Ballachurry Reserve, Rushen, IOM.: 02 FEBRUARY 2015

FEBRUARY 2015

3rd February 2015

A still, sunny day for a change - just had to go to Ballachurry! The sun went in and the wind got up as soon as I got there but it was still a lot better than my recent visits.

As I pulled up in the car there were 2 jackdaws sitting on the gate right over the word "Ballachurry". It would have been a perfect photo for the album but, of course, by the time I got the camera out of the rucksack they had gone! Here is the complete list:

Birds:

SC210694 Jackdaws x 2 (on gate)

SC209693 Rook (on church boundary)

SC208694 Wood Pigeon ( in firs)

SC208694 Robin ( near dam)

SC208694 3 x Mallard reed bed pond ( 2 f. 1m.)

SC209695 Magpie; 2 x Hooded Crows; Blue tit; Great tit.( orchard trees)

SC209694 Dunnock; Chaffinch; Robin; Blackbird.

SC208695 Great tit with bare patch on breast feathers; 2 x Wren; 2 x Blackbirds( beehive corner)

Pheasant heard but not seen. Usual corvids & Herring gulls over.

Ladybirds & Beetles:

SC209694 2 x 7spot Ladybirds in gorse along field boundary

SC209694 very small brown beetle on underside of carpet round tree opposite hide door.

Shield bugs:

SC209694 6 x Gorse Shieldbugs in Gorse along field boundary.

Other:

SC209694 Lichen and buds making colour contrast on hawthorn.

SC209694 The slime mould continues to grow on the carpet inside the hide

SC209694 Catkins on the Hazels.

Notes:

There is a sapling down near the dam - almost into the water.

3 lots of fouling along the path - perhaps culprit will be caught on the recently installed Bird Capture Cam. I have posted a delightful photo on the gate - shock tactics!

I was there when the aggregate was delivered - promise of work to come on Saturday.

7spot Ladybird

Delivery of aggregate for gridded paths

Gorse Shieldbugs

Unidentified lichen

Robin

Slime mould on carpet in hide

WORKING PARTY 7TH FEBRUARY 2015

A big thank you to everyone who helped with the Work Party today.

Shifting the aggregate

More grid laying

Building the noticeboard

Heave!

Nearly there

So far so good

Isn't something missing?

Strimming a new seasonal path

Welcome tea break

New Toolshed

We even saw some wildlife!

Garden Snails

Honey bee

earthworm

14^th February 2015

It was perfect weather for a visit to Ballachurry today and I wasn't disappointed. Here is the full report:

Birds:

SC209694 3 x Mallard flew up from the pond as I approached the HIde.

SC209694 2 x Male Chaffinch near Ginny's bench; Blue tit.

SC207694 Goldfinch in Alder in fir tree corner ( viewed from new path)

SC208694 Great tit; Moorhen flew into the reeds from second pond. Much smaller bird "walked" across water and into the reeds, white tail very prominent - might have been the Water rail but cannot be sure. The Moorhen left as soon as I arrived but the second bird must have been very close to me and didn't move for some time ( I was watching something else through the binoculars)

SC208695 Great tit near beehives

SC209695 ( orchard entrance) Great tit; Robin; 2 x Blue tits near nest box

SC209694 ( about half way along the gorse boundary) Great tit

Ladybirds:

SC208694 2 x 7spot Ladybirds in the thistles ( one was active)

SC209695 2 x 7spot Ladybirds in the gorse near the bench

SC209694 a further 12 x 7spot ladybirds in the various gorse bushes along the boundary ( several active)

TOTAL 16 x 7spot Ladybirds

Gorse Shieldbugs: 61 along the boundary. Some were singles, others congregating together. The maximum gathering I saw was 15 together. SC209694

Plants:

SC209694 Solitary hogweed in flower near Ginny's Bench; a few lawn daisies and dandelions;

SC209695.Celandine on the orchard bank.

SC208694 plenty of Marsh thistle rosettes.

SC210694 Spring Snowflake by the entrance has a few flowers. ( The spare carpet is stored on top of where the snowdrops appeared last year)

SC209694 Hawthorn sapling has a few leaves open.

Other:

SC209694 Also in the gorse, a small spider and a very small fly with 2 prominent dots on its wings. ( unfortunately I couldn't get the camera to focus on it)

SC209694 Small worms under the carpet squares + a White-legged Snake Millipede.

Honey bees on the gorse ( I didn't go round the beehive loop as they seemed very active and the buzz from the hives was very loud)

A few Queen Bumblebees on the wing and 1 on the new path at SC208694

Notes:

No fouling today but footprints in the aggregate might have been a small dog or possibly a cat - not sure which.

Bank to dam has eroded and the water is coming under the woodwork rather than over it. Consequently the water level has dropped.

I checked both ponds for frogspawn but did not see any. The place in the second pond where I usually see it is high and dry and colonised by weed.

I have put laminated copies of the 2014 summary and the list of new species recorded in the Hide and put the date of the next working party (28th Feb) on the board.

7spot Ladybird and Gorse Shieldbug

Carpet to suppress weeds round saplings now a habitat

Celandine

Male Chaffinch

7spot Ladybird

7spot Ladybird and Gorse Shieldbug

Marsh thistles

Gorse Shieldbug

7spot Ladybird

encroaching weed

26^th February 2015

Definitely signs of spring at Ballachurry now. Firstly, the grass has been cut! The willows and hawthorn have bud burst, the celandines are in flower, as is the prunus tree, but most of all there is frogspawn!

Amphibians:

SC209694 I heard the frogs before I saw them and soon located them in the marginals on the far side of the main pond. At first there were 5 but during the 10 minutes or so that I was watching through binoculars more and more arrived until my final count was 17! (Photos not entirely crisp as on full zoom). Copious amounts of spawn. I could find no spawn in the other pond but the water level is low because of the repairs needed to the dam.

Birds:

SC207694 2 x Great tits in alder; male blackbird; 2 x Hooded Crow in firs.

SC208694 Snipe flew up from near the dam.

Flying over: usual corvids, herring gulls and a Chinook helicopter!

Shield Bugs:

SC209694 I could only find 3 Gorse Shield Bugs today (and no ladybirds) because, I think, of the cold wind which rather negated the sunshine.

Worms:

SC209694 One piece of carpet that I lifted had no less than 11 worms in it.

Plants:

SC210694 Snowdrops by the gate; Spring snowflake too.

SC209694 & SC209695 Celandines in flower

SC209694 Cultivated daffodils in bud

SC209695 and elsewhere Hawthorn leaf buds opening

SC209695 ornamental prunus in flower. This always amuses me as I remember the label said it was May flowering.

SC209694 and elsewhere, the buds of the willows are looking white and ready to burst into "pussy willows"

SC207694 Lots of alder catkins

Fungus:

The Elderberry at SC210694 still has jelly ear fungus. The difference in just 24 hours between the photos of this are interesting.

Alder catkins

Celandine

Frogs with frogspawn

Frogs everywhere

Even more frogs

more arriving by the minute

plenty of spawn

Gorse Shieldbug

frog and spawn close-up

Jelly ear fungus on Elderberry tree

Mating frogs

This garden prunus should flower in May

Buds on Willows

Snowdrops

Brandling worm?

More carpet life

Report for 27th February:

Duncan phoned at lunchtime to ask if I could call in at Ballachurry on my way home from Port Erin to check if some materials had been delivered ready for Saturday's work party. This was a good excuse to check for ladybirds as it was less windy today. I did indeed find just one 7spot at SC208695. I also saw 3 Gorse Shield Bugs in a different gorse bush from yesterday at SC209694.There was a female blackbird at SC208694 and a male taking ivy berries at SC210694. Otherwise it was very quiet, but I was only there for half an hour on this occasion.