Ballachurry Reserve, Rushen, IOM.

autumn sunshine at Ballachurry Reserve

What a perfect end to the month! Yes, it was quite breezy, but the sun shone all morning and I saw a good selection of birds and other interesting wildlife. I even had a chance to do a good deed! Here is what I recorded:

Birds:

SC209694 ( hide) female Teal; Water Rail heard a great deal and seen fleetingly; Robin heard not seen; Chiffchaff.

SC209694 (elsewhere) 6 x Blackbird on the gorse boundary and near the dragonfly pond; Wren near dragonfly pond; male Blackcap perched momentarily on Rowan tree near dragonfly pond; Magpie flying over; Blackbird flying over high.

SC208694 Chiffchaff feeding in willows; 3 x Robin ( including one picking over the compost heap); Buzzard overhead; Grey Wagtail feeding in stream.

SC208695 Wren.

SC209693 2 x Robin having a conversation!

SC209695 Blackbird heard not seen; Robin; 5 x Goldfinch bathing in the stream.

Butterflies:

SC208694 Speckled Wood.

SC209694 Speckled Wood.

SC208695 Speckled Wood.

SC209795 Speckled Wood x 2.

SC209694 2 x Red Admiral.

SC210694 2 x Red Admiral.

SC208695 Red Admiral.

Other:

SC208694 Hawker Species dragonfly flying high above willows.

SC209694 Common Darter and 3 x Hawker species dragonflies patrolling main pond.

SC209694 1 female Common Darter drowning in the dragonfly pond ( rescued!) 1 male Common Darter.

SC208695 Brown Rollrim fungi x 4 under birch and willow.

SC208694 Coconut Milkcap x 4 under Hawthorn, Birch and Willows.

SC208695 unidentified "frilly" fungi

SC209693 Pleated Inkcap.

1 of at least 6 Blackbirds together on the Gorse Boundary

this one appears to be ringed

Goldfinch

Goldfinch enjoying a bathe

Chiffchaff in the willows

a closer view

Buzzard flying over

Grey Wagtail - it refused to turn round!

female Teal

she swam round for quite a while

then bathed and preened before flying away

the Robin was picking over the compost heap....

but retreated to the nearby tree when I appeared

Speckled Wood

Red Admiral

another near the bird feeders

this one was near the entrance gate

while this one was feasting nearby on Blackberries

My good deed! When I arrived at the dragonfly pond I could see a commotion in the middle of the pond. A female Common Darter was in the water furiously beating her wings in an effort to fly out but becoming more and more covered in duckweed. She was right in the middle of the pond - the deepest part - so I couldn't reach her. What to do? Let her drown? Fortunately I was able to find a suitably thin but long branch in the nearby dead hedge. It was just long enough to reach her and pull her out. By now she was totally rolled up in the duckweed so very gently I swished her about in the shallows to remove it. She sat in my hand while I managed to remove the last remaining strands. It was the first time I had ever held a dragonfly and I was amazed by how strongly her feet were clinging on to me. I placed her in a sunbeam on the bench and she beat her wings for several minutes to dry them. After about 10 minutes she was able to fly off again.

legs trapped by duckweed

most of the duckweed washed off

drying out on the bench

Male Common Darters dip the females into the water to lay their eggs . A male was flying round the pond as I witnessed this drama. I suspect he'd dipped her in a little too deep and dropped her!