January 31, 2020

January - The Birds!

January 31, 2020

‘Tiresias, grieve no more. From this day the deathless ones will speak to you in the song of birds.’

from Where Three Roads Meet, Salley Vickers

1st January

John and Clare have put their favourite photographs from 2019 on to the Gallery page of the website.

Clare sat in the hide for the first time and there were birds already interested and doing a recce. Two coal tits proved to be the boldest and risked feeding from the fat balls feeder. Result!

2nd - 4th January

Clare made daily visits to the hide and over these few days recorded 15 different species on or around the feeders. The most exciting viewing was two Marsh Tits, although for a while Clare havered in their identification between Marsh and Willow Tit, settling in the end for Mallow tit until she was more certain. She had seen a couple from her pop-up hide a couple of years previously but not one since. Apparently they don’t fly over open fields and since Liddells is surrounded by those these particular birds may have little option but to remain. And hopefully breed. The birds are definitely getting bolder, with a Nuthatch seeming to make the most individual visits, and so far a flock of eight Long-tailed tits being the most numerous species feeding at any one time.

5th January

Two further posts with feeders put up. Today’s treat was seeing a weasel emerge from brash in front of the hide.

8th January

Well it was inevitable - Clare heard a flurry of alarm calls and the birds vanished from the feeders followed closely by a Sparrowhawk swooping in front of the hide. No bird was harmed on this occasion. Clare saw a Marsh Tit on the feeders for the first time.

10th January

Another first for Liddells - Clare watched a male and a female Lesser Redpoll feeding on the nyjer seed. They stayed for several minutes at a time and made many visits during the hour and a half Clare was there. A wood mouse appeared from a hole near the tree trunk and after about seven tentative movements forward, its courage was rewarded as it returned to its burrow with a peanut.

11th January

Clare and John put up the last of the feeders - a slice of a felled tree trunk on top of a length of telegraph pole. Clare added some peanuts and seeds and birds were on it before she had returned to the hide.

12th January

Clare and John added signage for the route to the hide. John was amused that Clare had to go back to the drawing board with a couple of the signs as she had written them with the arrows pointing the wrong way. This served to confirm his belief that she has no sense of direction.

Two Marsh Tits arrived and fed today, and two wood mice benefitted from the food the birds drop on the ground.

Clare would like it to be known that there is a left turn at this point. She is not attempting to confuse visitors.

13th January

Clare and Juno had a wonderfully messy time making bird food, mashing up a paste of peanut butter, pear, dried fruit and seeds and squishing it into pine cones, then making flour and lard ‘maggots’. They then went up to Liddells, helped finish the signage and watched the birds come and eat it.

15th January

Clare took two friends to visit the hide and was delighted that the Marsh Tit appeared; Sue wondered how Clare had been able to distinguish the bird from a Willow Tit. Clare mentioned the difference in the black ‘bib’ and the glossiness of the black on the cap and was just referring to the difference in call when the Marsh Tit obligingly called. Lesley thought it was a bit of witchery. There was another first - a Great Spotted Woodpecker appeared and did a recce of the feeders from one of the hawthorns close by. Clare is enjoying her new Bird Song App. Fans of The Archers may well think she is channelling Philip Moss . Clare believes it is the other way round however she would never describe herself as a ‘bird junkie’; the scriptwriters have been independent with that one. Also, to the best of Clare’s knowledge, no proposals of marriage, or indeed of anything else, have taken place in the hide at Liddells. Yet.

There may not be a coffee machine however Clare recognises that bird-watching is improved with the availability of a hot drink. And biscuits.

16th January

John took his camera up to the hide for the first time. The trail camera was doing a wonderful job of recording squirrels failing to get into the feeders, however this was at the expense of footage of the birds. Clare has set John the task of recording as many visiting species as possible.

Great Tit poised to eat some of Clare’s lard/peanut butter/dried fruit/pear/seeds paste

Female Chaffinch plucking up courage to visit the feeders

Robin apparently re-enacting one of the legends that seek to explain its colouring

18th-19th January - Green Gym Days

Clare had been saving a quotation for these two days. When she visited the hide, Sue B-H had shared words from Nan Shepherd (author of The Living Mountain) which are printed on the Scottish 5£ note. Clare heard: ‘It’s a grand thing to get leaves to live’, and immediately thought they were apt for the weekend plan to plant trees. When Clare looked the quote up, she discovered her unconscious hearing slip (or her deafness). The original quote is: ‘It’s a grand thing to get leave to live’. Both sentiments seem laudable.

The plan for the two days had been to plant the 22 trees (Sweet Chestnuts, Horse Chestnuts and Oaks) that John and Clare had grown in pots from seed, and to make a second woven Willow screen with cuttings from our neighbour Sylvia. Not only was all this achieved in fine style, with great good humour and a wealth of baked goods, but John M arrived with a further nearly twenty Oaks and Horse Chestnuts that he too had grown from seed and a bucketful of about 500 acorns. By close of play/work on Sunday, everything had been planted and Liddells now has two more Willow screens. These are so beautiful that Clare feels embarrassed about her first effort. All the screens will have chip on the membrane and edging logs put in place. Another Green Gym Day anyone?

The acorns were planted in the west end of the Scrub and along the Crag; the trees were planted on either side of the bottom roadway and at the east end of the Top Grazing.

As ever, Clare and John are touched by their friends’ generosity, hard work, good humour and general all round support. Fifteen people came and helped over the weekend, some on both days, including two new adult recruits and three children. John and Clare were particularly delighted to have children involved and hope for more of the same in the future.

Spades ready for planters - which would Goldilocks choose?

Leela planting; Neil and Lesley supervising

Willows team 1 - the membrane is stapled down…

…the uprights are tied together and go in through the membrane…

…et voilå! Team 1 rightly proud of their screen

Team 2 repeating the process in the Pit Wood…

Not the most telegenic (OED Word of the Day 18.01.20: Of a person or thing: that comes across well on television; that provides an interesting or attractive subject for television) activity, however Clare did not want the acorn planters’ efforts to … — Not the most telegenic (OED Word of the Day 18.01.20: Of a person or thing: that comes across well on television; that provides an interesting or attractive subject for television) activity, however Clare did not want the acorn planters’ efforts to go unrecognised

Baked goods seem to be an essential part of a Green Green Day and participants are generous with their offerings. Barry brought owl pellets

20th January

Jane E had taken some of the short Willow offcuts home after the Green Gym days, and this evening at choir, presented Clare with decorations she had made. They will look great in the shepherd’s hut.

23rd January

John and Clare saw a Goldfinch was on the nyjer seed feeder - another first for the feeding station. Clare returned home to discover she had dropped the disc from the trail camera.

24th January

John found the disc glinting on the ground today; Clare would like to think it was because of today’s OED Word of the Day - apaugasma: Something that shines with or reflects a brilliant light; radiance, splendid brightness.

25th January

Clare put Jane’s Willow decorations in the shepherd’s hut - they will be more aesthetically placed when the interior is finished. John and Clare planted a dozen Ragged Robin plugs round the big pond, saw two Goldfinches on the nyjer seed feeder, and a Bank Vole benefitting from seed spillage.

Seeing some damage on a Willow whip near the Scrub, John had thought the deer were fraying earlier than usual this year however trail camera footage might suggest that the culprit is a lagomorph (thanks to Clare’s brother-in-law Norman for extending the blog’s vocabulary with this word).

29th January

The wall on the south boundary has some damage, probably due to the trees that have grown up close to the wall since it was built. John and Mel set about repair work, then headed to the north boundary where several overhanging branches need removing. Clare meanwhile set about digging a drainage ditch that will take the water that trickles out of the new pond and which is currently making for a very muddy crossing place. After a couple of hours’ work in which nothing was as clear as mud, there was plenty of mud-slinging and she almost became a stick in the mud, she overrode the idea of stopping and very soon afterwards fell flat into the aforementioned ooze. She looked as though she had been dragged through the mud and decided it was not a lark. She then walked home looking very like a swamp monster. Happily no-one was on hand to document this experience.

Coping stones have fallen in two places, this is one of them…

…and the inner side of the wall has collapsed onto the top of the Quarry in both places

Coping stones and inner collapse repaired however the bulge will have to wait for another day

30th January

The trail camera has been picking up very little footage of deer recently, however a last minute check before publishing this blog post showed a roe doe crossing the bottom path in the Pit Wood. The trail camera has been left near there to see if the kid is still around too.

31st January

In one month the following birds have been seen on or around the feeders:

Sparrowhawk, Pheasant, Woodpigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Marsh Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Tree Creeper, Chaffinch, Lesser Redpoll, Goldfinch, Bullfinch.

Not bad for the first month! Clare is delighted. John is building his album of species.

Blue Tit with its Spring colours looking strong

Several Long-tailed Tits - they call to each other while they are feeding

Clare and John

December 31, 2019

December - boardom

Clare and John

December 31, 2019

1st December

Encouraged by identifying the type of spider’s web last month, Clare photographed a web with a different structure but found it hard to decide what kind of web it is. It most resembles the kind of web created by a spider after a dose of caffeine.

Work on the bird-watching screen (which is becoming more substantial than Clare had originally envisaged and is now more like a hide), involved adding floorboards.

See the image on the right towards the bottom of this page

5th December

More framing.

6th - 7th December

Although the deer have not been captured by the trail camera for a while, badger, fox and hare are all evident in the Pit Wood. The hare appeared on the camera in exactly the same spot, at exactly the same time on consecutive days - so hare today and hare tomorrow.

9th December

As Clare is doing her share of the building, she insisted this contribution be noted for the record.

10th - 11th December

Work progresses. The hammer is a shadow of itself. The fox is still around and the camera catches the hare in the dusk.

12th - 13th December

The lower boarding at the front is complete and the roofing sheets are in place although awaiting a few more fixings.

18th December

Adding boards for the opening at the back of the shelter means that the frame is complete. The secondhand timber from the Mart Sale has been nearly enough for the whole structure, however John and Clare will need to buy a bit more to finish. There are some thicker boards left that will be used to make the benches for the inside. Sadly this grand design does not run to a coffee machine.

23rd December

While Clare was involved with things seasonal at home, John decided he was able to work on the screen without Clare’s oversight.

John says it’s quirky. Clare will be micromanaging in future

26th December

Many people go for a walk on Boxing Day. Not Clare and John.

27th December

While Clare looked after Juno, John headed for the gramadoelas (Remote rural region, the backwoods, the sticks; OED Word of the Day 3.12.19). He did some brashing, tree tube maintenance and cleaned out bird boxes in the Top Strip. Clare was pleased he was morigerous (Obedient, compliant, submissive; OED Word of the Day 30.12.19) and resisted further attempts to introduce quirkiness to the screen, since she tends towards being perjink (Exact, precise, extremely accurate; OED Word of the Day 28.12.19).

The trail camera captured a deer on its way through the Pit Wood so at least one is still around. You can see how well it is camouflaged in its winter coat.

28th December

The outer structure is nearly complete. Clare and John turned their attention to the furnishings. They are hoping that they will be able to complete the - well it really is more than a screen, so has been upgraded to a hide - by the end of the year.

29th December

Walking down to road to the bottom gate, Clare felt she was being watched. Beech is associated with femininity and thought to be the the queen of British trees. Clare hoped this tree was casting a kindly eye on her. Back at work John wrestled with finishing details on the boarding while Clare dug holes for a pole and a dead tree trunk that will support feeders. Together they fixed a bench along the front and imported two chairs for the side openings. Clare was suitably zealous with her new broom.

30th December

John fixed poles into the posts, added shelving and tried out how the feeders will hang.

31st December

A sunny, frosty day to end the year on Liddells. Clare filled the feeders then grappled with the guardian for the ground feeder which eventually surrendered to her efforts. She then fetched the last two telegraph poles from the sheds and part rolled and part dragged them to the hide site. They will support the remaining feeders. Thanks are due to Eilidh for the poles which she originally donated for Paul’s training. We are pleased to have been able to use so much secondhand and repurposed timber on the hide. Clare dug holes for the last two posts and left with the hope that the birds will not take too long to find the food.

A Happy New Year to all our readers. We are always delighted to hear that people read and follow this blog. Thank you for your support.

Clare and John

November 30, 2019

November - dig this

Clare and John

November 30, 2019

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.

…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.

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 neighbou… — 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.

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

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.

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’.

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.

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

Clare and John

October 31, 2019

October - screenings

Clare and John

October 31, 2019

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.

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.

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 i… — 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.

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

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

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!

Clare and John

September 30, 2019

September - on the turn

Clare and John

September 30, 2019

2nd-6th September

Having reached the heights of the spoil heap for the Open Day, John and Clare set about making a way down. They spent some time working out whether it was better to work from the top or the bottom. In the end they did both. Happily the steps joined up.

3rd September

Clare was delighted to discover that the bees in the nucleus hive, long after the textbooks would suggest was likely, had a new queen that had started laying. This means that there will be four colonies going into the winter.

Leaving Liddells that same day, Clare and John were surprised to see a couple investigating the south boundary wall. They were delighted to discover that Ann and Andrew were on a mission to find all the ancient cross bases in the county. To their knowledge no-one had ever been interested before; Ann and Andrew were delighted that their efforts were so appreciated.

7th September

The first of the grandly called Consultation Lunches in the Shepherd’s hut. John and Clare had asked a number of people with relevant experience among their friends, to come and share ideas about how Liddells might be developed in the future, both enhancing what is already there, and offering new opportunities for engaging with the project. Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of the day was the discovery of an Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar as Tim, Jane and Linda were leaving, on pretty much the exact spot where Linda had been telling Clare a couple of hours earlier about seeing one of these creatures near her home. Before the Consultants arrived John and Clare saw a charm of about fifty Goldfinches chasing off a Kestrel over the sheds.

8th September

The steps were finished. The OED must have known. The route over the spoil heap is no longer a mauvais pas (an area that is difficult or dangerous to negotiate; OED Word of the Day 8th September).

…or descent into Hell? It all depends on your point of view

Clare is particularly pleased to have finished this task

10th September

The doe and her kid, which John is now convinced is also a doe, are regular users of the path through the Scrub, as is a fox who demonstrates his masculinity for the camera.

13th September

Tim forwarded the results of this year’s Butterfly Conservation Big Butterfly Count which shows a huge influx of Painted Ladies on the north-east coast. Tim’s counts over the summer reflect this surge in numbers too.

14th September

A badger joins the Scrub path users group; a roe buck marks his territory even though the rut is over; the roe kid has grown and lost her markings.

17th September

Clare and John sowed wildflower seeds in the shepherd’s hut enclosure hoping they will vernalise successfully and emerge in the Spring.

19th September

The fox can be seen boldly going about his business in daylight.

21st September

Clare spent some time preparing her bees for the winter, treating them for varroa mite (most honey bee colonies suffer from these now and if present in large numbers, the mites weaken the bees leaving them prone to infection and disease, particularly Deformed Wing Virus), and checking on the colonies’ stores. The newest and smallest colony is being threatened by robber bees (not everything is sweetness and honey in bee world) so Clare smeared the brood box with a eucalyptus rub, placed a sheet of glass over the entrance and added several small leafy branches. The home bees will be able to make their way through this obstacle course, the robbers may retire defeated and if they don’t, the delay caused to their activities will give the guard bees more time to attack.

23rd September

Juno was employed as a bug hotel builder and was satisfied with her work. Payment was made in blackberries.

26th September

Clare walked round with Sue D who is one of those people who are attuned to nature and therefore see and hear more than most. Together they saw a hare in the Top Strip, a roe doe in an adjoining field, a Goldcrest in the Orchard, a juvenile Goldfinch (wing markings not fully developed and a grey head) eating Knapweed seeds in the Meadow and a juvenile male Great Spotted Woodpecker (large red cap rather than red patch on the back of the head) on Sitka cones in the North-east Strip.

27-29th September

John has turned his attention to the inside of the shepherd’s hut, working out how best to fit a wood-burning stove and how to proceed with the chosen flooring. While he wrestled with measurements and paper patterns, Clare got down to the nuts and bolts of the matter and requested that a bolt and handle be fitted to the door so that it could be closed from the inside. As John often says, it’s all in the detail.

Frame in place for the insulation boards that will be behind the stove

Interior fixing to prevent hut users bolting

Getting a handle on things with a teleramic

Look closely at the handle - any guesses as to its origin? It’s repurposed from an object mentioned in an earlier blog post. While finding out whether this object had a particular name, Clare was delighted to discover that there is a Telegraph Pole Appreciation Society. She probably won’t join.

The trail camera, now moved to the Pit Wood, has captured the kid again and the images show very clearly how it has grown, but how it is losing its summer coat revealing the darker chocolatey brown winter coat below.

Clare and John

August 31, 2019

August - an open invitation, shut and reopened

Clare and John

August 31, 2019

1st - 8th August

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9th August

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

10th August

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

12th August

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

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

13th August

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17th - 18th August

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

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

19th August

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

Tim’s caption - somewhere over the rainbow

20th August

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

21st August

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

24th August - OPEN DAY!

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

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

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

Sabre wasp enjoying the view from inside the hut

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

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

John has found the pond and is looking for dragonflies

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

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

Maggie found some textbook examples of Grey Coral Fungus

Neil and Lesley this Painted Lady on Knapweed in the Meadow

Jane E found another Wolf Spider with egg sac

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

It wasn’t all work!

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

25th August

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

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

…and less appealingly as Dog’s Vomit Slime Mould

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

31st August

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

Clare and John

July 31, 2019

July - we kid you not

Clare and John

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

April 30, 2019

April - we're no fools

Clare and John

April 30, 2019

1st April

John started the anti-algae campaign today. He added a net of barley straw to the water. Our thanks to local farmers Barry and Sheila for the straw. He also started to fish the algae out using a small fishing net - by small we mean the kind you buy for pond-dipping with children. We had it to remove leaves from the water trough. John’s first attempt to lengthen the handle with a bit of tree and gaffer tape was not up to the task, so he recycled the two canes that had arrived with Juno’s Aspen to make a longer handle. Even so he was faced with a somewhat Herculean task. We are also investigating native aquatic plants which will help starve the algae.

Further water works - the path from the spoil heaps down to the Orchard has a very wet patch crossing it. John has dug this out and found a small spring and he’s diverting this with a drainage pipe.

John and Clare started clearing logs out of the North-east Strip and gathering up piles of brash ready for the first Green Gym Day later this month.

Diverting the spring - digging a ditch and lining it with gravel…

2nd April

The Sweet Chestnuts planted at home are beginning to show shoots, as are two of the three Horse Chestnuts that Juno planted.

Marsh Marigolds in flower in the Pit Wood

4th April

Clare split the clump of Marsh Marigolds and transplanted some to the stream feeding the big pond. Then she did repair work on fencing, replacing missing fixings - Theresa May would no doubt love that it is all strong and stapled now. Mel came to help today and once again proved to be worth more than his weight in gold. He and John worked on clearing the northern boundary and while so doing, John took off his ear defenders which sucked out one of his hearing aids, which then flew off into the undergrowth. This was one of the very, very recently replaced hearing aids following John losing both on Liddells few weeks ago (don’t ask Clare about this as she has high blood pressure) and requiring a claim on the insurance. It was only after John and Mel had hunted on hands and knees in vain for quite a while that John dared to ring Clare, confess what had happened and ask for help. The three of them performed a fingertip search through leaf litter, moss and twigs, looking for an object that is about half the size of a shrimp and a similar colour. Eventually Mel, who deserves to beat John at pool for evermore, found it in an area that all three had, allegedly, already scoured. Clare hopes that John might learn from this experience.

Clare discovered that her bees were benefitting from the water diversion and were drinking from the damp earth next to it. Double whammy.

5th April

The tracks by both of the two larger ponds have become very muddy and lost their grass so John and Clare have decided to add some seed to help regrowth. They started that process today. Fishing algae out of the ponds (the second largest one has developed it too) has become a daily task. Stopping it taking over completely is a daunting challenge.

6th April

A while ago John and Clare were offered three Oak trees by David Oliver. Not just any old Oaks though - David had grown these from acorns from the Leper Oak on Hexham Golf Course. You can read the full story of the Leper Oak here. Clare and John prepared the sites for these Oaks on the western edge of the Pit Wood today.

Eilidh is busy growing a baby and therefore less available to help with the ponies for a while. Today Lucy, a friend’s daughter, came to see if she might like to help out. Both ponies were instantly at ease with her which augurs well.

Clare started recycling stones from the Crag to make the pathway round the pond at the bottom more walker friendly.

This involved many trips up and down the Crag, carrying stones

7th April

When John saw the deer scrape in the North-east Strip, it seemed a good place to leave the trail camera. Sure enough the camera picked up the roe buck using his interdigital glands on the scrape and his frontal glands on the sapling beside it.

Seeding the first of the two stretches of roadway was finished today and some Yellow Iris moved from the wet area on the Meadow to the banks of Pond No 2.

9th April

David Oliver came to plant his Oaks. Clare forgot to pick up her phone and David left his camera in the car so there is no record of this event. Clare had also made labels for David and his son and daughters to fix to the tree cages when the family all came up together to see the trees on site. She forgot to hand them over. Ah well, such is ageing. The Oliver Oaks look very fine and knots have been tied in handkerchiefs to help remember to take photographs when the labels are ceremoniously attached.

10th April

John and Clare have decided to be a bit belt and braces regarding the algae and have dosed the two larger ponds with barley straw extract. Apparently new ponds are particularly susceptible to algae as are ponds with little shade and spells of hot weather. That’s 3 out of 3 then. Keith-who-knows-everything-about-nature is convinced it will all sort itself out in time, which is reassuring. If it doesn’t, John and Clare will be having words with him.

11th April

John and Clare spent time preparing for the next Green Gym Day, hauling brash, spreading tarpaulins ready to receive chip, and making a supply of baked goods.

Clare added more stones to the path at the bottom of the Crag. John is concerned that she might be planning to crazy-pave the Wetland.

12th April - The first Green Gym Day of this year

It must have been the lure of marmalade cake and shortbread. Seven stalwart friends arrived with bucketloads of goodwill and staggering reserves of energy and worked their way through five piles of brash until every twig was chipped. This involved a lot of hauling, lifting and hurling. Jane E planted Ragged Robin seedlings around the big pond - appropriately so since she had collected and sown the seeds last autumn and generously given Clare a large number to pot up and grow on. It was universally claimed that a good time had been had. John and Clare think they were probably not alone in choosing to do very little the next day. They remain hugely appreciative of all the help.

Tim decided the first and most urgent task was to protect the fritillaries on the meadow. He nobly sacrificed his boots to the cause

…and then turning her hand to algae fishing

…stack in piles to await the chipping team…

Clare was clearly worried there wasn’t sufficient brash so set about making more - or she could have been clearing a space for the LandRover to back up closer to the brash. She is delighted to have some rare evidence of her working - not that it is … — Clare was clearly worried there wasn’t sufficient brash so set about making more - or she could have been clearing a space for the LandRover to back up closer to the brash. She is delighted to have some rare evidence of her working - not that it is rare for her to work

This photo does not do justice to the time it took to rehitch the chipper. Barry acting as foreman here

Breaks were allowed but only to test the sitting area in front of the shepherd’s hut

16th April

Clare heard and saw the first Willow Warbler of the year on Liddells. She was particularly pleased that she saw it make its way from a Silver Birch to a Willow. Bird lovers will know that Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs are similar in appearance, however their songs are very different. If you fancy knowing more, click here. While tracking down the Willow Warbler, Clare came across a clump of Wood Sorrell. Not so unusual until you see where it was growing.

17th April

All is not lost to the algae - there are tadpoles in the big pond. Although it dived too quickly for a photograph, a Great Diving Beetle had arrived there too.

19th April - Good Friday

It was indeed a good Friday for Clare - it was warm enough to open the hives. Both colonies are doing well and are expanding in the brood boxes. Clare added supers (shallower boxes placed on top of the brood box with a grid that is too narrow for the queen. The bees use the frames for their stores leaving the queen more space for egg laying below). Lack of space is one of the factors prompting the bees to create a new queen and swarm. The bees are benefitting from early flowering oil seed rape in a neighbouring field this year, as well as from all the gorse on Liddells, so there is plenty of forage nearby.

Clare heard several Blackcaps singing for the first time this year, managed to see one, and so began her annual challenge to distinguish their song from that of the Garden Warbler. Not as easy as it sounds.

We have eggs in the box in the Orchard - probably a Blue Tit.

20th April

John finished the bridge on the Wetland and has named it the Alphabet Bridge.

21st April

Pond life is on the increase. There are tadpoles in the second biggest pond; Lesser Water Boatmen on one of the smaller ponds; and Pond Skippers (also known as Water Striders, Water Skeeters, Water Bugs, Pond Skaters, Water Skippers, or Jesus Bugs) are visible on all the ponds. The latter seem to be camera shy as each time Clare tried to film them, they ceased all movement. Patience was rewarded however, as yours will be if you stick with the video. There also seem to be a monster that surfaces briefly from the deep. Feel free to submit suggestions as to its identity. It is neither Clare nor John. The bird singing in the background is a Willow Warbler.

On our return home John and Clare learned that David Oliver had taken his family to label the oaks. They are waiting to see if his knotted handkerchief reminded him to take photos. They may appear in next month’s blog post.

25th April

The first Bluebells are out and Clare spotted three more small patches of them in places where she had not planted any. It’s good to know that Liddells has had its own Bluebells all along. They are all English Bluebells, which is excellent news. John added more seats to the story-telling circle. All it needs now is a seat for the story-teller. The Bird Cherry has produced lots of blossom this year, which is just emerging.

27th April

No sooner said than done. All that is needed now is a story-teller…

28th April

Clare saw a female mallard taking off from the big pond and three swallows flying low over it. John and Clare are rather hoping that the swallows make the link between the food supply on the pond and the excellent housing potential of the hay shed. Many butterflies around today including a Speckled Wood that settled obligingly still enough in the Pit Wood to photograph. Sadly the eggs in the nesting box in the Orchard have disappeared, however there is a Great Tit sitting on eight eggs in a box in the Pit Wood.

29th April

A high maintenance day - Clare weeded about half of the path in the Top Strip accompanied the whole time by birdsong, including that of a Garden Warbler, which Clare managed to glimpse so reassuring herself that it wasn’t a Blackcap. She also saw that there are now at least thirteen patches of English Bluebells established at the east end of the Top Strip from the very first ones Clare and John planted there before Liddells officially became theirs, thanks to Mike’s generosity. John strimmed large patches of rush on the Wetland, hoping to reduce its impact and thus allow other growth to come through. He also tightened and refixed fencing all along the Verge and around the arena - ‘arena’ sounds grander than it is, which is an area dedicated to schooling the ponies.

30th April

With the butterfly season well underway and Tim and Jane walking round regularly recording sightings, John strimmed the path they (Tim and Jane, not the butterflies) use through the Top Strip. John also started work on fixing gutters to the hay shed and part of the log shed in order to collect rain water for the bowser. Last year the rain water collection trough proved insufficient for the ponies needs through the long dry spell.

A final thought - the Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Day Wild begins on 1st June. You may like to start thinking about how you could have your own wild 30 days.

Clare and John

March 31, 2019

March - Beware the Ides

Clare and John

March 31, 2019

We begin with an apology if this month’s blog is briefer and/or less illustrated than usual - on 15th, after a period of intermittent failures and resurrections, Clare’s computer died. Conclusively. She then had a bit of a wait for a new one to arrive and a further period of gathering the necessary courage to set it up on her own and discover what might, or might not have been lost photos-wise in the period between the last backup and the computer’s demise.

Here is some trail camera footage from the end of last month which we retrieved after we had published February’s blogpost. The Barn Owl that was captured by the trail camera last month has been frequenting Liddells ever since. It seems to favour hunting over the Wetland and also flies through the Pit Wood. Sadly no bats were captured on the trail camera we’d put near the bat box; we’d put it up just before Storm Gareth arrived and consequently we had several clips of howling wind and madly waving branches. We’ll try again later in the year.

1st March

John cut the logs necessary for the bridge treads; he and Robbie finished brashing the trees north of the story-telling circle. Sadly for us, Robbie leaves on Monday for a period of travelling. We wish him well on his ventures and we’ll miss the superb help he gives us.

4th March

John started work on the bridge treads. We were thrilled to find that the biggest pond has a large amount of frogspawn. The frogs have adapted to the change in the depth of the water and laid at the southern edge where the water is shallowest. Bright things frogs. Perhaps we could say that they have transcended the change in their environment in which case we could call them Frogpondians. (Clare has been saving that ever since it was the OED Word of the Day on January 19th.)

John surveying his handiwork. The treads will eventually span the whole bridge and be secured in place. In case you were wondering.

7th March

John has been keen to return to strimming and started today by creating a new path within the Pit Wood. While he was working he heard a clunk that didn’t sound like wood or stone and when he hunted around found a roe antler. In all his decades of stalking, this is the first he has ever found.

We rather like the three videos of movement in the Pit Wood.

The new path going downhill from the south side of the Pit Wood towards the north side

The new path on the north side of the Pit Wood, heading back towards the Orchard

8th March

It’s not often the trail camera captures footage of small birds however we are delighted to have this visual evidence of a Thrush in the Pit Wood. We have been hearing them singing and from the Scrub as well.

10th March

The bees in one of Clare’s hives had finished their box of fondant and had started building comb in the empty space. Clare removed it because if they had continued, and filled the box, it would have been very difficult to remove the crown board when the time comes to inspect the bees. On her way down to the bees she heard starlings singing and chattering away in the oak tree nearby. She has no idea what was so exciting them, other than that it was a beautifully sunny day and worth singing about. Our molecatcher has had more success. He reckons he has caught the principal offenders now so has flattened all the molehills ready for the wildflower season. We have decided to replace the tapes that were supposed to keep the ponies away from the bees and out of the Pit Wood. We had stopped running a current through the tapes since the ponies had learnt not to touch them, however we hadn’t realised that Paul and William had obviously worked out that the current was off, and they had been lifting the top tape with their heads and holding the bottom tape down with their feet, and making their way through. We wondered how come the bottom tape was so dirty. We have decided to replace the tapes with wires. John started work on this today.

There is some nectar in the cells so the bees are starting to build their own stores

They look as if they’ve been hung out to dry

11th - 17th March

John has continued working on the new fencing. On the 14th he noticed a Heron flying away from the largest pond. No doubt there is slightly less frogspawn in there now. We have seen the Barn Owl several times. Yet more videos of a hare on the trail camera. We have included one because we love the way its ears twitch, apparently just when a Great Tit starts calling.

New fence nearly finished. The wires need a final tightening and the staples hammered home

The new fence looking towards the bottom gate

21st March

The day after the first day of Spring, and Clare and Sally had a walk around to see what flowers might be out and to listen for newly arrived migrant birds. They found Dandelion, Common Daisy, Native Daffodils, White Violet, Primrose and some very small, low-growing white flowers which could be Whitlow Grass (we’ll need to take advice) but heard no migrants. They did however see and hear a Woodpecker (Great Spotted) drumming on the dead top boughs of an oak, which seemed to attract a Mistle Thrush which flew in and joined it. Probably not the companion for which the Woodpecker was hoping. Clare and Sally, though largely Sally, spotted frogspawn in the three other ponds. Clare noticed that one of the newer Willows on the Wetland was bearing catkins.

23rd March

We moved one of the open-fronted nesting boxes to a tree in the Pit Wood which has plenty of ivy as cover. Fingers crossed our newly acquired understanding of the likely users and their needs will pay off. The trail camera captured a buck and a doe moving through the Top Strip.

25th March

Clare heard a Chiffchaff singing in the Scrub. Apparently Wheatears are usually the first to arrive (although we have never seen these birds on Liddells, we have seen them on crags a few hundred yards away), followed by Chiffchaffs. We hope to see and hear Willow Warblers nearer the end of next month.

28th March

We are dismayed to have discovered that the big pond has developed an algae infestation. Sadly, left unaddressed, this will kill off any aquatic life; indeed it may already have done for the frogspawn. We are investigating treatments - so far barley straw seems to be the least invasive.

On a happier note, Clare has now seen and heard several Chiffchaffs, mainly in the Scrub and the Pit Wood.

29th March

John extended the new path in the Pit Wood. Clare spotted a Peacock butterfly on a Willow that is in flower at the top of the Scrub, and when she got closer to photograph it, saw and heard that the tree was covered in honey bees also collecting the pollen. By a happy accident she took a very short video of this rather than a still photograph. She also discovered that there is new moss in some of the bird boxes.

30th March

John added the last post to the new fence. Hooray - a tick on the to-do list and a job that shouldn’t have to be done again, unlike the path maintenance that requires regular sessions every year. Clare has made a start in the Top Strip.

31st March

Clearing up in the North-east Strip - moving logs and making brash heaps ready for the chipper. This was the very first area we worked on at Liddells and we’ve done nothing since until recently when John and Robbie did some felling and brashing. John identified a patch of ground that he thinks is a deer bed. It has scrape marks and is the right shape and size.

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

November 30, 2018

November

Clare and John

November 30, 2018

2nd November

We planted 18 Sweet Chestnut seeds at home. We had to buy these in as our local Sweet Chestnut trees provided no fertilised fruit. Paul managed, with considerable nervousness, to haul a log or two. In spite of our failure to angle the trail camera on the apples we provided, we were delighted to capture images that give an idea of the numbers of fieldfares as well as some close-ish-up detail of the birds. We also have evidence of the big pond being enjoyed.

3rd November

John sets up in competition with a local firm for the title ‘north-east’s leading glaziologist’. First window pane fixed in the shepherd’s hut

6th November

All the large windows are glazed and the hut cleaned out.

11th November

John secured the last pane of glass into the door and we fixed a lock. Close observers might notice that John’s Workmate (not Clare) has given up its supportive role. Many people at this stage would buy a new one. John is working out how to mend it. It’s been a long relationship between the two of them. Clare is wondering if there are deeper implications for her.

14th November

Mel came to help and he and John went for heavy work, moving logs for seating to the Story-telling Circle, levelling one of the entrances to the Pit Wood from the Orchard and excavating huge rocks from paths in the Pit Wood.

15th November

John started work on providing a more accessible route than the Workmate into the shepherds hut. Clare sowed wildflower seeds in part of the area round the hut. Could both of these be considered as accessorising.

18th November

The trail camera recorded a hare in the Pit Wood at night.

18th - 20th November

John continued his work on the steps into the shepherd’s hut until two days of rain and a cold caused a temporary halt.

24th November

Clare was keen to see the state of the ponds after the most rain we’ve had since they were dug. She was not disappointed however realised at least one adjustment might have to be made.

As fine a set of steps as you are likely to see - well they will be when they’re finished

One of those stepping stones proves to be a snare and delusion. Now we’ll have to wait for the pond to dry out before we can raise it. Or get very wet.

Clare had thought this one might not fill to any great extent. She is delighted, unusually in this regard, to be proved wrong.

When we first had Liddells, this was where we thought of digging a pond - the land was usually muddy and there was a small gully running away from it into the Pit Wood. We have been surprised that it isn’t filling as well as we had expected. We migh… — When we first had Liddells, this was where we thought of digging a pond - the land was usually muddy and there was a small gully running away from it into the Pit Wood. We have been surprised that it isn’t filling as well as we had expected. We might have to think about lining it and/or clearing some of the ditches that run towards it.

The largest pond is as full as it can get and water is pouring out of the overflow.

28th November

We’ve been wondering if Woodcock will return to Liddells this year. The first November full moon is referred to as the Woodcock Moon as it coincides with the arrival of these birds, which are of course piloted by Goldcrests. Is anyone else immediately seeing Goldcrests in flying helmet, goggles and with a silk scarf streaming out behind them. Clare is. We are delighted that today Tim saw a Woodcock in the Top Strip. The moon was full on 23rd.

29th November

Shepherd’s hut steps very nearly finished. John is snatching whatever gaps he can in the wild weather.

The steps in the shadow of the step-maker

There have been some wonderful rainbows in the last few days. William considers grass much more important.

Clare and John

November 7, 2018

November 1st - Forest Schooling comes to Liddells

Clare and John

November 7, 2018

Eilidh approached us a while ago with the possibility of running Forest Schooling on Liddells. This chimed with our desire to offer the land to children so that they could experience nature and the outdoors.

This very first opportunity was for Eilidh to bring a focus group of children she knew so that she could try out ideas and test what might be possible.

The day was brilliant! Eilidh had obviously worked tremendously hard in the morning, bringing in equipment and preparing the site.

She arrived in the afternoon with five children (aged between two and eleven) and two supporting adults.

We met the party at the bottom gate. Clare said that she would love them to ask as many questions as possible and that there were no silly questions however they might be given silly answers.

The children were given maps and invited to find out where they were and then were asked to make their own way to the bee hives. A pause to guesstimate how many bees might be in the hives - far more than they first guessed!

On to the Pit Wood and a challenge to find objects that they wouldn’t expect to find in woodland. Eilidh had imaginatively chosen a collection including a candle, a plastic bottle, a light switch and a paint brush. She then invited them to think about what they had found and the implications of their findings.

Next they went off in pairs with a colour chart and a bag, and an invitation to find things that matched the colours. No paint brushes needed. The children had little difficulty in foraging items that fitted. Ethan managed to find a ladybird which was obligingly red.

Next everyone joined in the task of filling a trug full to the brim with leaves within a limited time.

Then it was time for a walk and explore. Almost immediately we saw one of the purposes of Forest Education fulfilled as each child in turn found a way of climbing on to a fallen sycamore trunk that straddles the path through the valley. The delight was in seeing children free to challenge themselves and try out an activity that, in other circumstances, might have been considered too risky. Not one of the adults had suggested they climb on to the trunk. John has captured the event in his video which is at the end of this post.

From the bridge to the spring and a bit of history about that. Up through the wood into the Orchard, noticing some wildflowers still hanging on on the way - Pink Campion and Herb Robert. On the way the children noticed the buzzard’s nest, the squirrel traps, and we pointed out the dead Silver Birch that is a favourite of the Nuthatches and Woodpeckers. It appeared compulsory to insert a finger into some of the holes. Just before the Orchard Clare pointed out the thrush anvil where there were several empty snail shells.

Up to the Spoil Heaps and one eagle pair of eyes spotted a frog on the path. Returning to the Pit Wood and the Story-telling Circle, it was time for refreshments.

Back to work and pictures and collages to be made from the colour collections, caterpillars to be made by threading some of the gathered leaves on to pipe cleaners. The rest of the leaves were used to bury Eilidh, which seemed a tad unfair after the lovely time she had created.

Then the fire had to be built in the pit Eilidh had prepared. She sent the children off to collect kindling which prompted a new interpretation of Green Gym as some of them discovered that a pile of brash made an excellent trampoline. They each had a practice using a flint spark ignitor and then it was time to light the fire. It was soon hot enough to toast the marshmallows.

After quite a sticky few minutes, it was time to douse the fire, clear up and make sure there was not a trace left behind.

The last part of the adventure was a walk past the ponds, over the stepping stones, up the Crag and an opportunity to meet and feed the ponies. At this point John went off to get the car and Anna was prompted to enquire, “Where has the farmer gone?” Back to the gate and before saying our goodbyes, Clare told the story she had promised on arrival of why we had called the land Liddells.

Anna has a better idea of using the stepping stones than Eilidh!

Who are very pleased to be met with minty treats

Clare and John

October 31, 2018

October - preparation for pond life

Clare and John

October 31, 2018

First of all a big thank you to those who have bought honey, hedgerow and rowanberry jellies from us. We were delighted that our produce proved so popular and have put the money towards digger hire, Alder and Wych Elm trees, and Sweet Chestnut seeds to pot up at home.

1st October

Have digger, will dig. John started to make more of the wet area at the base of the Crag, on the west boundary. This is an area in which the water comes and goes, which, habitat-wise , is as important as standing water. He also worked on levelling and extending the roadway in from the bottom gate. We are thrilled that even within 24 hours, we can see the large pond filling up. Our resident Pond Inspector has apparently been to examine the workings.

Extended roadway. This is near the spoil heaps and you can see the spoil on the surface

We trust that after assiduous study of the website, you all recognise these as Roe Deer tracks.

2nd October

Another day, another pond. Clare arrived as John was declaring the third pond, at the base of the Crag, finished. Clare saw it and thought, “Stepping stones would be nice.” He had added a large stone in the middle so it was his own fault. The first pond is definitely filling up.

Pond No 3 - with soon-to-be stepping stone

3rd October

Would you believe there is now a fourth pond on Liddells?! Nul ponds to quatre ponds in five days. John dug the rush out of a small pond we created about three years ago. As with the one at the bottom of the Crag, it may be one in which the water comes and goes. We also hope that with this amount of choice, frogs and newts will be able to coexist.

John used the digger’s remaining day to dig two sets of post holes - one for a gate that will open on to the path down to the Orchard; the second gate will be into the North-east Strip from the Meadow, and will enable the movement of pigs. Should we ever get them. On his way to dig these post holes, John found a magnificent mushroom on the Meadow, and thanks to pool-playing Lloyd who has lent us a comprehensive mushroom guide, we are confident we can eat it. If you don’t hear from us again, please would someone return the book to Lloyd.

4th October

Paul is now confident with his hauling collar so today John and Eilidh decided to add more of his harness. William added moral support. Eilidh started by laying the harness on the ground and putting some apple pieces on it. With such an incentive, the rest was easy and John and Paul walked up and down the field. John jangled the chains occasionally to reacquaint Paul with the sounds of working.

We promise not to give you a daily pond levels update, however, since we had the first rain for days overnight and this morning we were quite excited to see how they had filled up. We were not disappointed.

Pond 1 The island is very nearly an island

Pond 2 The terracotta pieces right of centre are part of an old field drain, which augurs well for the pond

Pond 3 Go on John, you know you want to play on the stepping stones

And last but not least, though it is the smallest, let’s hear it for Pond 4

9th October

John, having fixed the panels between the roof and the walls, began painting the windows. We still have to finish levelling the site where the hut will go, and fence this off, however it’s lovely to see the hut facing the right way at last.

10th October

John started painting the body of the shepherd’s hut. One end finished.

Rather tasteful don’t you think, and not a Farrow & Ball paint chart in sight.

13th October

On our way to inspect the pond levels, we both heard and saw a large flock of fieldfares, about 40-50, moving from the Scrub towards the Pit Wood. These are likely to be winter visitors, come from breeding in Continental Europe and Scandinavia in the summer months. We were also delighted to see a hare on the Meadow, although it had run down into the south-west corner and couldn’t get out until we had moved closer and beyond the hurdle, and that agitated it somewhat. It eventually ran out of the Meadow and through the bottom gate.

14th October

John noticed that pond 1 is now full and surplus water running through the overflow pipe. It looks very impressive. John fixed gateposts into the holes by the Spoil Heaps and we both managed to get two coats of paint onto the other end of the shepherd’s hut.

The smeary look is the paint being absorbed and drying, not ineptitude on our part

18th October

First post in for the gateway out of the Meadow into the North-east Strip. Back of the shepherd’s hut painted.

Post in and logs for stacking. The tree stump will be taken down to nearer ground level at some point

“Here’s Johnny!” (thanks to Jane E for this photo)

Hard to know from where to photograph this, however you get the picture

19th October

Shepherd’s hut painting done! Clare spent a happy few minutes watching a Goldcrest in the Pit Wood. It was hopping about in an Elder and so close that getting a camera out would probably have frightened it away. It could either be resident or a migrant from Scandinavia - timing would be right for that; also exhausted migrants are typically less afraid of humans, which might account for Clare being able to be so close. Apparently early ornithologists could not believe that such a tiny bird could fly across the North Sea unaided and therefore thought the birds must ride on the backs of other birds such as Woodcock or Short-eared Owls. This gave rise to the old country name of Woodcock Pilot.

20th October

Eilidh, John and Tom all worked together to put Paul in his harness again and, with William’s faithful companionship (or William spotting the opportunity to nibble at some fresh grass) they walked down the log hauling route onto the Wetland. While there Paul inspected the new ponds. He was anxious however did not bolt, so we reckoned the expedition was a success.

22nd October

John started creating an platform for the shepherd’s hut, making a wooden frame and with the intention of covering it with membrane and chip.

23rd October

Platform complete and hut in position (with Chris Bates’ help)!

From this….. (with thanks to Lesley for this reminder of the very start of the positioning process)

…to this! And very fine it looks too. Glazing and interior next on the to-do list.

25th October

We’ve been seeing more grey squirrel activity recently, particularly on a couple of oaks at the north end of the Pit Wood. John had his suspicions about this and discovered that the Tawny Owl box is in use, though not as we had hoped. He’s redoubled his squirrel control with some effect. We are going to do whatever we can to keep the site free for red squirrels, which apparently have recently returned to Gosforth Park Nature Reserve after a ten year absence. They are hanging on in the area in small pockets (not of clothing) as a result of diligent work by many volunteers.

24th - 29th October

With no pressing work at the moment, we’ve been taking more time to walk round and enjoy Liddells. We both read an article about over-wintering Redwings on the 26th and lo and behold, while John was checking for squirrel activity the next morning, Clare saw a flock of about 20 Redwings feeding on hawthorn berries near the Orchard. They must have read the article too. We read that they will often feed on windfall apples so we have left some from our garden and placed the trail camera to see if we can record any feeding activity. We saw lots of Nuthatches and a Treecreeper that same day, as well as many of the more common woodland and hedgerow birds.

30th October

Unfortunately the trail camera was angled above the apples, however it did capture a young roe buck several times. We have included one clip which shows the deer’s agility as it leaves the Orchard for the Pit Wood.

After much debate, measuring, considering and reconsidering, we have finally decided on the size, shape and extent of the area that will be fenced off round the shepherd’s hut. It has proved a surprisingly difficult task working out with which of the markers to align the fencing. We are pleased with our decision, and you can see the beginning of the work below.

Clare went up to document this development and walking round was delighted that there were large mixed flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares just about everywhere; she saw a flock of at least 8 Bullfinches in the Pit Wood and then another group of 3 near the Crag; there is a marked increase in the numbers of Blackbirds around, so the winter visitors have arrived from Scandinavia; she also saw a Marsh Tit in the Pit Wood, which is the first time one has been seen since the Spring. We assumed they had moved on, however it seems possible that they have stayed after all. Clare is endeavouring to add the song and call to the small list of birdsongs she can recognise. Kate and Andy have been enjoying walking their dog on Liddells recently and have seen a hare both times, once on the Wetland and once on the Crag.

31st October

More ticks on the shepherd’s hut to-do list - John collected the glazing bars and glass for the windows. We have also chosen the flooring. It’s exciting to be considering the interior at last.

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

August 13, 2018

August - bonus anniversary post

Clare and John

August 13, 2018

On 7th August 2013 the sale of Liddells was completed. On 13th August 2013 we became the registered owners, Traditionally a fifth anniversary is marked with a gift of wood. What better excuse for a party and to light the huge bonfire Clare had built a while ago.

As the dry weather continued and as we heard about more wildfires, we decided to create a Plan B and invited friends to share a picnic on the Meadow instead. As soon as we had made that decision, it rained! However, discretion being the better part of Valerie, we stuck with Plan B.

No sooner had guests arrived than we sent them off with a map to have a walk around and see what we've been up to, and an I-spy test to keep their attention on the job in hand.

Everyone took this very seriously and almost left no time for their picnic! Several reported seeing deer in the Scrub and on the Top Grazing. We saw bats for the first time, which was exciting. We'd wondered if there were resident bats but had never seen any. New task for winter - make bat boxes. A Tawny owl hooted in the background late on in the evening and we were relieved that the rain held off till after 10. No spirits were dampened and our stalwart friends stayed on in spite of the weather.

Clare had been doing her accounts and shared the following:

5 Years’ worth:

Added -

425 yards of fencing

1700 yards of paths - chipped, strimmed, cleared

30 yards roadway

80 yards land drains

3 gateways

Built -

13 stiles

1 hurdle

1 gate

5 sheds

⅔ shepherd’s hut

36 bird boxes

Made -

24 bales + 8 dumpies of hay

200 bags of chip for paths

Planted -

155 hedging plants

260 trees

1000 bulbs

A meadow’s worth and more, wildflower plugs

Sown -

c 1 kg wildflower seeds

Felled -

40 trees

Removed -

4500 Creeping thistles

Been gifted -

26 trees

1 song

1 booklet of poems

2 Gaelic blessings

Cared for -

9 ponies

85 sheep

c 1000,000 honey bees

Seen -

Roe deer

Hares

Rabbits

Voles

Badgers

Foxes

Mice

Grey squirrels

Stoats

Frogs

Newts

Recorded -

29 Tree species

126 Wildflowers species

53 bird species

19 Butterfly species

Hosted -

15 Green Gym Days (the first pretty much 4 years ago to the day)

Lit -

6 bonfires (1 still to come)

Celebrated/acknowledged -

1 Naming

4 Fire Festivals

1 birth

4 marriages

2 deaths

1 Doctorate

1 5 year anniversary

Suffered -

1 fall; many cuts, bruises, scratches, prickles, bites, stings, sprains and strains

Read or read from -

41 relevant books

Innumerable websites

Attended -

2 conferences

1 advisory meeting

2 specialised talks

Applied for -

1 Forestry Commission grant

Developed -

1 website

Published -

70 blog posts

1 article on bee-keeping

Purchased -

I small trailer

1 flat bed trailer

Several power tools

Many hand tools

2 Riding hats, 1 pair breeches, 1 pair riding boots

2 sets of tack for ponies plus associated pony care products

1 set horse-logging equipment

Fence posts

Strainers

Wood for shuttering sheds

Wood for railings

Wire - barbed, high tensile, chicken, sheep proof, rabbit proof

Corrugated sheeting

Nails, screws, staples, nuts, bolts, hinges, locks, door furniture

1 bowser

Foraged -

Wild fruit for 60 jars of hedgerow and rowan jelly

Collected -

12 jars of honey with more to come this year

Received - advice or practical help from -

29 people who are experts, proficient or working in relevant areas

Welcomed - the physical labour from -

17 friends (and a son of one of said friends) and two (not our) grandchildren

Many in those last two categories are here this evening, however I want to mention Mel, Sally and Tim, who have each put in huge numbers of hours and who can’t be with us

And it all amounts to, at a very conservative estimate, at least 6000 hours of work

Thank you all for your support

John told the story of The Braunspath and held his audience entranced.