09 SEPTEMBER 2015 ( including Work Party & Special Events)

4^th September 2015

I went to Ballachurry Reserve today on a cold, dull and windy afternoon. So different from my visit the previous Friday. I began to think there was nothing to report but eventually I discovered several interesting creatures trying to keep warm in the vegetation.

Highlight of the afternoon, albeit a sad one, was the discovery of dead  pygmy shrew on the mown path. It's a new record for the reserve and hopefully it has brothers and sisters there. They are the smallest of the British mammals and, as apparently we do not have Common Shrews in the IOM, no confusion  is possible. Note it's long pointy snout, very different from a mouse.My book says they need to feed every three hours or so, day and night. "The smaller the animal, the more quickly it moves.There is therefore a proportionately greater need for food to repair the loss of energy" Something had clearly attacked this one but had left it on the path. ( I cropped the photo as it was a little gory!)

Birds:

2 Swallows flying over and nothing else!

Butterflies:

Not at all butterfly weather but a male Wall Brown was sheltering on the path along the gorse boundary at SC209694. It was extremely ragged but had very pronounced scent bars along its wings. As I walked past it, it clapped its wings shut making itself so narrow that I could barely see it. An excellent defence strategem which meant it did not have to waste energy flying away on such a cold day.

Ladybirds:

Just one 7spot in the Marsh Woundwort on the gorse boundary SC209694

Mammals:

Pygmy Shrew ( dead) SC209694

Bugs and Beetles:

Do you remember the photos of the larvae that covered themselves in frass? Today I spotted the adult on a thistle near the dam SC208694. It's a Tortoise Beetle of the Cassida family.

Probably Cassida rubiginosa.

Gorse Shield Bug adult + an instar on the gorse bush near the orchard bench SC209695 and another instar further along the boundary path SC209694

On a bramble along the old beehive loop was a Forest Bug SC208695.

Spiders & Harvestmen:

SC209694 Spider with egg sack in cocoon in gorse on boundary; many spiderlings in the cocoon in the grass near hide; oak sapling has spider cocoon on leaf.

SC209695  The sapling sycamore near the orchard entrance has several spider cocoons under the leaves + another spider .

SC209694 Harvestman near Ginny's bench

Other:

SC209695 White lipped banded snail on sycamore sapling near orchard entrance.

SC209695 Hoverfly and Yellow dung fly

SC208695  Hoverfly, 2 unidentified flies,  Noon Fly

SC208694  Black aphids on Brooklime

SC209694 Hoverfly on gorse boundary

SC209694 parasitic wasp?

SC208694 some of the brambles are affected by  Blackberry Rust fungal disease.

Notes:

The open fronted bird box, made at last year's Open Day and situated in the alder near the path junction, has nesting material inside so was possibly used by a robin this year. The other open fronted box in the tree by the road is empty.

5^th September 2015  WORKING PARTY.

Here are the photos from Saturday's working party. Unfortunately I didn't manage to photograph everyone at work, but I  did manage to catch most of them drinking tea!  A very big thank you to everyone who came along and to those who provided the delicious cakes - very much appreciated.

Despite the disturbance there was some wildlife about :

SC209695 Small Copper butterfly; 2 x Common Blue Butterflies; 2 x Wall Brown Butterflies.

SC209694 Wall Brown Butterfly; Small White Butterfly

SC209693 Green Veined White Butterfly.

SC209694 Unidentified snail - I  didn't cut down the dock that it was on!

SC208694  Larva of Green Shield Bug ( not quite final instar) 

11^TH September 2015

 I  went to Ballachurry 5 times in the last 8 days,  so lots of reports one way or another. I am starting with my usual walk round  on Friday, 11th September when I was particularly looking out for wildlife I could point out on the Open day. Here is the report:

Birds: a very noticeable absence of birds - all very quiet. Just a Grey Heron flying over.

Butterflies & moths:

SC209694  ( Ginny's bench) Speckled Wood

SC209695 (orchard entrance) Speckled Wood

SC209694 ( gorse boundary) Speckled Wood; Small White; another very ragged Small White; another Speckled Wood together with Wall Brown and Small Copper all on the same cushag plant.

SC208695 ( Beehive loop) Speckled Wood

SC208694 (  near reed bed pond) Speckled Wood

SC209694 ( path junction) Silver Y moth.

Caterpillars:

SC208694 Woolly Bear Fox Moth Caterpillar crossing the path NEW RECORD

SC209694 ( Ginny's Bench area) Red Admiral Caterpillar on nettles.

Ladybirds and other beetles:

SC208694 (  near reed bed pond) 7spot  with  black aphids on thistle

SC208694 ( near dam) 2 x small orange beetles on thistle. ( they looked  like beetles with the naked eye, but on screen I am not so sure!)

Dragonflies and damselflies:

 SC208694 ( willows path) Common Darter

Gorse Shieldbugs:

SC209695 ( orchard entrance)  I adult, 1 larva

SC209694 (gorse boundary) 2 adults, several larvae various instars.

Other:

SC209695 ( orchard entrance) Still several spiders' nests on the underside of the young sycamore tree.

SC209694 ( gorse boundary) White lipped Banded Snail.

SC209694 ( Ginny's bench area) Harvestman

SC209693 (area parallel with church) I lifted a piece of carpet expecting to find worms and beetles etc and instead found a large frog! It would be good if we have provided some hibernation sites for frogs with our carpet -laying.

SC209694  Young rabbit on path

SC209694 ( bridge by hide) Noon Fly

SC208695 ( ash trees along beehive loop) several Noon flies and hoverflies

SC209695 ( orchard entrance) unidentified mating flies; Harvestman

SC209694 ( near Ginny's bench) Chrysomelid beetle; Unidentified spider.

SC208694  Hoverfly on cushag and  others throughout reserve.

Craneflies throughout reserve.

 SPECIAL EVENTS

 12th September 2015

September 12th was International Moth night. The Southern Group of the Manx Wildlife Trust accordingly  held a moth and bat detection event at Ballachurry Reserve. We are very grateful to Nick and Kevin from the Manx Bat group who came down and gave an interesting introduction to bats and bat detectors before splitting the 40 or so people who attended into 2 groups to walk round the reserve in the twilight, listening/watching out for bats. They kindly loaned us some  detectors for the evening and a number of people brought their own with them.

Most of the activity seemed to be in the adjoining area, known as the Orchard, where we were quickly detecting Pipistrelles. Everyone was thrilled to be able to see them silhouetted against the darkening sky as they flew up and down in pursuit of midges and moths.  Kevin also detected a Soprano Pipistrelle near the Hide. A couple with their own detector also picked up Pipistrelles near where their car was parked close to the thicket near the church.

On the moth front, Duncan Bridges ( The Director of the Manx Wildlife Trust)  and Louise Samson ( the Ayres and Uplands Warden) kindly brought along two different types of moth trap which were set up near Ginny's Bench and the Hide. Duncan explained how the traps work and it wasn't too long before the moths started to appear. The children in particular enjoyed  transferring them to the pots for examination!

The evening was deemed a great success as everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, including the organisers!

 13th September 2015

There was an Open Morning at Ballachurry Reserve today. The main event was the identification and release of the moths trapped last night. Visitors also enjoyed conducted  wildlife tours of the Reserve, the opportunity to help build a new bridge and to try their hand at making bumby cages  & St. Bridget Crosses with John "Dog" Callister and Dessie Robinson.

15th September 2015

A meeting was arranged last week between members of the Northern Manx Wildlife Trust Committee and our Southern Group Committee. We were represented by Margaret Kelly (Chairman), Janet Thompson (Secretary) and Sheila Norris ( Ballachurry Representative). The northerners were Garry Curtis, Chairman of the  Northern Group, and Viv Richards who is Vice Chairman of the Wildlife Trust itself.

We held the meeting at Ballachurry at the request of Garry Curtis as he had not been there before. Garry is very involved in the development of another new reserve in the north called Gat y Whing.  We sat in the hide  during a period of light drizzle to discuss general issues for the two groups but later walked round the Reserve in the sunshine and had refreshments at Ginny's Bench. A little bit of photographic jiggery-pokery managed to record this moment!

We saw quite a lot of wildlife, including a new record for the reserve:

Butterflies:

 My walk from the gate to the hide to drop off a bag before our visitors arrived yielded 5 species: Small Copper. Small Blue. Speckled Wood; ( all SC209694) Small White;Small Tortoiseshell. ( SC210694)

 We also saw 4 Speckled Woods together near the orchard entrance. I managed to photograph 3 of them  There were Speckled Woods on the brambles near the old beehive site (SC208695)  and along the gorse boundary ( SC209694) .

Shieldbugs:

We saw adult Gorse Shieldbugs at SC208694 and SC209695 as well as various instars of larvae

We also saw late instars of Green Shieldbugs in the nettles near Ginny's Bench SC209694

Birds:

 RobinSC208695

Wren 208694

Swallow over water

Wood pigeon flying over.

Spiders:

The nettles round the bench also produced a large unidentified spider and a Cross Spider SC209694

Hoppers:

I'm not sure I understand the difference between a leaf hopper and a frog hopper but we saw two different colour forms at SC209694

Flies:

Noon Fly on the orchard bench SC209695

NEW RECORD: a Folded Wing Crane Fly of the Ptychoptera family at SC209695 in the gorse. There are lots of Crane Flies throughout the reserve at the moment ( what I would call "normal" Daddy Longlegs)  but this one was smaller and looked quite different. I shall send a photo to  the Island's dipterist, to see if it can be properly identified.

Water Crickets: These were in their usual place by the piped area of the stream.Garry had not seen these before so was particularly interested., as can be seen in the photograph!

18th September 2015.

A quiet day at the Reserve after all th e excitement of our special events!

Butterflies & Moths:

SC209694 (Ginny's Bench ) 4 x Small Tortoiseshell in nettles;  3 x  small white; 5 x Speckled Wood

SC208694 ( near firs) 3 x Speckled Wood

SC208694 ( second pond)  2 x Speckled Wood;  Moth or Caddisfly? Seeking advice.

SC209695  (Cushag corner ,near orchard entrance) 2 x  Speckled Wood; very ragged Small White + one other Small White

SC208695 ( old beehive loop) Silver Y moth; 2 x Speckled Wood;

SC209695 ( piped stream area) Red Admiral  ( do zoom in on the closed wing picture - really beautiful)

SC209694 ( gorse boundary) unidentified White ; 3 x Speckled Wood; Small Tortoiseshell;

Caterpillars:

SC209694 Unidentified Caterpillar ( seeking help on this one)

Shieldbugs:

SC209694 4 x Adult Gorse Shieldbugs

SC209695 7 x Adult Gorse Shieldbugs + 1 larva ( late instar)

SC209695 Gorse Shieldbug late instar

SC209694 ( second path to hide)  Hawthorn Shieldbug 3rd Instar ( first one I have ever seen) on Rowan berries ( berries are their food ) Adult is not a new record but larva is.

Grasshoppers:

SC210694 Field Grasshopper

Spiders and Harvestmen:

SC209694 Cross Spider

SC209693 Unidentified Spider

SC208694 Unidentified spider

SC209694   Crab Spider

Fungi:

SC209694  Small brown toadstool in mown path. I have now obtained a spore print, so may be able to identify it.

Ladybirds & Beetles:

SC209694 ( near hide) large black beetle  ( sorry, no photo possible)

SC209694 to SC208694 (strimmed path through willows) there are  very small beetles ( greenish but look golden in the sunshine) in many of the willows.

SC208694 7 spot Ladybird ( seems to be hibernating already)

SC209694 7spot Ladybird ( still active - in fact it walked out of the photo!)

Mammals:

SC209695  Domestic cat on the prowl.

Bees and Hoverflies:

Bumblebees throughout reserve - photo taken at  SC208694 on blackthorn. This one was giving itself a very good wash all over.

Various hoverflies throughout reserve, especially on cushag.  SC209695 and SC209694

Trees:

Alders now have alder catkins forming e.g. SC209694 ( path junction) 

25^th September 2015

I felt a bit cheated today when I finally made it down to Ballachuryy Reserve because the beautiful weather of  this morning had turned into a decidedly dull afternoon. Not many butterflies about as a result, although the Speckled Woods don't seem to mind the weather. Here is the full report:

Butterflies:

SC210694  Speckled Wood

SC208695 Speckled Wood

SC209695 Speckled Wood x 2

SC208694 Speckled Wood

SC209694  ( Path Junction) Speckled Wood  & SC209694 ( Gorse Boundary ) Speckled Wood x 2

Birds:

SC209694 Kestrel mobbed by crow; robin

SC2o8694  male Blackcap

Swallows flying over.

Caterpillars:

SC209694  Sawfly ?caterpillars in willow.; brightly striped caterpillar  also in willow; another of these striped caterpillars on Common Valerian by bridge and another possibly pupating on buttercup nearby ( but when enlarged on screen this may be eggs inside leaf vein??)

Spiders:

Many cross spiders throughout reserve. I think the very large ones are pregnant females. SC210694;SC208694; SC209694.

Different sort of spider SC208694 ( had caught Yellow Dung Fly )

Ladybirds & other beetles:

SC209694 7 spot ladybird

SC209695 Chrysomelid beetle

SC209694 Large brown beetle on Willowherb.

Amphibians:

SC209694  Large Frog under carpet.

Shieldbugs:

I couldn't find any Gorse Shieldbugs ( they like the sun)  but the larva of the Hawthorn Shieldbug was still in the rowan SC209694

Other:

SC209695 Water Crickets
SC209693 Large slug under carpet

Hoverflies throughout reserve including  SC209695

28^th September 2015

Having been disappointed in the weather on Friday I returned briefly to the Reserve  this afternoon,  hoping the sunshine would produce more species. Unfortunately  there was a strong cold breeze and, in fact, I think I saw less!

Butterflies & Moths:

SC209694  ( Ginny's bench) Speckled Wood
SC209693 Unidentified White flying.
SC209694 Speckled Wood
SC208694 Speckled Wood
SC208695 Speckled Wood x 3
SC209695 Speckled Wood on brambles near orchard entrance, 2 more near the bench
SC209694  Total of 9 Speckled Woods counted along the gorse boundary including 5 together on brambles.
SC209694 Silver Y moth
SC209694 Speckled Wood near path junction.

Birds:

SC209694 Wren

SC210694 male Blackbird
SC209695 blackbird heard but not seen.

Ladybirds:

SC208695 7 spot ladybird in thistles

Spiders:

Many of the previously reported spiders are still in situ. E.g.  Cross Spider at 210694
The "spider sycamore" has little change. Will the spiderlings hatch before the leaves fall? Perhaps that's the way they get down into the grass - all part of the plan?
 SC208694 Very large spider cocoon in the grass near the boardwalk bridge, guarded by large grey spider which vanished into the undergrowth before I could take a photo.
SC209695  spider near stream

SC209694  3 x large spider nests in hide + numerous smaller ones

Shieldbugs:

SC209695 Adult Green Shieldbug near stream  (despite being on gorse was not a Gorse Shieldbug)

SC209694  Adult Green Shieldbug on Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil ( winter colouring)  and on Willow  ( summer colouring).

I could not find the Hawthorn Shieldbug on the rowan today.

Other:

SC209695 Water crickets
SC208695 numerous flies, including Noon Flies on the ash saplings.

SC208695 Common Wasp on ash sapling

SC209694 some sort of eggs on willow leaf?

Notes:

The reserve now has a very autumnal air. Although I have seen very few birds there lately, there is plenty of food for them in the way of berries, seeds and insects. Something has been pillaging the rowan berries ( see photo) so I am clearly going at the wrong time of day!  The Shieldbugs can be confusing at this time of year as they change from their summer to winter "uniforms"! The sexually immature adults are also different. The one in the gorse didn't have the all-red antennae of the Gorse Shieldbug, so I'm reasonably confident it was a Green Shieldbug.