26th March,2016. Stream dipping at Ballachurry Reserve.

Dawn Dickens, MWT Education Officer, examining her catch!

Have just spent an interesting ( if very wet)  morning with Dawn Dickens, the Manx Wildlife Trust's Education Officer, investigating aquatic life at Ballachurry Reserve. This was a rather privileged session for Southern Group Committee members so we could assess requirements for possible  future stream dipping events for the Watch Group and local schools.

Here are a few photos of the trial dippings -I'll add proper captions when Dawn has confirmed the identifications ( it was too wet to make notes on paper of what she said!)

Small cased caddisfly  larvae -probably Agapetus sp. 

Leach cocoons containing eggs -probably Ribbon leaches.

Fresh water shrimps, male protecting female

greenish larva  emerged from mud on stone-
 probably either hydropsyche or rhyacophilia
Caddisfly larva

Fresh water shrimp. Intriguing red patch - possible parasite?

Too small to identify with naked eye

Awaiting ID

Water Hog Louse

Many thanks to Dawn for giving up her Easter Saturday morning to help us.

Ballachurry Reserve, 25th March, 2016.

Two Great Tits inspecting this nest box together today.

Ballachurry Reserve, 23rd March, 2016

Tipped off  by respected local birder, Neil Morris, that there was a Great Spotted Woodpecker at Ballachurry Reserve, there were binoculars and telescopes at the ready on Wednesday morning. I unfortunately missed it (shopping in Douglas) &  felt very miffed!  This is a new record for the reserve and hopefully it will be seen there again  in future.

I did visit the Reserve at dusk in the hopes of spotting the Water Rail and was rewarded with a couple of fleeting glimpses. We also heard it from the reeds.

Ballachurry Reserve, 22nd March 2016.

The reserve looking rather bleak & wintry under grey skies

It was a cold, dull day at Ballachurry on Tuesday - not at all like spring. Not even warm enough for  the gorse shieldbugs to be out and about, let alone a butterfly. However, a 7spot Ladybird was in the Hemlock Water Dropwort. I wondered if it had perhaps been hibernating in last year's hollow stems, which I suspect make cosy homes for all sorts of invertebrates through the winter. 

Birds:

SC209694 Magpie;Wren

SC209694 2 Drake Mallards; Bluetit; Robin; female Chaffinch; Song Thrush; male Chaffinch; 2 x Blackbirds together; 2 x Wood Pigeon

SC208694 Wren; Bluetit; Reed Bunting; 

SC209695 Robin; 2 x Great Tits together.

SC208694 Pheasant heard but not seen.

SC208694 Grey Heron flying over.

Ladybirds:

 7spot on Hemlock Water Dropwort

Spiders:

SC209694 Tiny spider walking along Ginny's bench. I think it may be one of  the Money Spiders Walckenaera  sp. (seeking confirmation) 

Bees:

SC208694  Honey bees in gorse.

A few Bumble bees on the wing.

Notes:

I found a golf ball on the reserve and thought "oh no, we are going to have to put up a "no ball games" notice!," however when I picked it up I discovered it was very damaged and had possibly been dropped by a dog (even though no dogs are allowed!).

It's now time to put up some signs about keeping to the paths during the bird nesting season.

It was good to see an ornithologist spending time at the Reserve. With his telescope he was spotting all kinds of birds that I had missed, including a flock of linnets. He phoned me later that evening to say he'd even seen a Swallow after I'd gone.

We all know that 1 swallow doesn't make a summer but the clocks are about to change...........

7spot Ladybird in the Hemlock Water Dropwort

Blue Tit just outside  the Hide

Chaffinch on the boundary taken from the Hide

Honey bee in the gorse flowers

Solitary Mallard

Robin near the top of the tree - there were 2 Great Tits just lower down

Teeny, tiny spider on the bench

well chewed golf ball

View from the hide

Temporary notice - more durable ones to follow

Ballachurry Reserve, 17th March 2016.

All spruced up for spring.

Following our efforts on the Noticeboard earlier in the week, I went back on the 17th to do a proper walk-round and recording session. The first thing I noticed was that landowner, Stan, had cut the grassy paths and the areas round the benches. He has also sent the following message to all the  work party volunteers:

" Please tell the working group they are doing a wonderful job and is appreciated by me and all who visit the Wetlands."

 Here are the records:

Birds:

SC210694   male Blackbird; Great Tit; Robin

SC209694  female Pheasant; 2 x Blue Tit; female Blackbird

SC209694  male Mallard; Moorhen; Blue Tit

SC208694  Goldfinch; 2 x Great Tit

SC208694  Water Rail - I must have been standing almost on top of it for about 5 minutes whilst watching something else. Then  I took 1 step forward and off it flew into the reeds

SC208694 2 x Great Tit; male Blackbird;

SC209695   Wren investigating same broken branch for insects as last visit;Great Tit; BlueTit;

SC208695 Great Tit; Robin; Magpie

Butterflies:

SC210694 Small Tortoiseshell

SC209694 Small Tortoiseshell - seen twice along this path.  

All three sightings probably the same butterfly.

Bees & Flies:

Lots of Bumblebees flying through reserve and visiting willow flowers including  SC209694 & SC208694

Honey bees in gorse

Carder bee? SC208695

Hoverflies at SC209695 & SC208695

Yellow dung fly? + various other flies on willow flowers SC208694

Shieldbugs:

SC209694 17 Gorse Shieldbugs along the Gorse Boundary.

Notes:

Now the boundary ditch has been cleared  the primroses and celandines are more visible. The water levels have fallen on the paths  although everywhere is still very muddy. 

Can you see the second Great Tit?

Great Tit

Robin in the Hawthorn

Robin looking for insects in the mud

Wren hunting for insects

Moorhen

Bee in the willows

Took this view for ID purposes!

Willow flowers attracting  bees 

Carder bee?

Honeybee & fly

Gorse Shieldbug

Hoverfly

Hoverfly on ash sapling

Yellow dung fly?

Lovely to be seeing butterflies again! Small Tortoiseshell.

Please note that what I thought  might be a Ladybird pupa last time has now been identified as  the larva of a Chrysomelid Beetle. They don't usually overwinter as larvae so there is some speculation that it may have been parasitized.

Finally, let's finish with a photo of those beautiful willows.

Willows in the sunshine.

15th March 2016, Ballachurry Reserve.

It was too damp at last Saturday's Working Party to treat the Noticeboard with wood preservative as planned. A few days' sunny weather soon dried it out though, so a couple of us went back on Tuesday to take advantage of the sunshine and do the job.

We were not the only ones to be enjoying the sunshine! A tiny 2-spot Ladybird had been tempted out of hibernation, and  just as we were clearing up to go a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly settled on the celandines nearby. This is my first butterfly sighting of the year so how nice that it was at Ballachurry!

A quick walk round before we left  also produced the following records:

SC209694 & SC210694 Hoverfly (possibly Eristalis pertinax?) on gorse and on the hand rail of the concrete bridge.
SC208694  tiny red mite, possibly a Harvest Mite  ( very small and impossible to identify in the field, says my book!) It was on one of the pieces of wood near the dam.
SC208694  Pupa, looks like a Ladybird pupa, also on the wood near the red mite. Will try to get it identified.NOW IDENTIFIED as larva of Chrysomelid beetle, possibly parasitized. My thanks to Professor Roy at CEH for help with this.
SC208694 Hooded Crow in the fir trees
SC209694 the inevitable Gorse Shieldbugs along the gorse boundary, enjoying the sunshine.
SC210694 Robin near the entrance.
SC209694 Bluetit near the Hide.

2-Spot Ladybird

Small Tortoiseshell

A bee mimic Hoverfly

Possibly an adult Harvest Mite

Larva of Chrysomelid beetle

Hooded Crow

Gorse Shieldbug

Ballachurry Reserve Working Party, 12th March 2016.

 Foggy weather could not discourage the 13 Volunteers who attended  today's Work Party at Ballachurry Reserve. It was a little damp so we decided to  leave  treating the noticeboard with wood preservative until a dry day. Instead we tackled clearing the stream between the two ponds  and cutting back  brambles which were  blocking & rooting into the ditch along the boundary of the Reserve. This was our last chance to complete this job before the bird nesting season. The bramble prunings were carefully added to other brambles growing in another area of the Reserve to increase their density, hopefully making the area attractive for nesting.

 Reminding ourselves  that " We like brambles! We want to keep lots of brambles!"  we tried  to avoid pruning fever,  removing no more than was necessary. The reason for this is that many Warblers seen on the Reserve  favour this kind of habitat for their nests. The following information, for example, is taken from a BTO guide to nesting birds.

Chiffchaff: 10-30 cm off ground, most often in brambles, especially mixed with nettles.......
Blackcap:  below 1 metre, most commonly in brambles with nettles........
Whitethroat: 30 - 50 cm, well hidden in thick brambles......

All of these birds were recorded on the Reserve during 2015.

Other Ballachurry species nest close to or even on the ground so if you visit the Reserve during the next few months please remember to keep to the paths to avoid disturbance.

Everyone worked really hard on these strenuous tasks today - a bit thank you to all concerned. And special thanks to Janet and Margaret for fortifying  us with tea and home-made cakes during the break.

We did see some wildlife : Heron and Mallard flying over; Blue Tits, Chaffinch and House Sparrows keeping us company, and a Song Thrush was cheering us on while we worked! One new volunteer was even able to identify the shrimp like water creatures in the stream for us - very useful, thank you!

Here are a few photos .

Starting on the stream

Happy in our work!

Making some progress in the ditch

Notice just  how long the brambles are

Clearing up  our mess

A welcome break...

Time to socialise

Lots of  tea, coffee and cake

then back to work

still more brambles

making progress

 Now we can see the ditch again!

Job done and stream flowing well