. Charlie and Jonny’s eagle eyes also spotted a fox making its way across the Crag.

26th July

John set out to record more wildlife before the end of the month. (Clare realised she had forgotten to ask for an image of Yarrow, so took one on her phone. She would not like readers to think that John’s standards had slipped).

Yarrow Achillea millefolium : ‘Centuries ago, Yarrow was used as a charm against bad luck and illness. Although it was also used to stop wounds from bleeding, it was believed to cause nosebleeds if put up the nose.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Sneezewort Achillea ptarmica (also known as Batchelors’ Buttons)‘: The strongly pungent smell is said to induce sneezing, indeed the dried and powdered leaves have been used as a sneezing powder. An essential oil can be extracted which is used medicinally (although your author has yet been unable to track down the chemical ingredients of this oil). Although its bitter tasting leaves have been used in salads, the plant is poisonous to some farm animals like horses and cows, with symptoms slow to develop, which include fever, tachycardia, difficulty breathing, weight loss, drooling, spasms, and convulsions.’ (wildflowerfinder.org)

Betony Stachys officinalis (also known as Common Hedgenettle): ‘Betony is first referred to in a work by the Roman physician Antonius Musa. He claimed it was effective against sorcery.It was one of the great ‘all-heals’ of medieval herbalists.Betony is commonly found in old country churchyards, where it was planted in the past for its medicinal value and in the belief that it had powers that would ward off ghosts, goblins and other unwelcome spirits.’ (plantlife.org.uk)English botanist and herbalist Nicholas Culpeper, writing in the early 1600s, said that Betony (a Stachys species) '... preserves the liver and bodies of men from the danger of epidemical diseases...' which sounds credible until you read on '... and from witchcraft also.' (first-nature.com)

Betony Stachys officinalis (also known as Common Hedgenettle): ‘Betony is first referred to in a work by the Roman physician Antonius Musa. He claimed it was effective against sorcery.It was one of the great ‘all-heals’ of medieval herbalists.Betony is commonly found in old country churchyards, where it was planted in the past for its medicinal value and in the belief that it had powers that would ward off ghosts, goblins and other unwelcome spirits.’ (plantlife.org.uk)

English botanist and herbalist Nicholas Culpeper, writing in the early 1600s, said that Betony (a Stachys species) '... preserves the liver and bodies of men from the danger of epidemical diseases...' which sounds credible until you read on '... and from witchcraft also.' (first-nature.com)

Marsh Woundwort Stachys palustris: ‘This wildflower has a long history of use in herbalism, and as its common name implies it was used for dressing cuts and other wounds, and it is reputed to cure aching joints when made into an ointment and to have antispasmodic and sedative properties when taken internally.’ (first-nature.com)

Wild parsnip pastinaca sativa and Bluebottle Calliphora vomitoria

‘Wild parsnip is the progenitor of the cultivated parsnip.

Despite its, to humans, unpleasant habits, feeding largely on decaying meat, rubbish and faeces, the Bluebottle has its uses - ‘females deposit their eggs on rotting corpses, making them important forensic insects, as their eggs and timing of oviposition can be used to estimate time of death.’ (wikipedia.org). This one appears to be a vegetarian.

Great Burnet Sanguisorba officinalis: ‘The crimson heads of Great burnet were once used to make wine in Cumbria, and herbalists used them to stop bleeding.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Common or Black Knapweed Centaurea nigra: ‘Common knapweed is a huge favourite of all kinds of butterflies, including Common blues, Marbled whites and Meadow browns, and is sometimes covered in these species.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

‘In days gone by eligible young women would play a love-divination game by pulling out the rays and putting the plucked knapweed flower in their blouse. When as-yet unopened florets began to bloom it would tell her the man of her dreams was near. This game to foretell the future of love is also played with Broadleaf Plantain Plantago major.

Most of the local names including Bachelor's buttons [see also Sneezewort above , though note the difference in the placement of the apostrophe. Only one bachelor benefitted from Knapweed], Blue bottle and Iron knobs are explained by the hard, knobby heads, the bottle-shaped involucre and the toughness of the plant.

Knapweed was used for ruptures and wounds, bruises, sores, scabs and sore throat, etc.’ (plantlife.org.uk)

Field Scabious Knautia arvensis: ‘Field Scabious has a rough and hairy stem similar in texture to scabby skin. According to the 'Doctrine of Signatures' - where herbalists treated illnesses with plants that resembled the body part associated with illness - this association probably led to it being used as a herb to treat scabies, mange and itches.

The juice of 'scabiosa herba' (from whence its common name derives) was given to alleviate plague sores.

In Belgium a girl would pick Scabious "buttons", give each a lover's name, and then choose her husband by the one that flowered best…

The 'pom-pom' like nature of its flower has also given rise to alternative names such as Lady's pincushion, bachelor's buttons and blue bonnets.’ (plantlife.org.uk)

Bachelors sure had a lot of buttons.

Meadow Brown on Greater Knapweed Centaurea scabiosa

Meadow Brown in full view

Small Tortoiseshell on Marsh thistle

Small Skipper: ‘The Small Skipper almost exclusively uses Yorkshire-fog (Holcus lanatus), although several other grasses have been recorded as foodplants, for example, Timothy (Phleum pratense), Creeping Soft-grass (H.mollis), False Brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum), Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis), and Cock’s-foot (Dactylis glomerata). (butterfly-conservation.org)

This above information has reinforced Clare’s desire to know more about the different kinds of grasses seen on Liddells. As far as she can tell, this grass is none of the above!

And lest readers think that dragonflies have been forgotten this year - Common Darter

While looking at the ponds…

Upright water millefoil Myriophyllum crispatum

29th July

Mel walked around Liddells this morning and noted 71 plants in flower (Clare walks regularly back from Liddells and often makes a similar count along her route. The highest number she has seen yet this year is 63, so Liddells would seem to be doing well. Mel noticed the Water Figwort that Sue D had donated and planted, and also Enchanters Nightshade Circaea lutetiana, which is another newly seen species on the site. (Photograph to follow)

Spiked water millefoil Myriophyllum spicatum: ‘The closely related Parrot's Feather was introduced into the UK in the 1960s as a garden pond plant, but soon escaped into the countryside, probably as a result of garden waste containing fragments of it. It is now an invasive weed.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

Water figwort Scrophularia auriculata: ‘Many emergent wetland plants, such as Water Figwort, provide resting places for aquatic insects, such as Caddis flies and Alder flies.’ (wildlifetrusts.org)

October - screenings

2nd - 3rd October

Clare began the tough task of clearing mint from the wet patch on the Meadow, where it was threatening to smother other plants. If anyone has grown mint, you will know the task she is facing. John was frustrated by a strimmer failure while trying to clear a patch for a willow screen. The screen will offer some cover for bird-watching.. John took the strimmer in for repair only to discover a small leaf was blocking the fuel flow. Hmm, Conan Doyle had a point: ‘the little things are infinitely the most important.’ Strimmer restored, Clare and John cleared the area for the screen and put weed-restricting membrane down. Although the official weekly butterfly survey season has closed, there are still butterflies around.

Speckled Wood on speckled stone

Pre-screen shot

Small Tortoiseshell on Creeping Thistle

5th October

Clare and John set about creating the willow screen, largely by trial and error. They are quite pleased with this first go and are grateful to their neighbour Sylvia who needed her garden willow pollarded and donated the cuttings to Liddells.

You put your left canes in…

…you put your right canes in…

…in, out, in, out, weave them all about

7th October

The trail camera is back in the Pit Wood. The deer seem to sense its presence and often stop right next to it and groom. The doe clearly has no need for osteopathy.

Every now and again the camera captures the unexpected. A month or so ago a complete stranger appeared in the footage, carrying a dog lead. We assumed he had lost his dog while walking along the road. Maybe this is the missing dog. Maybe the joker in the pack. Or ahead of the pack. There seems to have been no pack drill.

The doe and kid are still frequently seen together. Here you can see that they are now fully in their chocolatey-brown winter coats. The next clip shows two white patches on the doe’s neck and chest. They are known as gorget patches.

11th October

John turned his attention back to the shepherd’s hut, adding fireproof board behind where the wood burner will go and a thin layer of wood over the floor which should even out any lumpiness under the lino.

In their absence, it has quickly become apparent just how much the ponies ate. A local farmer has loaned John and Clare sixty-two sheep to eat off the Top Grazing.

15th October

Clare is committed to providing photographic evidence of life on Liddells, however she wondered exactly what message John was sending when he suggested the blog could include a link to this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition winners. While she ponders on this, here is the link:

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2019/october/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-2019-winning-images.html

19th October

Clare has recently had a Big Number Birthday. She expressed a wish to mark this event by creating a bird-feeding station and watching screen on Liddells, having seen a similar arrangement at a local nature reserve. Thanks to the generosity of those who knew about the idea, she is getting under way with the scheme. There is an ideal site in the Pit Wood which provides plenty of cover for the birds to retreat to if necessary. Clare is currently drawing up designs and shopping lists. Synchronously, the RSPB has feeders on offer at a good discount, so purchases will be made.

There are plenty of birds to watch on Liddells at this time of year - the Fieldfares and Redwings are back, and the Scandinavian blackbirds are likely to arrive soon.

The feeding station site.

Possible bird-watching screen design. Possible bird-watcher.

Another screen shot.

22nd October

Mel joined John and Clare for a walk round Liddells with his ‘consultation lunch’ hat on and added to our list of valuable ideas for the future. They saw a Tawny Owl and the roe doe in the Pit Wood. Mel also suggested a way of improving the willow screen by weaving the end whips back into the main structure.

23rd October

One of John’s pool-playing companions, Phil, his wife Sarah and Sarah’s nephew Lucas visited Liddells. Phil has a wealth of geological knowledge and was able to answer the question that many have asked - are the quarry and crag on Liddells outcrops of the Whinsill. Apparently not. Phil could see that the rock on Liddells is sandstone, while the Whinsill is hard black dolerite. Lucas, from London, quickly got over his initial shock at the quantity of sheep ordure and entered into the spirit of things, politely tolerating Clare morphing into nature teacher mode. He contributed hugely to the bug hotel, spotted a ladybird on the thistle, waded up the stream to the spring and did an excellent job of algae clearing in the big pond. He also helped top up the hives with sugar syrup.

Creating a luxury suite for passing insects

The algae that didn’t get away

25th October

Mel advised that some of the guard tubes could be removed to prevent the trees becoming too spindly, although they still need protection from deer fraying. John worked on six larches in the Verge.

30th October

Clare mused on the turn her life has taken. John arrived home announcing he had a gift for her and it was outside. A new car? A water feature for the garden? A gardener? Wrong. A slice of tree trunk. It will make a perfect top for a bird table at the feeding station and Clare was absolutely delighted.

Not quite as old as Clare but perhaps more weathered

31st October

John and Clare may as yet have made no plans for approaching seasonal festivities however they are ahead of the game when it comes to swallows returning next year - John put up two clay swallow nests on the shelves in the sheds in the hope that next year the swallows will see them and be inspired to either use them, or enter into competitive nest-building mode.

And finally, the PONDS page is up on the website at last!

August - an open invitation, shut and reopened

1st - 8th August

John and Clare decided to celebrate Liddells’ sixth anniversary with an Open Day on August 10th. This turned John and Clare into preppers (OED 4th August: A person who or thing which prepares or readies something; a preparer). John set about strimming heroically to create paths round the site, Clare devised activities to keep visitors entertained, copious lists and notices were created, tables and chairs were imported, the sheds were smartened up and the shepherd’s hut was fitted with its very first furnishings - two book racks. So much more important than beds or heating. There was even a bit of MacGyvering : To construct, fix, or modify (something) in an improvised or inventive way, typically by making use of whatever items are at hand; to adapt expediently or ingeniously.(OED Word of the Day 08.08.19) - see photos below. There had been considerable rain over these few days however Clare and John remained optimistic and dedicated to prepping. The last task was to put up signs and make maps. This all occupied most of their time, however there were still opportunities to enjoy Liddells’ delights. Tim had managed to glimpse a Purple Hairstreak butterfly (first seen on Liddells last year) at the end of last month, on a roadside oak, and told John and Clare that if present, the butterflies were likely to be seen at around five in the afternoon on a sunny day at the very top of oak trees. In spite of several attempts and much cricking of necks, Tim and Jane are as yet the only ones to spot the butterfly. Good to know it seems to have returned though. Tim is also on the lookout for White Letter Hairstreaks which feed at the top elms which we have in the north-west corner of the Pit Wood. More neck-cricking involved. New dragon and damselfly species have arrived on the ponds, including Blue-tailed and Emerald damselflies and Common Hawkers.

Priorities

Final shed path weeded and chipped

Common Red Soldier Beetle (PG: only read on if you have permission from an adult) also apparently known as the Hogweed Bonking Beetle

“You’re turning violet, Violet!” This Violet Ground Beetle was trying to evade Clare’s weeding activities

Small Copper on Ragwort. John and Clare remove Ragwort from the Top Grazing and Meadow. Although animals naturally avoid eating it, if it ends up in hay they have no knowledge of its presence and that’s when there is a risk of poisoning. This small patch of the plant is on the Wetland and has been given a stay of execution because it is attracting so many butterflies.

Male Common Darter - even though these dragonflies bask for a few seconds, it is very hard to get a clear photographic image with a phone camera. This is probably the best of several taken.

Here is the female. One wildlife photographer commented that he reckoned to take 250 photographs to get 1 good one, and that’s with state of the art equipment.

Hotel under construction - no planning permission needed. Please note recycled pallets…

…carpet…

…and turves. All ecologically sound…

…and well signposted

This honey bee appeared to be foraging on the tow rope. It spent some time there. Maybe the fibres were similar to stamens…

This is a male Emerald damselfly

9th August

The rain began in the night and continued ceaselessly; the forecast for Saturday was atrocious - thundery storms and heavy rainfall. Clare received an email offering an inflatable kayak and discretion being the better part of most things, John and Clare regretfully cancelled the Open Day. They had lovely messages of support in response including Jane K who was relieved not to have to aquaplane to the event.

10th August

The forecast was right - heavy rain through the night and up till mid-morning then again through the afternoon and all the next day.

12th August

Tim and Jane managed a butterfly transect today and great excitement - a new butterfly for Liddells. Tim said the Dark Green Fritillary was a bit bedraggled. Apparently the caterpillars of this species eat dog violets, of which Liddells has plenty. Jane also found an exceptionally well camouflaged young frog near the Crag pond.

Dark Green Fritillary …

…and the underside

Even with Jane’s guidance, the frog is hard to see

Still hard to see in close up

13th August

John and Clare visited Liddells for the first time since all the rain, expecting to see a lot of standing water where none had stood before. Surprisingly there wasn’t that much, although the spring was running with great force and water was emerging from the original site of the spring and from a different site close by - neither of these have run with water in the last six years. John and Clare spent a long time by the big pond hoping for dragon and damselflies to settle, in particular the Common Hawkers that were around. Frustratingly this particular species seems to the the swift of the dragonfly world and never settles, so we can offer no photographs. Instead there are good images here. There were also Emerald damselflies, several of which were mating. There was a new insect on thistles on the Top Grazing that prompted an enquiry to the Royal Entomological Society; an enquiry that met with another prompt response from Professor Jim Hardie.

Brown-lipped snail on Hogweed

Another of the same, demonstrating how they may vary in colour

According to Professor Jim Hardie, this is a female Great Pied Hoverfly. Apparently they are widespread in the Uk and good pollinators.

A Comma on Creeping Thistle

This is the first time all but one of the stepping stones in the Crag pond have been submerged

John found this owl pellet on a fence post. You can see fragments of shiny beetle cases and at the top, the distinctive colour of a Violet Ground Beetle. Clare is hoping it was not the one she disturbed

Fungi are starting to appear and here is, if not a fairy ring, at least a fairy semi-circle

The trail camera has captured evidence that the roe buck and doe are still around, however there is no footage of the kid during the last three days. Let’s hope it is somewhere dry.

Taking a less explored route through the Pit Wood, John was particularly excited to find evidence of a roe ring. Roe rings provide evidence of repeated chases, the buck chasing the doe, around tree trunks or broken stumps, chases that leave a circle or figure-of-eight of bare earth liberally sprinkled with slots and often remnants of hair. In this instance, there was a figure of eight around two Norway Spruces. Unfortunately the ring would not show up well on a photograph.

17th - 18th August

John and Clare decided to tackle one of the projects that has been on the Liddells to-do list for quite a while - creating a series of steps over a large spoil heap in the Top Strip. It’s a clichéd task - taking flight one step at a time, the only way is up, until of course what goes up must come down while in the meantime trying not to get the hump.

Chips with everything

John at work having just freed the enormous boulder that is in the foreground. It will be incorporated into a cairn nearby

Things are looking up

This is the downside

19th August

Followers of this blog will know that photographs of rainbows have featured before. Here is another. Rainbows help compensate for all the rain and Liddells has good rainbows. This is one of Tim’s pictures and he adds that his kids used to call the road bend between his house and Liddells Rainbow Corner because that was the name of the owners of the house near the bend and because there are often rainbows there.

Tim’s caption - somewhere over the rainbow

20th August

The trail camera has captured evidence that the kid is still around. John thinks it is a buck.

21st August

While watching the big pond for dragonflies, Clare managed to identify another new species - a Brown Hawker (also seen recently in the Pit Wood) and in checking it out on the British Dragonfly Society’s website, realised she had wrongly labelled a photo in the June blog post. The subject in question was a Four-spotted Chaser, not the female Broad-bodied Chaser. This means that to date the ponds have attracted nine species of dragon and damselflies.

24th August - OPEN DAY!

The forecast for today had looked good for a while so John and Clare decided to go ahead with the Open Day and make best use of all John’s path strimming. The shepherd’s hut became a Liddells Information Office for the day with lists of the wildlife recorded thus far and some illustrations; visitors were provided with a map and list of suggested activities and an invitation to discover their inner child. Much fun appeared to be had by all. John and Clare were delighted to let everyone else do the work. Keith identified an additional dragonfly ovipositing- a Southern Hawker - which brings our species total up to ten. Thank you to all photographers for their contributions.

Also on offer was ‘Build a cairn’ to make use of some of the rocks excavated during the step making

Pat and Kate undertaking the challenge. Pat later suggested the provision of a swing for adults as well as children; Kate told a story about ‘a little soggy doggy with a very waggy tale’ - this might have had something to do with Maggie the cocker spaniel who joined in the day

Sabre wasp enjoying the view from inside the hut

Follow the sign…

…and this is part of what you can see

Making seat and orientation board now added to to-do list

Gloves thoughtfully provided

Does anyone use them…

…no

Are they looking for the pond or the pond-dipping equipment?

Here it is

John has found the pond and is looking for dragonflies

Juno and Hal get to have a go a couple of days later

Jane and Gill seem to be looking for the way through the woods

Here’s one…

…and here’s another

Maggie found some textbook examples of Grey Coral Fungus

Kate started to build herself a shelter

Neil and Lesley this Painted Lady on Knapweed in the Meadow

Jane E found another Wolf Spider with egg sac

Follow the sign…

are you sitting comfortably…

…then Mark will begin

Bug hotel building materials…

…building site…

…and instructions

Nathan decorating one of the rooms…

…and within minutes he had spotted our first guest. It’s a Four-banded Longhorn Beetle. We are hoping it gives a good review on TwigAdvisor (thank you Mark!)

It wasn’t all work!

There had been a large number of flying ants around the shepherd’s hut during the day however everyone politely ignored them. Later Kathryn sent a message to say that it had been Flying Ant Day. That wasn’t on either the biodiversity or Open Day plan yet seems wholly appropriate that they shared the celebration.

25th August

After all the enchantments and delights of the Open Day, Clare made her own discoveries. Enchanting? Delightful? All part of nature’s rich pattern.

These are both examples of the slime mould Fuligo Septica, also known as Scrambled Egg Slime Mould…

…and less appealingly as Dog’s Vomit Slime Mould

However she was also able to take a slightly better picture of a Common Darter than previously.

31st August

Clare started the process of removing honey from the bees yesterday. This involves adding a clearer board in the evening. (The board has a rhombus shaped escape insert which has two "tunnels" leading to each end and a centre chamber in which the bees gather when initially leaving the super) The board is positioned between the brood box and the honey super . The bees will naturally cluster in the brood box overnight and if the super is removed early the next morning, they haven’t had a chance to work out how to get back up to the honey. This morning only three bees had to be persuaded to abandon their honey which made the collection quite easy. There’s not as much honey this year as last as the bees needed it during the cold and wet spells when they couldn’t get out to forage. While Clare and John enjoy honey on their toast, they hope the bees will be satisfied with their sugar syrup substitute.

May - be...

Before further forgetfulness - Images from Easter Day

Liddells has contributed the beech branch to this decoration made by Sue W

The Oliver Oaks labelling party

Rachel admiring her label

Further follow-ups to April’s blog post:

Congratulations to those of you who correctly guessed that the Alphabet Bridge is so named because it has 26 logs in its span. A special mention to Barbara R who suggested that the mystery creature surfacing in the pond maybe one of John’s lost hearing aids. It could also be a newt. Hmm - preferred explanation? No contest.

1st May

John noticed that three of the brooms on the Crag are in flower. This is the first year they have flowered and as you can see, they are growing well. Maybe the tubes will need to be removed, however that will leave them vulnerable to browsing so alternative protection will have to be provided.

John continued wrestling with the challenge to fix guttering to one end of the sheds so that rainwater is directed into the bowser - not as easy as it sounds. Maybe it will work.

Broom is busting out all over

2nd May

Derek G has generously spent considerable time researching the history of Liddells for us. Today John and Clare joined him at the County Archives at Woodhorn and spent happy hours poring over old maps, documents relating to the Enclosures Act and Estate records. Derek maybe able to create a timeline of ownership included in which will be a Miss Mary Tulip who was born in 1719. The current sports writer for the Hexham Courant is Joseph Tulip - maybe a relation.

3rd May

John and Clare continued this year’s onslaught on the weeds on the path in the Top Strip. Clare thought that weeding the path before members of the Tynedale Community Choir visited (see below) maybe like cleaning the house before guests arrive. They did not finish the path - draw your own conclusions. During the weeding, they were visited by a mystery insect. Clare thought it was maybe a mayfly however Keith-who-knows-everything-about-nature is investigating further.

Maybe mayfly

The algae is the big pond is diminishing so maybe the barley straw is working. Fresh barley straw added today. While John and Clare were coming up from the ponds to work on the Crag, they noticed a hare running up ahead of them towards the Top Grazing. During their work - clearing fallen wood - they noticed a hare running from the Wetland into the Pit Wood and shortly afterwards a hare running along the top of the Crag. It is possible that hares, being considered by some to be divine, maybe have the quality of ubiquitousness and/or maybe that they move in mysterious ways. John and Clare prefer the more prosaic possibility that maybe there are two hares on Liddells. Maybe they are romantically attached.

The first Cuckoo Flowers are out on the Meadow - maybe one day we will hear the first cuckoo here.

The trail camera has captured more footage of deer in the Pit Wood. One video shows a doe browsing on hawthorn, the second shows a buck anointing a branch in his path. Further footage showed his antlers are clean so he’s not fraying off the velvet. The last clip has been sent to Keith-w-k-e-a-n. Any ideas what may be making the sound? (For a follow-up to this question, see the entry for May 10th.)

6th May

Tynedale Community Choir, in which Clare sings, has for several years now, indulged in the habit of singing to the sunrise from the bandstand in the centre of Hexham on the Monday May Bank Holiday (the Morris Men dance there on May 1st). Many maybe consider this to be a bit bonkers. Participants then breakfast together in the Community Centre. Clare has sometimes followed this with a post-breakfast-chorus walk (this is usually at about 7am) round Liddells. This year she invited any choir members who felt so inclined, to join her. It was cold and wet, however, neither avian, nor the small bunch of intrepid human singers were deterred. A good time seemed to be had by all, though maybe that was due to the delicious biscuits John M provided. Liddells and baked goods seem to have an excellent relationship. (Thanks to Jane B and Sue R for photographs.) Maybe the Liddells muse joined us as Sue R was inspired to write.

Clare is thrilled that the Willow Warblers were performing as if on cue

The path through the north side of the Pit Wood, looking particularly verdant

Rosemary delighted to see how much the oak she donated has grown

Carpeting cowslips in the Pit Wood - many, many more this year after John and Robbie cleared and felled allowing more light in

9th May

Both ponies were shampooed today. Paul has an infestation of lice (not transferrable to humans thankfully) and had scratched bare patches on his face. This had happened before in the very wet winter of 2017/18. Both ponies were reasonably tolerant of the process, Paul rather more than William, however as soon as they were free to go, they indulged in some mutual comfort grooming.

I’ll scratch your back …

10th May

John chose a walk around Liddells to check all the nesting boxes as his birthday treat. Clare is relieved he is so easily catered for. You can see the results of the survey here. Clare has noticed that the results for the previous year do not appear to have made it to the Surveys page - maybe they have disappeared into the Liddells Triangle, along with box 25, which this year has completely escaped John and Clare’s searching. (May 31st - Clare and John have realised that they didn’t carry out a nest box survey last year. They were still in the unsettled aftermath of John’s DVT.)

Maybe laid especially for John’s birthday survey

John has been working away on wall repair on the northern boundary.

Wall repair, maybe more than half completed

Keith-w-k-e-a-n not only proved to be uncertain about the insect that alighted on Clare’s arm, but declared “I divanaw, man” about the mysterious sound on the trail camera (Keith’s soubriquet will be rethought). John pointed out that Keith-w-k-?-a-n had not even hazarded a wild guess. Maybe one of John’s suggestions is correct - a barn owl on a vuvuzela - a lover's tiff between stoats - a consumptive jay.

Regarding the ‘maybe mayfly’, John availed himself of the free insect identification service offered by The Royal Entomological Society and received this very prompt reply from Professor Jim Hardie, their Director of Science:

‘It’s an ichneumonid or parasitoid wasp which parasitises other insects and there are some 2300 species in UK. This one looks like the largest (body length up to 50 mm and 100 mm including the ovipositor) and is called the sabre wasp, Rhyssa persuasoria. This is a female as she has a long ‘tail,’ the ovipositor, with which she drills into logs and lays eggs on larvae of the host insect, often wood wasps, and when the sabre wasp egg hatches the larva feeds on the host.

Harmless to humans.’

Maybe playing some Khachaturian would attract more of these creatures.

15th May

Barbara R - a friend of Clare’s from London days and avid Blog follower - came to visit. She had two requirements from her stay, a visit to Newcastle/Gateshead to see the kittiwakes and a walk around Liddells. Clare was happy to oblige with both. Clare proudly showed off John’s completed wall repair.

Barbara about to leave Liddells and just after Clare had remembered she hadn’t taken a photo to record this event.

Maybe the Kittiwakes would be envious of all the nesting boxes on Liddells - thanks to Barbara for this and the next photograph

Clare intent on listening to birdsong - maybe a Blackcap

You will maybe notice the spare stones on the left. It seems to be a rule of wall repair that there are either too few stones or too many. Maybe it’s a phenomenon that leaves you climbing the walls.

16th May

Clare, maybe drawing on her capacity for stick-to-itness (OED, 24th April: dogged perseverance) continued her efforts to rid the Top Strip path of weeds. During this activity she noticed what maybe a spider, with a pale blue bulbous body. Of course there is no point in asking Keith-w-k-?-a-n about this. There is also a question about the identity of the insects that were flying around the whole time (except when one alighted conveniently for a photograph - maybe an insect hoping for its moment in the Blog).

The first of the Blue Tit eggs have hatched.

19th May

John and Clare continued their prayerful attitude to the path in the Top Strip, weeding another ten metres or so on their hands and knees.

Clare returned home and investigated the spider with what she had thought was a pale blue body, and discovered that it is a Wolf Spider with its egg sac.

22nd May

Keith, maybe seeking to reclaim his reputation, arrived at 7am to help us with this year’s breeding bird survey. The sky was a clear blue and the birds sang generously and offered the annual is-it-a-Blackcap-or-a-Garden-Warbler challenge. If anyone else would like to have a go, try this. The morning’s highlight followed Keith hearing what he thought were maybe robin alarm calls in the Scrub. He wasn’t convinced, and his doubts were validated, as were his ears, when the calls proved to be hungry baby robins which were then fed by the parent. Maybe it is alarming to be hungry. You can see the results of the survey here.

Keith (ok, Keith-w-k-nearly-e-a-n) was also able to identify the large black insects (see 19th May) as non-biting midges. Clare had not known there were such things, having only been acquainted with the biting kind - and far too frequently. Apparently the name chironomidae derives from the Greek for pantomimist. “Oh yes it is!”

Keith was also reassuring about the algae situation which had worsened again in spite of input of barley straw and doses of barley straw extract. He recommended adding oxygenating plants, shoring up the banks where the ponies had puddled them and maybe fencing round most of the perimeter. Keith explained that disturbing the soil through the digging process had released nutrients into the water which then fostered the algae growth. The ponies were adding to that process.

And finally in the restoration of Keith’s reputation, he commented that the colour of the Wolf Spider egg sac is surprising given the spider’s need for camouflage.

23rd & 24th May - two days at the beech

John and Clare were catching up on some gardening (Clare) and sawing (John had blagged some replaced telegraph poles and was reducing them to logs; see photo below) when butterfly-Tim called to say that a very large limb had broken from one of the beeches on Liddells and was blocking the road. John went up straight away and was relieved that local farmer Derek drove up in his Manitou, saw the problem and returned with the Manitou plus forks and levered the branch until it broke off and he could drop it off the road. Clare and Tim arrived and set about clearing up the small stuff (throwing it over the wall into the Scrub) while John sawed up the smaller branches. One trailer load of wood was deposited at the Liddells log shed and a second taken home. Clare and John returned in the evening when Derek and Robbie turned up with two chainsaws that made John’s look like an electric carving knife. Derek had said it would only take ten minutes to saw up the main branch. John and Clare found this hard to believe until they watched Derek and Robbie at work. All sawing was done in 15 minutes, whereupon D&R, maybe thinking they hadn’t helped enough, set about logging the wood. Their double act - one swinging the axe in perfect rhythm, the other turning the wood underneath - was a wonder and very scary to behold. No digits, limbs or heads were lost in the process and John and Clare took another trailer load home to stack. Next morning John and Clare returned to log the remaining wood - another trailer load. So not only are John and Clare hugely grateful for the kindness of friends and neighbours, but they now have a nearly full log shed and very aching bodies.

The wounded beech - you can maybe see the dark area above the wound. It is likely that this is the site of an earlier split into which water has been seeping, weakening the joint between trunk and branch

Here is a close up of wood from the damaged joint

This does not quite do justice to the size of the branch and you can see that much work has already happened

Derek appears to be showing Robbie (a qualified woodsman) how to use a chainsaw. The photo does not reveal that Derek quickly chose Robbie’s best saw to use. Father and son rivalry maybe….

Maybe Derek and Robbie cannot hear John offering ear defenders

This vision of teamwork would maybe more complete if it showed Clare carrying all the logs to the trailer

Maybe nearly a season’s burning once it has dried

Ok, this is not about Liddells, however Clare could not resist including it so that she could add her caption.

Poling station

24th May

Normal people sometimes receive bouquets of flowers. Clare was thrilled to find Sue R’s delivery of a bouquet of Wild Garlic in the porch. Maybe this is indicative of how Liddells has affected Clare. Huge thanks to Sue for the gift.

25th May

Clare planted the Wild Garlic in the Pit Wood. John and Clare enjoyed being at Liddells without any use of the chainsaw whatsoever.

Clare began this year’s Creeping Thistle Watch on the Meadow and bagged 122. Although she has not finished, there is only a small area left to cover. It would seem as though the numbers have more than halved since last year, so maybe pulling them out is proving a sufficient deterrent. Clare is wondering if maybe there is a Zeno-like paradox here: if the number of thistles is reduced proportionately each year, when only one thistle remains, will it be halved, and will that half thistle be similarly reduced resulting in the impossibility of completely removing thistles from the Meadow.

The porch smelled intensely of garlic

Some of the plants in place

26th May

The trail camera has been directed at one of the nest boxes and capturing the Great Tits feeding the young inside. The first food was brought in at about five in the morning. Such is the activity, the camera has been triggered approximately every six minutes. There were about four hundred stills and videos to go through. The videos also recorded at least ten different bird species singing in the background. The last video captures a blackbird stand-off.

Here are the beneficiaries of all that activity

27th May

John and Clare are always delighted when Liddells can make some kind of contribution to others. Today Rosemary M-S collected Silver Birch leaves to use for dyeing wool. She was most complimentary about our convenient and lush foliage! She is ‘using a calendar which suggests the right plants for each month. So far, [she has] used daffodils, birch bark, and dandelions.  Colours ranging from cream, to pink to yellow. Birch gives the best yellow. This time [she has] mordanted the wool. Many plant dyes are fugitive’. Thanks to Rosemary for the sequence of photographs and the imaginative challenge of fugitive dyes - from what might they be escaping…. 

From this…

…with the addition of these…

…a bit of cooking…

and steeping…

…to this

Clare completed the Creeping Thistle eradication programme for the year - at least until she spots the ones she missed - and added 43 to the bag, making a grand total of 165. That’s a considerable reduction in two years. Plenty of thistles remain on other parts of Liddells for the pollinators. Yellow Rattle is now established on almost all of Meadow and this will help other wild flowers become established. There is already an increase in the Red Clover.

Following the Thistle triumph, Clare attempted to video Whirligig Beetles on the large pond - they do what it says on the tin. This proved to be easier said than done or maybe Clare just caught them recovering from a dizzy spell.

31st May

John and Clare are checking the trail camera regularly, hoping that it will capture a moment of fledging. Maybe there will be footage for next month’s blog post. Maybe the camera batteries will expire at the crucial moment.

A reminder - 30 Days Wild starts at midnight.