July 31, 2019

July - we kid you not

July 31, 2019

1st July

After the sadness of the ponies leaving, Clare and John were especially delighted by footage captured on the trail camera. They had placed the camera in the Pit Wood on the path where Clare had seen the roe doe and her kid. Since it is very unusual to see a roe kid (the doe usually hides them in long grass) there are several clips included here. The cuteness factor is very high.

3rd July

After a longer delay than expected, John and Clare borrowed a horse box and took Paul over to Cumbria. They were concerned he might not be willing to go into the box having not been in one since he arrived at Liddells, however at Sally and Becky’s invitation he walked straight up the ramp. Becky (Rowbeck) was pleased to see him again and emailed the next day to say that he had settled in just fine.

The doe and kid continue to enchant and the Pit Wood path proves to be a main highway for wildlife.

I’ve a feeling we’re not in Northumberland anymore

4th July

Clare received a parcel - the postie thought it was a shovel and was rather disappointed to hear it was a pond-dipping kit. Perhaps the thought of a shovel based crime was more appealing, though probably not to John.

5th July

Mel generously offered John and Clare an anthomaniacs’ day (OED Word of the Day 3rd May - a person who is (excessively passionate or enthusiastic about flowers). They reckon to have found about 110 different species in flower. Mel was struck not only by how many more species there were, but also how more numerous the flowers were since his last survey in 2014. John and Clare felt very encouraged. You can see Clare’s list, arranged by habitat here. On the way across the Top Grazing, Clare had another look under the newt’s log and thought she was seeing double, if not treble - look closely at the top left corner of the photograph and see what you think.

Tim sent Clare a copy of the North East England Branch Butterfly Conservation Butterfly Summary 2018 and she discovered Liddells gets a mention in relation to Green-veined Whites:

‘Spring generation notable counts came from Ian Findlay with 33 from Upper Teesdale on 18th May, Andrew Craggs, 31 on Lindisfarne on 15th May and Tim Wrigley with 25 at Liddells Wood near Hexham on 20th May.’

Any lepidopterists among this blog’s followers might like to read the whole report.

6-11th July

The ponies’ departure means that the area round the sheds and shepherd’s hut does not need to be proofed against mud and post damage. John spent some time rethinking and building new fencing. He has also adjusted the height of the steps into the hut so that persons of smaller stature can use them more easily. Clare is grateful and considers it to be an act of bonification (OED Word of the Day 2nd May: the action or an instance of making something good or better; esp reclamation of land for cultivation, construction, etc..) The kid continues to offer entertainment.

Clare was pleased to see John taking the business of levels so seriously…

12th July

Hal came to help John put up a swing in the Pit Wood. Juno approved. Clare, Beth and Juno had a first go with the pond-dipping net and tray. Juno took her responsibility as identifier very seriously.

John appears to be stuck inside the ladders

13th July

Clare, while hiding behind a hawthorn tree for Juno to find her, noticed a large hole in the bank near the roadside pond. There were a lot of white-tailed bumblebees in the entrance however the hole was far too big to be a nest for them. It did look the right size for a badger. The trail camera was moved…

16-18th July

John and Clare had three days away near Easingwold in Yorkshire and were dismayed to experience almost a complete absence of birds, even in the Yorkshire Arboretum. On return they went straight up to Liddells to reconnect with the birds there and almost immediately in the Pit Wood saw a family of Goldcrests and moments later a Spotted Flycatcher, a species they had not seen on Liddells for three years. This did a lot to offset their Yorkshire related dismay. They also collected the disc from the trail camera.

19th July

Having seen swallows fly in and out of the sheds, John fixed some shelving to make it easier for them to build nests should they choose to. Coincidentally, John and Clare have discovered there are swallows nesting at home for the first time in the fifteen years they have spent in their house. The badger hole site continues to attract visitors.

23rd July

John completed the new gate into the shepherd’s hut enclosure. While John and Clare were working there, a bat flew from behind the hut in broad daylight. There are no signs of bats nesting there, however it was good to see one. Clare changed the protection for the Field Maple on the Top Grazing; the tiny tree had become very lost in the growth around it. Clare put chip down round the tree as she had seen at the Yorkshire Arboretum.

25-26th July

John saw 7-spot ladybird on Creeping Thistle. Clare saw a Common Darter , probably male, flying round the big pond. Tantalisingly, the only place it came to rest was on a stone on the island which was too far away to take a photograph. The trail camera showed how the roe deer rut has started. The video clip shows the buck pursuing the doe. Maybe there will be more kids next year.

28th July

Clare and John have been smartening up the area round the sheds and shepherd’s hut. John has been levelling off the fencing and Clare has started weeding the paths before putting down membrane and new chip.

Phases 1 and 2, weeded and membrane down in one section

30th July

Mike, a long time friend of John, brought his quad bike over for the day. Much wood was moved. While Mike and John were loading and ferrying the wood, Clare continued with her efforts to smarten up the shed area.

31st July

Bee update:

Yet more rain today so no work on the land. Instead Clare has produced an update on the apiary:
There are now three thriving colonies. Two are headed by this year’s queens, both marked green (this mnemonic helps remember the right colour: Will You Raise Good Bees/White, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue). The third has one of last year’s queens and was created by taking her, some frames of eggs and some nurse bees and setting them up in a new hive, while allowing a queen cell that had been created in the original hive, to mature and for that queen to hatch, be mated and start laying. This third queen is marked red and eluded being spotted for a long time. Clare finally saw her and was able to mark her. Clare’s bee buddy Barry named this queen The Scarlet Pimpernel. There is a fourth colony created by taking a frame with a queen cell from one of Barry’s hives when his bees had made several queen cells, and putting it in a 5 frame hive, called a nucleus hive, with frames of brood and stores and some nurse bees. The queen must have hatched because the queen cell had vanished (bees recycle the wax) but was nowhere in evidence when Clare looked, so she gave them a frame of eggs from The Scarlet Pimpernel from which they drew up two queen cells. Clare left one and that hive is now in purdah to leave the new queen time to emerge, mature, be mated and start laying. Unfortunately the wet and colder weather means that this might be unsuccessful. A new queen needs a few hot dry days to be sufficiently mated.

Although two colonies produced a lot of honey in the spring, so much so that Clare added extra supers (boxes with frames exclusively for honey into which the queen cannot go and lay eggs because she is kept out by a queen excluder). However there was a longer than usual nectar-gap in June because of poor weather, and the bees needed to draw on their own stores for food. This seems entirely fair, if a bit disappointing for honey lovers. If not much honey remains, Clare might leave it on for the winter bees which will reduce the need for sugar feeds.

Clare and John

June 30, 2019

June - Dragons! Damsels and Distress

Clare and John

June 30, 2019

1st - 8th June

John and Clare were struck by two pieces of feedback from the June blog post - ‘that was your longest blog post ever’ and ‘you must be at Liddells all the time’. Pause for thought. The second comment does sometimes seem true.

The last few days have seen John and Clare attending to small tasks of routine maintenance: collecting logs, algae fishing, pruning suckers from fruit trees, mending tree protection netting and path weeding. They are proud to be within yards of finishing weeding the path in the Top Strip which seems to take for ever.

Two new discoveries while working. The ladybird was on a stile post near pines and the Bird Cherry Ermine Moth caterpillars were, unsurprisingly, on the Bird Cherry. Clare had seen these before but thought they were spiders’ webs. The caterpillars might well be providing food for all the nestlings.

The trail camera did capture more images of birds leaving the Great Tit nest, however none clearly showed nestlings taking their first flight.

Clare has been much occupied with her bees and how they defy all the text books. She was recently alerted to the presence of a swarm in a hawthorn near the hives but could do nothing about it while on grandchild duty. Four days later - the books suggest swarms only hang around for a couple of days while scout bees look for a new site - the swarm was still there, so nothing daunted, Clare set about collecting it. When she returned later in the day to introduce the swarm to the hive - a traditional way is to lay a white sheet on the ground leading to the hive entrance and the bees walk up it - she noticed a very small swarm still in the tree. This could have alerted her to the fact that she might have failed to collect the queen and therefore the bees would be reluctant to leave her and go into the hive. They were very reluctant to go into the hive, however some started to and lots followed. The guard bees were doing a good job around Clare so she had to walk away in the hope they would go back to the swarm. Eventually they did so that Clare could leave and as she walked past she saw a small swarm hanging in exactly the same place on the hawthorn. She also thought she could hear the distinct sound of bees laughing.

Barbara R alerted Clare to a call for volunteers to record sightings of spittle and spittle bugs - froghoppers. Clare thinks the scientists missed a trick in not calling this campaign ‘Spot the Spit’.

9th June

Weeding the path in the Top Strip is finished, however it is rather like painting the Forth Road Bridge and now needs starting again.

12th June

Jane B sent Clare a link to a page about hay meadows on the Northumberland National Park website. If you have 12mins to spare, listen to the soundscape of a hay meadow. It demonstrably proves the value of these meadows for wildlife.

13th June

In spite of the atrocious weather, there were birds singing on Liddells today and Clare was delighted to hear and see Linnets in the Top Strip.

14th June

Clare and John walked over the Meadow and listed all the plants in flower. They identified 22 different species. The list is here.

15th June

The largest pond is offering a local mallard an opportunity for a bath.

17th June

Clare had another encounter with a sabre wasp. It was on one of the seats in the story-telling circle and probably laying eggs there.

18th June

More insect excitement for Clare. She watched a Broad-bodied Chaser darting over the Roadside pond. The dragonfly lived up to its name and proved hard to photograph. It also lived up to the textbook as apparently they often find new ponds. Clare also watched a Willow Warbler family feeding in the top Strip, calling to each other as they moved through the trees.

Sabre Wasp. The ovipositor is extending forward from her tail and pointing down into the wood left of her legs

22nd June

A friend offered Ox-eye daisies from his meadow for the Meadow at Liddells where they have not yet become established. John and Clare went to collect them today and then Clare transplanted six clumps on the Meadow. Clare saw a baby frog near the big pond and then was delighted to see damselflies. They proved hard to photograph too as they were too busy being flighty to wait for the camera, however photographs were taken and then the damselflies could be identified. They are Large Reds and Common Blues. John was lucky to see two of the Common Blues mating though he couldn’t get a photograph.

The frog was only two to three centimetres long and easily hidden in the grasses and leaves

Clare found these two young crows having a snooze

Male Large Red Damselfly momentarily perched on the Alphabet bridge

23rd June

This was to be a distressing day for John and Clare. For a long time they had been concerned that they were not doing Paul justice. He is a young and strong pony and could well live for another twenty years - this cannot so easily be applied to John and Clare. After much painful deliberation they realised that Paul could fulfil more of his potential with another owner and knew that however painful and sad, this was the right decision. William could be returned to the Moorland Mousie Trust and would be sent somewhere else to continue his excellent grazing skills. Fortunately, Becky, who sold Paul to John and Clare, was happy to take him back and sell him on. Both ponies were due to leave on the same day and William was collected much to Paul’s distress. Unfortunately the transport for Paul didn’t quite fall into place as planned and with John and Clare due to go away for a few days the following day, John made hasty arrangements for Paul to go to a local stables where he has often been for brief stays. This meant that he was not alone and distressed on the land while plans were redrawn and he could be boxed and transported to Cumbria from there. When John and Clare walked Paul to the stables, they realised that Paul had left Liddells for good.

27th June

John, sans camera, watched a female Broad-bodied Chaser laying eggs on the big pond. Not to be outdone in the delights department, Clare saw a roe doe running down into the Pit Wood from the Orchard and as she followed, came across a roe kid tucked up on the side of the path into the Pit Wood. It stayed very still but ran the moment Clare tried to get her camera out. It was about the size of a large hare and still in its spots. Tim sent us a photograph of some of the Ragged Robin on the Wetland. The plants are spreading each year and are a particularly raggedy delight.

28th June

John spent some time filming by the big pond and as a result both Clare and John realise that the ponds need a webpage of their own. This will happen soon and John’s film from today will go on there. Suffice it to say John saw more dragon and damselfly action, more dragonfly egg-laying, a newt and a creature as yet to be identified…

29th June

As the ponies have left Clare and John set about dismantling the arena that John had created. Clare found wildlife under the logs that had supported poles and was able to identify a moth that rested for a moment. After the arena work Clare and John treated themselves to a bit of pond-watching - the dragon and damselflies continue to be a source of delight and new learning. They watched a Large Red Damselfly laying her eggs. To mate, damselflies join together in the “wheel” position and commonly fly in tandem this way. Afterward, the male will usually remain attached to the female as she lays eggs. When doing so he retains his grip on the front portion of the female’s thorax, using claspers located at the tip of his abdomen. On the way to the pond they found a patch of orchids where John had strimmed to make a path and therefore let light in. At a rough count there were nearly one hundred. Further up the same path Clare saw some Bittersweet, also known as Woody Nightshade, a plant she had not seen on Liddells before. The final discovery provides evidence that more squirrel work is needed.

European Garden Spider or Cross Orb-Weaver

Newt, looking like a piece of wrought ironwork. Clare thinks it is a Great Crested Newt. They have full legal protection in the UK and it is an offence to disturb them Clare replaced the log under which she found it

Four Spotted Chaser (males and females both look alike)

This looks to Clare like a photo from a ‘Guess the Mysterious Object’ game

Since seeing the roe kid John and Clare had been hoping the trail camera might capture it on video. No luck so far, however there was some nice footage of the doe.

30th June

Completing this month’s blog post also marks the last of Clare’s 30 Days Wild. We hope you have had an equivalently wild month.

Clare and John

May 31, 2019

May - be...

Clare and John

May 31, 2019

Before further forgetfulness - Images from Easter Day

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

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.

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.

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.

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 — 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.

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….

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.

Clare and John

February 28, 2019

February

Clare and John

February 28, 2019

1st February

Snow arrived today providing a good opportunity to think about next year’s Christmas cards.

2nd February

John had seen so many tracks in the snow yesterday we hoped the trail camera would have captured images of the track makers. Of the dozens of clips recorded, only one was not showing the ponies, however the one was well worth it. The ponies deserve an appearance on the blog too. It would seem as though a fox too has been testing the ice on the big pond.

3rd February

An exciting day for Clare - she saw one male and three female Redpolls at home then in the afternoon went to Liddells for the first time this year, to say hello to the ponies and check her bees. One colony has eaten almost a whole box of fondant, the other hardly any. It is strange how colony behaviours can differ under what appear to be similar circumstances.

4th February

Clare’s bird-watching at home is going some way to making up for all that she is missing elsewhere - today the Redpolls were joined by several Siskins. We saw them in the garden a couple of times a few years ago, but none for a long time now. All these birds are proving to be a significant part of Clare’s recovery.

The trail camera may well have captured the fox that was testing the ice. It is walking away from the big pond and is at the southern edge of the Pit Wood, heading north.

John and Robbie worked on the seating for the story-telling circle (which should probably be called the story-telling semi-circle). The large logs will be turned over and sit on supports between the uprights.

We were delighted that amongst the numerous videos of pheasants feeding - we’ll spare you those - we found two clips that are worth putting on the blog. On the first one, watch the top right section of the frame. The first clip was recorded at 16.20, the second about half an hour later.

6th February

John worked on the seating for the story-telling circle. We’re just waiting on a story-teller now. And the story-teller’s seat….

7th February

The trail camera has triumphed again. John is sure this is a youngster as it has a ‘chubby babyface’, and he reckons that it is a buck - if you look closely you can see the beginning of two buttons on the top of its head which will become antlers.

8th February

As well as felling more trees in the Pit Wood, John and Robbie dismantled and removed an old covered pheasant feeder from that area.

10th February

There are buds on one of the Small leaved lime that we planted on the Wetland and Snowdrops are out on the Meadow. We usually include a photo of Hazel catkins in the Spring and have had to use the same old established tree each year. This year we are delighted to see catkins on one of the new hazels for the first time.

12th February

We are fortunate that Robbie’s trip to New Zealand has been delayed so he is currently available to help out. We are also fortunate that he loves helping. We reckon one hour of Robbie’s work equates to at least four of ours. John put different fronts on some of the open fronted bird boxes which had never been used. Any homeless robins, wrens and spotted flycatchers will know to whom to complain. Robbie logged, brashed and worked on a bridge over the channel into the big pond.

Letting light in and opening the view in the Pit Wood

Maybe walking across the poles would be a bridge too far.

13th February

The trail camera is not ideal for picking up small birds, however we are pleased that it has captured a Yellowhammer near the pheasant feeder, and thus provided another opportunity to draw on the charms of BBC Radio 4’s Tweet of the Day. It’s always a delight to see images of a hare.

14th February

John and Robbie opted for a non-romantic way to spend St Valentine’s Day - chain-sawing and road-building. They have made more potential seats, not just for the story-telling circle but to use in different places on Liddells.

We are not entirely without a romantic streak - here is gorse in flower on 14th February

15th February

We don’t know about ‘Nature red in tooth and claw’, this all looks a bit black and white to us.

18th February

Juno’s second birthday. A fox appears to be about in the early hours. Hal, Beth and Juno came over to fulfil a long held plan to plant a tree for Juno. We chose an Aspen, which comes into flower in February. Its botanical name is Populus tremula because the leaves are forever trembling. Some of you may know the line from Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott, ‘Willows whiten, aspens quiver’; the tree was favoured by sufferers from “shivering disease”, who would pin locks of their hair to the trees in the hope that one shivering would cure the other. This is a new tree to introduce on Liddells. If you would like to see more photos of this event, you will find them on the Celebrations page.

Make sure the tree is upright and tamp down the soil (John is either bowing to the tree or practising for a knighthood)

20th February

John and Robbie felled some of the Spruces behind the shepherd’s hut.

22nd February

Wall repair along the road. Another Corsican Pine felled in the North East Strip. Tim and Jane saw two Peacock butterflies out on Liddells - this is unprecedentedly early.

26th February

John worked on the bridge on the Wetland and is particularly proud of his half-lap joints. So proud that he clearly took time off to be artistic with the camera. He also altered another open-fronted nesting box.

…and assembled. What a fine half-lap joint

27th February

John noticed droppings underneath the entrance to the bat box today. We will move the trail camera so that it will pick up any movement in and out. We leave you with the cliff hanger (which in the case of bats will of course be upside down) - are we bats to think bats might have taken up residence……

Clare and John

January 31, 2019

January 2019 - in Clare’s absence

Clare and John

January 31, 2019

5th January

Robert displays his next trophy in traditional manner

6th January

John saw the hare running from the Orchard into the Top Strip. It’s good to know it’s still around.

7th January

Although the horses of the local hunt don’t go through Liddells any more, the hunt clearly wasn’t far away. Here is a splinter group of hounds going through the Pit Wood. And a splinter hound from the splinter group.

11th January

John has obviously been missing his post-Liddells-work aches and pains, so set off today to buy gate-making equipment. There are two gates awaiting construction - one giving access from the Meadow into the North-East Strip (necessary if we are one day to go through with our plan to keep pigs there); the other will go through the taped off line by the spoil heaps and head up the path down to the Orchard. We hope all will go smoothly and that there will be no Gategate.

13th January

We heard from our land neighbour that the ponies were in his bottom field. They had obviously intuited the blog and staged a pre-Gategate. They must have trampled the tape (now re-electrified) which prohibited access to the Orchard and thus the Pit Wood. How they got from there on to Mike’s land remains a mystery. Paul had the grace to look sheepish - no bad feat for a pony - when he was led back.

14th January

Gate-making at progress at home. Clare listening to the sound of power tools and hammering. Perhaps not the most sensitive reminder of experiences undergone by one of us recently.

The trail camera has provided us with a mystery. Clare, perhaps a little bored at home, is convinced dark deeds are afoot in the Orchard.

19th January

John has finished hanging the new gate that leads down to the Orchard. It awaits a catch. He has also started digging post holes for the gate into the North East Strip.

20th January

The OED Word of the Day is Pluviose - the fifth month of the French Revolutionary calendar which began on 20th January and the name was chosen for the rain in this month. Vive La Révolution! No rain fell today.

23rd January

John accompanied a Canadian visitor round Liddells on a frosty morning. The lengths we go to to make visitors feel at home. Graham has been planting trees in a patch of land near to Ottawa and was interested to see what we were doing. Unfortunately the photo John took of Graham by the top gate has inexplicably vanished from the camera memory. Clare suspects this could be related to the mysterious goings on in the Orchard. Or Graham may be a vampire.

25th January

Robbie came to help John today and together they worked on the new gate and fence in the North East Strip and also did some logging there.

This is a strainer taking the strain and you can see that we are using wood from felling wherever we can

These logs are intended as the piles for a bridge over the grip which feeds into the big pond. Watch this space for construction details…..

28th January

Very exciting (for one of us) to see the Barn Owl over the Wetland and perched in one of our Oaks near the Orchard. Clare had her own excitement at home while taking part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch yesterday - she saw a Lesser Redpoll on one of the niger seed feeders in the garden. We had seen one on the verge opposite the house several years ago however never one in the garden, and none since. She spotted it again today and could confirm that it was a female.

29th January

John reported to Clare from Liddells that it was snowing. Clare asked for a photograph. The snow stopped. And melted. What is it with John and photos. John managed to clean out all the nesting boxes in the Top Strip, firm up some tree stakes and erect the new bat box in the North East Strip. He spotted a Heron leaving the big pond. Clare has been saving ‘ranivorous’ for just this occasion (of an animal, especially a bird, that feeds on frogs). Smarty Pants John pointed out that the family name for frogs is ranidae. Clare thought it was Fisher.

31st January

Another cold day at Liddells. Too cold to work however pleasing to the eye. John did splendidly with the cameras. The ponies had double helpings of hay - two nets in the shelter and extra on the ground. You will notice how Paul stands over most of the hay while William has only managed to secure a small heap at his feet. Off camera William high-tailed it into the shelter to get first go at the nets. He’s a bright little thing.

Top Strip from the Top Grazing, looking west

Clare and John

December 30, 2018

December - the not so bleak midwinter

Clare and John

December 30, 2018

First of all, a big thank you to all blog supporters. We understand that some of you come from far flung places like the USA and Cumbria. We love the idea that we are connecting with you all and hope that you feel free to invite other interested parties to follow us.

We have put a selection of our favourite photographs from this year on a new Gallery page.

1st December

DEFRA have sent us the necessary form today to complete the Sheep and Goats Annual inventory. First of course we have to find some goats, then make sure they are on the left hand, borrow the sheep back again keeping them on the right and then count. We wonder if DEFRA will accept yan, tan, tethera, pimp…. Sounds like a challenge for One Man and His God.

4th December

John reinstated the tapes that keeps the area round the bee hives clear, and then gave Paul and William access to the Scrub, Wetland and Crag. There is still plenty for them to eat here and it will mean that we can keep our hay for when/if the weather gets worse later in the winter.

You can see how this part of Liddells holds the frost as it is largely north facing

Hal has had the great good fortune to spot a Woodcock Pilot and to share his sighting with us!

10th December

We started marking out the planting sites for the Alder and Wych Elm that have arrived

There will be 3 Wych Elm in the Top Strip

3 Alders on the Wetland (if you look very closely you can see the other two tubes in the distance!

16th December

While John and Eilidh were long-reining Paul, Clare decided to tidy up the roadway edge by one of the ponds. Nothing more fun that heaving heavy stones around in the slippery mud. Mole-catcher Robert had his first success with the traps on the Meadow.

Robert with corpse and business associate Sky

17-20th December

We planted the rest of the Alder and Wych Elm, introducing 3 Alder and 4 Wych Elm to the Pit Wood.

You may have been concerned for a while at the status of your amorous gestures. Fear not, you are back in fashion.

28th December

Tim has kindly produced this annual report on the butterflies on Liddells. You can also find this here where his graphs and tables are included.

Liddells Butterflies – 2018

A hot and dry summer across the country played havoc with all nature, maybe less so in the north than down south. At Liddells, the meadow turned very dry, some plants flowered early, some not at all, and some late, which is tough on the caterpillars & butterflies who have to appear at the same time as the flowers. As a few examples, Red Campion flowered late in the summer, Birdsfoot trefoil seemed to give up completely, thistles went to seed early, but then I saw one in flower in early December. I’m confused, so pity the poor butterflies, never mind Clare’s bees.

By way of comparison 1976, a hot and dry year, was a good year for butterflies, but not for their offspring. 1977 proved very disappointing, many caterpillars and eggs did not survive to the following spring, and some butterflies took many years to recover. To some extent this is just a natural cycle, butterfly numbers go up and down, but there a few concerns and next year will be interesting.

At Liddells, we had two significant positives, 23 Small Copper were seen, and a real surprise, a Purple Hairstreak on a south facing oak tree. And Large Skippers were also seen, but not on the Liddells Butterfly transect.

Sadly, for unknown reasons Small Tortoiseshells are suffering across the country, and at Liddells they and Meadow Browns are well down on the long term average.

30th December

A last walk round Liddells for a while for Clare this morning. We checked on the bees and they are beginning to take the fondant feed that they have over the winter. They digest this directly rather than store it in frames. It was good to see some of the bees on the fondant (which is in upturned plastic boxes placed over holes in the crown board which covers the frames, leaving a space under the roof for feed and insulation) as Clare had neither sight nor sound of them in weeks. It’s always a leap of faith at this time of year that they are ok. We were pleased to see that there are still large numbers of Fieldfares in residence. The ponies are warm in their winter coats and looking a bit trimmer (which is no bad thing, particularly in William’s case). John is under instruction to provide blog material over the next couple of months while Clare recovers from the hip replacement op she is due to have tomorrow.

A Happy New Year to you all and a Happy Hippy one for Clare

Clare and John

September 30, 2018

September - the earth moves for John and Clare

Clare and John

September 30, 2018

1st September

John was rather taken with the sight of a large patch of Creeping Thistle that had gone to seed. Clare enjoyed them too as they were outside the Meadow. This patch is a favourite one for butterflies. More fungi are appearing as autumn gets closer. Clare has heard that all fungi are edible, but some of them only once. John has made a new gate to give access through the mud barricades, which are now finished.

Please feel free to contribute identification info

4th September

Clare helped John raise the first roof panel for the shepherd’s hut to see how it will look. He realised the main supporting beam needs to be slightly raised. Clare continued her fungi discoveries.

The Turin Shroud fungus (this is not a real type of fungus, however Clare was taken by the face she could see), or possibly Larch Bolete…

…which appears to have a smiley face on the underside

6th September

Barry kindly lent us his ATV so that we could collect logs from the Wetland and the Pit Wood, while Paul recovers his confidence with hauling. To this end, Eilidh and John managed to persuade him to wear his collar again and walk round with it on.

8th September

Robbie cut logs and started felling conifers in the Pit Wood; he also removed the two trees that were inside the story-telling circle. Robert helped to haul dumpies of logs out to where we can load them into the trailer.

9th September

We borrowed some sheep again to graze off the meadow. Having brought the logs home, we filled the second shed, with a little help.

Yan tan tethera pethera pimp…no we haven’t lost our mind, just trying to count the sheep. This old method may still be used by some shepherds. After a dispute because of fidgety sheep, we settled on twenty-five, which is figgot (20) and pimp

10th September

We returned the Groundhog. Clare spotted a trio of tree stumps on the Wetland, each of which was sporting a crop of fungi.

11th September

John raised the roof beam on the shepherd’s hut and managed to cut his finger rather badly.

12th September

More fungi

There is a particularly fine crop of Fly Agaric in the Scrub

This looks likely to be Turkey Tail or Coriolus Versicolor — This looks likely to be Turkey Tail or *Coriolus Versicolor*

14th September

The trail camera caught a fox in the Orchard by the bonfire.

One of the bee colonies has been much beset by robber bees. Clare has followed all the advice available - blocking the entrance so only one bee can get in at a time (the guard bees have more time to deal with invaders), putting a glass sheet in front of the entrance (presumably the robbing bees bash their heads against it while the resident bees can reroute around it), sticking leafy branches in front of the hive (to confuse the robbers - “This doesn’t look like Kansas anymore”), covering the whole hive with a wet sheet for a couple of days (the robbers then think the hive has disappeared or become ghostly and give up); all of these were to no avail. What worked? Would you believe smearing the hive liberally with Vicks Vaporub. The robbers gave up. They can, however, breathe more easily. As of course can the bees who are no longer under threat.

15th September

We are planning to dig out a couple of ponds on the Wetland, so we spent some time marking them out. We are going to use two areas that are already wet, remove some of the rush and dam one edge of each.

One of the Spindle Trees is looking particularly autumnal.

Yet more fungi.

The underside would suggest this is a waxcap of some kind

16th September

Mike arrived to help John fix the first of the roof panels on the shepherd’s hut. Both were pleased with the result. Clare is in awe of what John is doing - he hates heights. The proliferation of fungi this year extended to the inside of one of the sheds.

Inside the shed. Possibly a Tawny Grisette

17th September

Clare helped with the fixing of the last three roof panels with a certain amount of lifting and a lot of encouraging.

18th September

All the panels are now firmly fixed in place. We moved the ponies to the Meadow for 48 hours so that their hooves would chop up the sward a bit, in preparation for sowing wildflower seeds. We started stacking logs in the log shed at Liddells which we had emptied over last winter.

Clare is concerned that John might have misunderstood her request for steps to get into the hut

20th September - Green Gym Day

We were delighted to welcome eight volunteers today, including three new recruits. Many thanks to Mark and Gill, John W, Tim, Barry, Sally, Jane E and Pat, and apologies to all for the paucity of photographs recording all the stupendous effort that went into the day. Clare was engrossed in seed sowing and rather forgot her role as recorder. By 3pm we had ticked all our tasks off the list - wall repair, adjusting the tubing to trees in the Top Strip, felling and logging after some of the damage in the wake of Storm Aileen, path weeding, clearing brambles and ivy out of the roadside wall and sowing wildflower seeds on the Meadow. Within seconds of tidying away at the end, the rain set in.

John, John and Sally seem to have an opinion about Barry’s lunch

The discerning amongst you might spot that the stakes are now secured outside the tubes rather than inside as we had done mistakenly before

The painstaking work of making small holes in the meadow and inserting pinches of seed

While we were all working, these ladybirds were indulging in their own choice of exercise. This gave rise to a question in the group as to the collective noun for ladybirds. Barry came up with ‘a Bangkok’! **

Bramble and ivy free wall, and this only shows a small section of the whole length that was cleared

A large limb off a dead tree in the Pit Wood. It’s good to leave dead trees as a habitat for insects and birds

** If you don’t get Barry’s joke, try saying the name of the insect with a Bronx accent

21st September

Eilidh began to prepare William for receiving a bit - she coated a stick with molasses. Once William realised he liked the taste, Eilidh managed to position the stick in his mouth to replicate how the bit will be. Both ended up very sticky.

There are still butterflies around. This Comma is on Purple Loosestrife in the Meadow

22nd - 26th September

John has been working on the panels that will fill the spaces below the roof on the shepherd’s hut. John and Clare finished sowing the last of the seeds on the Meadow; this included introducing our own Yellow Rattle seeds to the top quarter where the plant has yet to get established.

27th September

The first day of a week’s machinery hire. John is creating his own version of two radical movements from the Civil War and seeking to make an even platform for the hut. The first job was to make a drain behind where the hut will go.

Clare spotted this Red Admiral enjoying the late summer sun while she was on her way to reposition the trail camera

Our very own version of the Lambton Worm

Not quite a red carpet for the ponies, however we added the final touch to the extended mud barricades

28/29th September

Clare had spotted a lot of acorns in the Pit Wood and set the trail camera hoping to catch either a badger and/or a jay collecting or eating them. The camera picked up lots of activity, sadly most of it by grey squirrels although the very first capture was of a badger, even if you don’t get to see much of it. The sound is quite striking! We think the bird darting behind the tree in the fourth video, is a Jay.

29th September

Robbie arrived to dig out the first of the ponds. On the way he dug a trench for a new land drain near the spoil heaps by the Meadow. He also cleared some of the grips leading in to the pond to help with the water flow. John cut down and logged a couple of trees at the top of the Pit Wood.

30th September

Robbie finished the larger of the two ponds, adding an island with a Heron perching stone. He then moved on to work on the second pond, excavating this, creating another small island with Heron perch and establishing a roadway at the dammed end and had this all finished by early afternoon. And this from someone who was out carousing the night before - pretty impressive! John cut down more trees at the top of the Pit Wood to let light and space in for the younger planting. He also finished the drain Robbie had dug yesterday, making a French drain that is filled with gravel.

Looking north; Heron island left of centre

Looking south with opened up grips allowing for easier water flow

The spindly looking trees will not need to put on so much growth to reach the light

The smaller pond with Heron perch and opened grip

Finished! This shows the new roadway with the Meadow in the distance. Delightfully for us, Robbie is as excited about the new ponds as we are. All we need now is quite a lot of rain.

Clare and John

August 31, 2018

August - a productive month

Clare and John

August 31, 2018

Last few days of July

Just to prove we did what we said we would do -

We rather wish we had taken a 'before' photo so you could see just what an improvement this is.

2nd August

We've put the trail camera back in the Scrub and clearly found a busy site, or perhaps the animals we captured on film were all off to Clare's sister's birthday celebrations. John says you can tell the doe is young because she has a baby face, a thin neck and her anal tush is not fully developed. Add that to your Liddells learning account.

4th August

John finished strimming huge lengths of path to enable our anniversary celebration guests to walk around Liddells and for them to sense what we have been up to in the last five years.

5th August

Robbie came and helped with logging. John repaired the fencing round the wet area in the Meadow. Tim sent us an identification challenge.

It's a Purple Hairstreak and a first for LIddells. Since these butterflies like to hang around the tops of oak trees, all credit to Tim for a) spotting it b) getting a photograph and also credit to Clare who guessed correctly

8th August

With the well-being of our guests and health and safety considerations in mind, John fixed the wobbly stile near the Pit Wood. Clare noted that her well-being had not prompted this repair before the party.

9th August

Several years ago John and Clare set up Rat Arts - regular meetings at their local pub, The Rat, which prioritise the human voice. Anyone is free to come and read, sing, recite, tell a story and/or listen. It's informal, great fun and well-supported. We have themes, which are open to individual interpretation, suggested by our regulars and the one for this day was Space. This was John's contribution:

The Available Space

The available space measures 11 feet 4 inches long by exactly 6 feet wide, and with a height of 7 feet 3 inches. This offers a cubic capacity of 492.95 cubic feet.

Given that an average adult, when resting, inhales and exhales about 7 to 8 litres of air per minute or 11,000 litres per day, this means that a person needs about 388 cubic feet of oxygen per day. So if a human was to take up residence in this available space they would be OK for about a day and a half, if not carrying out any strenuous exercise – which can be bad for a person at the best of times.

However, the available space is not sealed like an air lock. It has no roof and five, at present, unglazed windows and a door which will let in drafts, so a person could theoretically survive there indefinitely given that another person was to provide food and water – and ideally alcohol.

If the occupying person became bored with the available space – which might be a period of hours, days, weeks, months or years depending upon the psychological make up of the person – the space could be put to other uses.

For example, one Mini classic motor car could fit in quite easily and two could be squeezed in if the wheels were taken off both and the second rested on the roof of the first. If each mini was filled to record capacity with 28 females (see the Guinness Book of Records for details) this would mean an occupation of 56 human females. No estimates are available as to how long such a gathering might survive in the available space despite, as already advised, the availability of unlimited oxygen owing to the lack of roof, five unglazed windows and a door which lets in drafts.

If the available space were to be given over to non human occupation, it would suffice for one three-quarter grown African bull elephant or a fully grown female. In the absence of a step ladder the height of the elephant could easily be ascertained by measuring the length of its rear footprint, and in the case of the male multiplying by 5.8, and in the case of the female by 5.5. Having established that the creature would fit in terms of its height, it would need to craned into the available space as the door which lets in drafts is too narrow to allow entrance by that route. The elephant, whether male or female, would not enjoy the available space because although it would be able to amuse itself for a while waving its trunk through one of the five unglazed windows or above its head because of the lack of roof, it would be unable to turn round and to try the four remaining unglazed windows and the alternative views they offer. In any case an elephant is a stupid idea as they are probably the world’s most sociable creatures and keeping one, alone, in the available space would be cruel.

The same could be said for giraffes, although the lack of roof and the availability of foliage provided by the nearby trees to the south would offer some sustenance for a while. But a diet of sycamore leaves would prove alien to a creature used to a variety of tropical vegetation.

Given the difficulties of keeping such large animals in the available space it seems wise to consider smaller options. The floor area is big enough to accommodate fifteen National or Darlington beehives, both of which have a footprints of 292 square inches. However this would prevent the beekeeper from managing the apiary as there would be no room left to move around, so the ideal number of hives would be seven and a half, but since there are no half hives, the eventual number would be seven. The problem of having an apiary surrounded by walls would not necessarily be problematic as the bees would soon learn to navigate by using the five unglazed windows and the open roof space. Those of a particularly tenacious temperament might even try the door which lets in drafts so it might well let in bees also.

Those beekeepers addicted to the use of the Dadant and Langstroth Jumbo combination hives are advised to look elsewhere as they are just silly beehives and only used by those with gigantic beards who drive large 4x4’s with names like Wrangler, Renegade and Invincible.

Seven sensible National hives in the available space, each with a population of approximately 50,000 bees, would mean a home for 350,000 of these tiny but highly intelligent and important pollinators, without which it is argued the human race would soon perish – though Trump does not believe this evidence, calling it fake news.

If the available space were seeking record status in providing accommodation, it might consider ants. A single colony of wood ants can be 500,000 strong, but you wouldn’t go for wood ants as they have two bad habits. They can spray formic acid 12 times their own length, the equivalent of being tasered by an angry copper, and they have very poor diversity figures - namely a life expectancy for males of only a few weeks, whilst queens (females that is) can live fifteen years and spend nine hours a day sleeping. Also all wood ants are right-footed so the possibility of having a strong left midfield or a pacy left winger are nil.

The available space has thought long and hard about what might prove its best option in the long term and puts forward the following wish list: five glazed windows, a roof, a door which does not let in the drafts and a sign above which says Shepherds Hut – basic accommodation to let for two adults and a grand daughter.

11th August

The party - see separate blog post

12th August

Eilidh came to help with William and managed to pick out all four of his hooves. Next stop the foot trimmer. Eilidh also spent time leaning over William with as much weight as possible and tickling his sides where stirrups will hang - all to familiarise him with the sensations he will experience when he is ridden. As he passed all these tests with flying colours, Eilidh introduced him to the concept of trotting, which is a gait he has to learn. Rattling food in a bucket helped.

...and William says "Enough," and starts to walk off

13th August

Today was a Green Gym Day however several of our stalwarts were busy so John and Clare went up and John felled a tree and Clare started clearing brambles and ivy out of the roadside wall. Then the rain came in so they went home thereby missing the two volunteers who arrived a short time afterwards. Whoops! We will be better organised for next month's session.

14-18th August

John felled more trees in the Top Strip. He is planning a third pre-emptive strike on the winter's mud that tends to surround the sheds and results in the need for antigropelos. (We really hope we have converted all of you to OED Word of the Day fans.) We have plotted the first two strikes on our learning curve. John will make posts from the felled trees and eventually fence off a much larger area. Of course the felling produced more brash ready for the next time we hire the chipper. Clare and John repaired the roadside wall in the North-east Strip.

19th August

Robbie came again to help with logging. The Top Grazing offered us more forage.

Robbie would like us to point out that the photo was taken before he put on his helmet. So would John.

20-21st August

As Clare's walking is compromised this year (a hip replacement by Christmas with luck) John has undertaken the forage/jelly challenge. Clare spent a very sticky time with her honey. This is the first year she has had a good harvest and there is still a super - the box where the bees store the honey, and which sits above the brood box - to empty. A full super can yield between 35 to 40 lbs. The super Clare cleared was only half full.

...unlike Clare, who made do with what she could find!

21st August

Today was pony pedicure day. We are pleased to report that this time, only William's second with us, Stephen managed to trim all four of William's hooves. Many pieces of carrot were involved so he will be able to see excellently when he wanders round Liddells at night.

After this John turned to some hauling with Paul. Unfortunately just after Paul had started pulling the second bag of logs, he took fright and ran off, the bag trailing after him. We have no idea what spooked him. It was frightening for him and for us. He will need a period of recovery and we need to think deeply about where we go from here.

Clare has seen a Small Copper butterfly basking near the bee hives on several occasions lately. Tim said, "That's a fine photograph," - a photograph that was not easy to take while wearing a bee suit and rubber gloves - praise indeed!

23rd August

With Robert's (molecatcher) help, John continued with the anti-trench warfare project round the sheds.

25th - 28th August

Postal work continues. Clare completed this week's butterfly transect survey while Tim is away. En route she found fungi in abundance. Another opportunity to ascend the learning curve. Any of you out there with knowledge to contribute, feel free.

Could be Slippery Jack - 'edible rather than excellent'!

Clare and John

July 31, 2018

July - 'water, water everywhere' not

Clare and John

July 31, 2018

1st July

Clare had submitted her article on bee-keeping to the national bee-keeping association's magazine; it was accepted, and after quite a while, was published. She dreams of a book deal, though that would mean writing a book.

3rd July

Butterfly Tim sent updated news on the Peacock caterpillars, saying they had grown dramatically and are now 'more clearly Peacocks, notice the red prolegs (Tim's new word of the day).' Presumably these are paid more than amateurlegs.

Peacock Caterpillars - Liddells 2 Jul 2018.JPG

5th July

Mel and John logged and bagged up more of the fallen rowan and finished re-chipping the path in the Top Strip. Butterfly Tim came and had his first look inside a bee hive. Half an hour after he and Clare had finished, Clare saw bees swarming from the hive that had been in purdah awaiting emergence of a new queen. The most likely explanation is that the virgin queen had swarmed taking part of the colony with her, there is a faint chance that this was a mating flight. Clare suspected the former because the new queen was only just due to emerge and wouldn't yet be ready for mating, but kept her fingers crossed for the latter and decided to wait a few days to give the queen, if there was one, a chance to get laying.

7th July

You may have noticed that it's been a bit dry of late. The rainwater collection trough was nearly empty so construction began to create a platform for a bowser. In the longer term we will reinstate the plan to add guttering to the sheds which will fill the bowser. We had crossed this off the to-do list because we had never been short of water.

8th July

The weather forecast and a local farmer suggested we cut the Meadow as soon as possible as rain was predicted for the end of the week. It is traditional to wait until after July 17th, sometimes longer in the north-east, to allow most of the flowers time to set their seed. This year we have had phenomenal success with Yellow Rattle, however the downside of this is that there has been far less grass for hay. The extreme weather has also meant that there have been far fewer wildflowers. The hay was cut today and John started strimming the edges of the Meadow which the cutter could not reach. Below are some of the wildflowers that did appear.

Great Burnet with Yellow Rattle seedheads

Greater or Black Knapweed with pollen beetles

Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare - echis is Greek for viper) "Bugloss" is derived from the Greek word bou (meaning cow or ox) and the Latin word glosso (meaning tongue). These refer to its leaves, which could be said to be shaped like … — Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare - echis is Greek for viper) "Bugloss" is derived from the Greek word *bou* (meaning cow or ox) and the Latin word *glosso* (meaning tongue). These refer to its leaves, which could be said to be shaped like an ox-tongue. Apparently in the language of flowers, the plant stands for falsehood.

9th July

Strimming finished and raking started. Courtesy of yet another helpful farmer, the full bowser arrived.

10th July

The hay was turned and declared 'made'.

12th July

Helpful farmer (see above 9th July), in spite of being hugely busy with combining, called in and baled our hay. All 5 bales of it - rather fewer than last year's 19!

Friday 13th July - Green Gym Day - lucky for some

Getting the hay in was the day's job. We succeeded. Gleaning yielded an extra two dumpies of hay. We managed to rake up 5 bags of Yellow Rattle and four of these were shaken over miscellaneous patches outside the Meadow; one bag went on its way to a helper's friend in Cumbria. All the hay was loaded and transported to the hay shed and as we sat down for a picnic lunch, the rain started. Perfect timing re hay, not so good re picnic however we stayed out enjoying the change from the heat.

Pat insisted she hadn't had her photo on the blog for too long

Not sure whether Clare is gleeful or gritting her teeth

15th - 18th July

Clare identified and John strimmed (guess which was harder) an area in the Pit Wood that Eilidh can use as a story-telling circle when she brings her pupils. John also strimmed a circle round the bonfire in the Orchard ready for our fifth birthday celebrations, although with the weather as it is, the bonfire might remain unlit for the time being. Eilidh rode Paul and John walked William with them. They were all very well behaved. Clare found a couple of self-seeded oaks in the Top Strip path and potted them up at home. Clare checked the swarmed hive and found a new queen cell from which the new queen should emerge in a few days. So it was a virgin queen swarming. Back into purdah they go.

24th July

Roof sheets for the shepherd's hut arrived today - John hasn't quite worked out where they should go. Clare suggests on top of the main structure.

25th July - 31st July

There will now be a pause in blog entries while John redecorates the porch at home and Clare makes clothes for granddaughter Juno!

See you in August.

Clare and John

June 30, 2018

June - 'I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June' L.M. Montgomery

Clare and John

June 30, 2018

1st June

We planted a bag full of English Bluebells donated by a friend with woodland. We planted them in the north-east area of the Pit Wood. Clare finished pulling out the last of the Sycamore seedlings from the Wildflower Meadow and found two thistles that had escaped her gaze. Thistles now removed.

2nd June

Shepherd hut progress - making crucial decisions on the design of the window frames. Our friend Stephen had read last month's blog and had been concerned about where we were going to find the necessary shepherd. First find your sheep. Keith, on the other hand, told us about wooden boxes, about the size of a chest freezer, that he had seen in Romania, that are for shepherds to sleep in overnight. A bit minimalist for us, however it would have been less work.

3rd June

Having put Paul's make-up on because he has had a louse infection (the same product that was recommended for infant eczema) we went for a stroll over the site. The first discovery was a fallen Rowan on the Wetland, a casualty of very strong winds. Water Avens and Aconite were out in the Pit Wood.

Water Avens - they remind Clare of the Flower Fairy books she read as a child

You can see why Aconite is also called Monkshood

3rd, 4th, 5th June - three days at Number 11

What follows is a selection from over 400 videos taken over three days. We apologise for failing to provide a Springwatch-like analysis of frequency of visits, division of labour between male and female, items on menu, and completed customer satisfaction forms.

10th June

Pony Pedicure Day. Steven made one of his regular visits. Paul nailed it and William (this was a first for him with us) helped with pony treats, emerged with trimmed fore hooves, but not yet four hooves. John started to grapple with the shepherd's hut door.

Caption competition - answers to liddellsreserve@gmail.com

Common Spotted Orchids on the Wildflower Meadow

Ragged Robin (one of Clare's favourites) on the Wetland

Great Tit chicks in their nestling down or neossoptiles (we hope you love the OED Word of the Day as much as we do)

11th June

Trail camera revelations - ballet pigeon and tod. John remembers one of his aunts reading Aesop's tale The Fox and the Crow to him in French

14th June - Green Gym Day

Having had to cancel a Green Gym Day last month, we were pleased this one went ahead. So clearly were our loyal supporters, one of whom, when told about the day, replied "Yippee!!!" The photos below would suggest Clare & John did no work at all.

15th-20th June

John goes strimming crazy on paths in the Pit Wood, Orchard and Top Strip.

21st June

Mel and John trailered all the chip from beside the Wildflower Meadow to the Top Strip and topped up the path at the east end before retiring to the pub for a pint and a game of pool (as is their wont).

Clare inspected her bees before going away for a week (Clare not the bees) and discovered one colony had hatched a new queen who had mated successfully and was laying new brood. The other had failed to follow this fine example and had developed laying workers. The colony cannot be saved. Their honey can.

Tim went to see the Solstice sunset from Liddells.

26th June

Tim issues a Peacock butterfly caterpillar alert

Clare and John

January 8, 2018

January 2018 - Happy New Website and welcome subscribers

Clare and John

January 8, 2018

1st January

We're live! We've had such lovely responses from recipients - it's been very encouraging and heart-warming.

John went up to see the ponies and Eilidh and her fiancé Tom came too.

John also photographed the ashes he and Mel had moved from the Orchard to the Wetland.

Eilidh and Tom with Paul and William and carrots

5th January

John and Mel finished clearing the north-east section of the Pit Wood. Luke, who had helped us with ideas and information right at the very start of our ownership, revisited and reassured us that we are working along the right lines. He was also very impressed by how much we had achieved, which was heartening. We don't always see our own progress.

6th January

The wall is mended! There was another of those photogenic mists over the valley when John arrived today.

...and from the road. We're pleased with the result.

The effect is as if looking out over water. Which I suppose it is really!

8th January

We'd like to say hello and thank you to all of you who have signed up for updates through the blog. A week on and we are still in receipt of affirming responses. Onwards.....

Clare and John

December 29, 2017

December 2017

Clare and John

December 29, 2017

2nd December

Paul has his hooves trimmed; William needs his doing so needs to be handled in a way that gets him ready.

4th December

John starts making a door for the shelter, not because the ponies have already bolted but to give William somewhere to be while Paul is put through his paces.

6th December

Eilidh joins John to work with Paul - Paul is like putty in her very competent hands and canters round on a lunging rein on the side he usually seeks to avoid. Eilidh takes William in hand/head collar too and begins some gentle training on the lead rein. John is thrilled to have such invaluable and experienced support.

The rest of the month

John continues to work on clearing the northern boundary in the Pit Wood.

Eilidh has been able to pick up William's feet and has been long-reining Paul.

We've had a bit of wall collapse on the Meadow/Road boundary - evidence that climbing a wall is not the best option when there is a gate and stile to use.

28th December

We are poised to launch the website. Mindful that we have used photographs taken of and by other people, surveys and creative contributions, we asked for permissions to include these. The responses have been interesting, to say the least. Phrases such as 'true colours are revealed', 'the mask slipping' and 'the shadow side of personalities' have been in our thoughts and we are left questioning the basis of some of our relationships. Thus far Clare's granddaughter's 'agent' has demanded a monthly payment of £1000 or childcare in perpetuity, Nick (he of the scything action) has replied: 'all proceeds from merchandising - sale of resin figurines of me in action, calendars featuring photos of me scything, me resting on my scythe, gazing, hand on chin, into the middle distance, wiping my brow etc - are paid to The Root Charitable Foundation, Cayman Islands.' And Neil (he who will usually be the first to offer help wherever it is needed) has said: 'Of course I am happy for you to use any material I might have provided! I'll enclose my bank details in a separate email for you to transfer the royalties...'. Keith does not ask for anything so obvious as money up front, however he does say: 'I suppose I should just mention that I have patented the terms "wildlife, environment, bird, plant, meadow, hay, butterfly, pond, deer, bee and volunteer." So as long as you avoid those it will be fine. If they are mentioned you will understand that I will, reluctantly, have to sue.'

We are redrafting our Christmas card list.

31st December

Clare paid an end of year visit to her bees and fed them sugar fondant - not individually you understand. She was very impressed by the clearing work John and Mel had done in the Pit Wood and in particular by the tidy log stacks!

Space offered for pregnant woman to give birth?

...and then another. They just need a pony to haul them.

Clare and John

November 30, 2017

November 2017 - stunning sunsets

Clare and John

November 30, 2017

1st November

A woodcock has returned - they are thought to return on the first full moon of November. Ours was three days early. John does his bit for Red Squirrel conservation. A grey bites the dust.

8th November

Clare and Barry remove two dozen Larches from the verge where they would have eventually obscured the view. They will be replanted at Barry's.

11th - 14th November

John worked on the fallen Ash in the Pit Wood. Sparrowhawk seen there. A second grey squirrel joins the first. Mel helps move 4 self-sown Ashes from the Orchard to the Wetland. Clare, resting an injured hip, misses out on some spectacular sunsets.

15th November

Ponies return to the Top Grazing.

16th - 30th November

John put up a new squirrel trap and fixed the trail camera to record what happens. He worked on clearing the north-west corner of the Pit Wood. He and Mel cleared and levelled the way into the Pit Wood from the Orchard. John adds to his power tool repertoire with a pole saw. No doubt he will be pole dancing with it soon.

29th November

Eilidh rides Paul - we hope this will be the start of a long relationship.

30th November

It snows!

Sally from Codlaw getting Paul ready for Eilidh's first ride on him

Clare and John

October 31, 2017

October 2017 - Funky fungi

Clare and John

October 31, 2017

9th October

The path in the Top Strip is a great environment for fungi.

14th October

Field mat installed in front of sheds in attempt to minimise mud. Not sure it will be up to the challenge. We walked round the whole site, heard jays and saw one or more of each of the following: wood pigeon, rooks, fieldfare, blackbird, robin, wren, chaffinch, bullfinch, goldcrest, nuthatch, great spotted woodpecker, blue tit, great tit, coal tit, long-tailed tit (Clare wishes they were still known as bumbarrels), dunnock, pheasant.

15th October

Field Maple planted. John sowed about 40 Sweet Chestnut seeds at home. Eilidh, local teacher and the daughter of a friend from choir, visited with a view to starting Forest School work on Liddells.

20th October

8 Small Leaved Lime planted. Ponies moved to Meadow to graze it off.

23rd October

Juno, Clare's first grandchild, makes her first visit and meets Paul.

31st October

12 Juniper and 5 Small-leaved Lime planted.

A selection of  fungi... — A selection of fungi...

This may be oyster fungus, and it may not

We'd welcome identification help with these...

Clare and John

September 30, 2017

September 2017 - "Haul Paul!"

Clare and John

September 30, 2017

1st September

After a long pause, Paul returns to log-hauling training.

4th September

More path maintenance in Top Strip. Logs sawn and stacked in log shed ready for 2018.

6th September

Paul hauls some more. More path maintenance.

7th September

Clare and John set the bees from the unviable hive free on the Meadow. The queen travels up to the Top Grazing clinging on to the back bumper of the Land Rover. Having failed to spot her inside the hive, at least Clare could see that she was indeed smaller and thinner than expected and therefore likely to have been a drone-laying queen. Yet more path maintenance and work on the roadway by the top gate.

13th-16th September

Still more path maintenance; strimming in the Top Strip.

Paul hauling in fine style

This miniature forest was growing on the old path chip

16th September

We say goodbye to Snippets who leaves for Tarset pastures. Paul goes to Codlaw for pony boot camp while we go walking.

22nd September

46 Guelder Rose planted as hedging in the Orchard.

25th September

William the pony arrives.

27th September

Would you believe more path maintenance? It's a long path.

28th September

Site prepared for Field Maple Mel has grown and donated. Juniper maintenance on Crag.

Clare and John

June 30, 2017

May and June 2017 - 3 surveys and a new trail camera

Clare and John

June 30, 2017

2nd May

Squirrel trap set in Pit Wood. Paul bucked John off twice. John knows this was his own fault, having disregarded advice that he was using an unsuitable saddle which was causing Paul discomfort. The resulting injuries, including to pride, and especially to the fingers of his right hand, meant wearing a splint for two months and a severe reduction in working capacity. Clare was not amused.

6th May

Wildflower survey, tawny owl out in Pit Wood.

7th - 14th May

Time spent clearing spilt gravel from top grazing and setting up two new hive stands in apiary.

15th May

Bird box survey: 13/33 in use.

14th May - 28th June

Paths strimmed in Top Strip, Orchard to Pit Wood and Orchard to meadow; Thistles cut on Top Grazing (27th June); 3 Willows planted (from Sylvia) on Wetland in area of main pond; Rush released by digger all removed from Top Grazing and holes filled; arena strimmed.

19th May

Bird survey - John and Keith.

17th June

Rails for enclosing sheds area bought at Mart Sale.

20th June

One of the bee colonies swarmed into the middle of a Hawthorn and Clare and Barry faced the challenge of collecting it. Happily the bees are enjoying their new home with Barry.

23rd June

Trail camera placed S edge of Pit Wood; deer filmed 4.31am.

24th June

Violas and Scarlet Pimpernel planted on spoil heaps near Meadow; Field Poppy planted in Meadow.

John apparently enjoying the Bird Cherry blossom however that squirrel trap suggests he might have deadlier things in mind

The swarm is the dark patch in the top of the hawthorn

For your further education, these are roe deer droppings

Clare and John

April 30, 2017

April 2017 - the great (pony) escape

Clare and John

April 30, 2017

1st April

Electric fence activated, ponies moved down to Crag/Wetland/Scrub. Lots of chiffchaffs; long-tailed tits near Meadow; mallard drake on Wetland. A hare ran past us on the drive down from the bottom gate, heading west. Flower survey carried out. Tasks list compiled.

2nd April

Drama last night! Holly (field neighbour) called at home to tell us the ponies had managed to get through the electric fence and were racing up and down the Orchard. By the time we arrived they were feeding peacefully on the spoil heaps. This morning we added a second strand of tape to the fence, retrieved the ponies and we wait to see what happens.

First beehive inspection of the year and both hives queen right with eggs and larvae. Pat has given us some Holly seedlings. Mallard duck and drake on Wetland pond.

3rd April

Massive planning session in which we listed all the jobs we could think of that needed doing all over the site - it was very long and daunting! Horse Chestnut planted S edge of Pit Wood; wildflower seeds from conference sown in Meadow; drainage pipe removed from below spring; survey of northern boundary to assess work needed; partial logging of Christmas tree ends in Pit Wood; Rhododendron removed from Pit Wood.

12th April

Andrew came and harrowed the Top Grazing.

13th April

Heron seen flying onto and off the Wetland by the centre pond.

17th April

7 Crab Apple saplings planted in Orchard - all grown from local Crab Apple pips by Clare.

19th April

Spindle Trees now protected. Small bank of Violets in Wetland near Pit Wood edge. Treecreeper and Barn Owl spotted in Pit Wood. Bullfinches still around willow warblers arrived.

20th April

12 of Pat's Holly seedlings planted in Top Strip. Cowslips out in Top Strip and Violets in Wetland.

22nd April

3 Oaks (grown by Clare from acorns) and a Yew sapling from Pat planted in Pit Wood and some Opposite-leaved Saxifrage. Bonfire in Orchard now built and Orchard dead wood tidied up. Definite nesting activity in box on Orchard, in 2 and 3 in Scrub and in boxes in the Top Strip.

24th April - 2nd May

Digger delivered - land drains put in across top entrance and 2 in arena. Rush dug out all over top grazing.

Membrane and chip added to new section of path at west end of Top Strip and weeding completed. Heron on wetland middle pond.

Spindle trees now as deer proof as possible

Clare and John

March 31, 2017

March 2017 - night vision reveals a range of after-dark activity!

Clare and John

March 31, 2017

1st March

2 more Willows planted in triangle at east end of Pit Wood; bullfinch seen in front of Willow bower; woodcock in Pit Wood.

2nd March

Yellow Rattle, White Campion, Field Poppy, Ox-eye Daisy, Chicory, Honesty seeds and Snowdrops and Campion plug plants into Wildflower Meadow.

3rd March

More planting on Meadow - Honesty, Betony, Campion, Evening Primrose, St John's Wort.

6th March

Bird and Flower survey.

9th March

Bird boxes 29-33 put up in Scrub and Pit Wood.

11th March

Preparations for bringing ponies down from Top Grazing (fencing off bird-watching Willow arbour, protecting new Willow saplings, preparing for electric fence from SW corner of Meadow to SE corner of Pit Wood); seeds from Grassland Conference (NWT) scattered on Top Grazing.

21st March

Rushes dug out of pond at (W) base of crag - frog seen. Pond near bird hide site heaving with frog spawn!

20th March

Tim put up a motion sensor camera in the Orchard.

23rd March

Camera moved to gate into Orchard.

27th March

Camera reveals roebuck, roe-doe, badger, mouse, grey squirrel visiting at night, and pheasant and cat during the day!

28th March

Chiffchaffs heard and seen on Meadow and in Scrub; 3 deer beyond Meadow; plug plants into Meadow (St John's Wort, Great Mullein, Michaelmas Daisy, Sneezewort, Valerian, Poppy) and Mugworts planted near Beech by bottom gate.

Clare and John

February 28, 2017

February 2017 - marking the arrival of Juno

Clare and John

February 28, 2017

3rd February

John rode Paul again; John helped with path, sawing log edging/step edging.

14th February

Bird box (27) put on oak at north west corner of NE Strip for Valentine's Day; flower survey carried out.

17th February

Last of the Corsican Pines felled in Top Strip.

19th February

20 Field Scabious and 10 Snake's Head Fritillary planted on Meadow to mark birth of Clare's first grandchild Juno, born 18th February!

20th - 27th February

Arena fenced off. Grey squirrel seen on wall at west end of Top Grazing.

23rd February

Bundles of Willow cuttings collected from Wenda and Matthew at Codlaw.

24th February

Willows planted in triangle at east end of Pit Wood, near ponds at west end of Wetland, south of bottom driveway and in bower for bird-watching.

27th February

We were told that 7 woodcock had been seen flying out of Pit Wood on shoot day at the end of January.

Clare and John

January 31, 2017

January 2017 - Bluebells in memory of Heather Lindsay

Clare and John

January 31, 2017

6th January

Bird and flower survey.

9th January

c60 Larches planted with Mel and Neil's help; mostly in the verge and top strip.

14th January

A pair of treecreepers on the Oak with the barn owl box. Yesterday and today we began making 12 more bird boxes with offcuts from the shed's construction.

16th January

Woodpecker heard drumming in NE strip.

23rd January

Remaining (c40) Larches planted in Pit Wood (S edge and western border) and 5 Horse Chestnuts (grown at home from conkers) in SW corner of Pit Wood. Path in Top Strip extended approx 2 metres eastwards over rock outcrop.

27th January

3 more Corsican Pines felled in Top Strip; paths extended approx 3 more metres east.

28th January

200 Bluebells planted at W end of Top Strip in memory of Heather Lindsay; 3 new open-fronted boxes erected in Top Strip and one moved from Corsican Pine to a Larch in Top Strip.

29th January

3 more bird boxes put up - Elder at West end of Orchard (wren); Hawthorn near gate on W wall of Pit Wood (flycatcher); Sycamore on N side of glade near path down to spring (flycatcher).

30th January

John rode Paul on the Top Grazing unaccompanied; Clare made several more metres of path in top strip - steps down.

Mike with a miniature John on his shoulder

Snippets makes sure Paul comes to no harm