Sheep

November - a visit from a royal beast

Below are two more ‘What’s that bird?’ challenges (answers at the end of this post). You will have to go to the Blog page of the website www.liddells.co.uk to see the videos in the blogpost as they will not be included in the email.

1st November

The sheep left last evening, presumably to trick or treat somewhere else, maybe that is what the fox is doing too.

The trail camera footage from the Crag features mostly a single mouse running around, however on this clip there are two mice; this seemed worthy of inclusion.

4th November

A hare decides that right in front of the camera is a good place for a wash and brush-up. It’s cleaning routine lasts 6 minutes in all.

5th November

Here a doe and a kid show how they are now in their chocolatey-brown winter coats.

6th November

Stoats have been seen on Liddells several times, most often in the Scrub. There has never been one seen on the Crag before. Maybe it is after the meeces.

8th November

Last year, footage from the Scrub trail camera revealed that Woodcock had a presence there throughout the year, whereas John and Clare had thought the birds were only winter visitors. Some, however do arrive for the winter. The British Trust for Ornithology says, ‘In winter there is a strong arrival of Woodcock from the Continent, thought to increase numbers in Britain & Ireland five-fold. Recent ringing and tracking studies have shown that some individuals originate from quite far east. Areas of highest abundance in winter are in North Ireland and north-west Scotland.’

The pair of birds in the two video below look as if they might have just arrived, slightly dazed and uncertain. Or maybe that’s just how Woodcock look. Countryside folklore suggested that Woodcock arrive on the first full moon in November. These two are a week ahead of the next full moon on 15th November.

9th November

In the video below you can see how the hair on roe deer’s caudal patch is erect when the animal is alarmed, creating a much larger and whiter patch. It is more apparent here in the larger doe than in the buck kid. Deer are woodland animals and John says that the large white patch acts as a flag to other deer as it can be seen through trees and Scrub.

11th November

Dismayingly, it seems as though a fox has taken one of the Woodcock. The video is not clear, however the beak length of the captured bird suggests it is a Woodcock. The fox has clearly not read ‘the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981’ where the Woodcock ‘is listed as a Red species under the Birds of Conservation Concern 5: the Red List for Birds’.

This video is showing more false rutting behaviour. As with the clip last month, you can see the vigour with which the buck treats the sapling. Although at this distance it is not possible to be certain, this looks like the middle-sized buck who first appeared on Liddells recently.

15th November

Rachel P, a friend who works for the Woodland Trust, visited Liddells today and was generous with her thoughts and ideas about Liddells, as well as with the offer of some trees, tree guards and stakes. People have often asked if the Crag is part of the Whin Sill. The Whin Sill is one of the special geological features of the North Pennines and forms some of the area’s most dramatic landscapes. Read more about it here. The Crag is sandstone and not part of the Whin Sill, however Rachel showed John and Clare part of a geology map that revealed that the Whin Sill is part of Liddells and crosses diagonally in the north-west corner. It is not apparent overground, however John and Clare are pleased to finally know that this iconic landscape feature is part of Liddells after all.

Rachel alerted Clare and John to how Beech regeneration, particularly with Ash dieback, could lead to a monoculture. Attractive though Beech is, very little will grow below it. There is already substantial Beech regeneration in the north-west corner of the Pit Wood and at the top of the Scrub. John and Clare will need to reduce this.

Rachel confirmed that four of the plant species that appear on Liddells, Wood Sorrel, Hard Fern, Golden Saxifrage and Wood Rush are all Ancient Woodland Indicators, suggesting that woodland on Liddells is older than John and Clare have previously thought.

Rachel spotted some Common Puffballs on the path in the Top Strip. They ‘are typically found in broad-leaved woodlands but may also occur with conifers’; both types of tree are in the Top Strip. While the puffballs are at the end of their life, the Hazels are busy producing catkins for the Spring.

18th November

A surprise appearance in the Scrub - a unicorn pauses in front of the camera!

John identified this as the murder buck and it has shed one of its antlers. Roe deer shed their antlers late November - December and start regrowing them immediately. (The ‘unicorn’ appears again on camera in the Pit Wood on 28th with the remaining antler intact.)

23rd November

Clare and John awoke to snow lying and falling quite heavily, however it all quickly turned to rain. By the time they reached Liddells there wasn’t enough for a Christmas card image. Clare was amused by the handful left in the pond net, by a snow-capped camera and by evidence that a pheasant had tried skating on thin ice.

25th November

A buzzard catches something in the Pit Wood, though it is not clear what.

26th November

Two avian oddities: a Woodcock behaves strangely in the Scrub. It looks as though it is displaying, however it is the wrong time of year for that. It may be threatening and attempting to take on an animal such as a stoat. John and Clare are pleased to see that one Woodcock has survived thus far though of course it would be better to have a pair.

Then a leucistic Pheasant appears in the Pit Wood. Leucisim is a genetic mutation that causes loss of pigment in feathers so the bird looks washed out. Of course it may feel washed out. The words ‘leucism’ and ‘leucistic’ are derived from the stem leuc- + -ism/-istic, from Latin leuco- in turn derived from Greek leukos meaning white.

28th November

The doe and triplets still appear together as a family group even though they also go their separate ways at times.

What’s that bird? The first video features a Blackbird and a Robin, the second a Willow tit (the rather nasal sound).

October - What’s that bird?

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

3rd October

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

5th October

John mowed the paths for the final time this year.

6th October

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

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

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

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

8th October

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

9th October

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

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

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

Before.

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

10th October

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

11th October

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

12th October

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

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

13th October

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

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

14th October

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

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

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

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

18th October

A Sparrowhawk flies up onto a perch in the Scrub.

19th - 21st October

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

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

23rd October

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

26th - 28th October

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

More mouse activity on the Crag - mountaineering this time.

30th October

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

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

December - preparing for new growth

1st - 14th December

There has been very little activity seen on the trail cameras thus far in the month, however John (farmer) has now moved his sheep off the land which could make a difference.

15th - 17th December

After little evidence of activity in the Pit Wood the camera there has recorded some. This does seem to chime with the removal of the sheep even though the sheep were not in the Pit Wood. First you see the two buck kids from this year, then the younger doe with her single doe kid, a buck sporting the beginnings of his antlers (this is probably a buck born last year), a pair of hares, a very wary doe (her ears are working nonstop) and four deer all foraging in the same area.

17th December

John and Clare began preparation to plant eight new fruit trees in the Orchard - maybe a kind of nominative determinism. This area of Liddells had a very large patch of wild raspberries in the early days of John and Clare’s guardianship which gave rise to the name. Subsequently John and Clare planted a few fruit trees, none of which fruited particularly well; the new planting is based on advice about improving the chances of pollination.

As there is little to illustrate this Blog post thus far, here is a riveting picture of holes in the ground ready for the trees and one of sticky buds which are already apparent on the Horse Chestnuts.

19th December

Clare and John planted the first five of the new fruit trees. They met with Ruth again who showed them the areas she thought would be good sites for mist nets and bird-ringing.

21st December

With no joy from the trail camera focussed on the big pond, Clare moved the camera to the north-west corner of Liddells where she had noticed some deer slots. The move proved fruitful with footage of a doe, then of that doe with one of her two buck kids and the younger of the two mature bucks. Back in the Pit Wood the camera there recorded a badger going through. It seems as though the wildlife is back in residence.

22nd December

John and Clare planted the remaining fruit trees. They have planted 2 x apples, 2 x pears, 2 x damsons and 2 x plums.

23rd - 25th December

John has spent time hauling out brash from last month’s tree felling.

Returning from replacing a disc in the NW corner camera, Clare noticed evidence of much digging in the Pit Wood at the point where two paths converge. She suspected a badger and moved one of the cameras. Her detective instincts were proved right.

The camera is also positioned on a deer path to and from Liddells and a neighbouring field and has offered several clips of the deer. The most mature buck appears on Christmas Day and you can see how much bigger his antlers are than on the younger buck.

Clare had foraged some berries and foliage from Liddells to make a garland for the door at home. While sorting through the greenery she found a Bronze Shieldbug Troilus luridus. This is the fourth shieldbug species Clare has found this year. The Wildlife trusts website says:

‘Perhaps one of the more difficult species to spot, the bronze shieldbug lives amongst both broadleaf and coniferous trees and is most likely to be found in woodland habitats. Although it feeds on tree sap during its early stages of life, the bronze shieldbug is normally predatory and uses its long proboscis (straw like mouth parts) to feed on a variety of other insects such as caterpillars.

Shieldbugs go through several stages of growth, with the younger stages known as nymphs. Bronze shieldbugs normally reach their adult stage during July, overwinter as adults, then mate the following spring. There is only one generation a year…

A study on bronze shieldbugs discovered that males vibrate to create pulses of low-frequency sound, which is believed to be a call to attract nearby females. After the signal was given, the female approached the male and began to feel him with her antennae.’

Good, good, good, good vibrations.

26th December

Ruth and her son set up the first of the mist nets and reported that they had had some success - they caught a handful of birds including, ‘three goldcrest. Also a blue tit and a great tit both ringed … in 2018 and are therefore 5 years old!’ Ringing attempts in the next few days look to be thwarted by the weather. Ruth has sent a couple of photos to show the nets in place in the main path going through the Scrub.

28th December

More footage of deer in the Pit Wood. The following two clips show the difference in size between the mature buck and the buck from last year and the difference in size of their antlers.

30th December

A pair of hares seem to be playing ‘Here we go round the Hawthorn bush’ in the Pit Wood.

31st December

Since the sheep were taken off, the moles have been having a Hayfield day. There are molehills everywhere.

John and Clare finished hauling out the brash from the Top Strip. On her way back Clare noticed this attractive fungi on the end of a birch log. It could be Crimped Gill Plicaturopsis crispa.

Liddells is very wet after recent rain; as John said, “‘tis the season to be plodging". Tra la la la la.

Thanks to all of you who have supported Liddells this year - your encouragement and feedback is most appreciated. We wish you all the very best for 2024.

John and Clare

October - nature red in beak and talon, and under the wing

A reminder to access this Blog through the website - liddells.co.uk where you will find all the videos. They will be unlikely to play though your email, and may not even show up at all. There are some crackers this month.

Thanks to Jane E and Barbara for their suggestions for a collective noun for pond snails - ‘preponderance’ and ‘snuggle’.

1st October

Local farmer John brought 45 ewes to eat down the grass on the Top Grazing. Clare noticed two more wildflowers still in bloom that she hadn’t included last month: Field Scabious and Red Campion.

More rain has left the Big Pond within a few centimetres of being full. Water is flowing freely through the channel Clare cleared under the Alphabet Bridge.

Clare spotted a Common Puffball and an Orange Birch Bolete near the pond, and more Turkeytail fungus, this time on the trunk in front of the hide.

A badger goes through the Scrub

2nd October

A male Southern Hawker and a male Common Darter are still flying around the Big Pond and the pond level has gone up another couple of centimetres.

The trail camera shows a hare nibbling at a sapling. Hares and rabbits can damage young trees although there is often more publicity given to damage attributed to deer.

3rd October

John is interested in the varied diet of roe deer and was pleased to see a kid grazing on fungi.

Less than an hour after the kid’s browsing, a Sparrowhawk (TrogTrogBlog Chris thinks it is a juvenile), catches what looks like a Blackbird. The Sparrowhawk is mantling its prey. Mantling is hunching, crouching, or arching shoulders and spreading wings over a recent kill to conceal it from other birds and predators just as a mantle cloaks a person. In heraldry the mantling is the drapery or piece of cloth tied to the helmet above the shield in a coat of arms. In the video the sounds are coming from the captured bird. There is a ten minute gap in the footage so it is possible that the Sparrowhawk took its prey off, as Chris so vividly described, to eat it to death. A doe and kid wander through the scene of the crime and show how far their winter coats have developed. As if all the Sparrowhawk footage wasn’t striking enough, a Buzzard comes in to pick over the spoils. You can see just how much larger it is than a Sparrowhawk and it is exciting to have caught this bird on camera as well. A doe kid (who seems to end up with a feather on its nose), a hare and then a rabbit all seem to be investigating the odiferous interruption to their familiar route through the Scrub. Clare and John only saw the footage on their return on 10th October (see below) so Clare went up to see if any evidence remained. The feathers confirm the victim was indeed a Blackbird.

4th October

A stoat runs through the Scrub.

5th - 9th October

Clare and John spent a few days away visiting the RSPB reserve at Leighton Moss. Clare has had Bearded Tits, or as they are more properly called Bearded Reedlings, on her bird bucket list for some time and hoped that on her fourth visit to this reserve, she would be lucky and see them. The birds did not disappoint. Carl Linnaeus classified the birds in the genus Parus with the tits, however they were subsequently removed from this category and placed with the Parrotbills only to be recognised recently as a unique songbird with no other close relations, and placed in the monotypic family Panuridae (from the Greek panu, "exceedingly", and ουρά, "tail"). The male sports moustaches rather than a beard. Clare and John had other treats - a Great White Egret, a Bittern in flight, a Marsh Harrier hunting over and in the reeds, an otter and lots more besides. Clare decided that the time away might have been what some people call a ‘holiday’; she found the word between ‘hogwash’ and ‘holistic’ in her dictionary. Interesting concept. A selection of ‘holiday’ photography is included for Blog biodiversity.

Male Bearded Reedling on a grit tray. The birds spend the summer months feasting on insects. However, to avoid having to migrate south like the swallows and warblers, the Bearded Reedlings change their diet to reed seeds in winter. The seeds are extremely tough so the birds eat grit to make the seeds easy to digest.

10th October

The Big Pond is up to its overflow. The roadside pond is filling slowly although the shallow and deep ends have yet to join up.

A dog fox marks his territory in the Scrub.

12th October

John completed the exterior of the west wing of what he and Clare have decided to rename the Meeting Room. The new name embraces the broader use for the space that John and Clare hope will happen.

13th October

A sunny autumn day and there were several butterflies on the Michaelmas Daisies in the Meadow - a Peacock, two Commas, a Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood. The Speckled Wood proved too flighty to photograph. The flowers were also humming with bees foraging. Clare was pleased to see many honey bees adding to their stores for winter.

A large female Sparrowhawk perched briefly in an Ash tree in front of the hide before flying off. No birds were caught this time.

Clare has been waiting for the opportunity to include another crossword clue in the Blog. This time the clue was in the Guardian’s August Bank Holiday puzzle, a double-grid alphabetical crossword with no numbered lights; answers had to be filled in where they would fit. Maskarade, the setter, added a theme of given names: one of each pair of answers for a letter of the alphabet was a name, and the names beginning A-M went into one grid, and the names beginning N-Z went into the other grid. Fiendish. The clue in question is: ‘Oak’s sudden flourish mentioned by American and British Composer, Edmund, half-heartedly’ (7,5) The answer lies in the photograph (and at the end of this Blog post).

A roe doe and her kid show their gorget patches. Not all deer develop these white areas on their throat however when they do develop on an individual deer, they are most easily seen when they’re in their winter coat. ‘A gorget was originally a piece of material wrapped around a woman’s neck, during the period of time immediately after the fall of the Roman Empire. After that, it was used to describe the pieces of armour placed around the throat of a soldier, to protect them from injury during battle. Subsequently, as their effectiveness as protective amour waned, they were used as a badge to distinguish rank in the army. I’m not sure what the gorget’s functionality is on a roe deer. Unless, of course, the white patches to help with their protective camouflage, by breaking up the outline of the neck in heavy cover.’ (aboutdeer.com)

15th October

Today’s offering in Nature Writing for Every Day of the Year is all about Spindle Trees. Happily Clare had photographed the berries earlier in the week having not been wholly taken up with her house-keeping.

‘…the spindle is quite Japanese in its contortions; the boughs, with their twisted grey-green bark, seem positively to writhe, and the leaves and berries are sprinkled so sparsely that they seem to decorate rather than clothe its antiquity…the flame-coloured leaves and pink and orange berries of the spindle-wood glow like clusters of some strange exotic flower…there is something strangely unfamiliar about these berries of the spindle-wood - berries which open out into dull pink segments, like petals, and expose a bright orange centre, which is really a seed…There was a time, not so many generations ago, when even a woman who knew nothing of trees in general, and cared less, being wholly taken up with her housekeeping, would have recognised the spindle-wood at a glance. In those days when the spinning wheel flashed beside every hearth, and everything possible was made at home, the tough close-grained wood of the tree was in constant demand, and many a pair of lovers must have come to such a tree as this to choose branch and cut it, to make a spindle for the lady’s use.’

From The Peverel Papers, Flora Thompson

Today was meant to be a Green Gym day to plant trees, however it was raining substantially in the early morning so John and Clare cancelled. Then of course, the rain stopped. John and Clare decided to go up and plant some trees anyway. They planted 10 Oaks and decided on sites for more of the saplings they have waiting for the next Green Gym day in a week’s time. Clare protected the saplings with gorse, tied round the plants with Brambles.

More vulpine marking in the Scrub.

15th October

The Pit Wood camera recorded the first Fieldfares and Redwings of the winter foraging on the ground.

16th October

Clare and John saw Fieldfares flying over the Scrub and the Pit Wood.

Neighbour Chris brought his hydraulic log-splitter to Liddells and he and John worked their way through all the logs that John and Dave had brought from felling around the site. Clare indulged in one of her favourite activities, stacking the logs. Yes, she has read Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way, although she doesn’t aspire to such aesthetically pleasing log piles as the Scandinavians.

The roadside pond is filling slowly.

17th October

More Fieldfare sightings and Clare startled a Woodcock in the Scrub.

The doe with triplets spends time grooming one of the doe kids; the buck arrives, tries unsuccessfully to suckle and is subjected to a more intimate grooming.

18th - 19th October

A Tawny owl downs its prey in one and flies off; twenty minutes later it flies past the camera right to left (video not included); a minute after that the bird is on the ground again and eating something it as caught; in the early hours of the next morning it has yet again hunted successfully. The Scrub is clearly a place for small mammals. Or perhaps not, depending on whether you are an owl or a small mammal. The Barn Owl Trust has an information page about Tawny Owls. If you want to know more about their diet, click here.

21st October

Green Gym Day and the weather was on the side of planting and neighbouring farmer John had moved the sheep from the Top Grazing to the Wildflower Meadow. John and Clare were joined by six stalwart friends, one of whom brought additional trees he had grown at home, and they all set about planting 55 trees. An Apple and two Damson trees went into the Orchard, a Hazel and two Aspens were added to the Pit Wood and all the rest - Oaks, Beeches, Elm, Horse Chestnut, Willows - were planted at the east end of the Top Grazing. Each tree was given a protective circle of Gorse or Hawthorn secured round the sapling with bramble twine. Clare has devised this method after reading about how Gorse and Hawthorn scrub make perfect areas for trees to regenerate.

Walking through the Pit Wood Clare, John and Barry discovered a large area of Fly Agaric which was largely uneaten, unlike the ones in the Scrub.

The shallow and newly deep areas of the Roadside Pond have finally joined up.

After watching many hours of deer going through the Scrub, the sight of one of Texels came as a bit of a shock. Apparently it had gone awol on the trip down from the Top Grazing. It seems to have benefitted from the grazing.

22nd October

The old buck makes his way through the Pit Wood. You will see that tip of one side of his antlers has broken off.

Meanwhile in the Scrub, and much earlier than it has been seen before, the Tawny owl flies up on to a perch.

24th October

A hare and a kid browse together in the Pit Wood. Within seconds a stoat runs offstage then returns. The hare is eating apples Clare had put down in front of the camera in the hope of attracting Fieldfares and Redwings, however there are still plenty of berries on the trees for them to eat.

Later that same evening an owl is captured waiting for prey.

25th October

The Tawny Owl appears yet again in the Scrub, hunting successfully in the early hours of the morning and later in the evening.

Between the owl’s two appearances the camera captures two hares, a Jay and a high speed stoat, while in the Pit Wood a single Redwing is seen foraging in the leaf litter. Although the red under its wing is faint, the pale stripe over its eye is very clear.

30th October
Clare saw her first Goldcrest of the winter in a Hawthorn near the bee hives.

Crossword answer: Quercus rubra: Querc sounds like “quirk” = “sudden flourish” + US = “American” + RUB[b]RA = British composer Edmund.
Definition: “Oak” – the Northern Red Oak.










October - Autumn arrives

1st October

Forty Suffolk ewes arrived to eat the grass off the Top Gazing which has grown substantially since being cut for hay. The Suffolk Sheep Society’s website says that the ‘Suffolk is the flag-ship domestic breed in the British Isles and is recognised as the leading terminal sire on a variety of commercial ewes to produce top quality prime lamb. The breed has been in existence since the late 1700s.’

Digesting in the sun

2nd October

Twenty ewes arrived on the Wildflower Meadow. Synchronously Word Perfect today refers to ‘aftermath’, now used metaphorically, however originally meaning ‘an ‘after-mowing’: a second crop or new growth of grass after the first had been harvested.’ So all sixty sheep are dealing with the aftermath.

John has finished the plumbing for the necessarium.

6th October

‘ “Most people look at a forest and say, ‘Here are trees and there is dirt.’ They see nothing of interest unless someone takes them by the hand. I am astonished at how little most people can manage to see.” ‘ (from Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver)

John manages to see plenty, including the first Fieldfare of the year. They arrive in flocks with Redwings. Clare was delighted that Liddells is on a par with Ambridge - Jim Lloyd heard the first Redwing on this same day.

Marsh Tit

Female Chaffinch

This male Chaffinch has been ringed

According to Word Perfect, the Japanese have the expression kasa koso for the rustling sound of dry leaves.

7th October

The ewes did a great job on the Wildflower Meadow and have been moved to join the Suffolks on the Top Grazing.

9th October

John and Clare noticed a Goldfinch near the hide that seemed to be struggling although it was feeding and able to fly.

John and Clare were amused by the trail camera footage below.

10th October

While John added stronger stakes to some of the larches in the verge, Clare visited the hide and found that the Goldfinch had died there. Clare noticed that it was ringed so John sent the details to EURING. A reply came through very quickly:

Dear John Halliday

Thank you for taking the time to report to us details of a bird ring you found. Information about this bird and its movements is given below.

Ringing Scheme: London Ring Number: AJK9171 Species of bird: Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

This bird was ringed by S C Enderby as age definitely hatched during current year, sex unknown on 21-Nov-2019 time unknown at near Acomb, Northumberland, UK

OS Map reference NY9365 accuracy 0, - co-ordinates 54deg 58min N -2deg -6min W accuracy 0.

It was found on 09-Oct-2021 time unknown at near Hexham, Northumberland, UK

OS Map reference NY9269 accuracy 0, - co-ordinates 55deg 0min N -2deg -7min W accuracy 0.

Finding condition: Dying

Finding circumstances: Found Sick, Definite Single cause NOT Known

Extra Information: Sickly. Unable to fly well. Dead the next day.

It was found 688 days after it was ringed, 4 km from the ringing site, direction NNW.

Bird Ringing in Britain & Ireland is organised by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). Each year over 900,000 birds are ringed by over 2,500 highly trained bird ringers, most of whom are volunteers. They follow a careful training process that can take several years to complete to ensure that they have the necessary skills to catch and ring birds. The bird’s welfare is always the most important consideration during ringing activities.

Ringing began over 100 years ago to study the movements of birds. While it continues to generate information about movements, it also allows us to study how many young birds leave the nest and survive to breed as adults, as well as how many adults live from year to year and how many birds disperse to different breeding sites. Collection of this information helps us to understand why bird populations increase or decrease − vital information for conservation. Details of how many birds have been caught and where and when they have been found are available on the BTO website at www.bto.org/ringing-report.

Some interesting facts discovered from ringing data....

Oldest bird – Manx shearwater, 50 yrs 11 months

Furthest travelled – Arctic Tern from Wales to Australia 18,000 km

Strangest recovery – Osprey ring found in stomach of a crocodile in The Gambia!

Many thanks again for reporting this bird and contributing to the work of the Ringing Scheme. If you would like to find out more about the BTO please check out our website www.bto.org.

With best wishes

The Ringing Team

11th - 12th October

Having established that there are indeed three kids this year, they were seen again on the trail camera in the Scrub. The next night the doe went through. John says you can see not only what fine condition she is in, but her two gorget patches. They are on the underside of her neck, show that she is an older doe and help in identification.

15th & 19th October

A fox appears twice on the Scrub camera.

22nd - 23rd October

Footage of hares always proves irresistible. The Scrub camera recorded one passing through several times on these two days; on 22nd at 17.49 and 21.46, and on 23rd at 09.50, 13.49 and 14.05. Of course they may all be different hares. Below is one piece of footage from the selection, the white tail with its black tip and the black tips to its ears showing quite distinctly.

The sheep were taken off the Top Grazing. Again they have done a splendid job in taking the grass down ready for Spring growth.

The Jay is a bird often heard but not so often seen, or maybe you see a flash of the white rump as it flies away. The Woodland Trust describes the Jay as ‘a highly intelligent loudmouth’. (woodlandtrust.org.uk) In its Latin name, garrulus glandarius, the ‘garrulus’ means chattering, babbling or noisy. You can listen here. The whole name can be translated as ‘babbler of the acorns.’ The bird hides acorns for later consumption and it is thought that the ones whose whereabouts have been forgotten can be credited with the growth and spread of oak trees since the last Ice Age. In the footage below, it is unclear whether the Jay is burying or seeking to retrieve acorns, however it is great to have such a clear view of the bird.

A badger appears in the Pit Wood, probably rootling for worms.

24th October

The Scrub proves to be a popular foraging ground for the newly arrived Redwings.

26th October

The trail camera reveals time and again just how watchful and alert the wildlife is all the time. Below you will see a rabbit standing on its hind legs, possibly to see if the surrounding area is safe. Although footage of grey squirrels doesn’t make it into the Blog, the sound of a squirrel chattering is quite dramatic - a subsequent piece of footage (not included), suggests that it is the pheasant that is the source of agitation. Having never seen a kid squeaking before this year, John is delighted that the trail camera is offering so many examples of this phenomenon. Of course saying earlier this month that Jays are rarely seen was asking for contradiction. Not hiding at all. The badger is back - Clare fancifully imagines its satnav saying, “Rerootle, rerootle"!”

28th October

It would seem as though roe deer experience sibling rivalry.

The pheasants have their own back on the hare.

The third piece of footage is calling out for a caption. Any offers….?

29th October

A trio of videos of birds foraging in the Scrub. While Redwings and Titmice share the space, the Pheasants seem to claim it as theirs.

30th October

When Clare went to collect the camera discs today she saw and heard far more Blackbirds than usual - the overwintering visitors have arrived. There was also a large flock of Fieldfares in the Orchard. Sadly the camera has shown that one of the doe kids is limping badly and has lost condition. She hasn’t been seen with the adult doe and other two kids for a while. The young buck displays a passing interest in the bird feeder in the Scrub.

October - trashing the brashing (aka hauling and chipping)

1st October

The lone doe has appeared on the trail camera again. John’s long term stalking buddy Mike thinks she might be last year’s kid. That would explain her following her mother and hanging around near the new family. And maybe her rather forlorn expression.

2nd October

While Clare tackled what she has now decided is a five year plan working on the south boundary wall, John worked on trailer refurbishment.

Clare is less than convinced that John has thought through the implications of his repairs.

Better, though still room for improvement

He worked it out in the end

4th October

The sheep have eaten off the Top Grazing and been moved to a neighbour’s field. They will return to eat off the Meadow in a few days.

8th October

Clare knew that her birthday would be incomplete without a trip to Liddells. Just before leaving after a leisurely stroll round, she and John saw a hare sitting out in the afternoon sunshine by the beehives. Clare was certain it was a birthday gift from the land.

9th October

Clare planted wildflower plugs grown from Juno’s third birthday seed packet round the Shepherd’s hut. While lunching in the hide, Clare expressed concern that the Marsh Tits hadn’t been seen for several weeks. Minutes later two appeared on the feeders, as did a Redpoll. It’s as if they had heard.

10th October

The sheep returned to graze on the Meadow. Clare sowed Yellow Rattle seeds round the Shepherd’s hut.

11th October

Clare planted more plugs donated by friends. John did some maintenance on the larches in the West Verge. Long-tailed tits visited the feeders for the first time since early summer. Three Redwings flew into the Hawthorn in front of the hide. Although climate change means that seasons are less well defined, there is still a noticeable shift in seasonal patterns. For the birds, winter is on the way. They are also beginning to take more food from the feeders.

The trail camera revealed another first for Liddells - two badgers appeared going through the Scrub.

While Clare was sowing Yellow Rattle seeds in the outside verge where she has been removing nettle and bramble, a woman stopped to say that she had seen a red squirrel in the drive of the neighbouring house just a few days earlier. This is only a few hundred yards from Liddells.

12th October

John had a lightbulb moment this morning. He had booked a chipper for two days in order to tackle the brash piles. For once, the weather forecast was correct and the rain Biblical. Shortly before it was time to collect the chipper, John suggested that he could cancel the hire. In a state of some wonderment, Clare agreed that this was indeed a choice they could make. Hire cancelled. John and Clare walked around in a bit of a daze all day. And dry. This could be life-changing.

The sheep have obviously decided there is insufficient food left on the Meadow so some have gone looking for pastures new.

It is always a delight to see evidence of hares. Clare and John hope this one is leaping for an equivalent joy.

13th October

Farmer John came to take the sheep off.

Hal, John and Clare worked on moving more logs and bringing brash up from the Pit Wood ready for chipping when the weather is suitable. Hal was rewarded for his efforts by seeing a hare on the Top Grazing.

15th October

John and Clare called on Mel’s help for hauling the brash. Clare reckoned that by the time it is spread on paths as chip or on the garden as mulch, it will all have been moved six times and some seven. There is an adage that firewood warms us three times - in cutting, in splitting and stacking and in burning. The brash could be responsible for quite a rise in temperature.

Clare sowed the remaining Yellow Rattle seeds in the west end of the Top Grazing in the hope that the prevailing wind will contribute to the spread of the plant.

The trail camera captured images that are sure to delight.

A small portion of the brash after its journey over the fence

16th October

The bales were taken off the Top Grazing. John P sent a photograph of what happened next.

Delicious!

20th October

Footage from the trail camera is helping to offset the hard work involved in moving the brash.

24th October

Clare and John are definitely hearing more blackbirds on Liddells now. The trail camera has captured some in the Scrub together with a small flock of foraging Redwings. Towards the end of the footage you can see the identifying stripe over the eye of the Redwing in the bottom left corner of the scene. The Tawny Owl is also looking for food in the Scrub.

26th October

Well, the weather forecast was for rain, however, undeterred, John, Clare and Mel tackled the brash. Clare, seeing the mountainous piles that lay waiting, was concerned that John had only booked the chipper for one day. John and Clare began at 9am and finished one group of mounds by the time Mel arrived at 10.30. John, obviously thinking the work was not hard enough, went and fetched three more trailer loads of brash from the North-east Strip. Two hours later a lunch break was allowed. Readers can draw their own conclusions as to who authorised this. The weather changed shortly after lunch and rain began of the kind that had brought about the cancellation of the chipper earlier in the month. John, Clare and Mel pretended not to notice and by 2pm no brash remained - anywhere on Liddells. Clare was astonished and very relieved, however the land had not joined in the weather denial; Clare got her car stuck in the mud and had to call on John and Mel’s pushing services to leave the site. A slight dampener on the chipping triumph.

John starting off

Tier 1- the lowest level of chip; no restrictions on movement

Tier 2 - to be applied to central and western sections of the Top Strip path; may be transported in bag or barrow; may be taken home to be used as mulch …

Tier 3 - the highest level of chip; this can only be used in the Top Strip carried in bags or on barrows and can only mix with chip from other chip bubbles

27th-31st October

Recovery from chipping exertions.

September - log slog

Corrections

Many thanks to Chris Wren for both his support of this blog and for sharing his extensive knowledge of the natural world. Chris noticed that the female ‘Ruddy Darter’ on the July blog was a female Common Darter as it had yellow lines along its legs. Also the insect on Sneezewort in the same blog post was not a wasp as ‘it didn’t have a wasp waist’ - it seems so obvious when pointed out - and likely to be a sawfly, possibly Tenthredo arcuata. If readers haven’t visited Chris’ blog https://trogtrogblog.blogspot.com/ - a name to delight bird lovers, it’s well worth the time. Chris is a naturalist, bee-keeper and superb wildlife photographer, offering still and moving images of the natural world backed by experience, knowledge and statistics. He also has a fondness for the Sparrowhawks that visit his garden.

1st September

John and Clare worked on some wall clearing and repair on the south boundary. While removing some weed from the big pond, Clare inadvertently scooped up a dragonfly which she manipulated onto the net handle as it needed to dry its wings. There was an ideal opportunity for a photograph. It flew off after a few minutes and resumed its habit of frustrating John’s pursuit of a photograph by being constantly darting about, or in this instant, hawking.

Female Southern Hawker

4th September onwards

With the quad bike now a part of the Liddells workforce John set about sawing in the Pit Wood, creating piles of logs both to dry in the log shed and to take home ready for burning this winter.

Logs awaiting transport

4th/5th September

The deer are still favouring the stump circle for their food and make frequent appearances on the trail camera. John was intrigued by footage of the doe behaving warily when the buck appears. He has not seen this behaviour before and can think of no reason why the buck should be a threat to the doe. Suggestions?

6th September

John managed to work out a system to connect guttering on the sheds to the bowser; this will mean that there is rainwater available for the shepherd’s hut when needed. Clare split a clump of Purple Loosestrife in the wet area of the Meadow and replanted it on the banks of the big pond. She also pounced on new mint growth and continued Mel’s eradication work.

Adding to the multifarious uses of duct (or duck) tape

13th September

68 sheep arrived to eat off the Top Grazing. Some of them have used posts placed to alert drivers to the presence of protruding bedrock, as back scratchers.

Aid for sleeplessness

Guess whose backside was itchy

14th September

Friends Chris and Mac visited and Mac’s hat played host to a dragonfly. Frustratingly it was hard to get close enough for a detailed photograph without the probability of scaring it away - the dragonfly not the hat. Later their dog sniffed out a bird carcass, or broken bird as Juno would say. Chris and Mac happened to look up and saw Crow wings in the tree above. Mac thought this might suggest a Peregrine kill although it could have been a female Sparrowhawk. Next day Clare took John to see the wings and noticed below them a twig covered in a black jelly fungus that is known as Witches’ Butter. So raptor or coven. Clare favours the more imaginative explanation.

A death has occurred

Sorcery dairy produce

Clare thinks the dragonfly resembles a raised eyebrow on the hat face

15th and 22nd September

With little opportunity for stand-up comedy at the moment, Hal has generously offered time to help on Liddells, however he revealed his true motivations in a post-script to his offer: ‘Now a cynic might suggest that this coincides suspiciously with the acquisition of your new four-wheeled friend, and to that I’d say, “Yes, yes it does”.’ So everyone’s a winner. Hal has worked phenomenally hard and helped bring large loads of logs out of the Pit Wood and North-east Strip for drying in the log shed at Liddells and stacking at home, and he has moved dumpy bags of chip to the Top Strip for Clare to top up the path. Much as John and Clare miss Paul, they have to admit that Hal power is more productive that one horse power. The sheep proved to be interested in Hal’s activity and so Hal had a go at shepherding.

Transport awaiting logs

A small fraction of the logs carried, stacked and awaiting splitting. (Hal’s next job.)

19th September

Clare bought a broom for the hide. John was proud of his caption choice.

Hide and sweep

20th September

Clare decided it was time to risk checking on supersedure progress in Hive 1. She was surprised to see capped brood that had obviously been there a while and then delighted to realise why - there was the Scarlet Pimpernel queen quietly going about her business. Either the supersedure larva failed, or a new queen hatched and was dispatched by the reigning monarch. Either way, the colony is in a strong state to go into the winter. Clare also decided to begin the process of removing the remaining honey super from Hive 2, which still had some honey not stolen by robber bees. She added a clearer board under the super. The clearer board has two "tunnels" leading to each end and a centre chamber in which the bees gather when initially leaving the super. The bees pass through the opening in the board and into the escape. The tunnels are soon discovered and the bees quickly stampede into the chamber below created by the deep rim and attracted by the scents of the brood body through the latticed structure of the escape. The idea being that the bees descend to the brood chamber but cannot quickly work out how to get back up again. (Thanks to Thorne bee-keeping suppliers for this explanation.) Or so the theory goes. Clare and bee-buddy Barry have had varying degrees of success with the boards.

21st September

Clare returned early in the morning to see if the clearer board had done its job. There were still quite a few bees in the super however they were quite docile (or tired from a night on the honey), and easily brushed off the frames. Clare then had to remove the clearer board and queen excluder - the bees must be left with syrup to replace the removed honey and the queen must have access to this in case there is insufficient for her in the brood chamber. The bees were not quite so docile during this procedure, presumably annoyed that a) they had been woken early on a cool morning b) they were not best pleased that their honey had disappeared and c) they don’t enjoy puzzles, mazes in particular. Fortunately Clare and her assistant John left with no stings.

Concerned that all the logging activity would deter the deer from visiting the stumps, John moved the trail camera to the main path through the Pit Wood.

22nd September

Clare planted Ragged Robin plugs that she had grown on from seedlings Lesley had kindly donated, Lesley having grown them from seed she had collected.

John and Clare finally got round to adding the capping stones to their wall repair. Apparently one of their land neighbours had thought the stones had been stolen and was pleased to see their return.

26th September

A tick for one of the items that has been on the to-do list for a long time. John repurposed another of the insulators from redundant telegraph poles as an outside door handle for the shepherd’s hut. Clare has discovered that not only do people collect these insulators but that there is a Professor of Telegraphpoleology at the Faculty for insulators, crossarms and dropwires at Frome University, whose garden ornamentation is made entirely from scrap telegraph pole parts. A door handle seems quite unimaginative in comparison. Clare thinks it is splendid.

26th - 29th September

The trailer has needed attention for some time and the log loads this month left the base pretty ropey with logs falling down the gap between the floor and the sides. Clare has noticed bits of trailer base and sides strewn on the ground wherever the quad bike has gone. John set about making the trailer sound again after wondering whether he could propose it as a challenge for The Repair Shop.

Meanwhile Clare made progress on her plan to eradicate as many bramble and nettle roots from the south boundary wall as possible, repairing any stonework as necessary and creating a path on the inside of the wall. She was a bit disconcerted to find stones fallen away from the base at one point where the wall was very high and she was working below, however she was able to dig up some uncut stones from near by to fill the gap and shore the wall up. Working on the outside of the wall she discovered that the medieval cross base had not been hewn as she had thought, but the rectangular hole for the cross had simply (or not so simply) been chiselled out of a large lump of bedrock. The base does not extend through the wall, rather the wall has been built to incorporate the bedrock.

For a while John has sensed there have been more deer than he previously thought on Liddells. The trail camera has confirmed his hunch. As far as John can tell, the deer are all does. John and Clare are delighted to see evidence of the hare again though not so happy to see the squirrels. John has ‘broken’ at least twenty in the last few months. There is clearly more work to be done.

All bottomed out. A bottomless pit of work.

Shoring

A section of bramble and nettle free wall with the cross base excavated

30th September

The firm that were due to fit the wood burner in the shepherd’s hut tomorrow asked if they could do the work today. An excellent way to end the month. John occupied himself with trailer improvements while the stove went in. Clare photographed evidence of more digging, this time in the Orchard. Unfortunately the site would mean miles of footage of wavy grass if the trail camera were to be positioned nearby. Although the weather had turned cold overnight, once the stove was lit the hut warmed up very quickly. One of the workers who installed the stove went the extra mile and finished John’s painting on the trailer while John and Clare enjoyed watching the fire in the stove. Superb service!

British Racing Green is John’s colour of choice for the trailer. He likes the irony

Rather than Bentley’s Sand Over Sable, John has gone for Moss Over Leaf

Nearly ready

The chimney has a good view

It works!

There’s no smoke…

November - dig this

1st November

Along with familiar footage of deer, badger, fox and grey squirrels, John and Clare were delighted to see some birds captured by the trail camera. Although John and Clare have seen Redwings most winters, this is the first time the birds have been caught on camera.

Jays are often heard and sometimes seen on Liddells, however this is the first movie footage to show one.

2nd November

An addition to life on Liddells has arrived. It is not as tall as expected and is not clad in bright colours. We do believe it is capable of work of great strength. Its feet are conspicuously free of curly hair.

Pass the parcel 1 - the crate

Pass the parcel 2 - the inner box

Pass the parcel 3 - the bindings

It really is very small

The Hobbit revealed…

…and it comes with its own tiny dustpan and brush, seen next to normal size ones

Moving the stove out of the car boot, up the shepherds hut steps and into the hut took all of John and Clare’s combined strength.. It is made of cast iron. They worked their way through all the layers of packaging (see above) and John initially thought the instruction manual was missing, however found it cunningly concealed in the ash can. On Page 4 Clare found vital information. If only they’d known!

9-11th November

There are noticeably more blackbirds visible and audible on Liddells now. The overwintering birds from Scandinavia must have arrived.

John has almost finished laying the lino floor in the shepherds hut. As it is best cut when not too cold, he and Clare had to empty their kitchen and spread it out on that floor in order to have enough space to unroll and cut it almost to size.

John loves the Collective and Farmstock sales at the local Mart and has picked up many bargains there for Liddells - roofing sheets for sheds, fence posts, flat bed trailer, and more besides - having created a design for the bird-watching screen and hence a shopping list, he was prospecting even more purposefully than usual at the recent sale and discovered that not only was there plenty of the kind of timber that was needed, but also roofing sheets. He was successful at bidding and he and Clare then made three journeys with their little trailer to collect it all.

Load number 1 waiting to be stacked behind the bottom gate

12th November

John’s pool playing has unexpected dividends - two fellow players volunteered to help carry all the sale timber and roofing sheets to where they will be needed. This was no small undertaking - hauling wet and heavy boards and awkwardly-shaped sheets along several hundred yards of sodden and slippery ground and then over a stile. Clare thinks John must be such an asset to the pool team that they will do anything necessary to keep him playing.

Employing strong arm tactics

The trail camera has captured the following footage. John thinks this is the roe buck that has been around for a while and that it has recently shed its antlers and may be scratching where they have been.

13th November

John made the final cuts to the lino in the shepherds hut and worked on the support for the stove.

A fox came closer to the trail camera than ever before. It looks as though it has either a thick winter coat or is pretty well fed.

14th November

John and Clare were particularly pleased to discover that along with the familiar footage of deer, badger, fox and squirrels, the camera had captured a Sparrowhawk perched in the Scrub. Sparrowhawks will eat anything they can manage, including squirrels, so this squirrel was lucky. It is just possible to see the barring on the Sparrowhawk’s tail.

18th November

The sheep have eaten all they can from the Top Grazing so have been moved to the Meadow for a few days.

Juno is going through a phase of interrupted sleep. John is teaching her to count sheep.

There has only ever been one badger captured at any time by the camera. This may be a lone animal for whom Liddells is within its patch. Clare read that badger territories are roughly hexagonally-shaped areas, each border touching that of a neighbour's range, such that they form a honeycomb mosaic. Each sett is roughly in the middle of the territory and badgers forage closest to the sett first, moving further away as they exhaust the food reserves. The hole that John and Clare found near the Meadow has not been further excavated so may have been made by a badger unearthing a bumblebee nest.

22nd November

Having discovered that there is no spring at the base of the Crag, which John and Clare had thought a possibility, and that the wet area there is due to drainage from the land above, plans for an even larger pond at the base of the Crag had to be scrapped since there would be insufficient water flow to maintain such a pond. However John and Clare took advice and realised they could extend and improve the big pond instead. An 8 ton digger with operator arrived today and Carl set about the work. By the end of the day, he had enlarged and landscaped the borders of the big pond, enlarged both roadside and crag ponds, created a new pond, opened some of the grips and improved the roadway east of the roadside pond. While supervising all this activity, John saw a Woodcock fly out of the Pit Wood so at least one has arrived for the winter. Clare marked out the site for the bird-watching screen and was pleased to note that the willows woven into a screen were showing plenty of signs of life.

Arriving for work

Working

More working

The new pond seen from the Crag

Signs of life

23rd November

There had been substantial rain overnight so John and Clare went to check on the ponds and were delighted to see that they had already filled to their newer capacity.

Here’s the big pond 364 days ago. Note the rain

And here it is now

And from the south

The trail camera has captured footage of the roe buck again and here you can clearly see the remains of the pedicles where the antlers were attached.

24th November

Work began on the bird-watching screen. Clare dug holes for the first two posts and, with John’s help, put them in.

One post

The not-8-ton digger

Two posts

25 and 29th November

Work on the screen again - the second two posts in place, the subframe finished, the first floorboards fixed.

Liddells is saturated at present and not very appealing, however the rushes on the Wetland were covered in spiders’ webs and looked beautiful. Clare wondered if it might be possible to identify the kind of spider that would create this kind of web. The Natural History Museum came up trumps and Clare was able to recognise the webs she saw as sheet webs built by the spider family that includes the money spider. Coincidentally The Guardian’s Country Diary on Friday 29th was written by Susie White, who lives near Allendale, and she too commented on ‘the delicate hammocks of money spiders’.

Three posts and John thinking

Three posts and John thinking

Four posts and level checking

Sheeting

Flooring

30th November

Today was chosen by the Woodland Trust for their Big Climate Fight Back tree planting campaign. It just so happens that Clare’s friend Barbara had generously offered to give Clare trees to mark her recent birthday and they would only be ready at the end of this month. A plan was hatched: Barbara would come up from West Sussex in time to plant the trees on the 30th. The tree nursery’s delivery date was set back because the ground was so wet that they couldn’t lift the trees, then the haulage company’s scanner broke and they could give no assurance that the trees were loaded for delivery, however the tree gods and goddesses were obviously on The Woodland Trust’s side and the trees arrived on the 29th and were duly planted today. Clare had chosen a Hornbeam, a new species for Liddells. Barbara had generously bought two and a Rowan, so Barbara, Clare and John had a tree each to plant. Liddells was looking particularly beautiful in the heavy frost.

Dig a hole and insert tree…

Dig a hole and insert tree…

…with help if need be…

…hammer in stakes…

…well done John…

…wrap netting around the stakes

A localised climate fight back and three fewer trees for Corbyn to plant

Clare has long recognised Barbara’s artistic and creative abilities and was delighted Barbara left her mark on the shepherd’s hut

October - screenings

2nd - 3rd October

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

Speckled Wood on speckled stone

Pre-screen shot

Small Tortoiseshell on Creeping Thistle

5th October

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

You put your left canes in…

…you put your right canes in…

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

7th October

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

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

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

11th October

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

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

15th October

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

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

19th October

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

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

The feeding station site.

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

Another screen shot.

22nd October

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

23rd October

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

Creating a luxury suite for passing insects

The algae that didn’t get away

25th October

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

30th October

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

Not quite as old as Clare but perhaps more weathered

31st October

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

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

September - the earth moves for John and Clare

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.

Thistledown

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.

And the film title is?

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.

Possibly Honey Fungus

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

We think this might be The Blusher

This looks likely to be Turkey Tail or Coriolus Versicolor

Anyone recognise this one?

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.

Panel 1

Panel 2 on the way up…

…and being fixed in place

Ready for panel 3

Inside the shed. Possibly a Tawny Grisette

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.

Chop, chop!

We won the panel game

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

Weed free path

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 limb off the oak near the Wetland

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

This is the Ash from which it fell

** 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.

Yum

A sticky bit!

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.

The Digger in action

The beginning of a drain

The Leveller in action

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.

The axeman cometh

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

Robbie in a hole of his own making

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.

October 2016 - new friends for Paul

1st October

More work on wall repair (2).

2nd October

Wall repair (2) finished!

6th October

More path laid at west end of Top Strip. 

7th and 9th October

Fencing added on top of Crag in readiness for sheep on Top Grazing. 

10th October

Paul pulled his first log! Part of Meadow wall knocked down by local farm traffic - trailer came unhitched and crashed into the wall. Farmer very apologetic and set to repair it tomorrow. 

13th October

Wall repaired. 

17th October

71 sheep from local farmer John arrived to eat theirs hearts out on the Top Grazing.

18th October

Mike P helped John take down and log a Corsican pine in the Top Strip. He loved it and wants to do more!

20th October

Bill, horse logger and woodsman, came to help advise with Paul and logging. 

24th October

Sox and Snippets, Exmoor ponies, arrived to graze the Wildflower Meadow. 

Remember the Plum blossom...

Harnessing Paul's strength

"Go straight ahead..."

Sox and Snippets

October 2015 - Woolly new arrivals

1st October

John visited Barry at Quarry House and so began the idea of borrowing his sheep to graze the Wildflower Meadow. 

During October, Clare finished brashing all the Hawthorns on the Meadow; replanted the bird-watching arbour with sprouting Willows; Spindle Trees moved out of meadow to new site near spoil heaps west of Meadow; all brash to bonfire site. 

11th October

Mike T came to help collect Barry's sheep - 8 Rylands and 6 Shetlands - now grazing the Meadow. 

12th October

John began preparations for fencing the Top Grazing - strainers/stripping. 

24th October

Robbie came to help with the fencing - bottom wire, barbed wire and post in; help from Derek and loan of tractor and knocker from Barry; John hired a digger and began levelling site for shepherd's hut.