Tuesday 24 May 2016

Ballachurry Reserve, 22nd May 2016.



Looking towards reed bed from hide

My latest visit to the Reserve on Sunday was simply to drop off a few things at the Hide but I did a quick walk round at the same time and saw the following:

Birds:

SC209694 male Blackbird
SC208694 Chiffchaff & Sedge Warbler  heard but not seen.
SC208694 Willow Warbler ( preening between bursts of song) 
SC208695 female  Chaffinch
SC209693 Whitethroat - flew from the willows up to the wires and back again.
SC209694  Robin in the memorial Cherry Tree by Ginny's bench
SC209694 ( from Hide) Moorhen, Hooded Crow
SC208694  another Willow Warbler
SC208695 Magpie

Moths and Butterflies:

SC209694 small unidentified moth near hide + unidentified White butterfly flying
SC208695 Small Tortoiseshell + unidentified White flying
SC209694 2 x Wall Browns together; Small Tortoiseshell
SC209695 Small Tortoiseshell.

Other:

SC208694  a few Gorse Shieldbugs enjoying the sunshine
SC208695  unidentified Hoverfly on Rowan blossom
SC209694  oak galls on leaves
SC208695  dandelions again appeared to be full of tiny flies - on screen they look more like moths
SC208694  Water Forget-me-Nots now in flower
SC209694  Yellow flowered plant has appeared  amongst the nettles - to be identified
SC208694  Willows shedding seed - appears to be snowing! 
SC209694  Hundreds of midges over the water - see moorhen photo

Magpie

Robin and Lichen

Hoverfly on Rowan blossom

are they tiny flies or moths?

oak gall forming

Moorhen obscured by midges

Gorse Shieldbug

Small Tortoiseshell

Small Tortoiseshell in Hemlock Water Dropwort

Wall Brown

Willow "snow" blowing through the Reserve

Whitethroat singing from the wires

a couple more views of the Whitethroat

Not really where you expect to see a Whitethroat!

a more usual view of the Whitethroat
Willow Warbler in Willow

Willow Warbler in Alder -alternating singing and preening




Sunday 22 May 2016

Ballachurry Reserve, 15th & 20th May 2016.

a bright splash of buttercups
Last Sunday, 15th May, I thought I ought to call in the Reserve to check on the wasps' nest in the hide. It was now the size of an egg cup, suspended from the ceiling near the door. No wasps at home, so I carefully removed it,as it would become a hazard to users of the hide if allowed to remain. It's an absolute work of art and I feel quite bad about removing it, but there you are!  I shall give it to Dawn Dickens, the MWT Education Officer to show  to her Watch and school groups. At the moment though it is in my freezer making sure nothing hatches out from the eggs inside. A wasp did come in through the door a couple of times while I was there but didn't bother me. We need to monitor for these in future I think. So much easier to nip in the bud than deal with a full-blown nest. In previous years there has been a nest in the nest box on the hide and, of course, this has caused no problem to visitors.

Naturally I took a walk round while there and saw the following:

Birds:

SC209695 2 x Goldfinch, Hooded Crow;
SC208694 Willow Warbler; Peahen sitting comfortably on the path! 
SC209694  Male Blackcap; Moorhen.
Swallow flying over

Butterflies:

SC209695  Speckled Wood
SC208695 Male Orange Tip
SC209694 Small Tortoiseshell
SC209693 Wall Brown
SC210694 Wall Brown

Not bad for an unscheduled visit!

Wasp nest in hide


Close-up photo taken once removed


Looking inside the wasp's nest

close-up showing the eggs inside the cells

a rather distant photo of the Blackcap

one of the peahens from next door, now free-range in the reserve

Speckled Wood

Friday 20th May 2016

My next recording visit was on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, it started to rain when I was only half way round the reserve. Although I completed the circuit it did of course mean an end to seeing butterflies etc. Nevertheless, there were a few highlights.

Birds:

There was a lot of birdsong but now the leaves are on the trees the birds are much harder to spot.

SC209694  female Pheasant crossed the path in front of me, followed by one small chick. ( delighted to see this)
SC208694 Goldfinch
SC209694 ( from hide) Moorhen; Hooded Crow; 2 x male Mallard ( including the usual hybrid)  Great Tit
SC209694 the Peahen and the white hen were walking along the gorse boundary and elsewhere; Sedge Warbler.
Swallows  flying over
Heard but not seen:  Wren; another Sedge Warbler; Song Thrush;  Willow Warbler; Chiffchaff

Butterflies:

SC208694 Small White; Green Veined White;
SC209694 Speckled Wood. I had just photographed this when it flew off along the gorse boundary towards the Peahen, some distance ahead of me. The Peahen immediately pecked it in mid air, making it fall to the ground and was about to eat it when I hollered and approached at speed! The Peahen moved off but alas the Speckled Wood was dead. I know I should probably have let nature take its course, but I feel it's one thing a wild bird taking a butterfly for food but quite another when a domestic pet does it.

Other:

SC208695  Mating pair of St. Marks flies
SC209695  Large Bumble Bee on grass; Noon Fly; Campion aphids; about 15 Water Crickets; Sorrel flowers
SC209694  unusual fly on sycamore sapling
SC209695 Crane fly
SC208.694 Wolf spiders, one carrying egg sack.
SC208695  unusual tiny flies in dandelion flower - will try to identify
SC209694  Gorse Shieldbug eggs; Horsetail.
SC208694  Dropping /pellet on bridge handrail. I had intended to dissect this to see what it contained but it had vanished when I went back for it later
SC209694  I deliberately looked for the black worms under the carpet as I needed a close-up photo for identification purposes. It has been suggested that they may be an alien species of flatworm (Kontikia ventrolineata) - an unfortunate new record both for Ballachurry and the Island, if so.

The Reserve is looking very attractive at present with the golden buttercups, white hawthorn blossom and red campion flowers, to name just a few.

Bumble Bee

Crane Fly

Many of the dandelions had these flies on them

another fly to be identified

Noon Fly

Mating St. Marks Flies

This may be an alien flatworm called Kontikia ventrolineata
- under investigation!

Gorse Shieldbug eggs

not sure if this is a pellet or a dropping amongst the lichen

Mallard drakes

Wolf spiders - the one on the left has egg sack

Campion aphids 


a lovely stand of Red Campion 

Goldfinch

Horsetail

Sorrel flowers

out for a stroll

Speckled Wood already looking ragged
and about to be killed by the Peahen

Small White

Saturday 14 May 2016

Ballachurry Reserve, 12th May 2016.

View from the Hide on a lovely blue-sky day
Thursday was a lovely sunny day for this week's visit to Ballachurry Reserve. For the first time this year I dared to wear trainers instead of wellies! Here is the report;

Birds:

SC209694  ( Hide) Moorhen; Hybrid Mallard ( drake)
SC208695 ( old beehive loop) Wood Pigeon; Great Tit; Willow Warbler
SC209695   ( stream) I climbed the bank to check the pipe was not blocked and had a lovely view of a Song Thrush bathing in the water
SC209694 ( path junction) Great Tit; Willow Warbler
Flying over: Herring gulls; Swallow; Hooded Crow
Heard but not seen: 
SC209693 ( reeds in front of church boundary) Sedge Warbler
SC208694 (firs) Willow Warbler; Chiffchaff;
SC209694  (from hide) Pheasant; Willow Warbler; Sedge Warbler
SC208694 (reed bed) Moorhen

Butterflies:

SC210694 male Orange Tip (several sightings during afternoon) ; larger unidentified white; 4 Small Tortoiseshells flying together after two of them interrupted courtship of the other pair.
SC210694 Wall Brown ( 1st of the year) 
SC209693 male Orange Tip
SC209694 Small Tortoiseshell and male Orange Tip both on Cuckoo flowers; 2 x Small White
SC209695 Unidentified White flying ; Small Tortoiseshell
SC209694 male Orange Tip chasing unidentified White
SC208694 (bar-mown meadow area) male Orange Tip on Cuckoo flowers

There are OrangeTip eggs on Cuckoo Flowers and on the Garlic Mustard which I planted last year.

Moths:

 SC210694 Clouded Border NEW RECORD

Beetles:

SC209693 Large Back beetle under carpet and another crossing the path

Other:

SC209695 Common Wasp
SC209694  ( gorse boundary)Crane fly; unidentified small black fly
SC209694 ( willows) Crane Fly; Hoverfly; Bumble Bee
SC209694  there are Caddisfly larvae on the stones in the stream
SC209695 & SC209694 there are Gorse Shieldbug eggs on several of the gorse bushes. Not many Shieldbugs seen though.
SC209694  mysterious cracking noises coming from the undergrowth turned out to be the white hen from next door.
SC209694  the hide has a number of spider nests and a large spider. What, in the gloom, looked like a moth caught in a web may be, in fact, the beginning of a wasp nest. We need to monitor this. 
SC208694 Hawthorn in blossom
SC209695 Rowan in blossom

Small Tortoiseshell on Cuckoo Flower

Courting Small Tortoiseshells

Takes a while....

just at this moment they were interrupted by 2 other Small Torts

Crane Fly

another Crane Fly

Caddis Fly larvae

Gorse Shieldbug eggs

next door's hen

Great Tit

Hybrid Mallard

Willow Warbler

and another

Rowan blossom

Hawthorn blossom

Wildflower "garden" under the notice board

Spider in the hide

spider nest

Clouded Border moth

unidentified fly

unidentified Hoverfly

Wall Brown butterfly

is this the start of a wasp's nest?


can you spot the orange egg of the Orange Tip butterfly?

Male Orange Tip butterfly