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| Families starting to gather for fun and fresh air. |
Running late with my reports again - busy, busy, busy!
My visit on Monday,1st August was a little different, in that I had volunteered to help Dawn Dickens, The Manx Wildlife Trust's Bio-Diversity Education Officer, with a children's afternoon at the reserve. There were about 16 children + their parents/ guardians. With so many pairs of eyes looking we found some amazing things and, of course, children are very good at spotting things closer to the ground! I learnt to use a pooter and a sweep net too ( though not very expertly, I must say!)
Obviously I couldn't record everything in the usual way but I did jot down a few notes as follows and take lots of photos:
Flies:
SC208694 2 x Rhingia campestris hoverflies; Male Syritta pipiens Hoverfly
Snails:
SC210694 Garden Snail
SC208694 unidentified yellow snail on leaf, even smaller yellow snail inside willow leaf, larger brown snail.
Ladybirds:
SC209693 7spot Ladybird;
SC208694 3 x 7spot ladybirds
SC209695 Black and White pupa case ( empty) on ash tree. UK Ladybird Survey thinks it is a Harlequin but consulting colleague at Anglia University.
Spiders:
SC208694 Tiny brown spider inside rolled willow leaf ( possibly new record?)
SC209694 Nursery Web Spider ( Pisaura mirablilis)
SC210694 Nursery Web Spider ( Pisaura mirablilis)
SC209695 Enoplognatha spider? on leaf
SC209695 Spider egg sack - possbily Enoplognatha as above?
Caterpillars:
SC208694 Last week's Grey Dagger Moth caterpillar was still in the Blackthorn but looked to be starting to pupate.
SC208694 tiny caterpillar on willow leaf - possibly a sawfly caterpillar
Shieldbugs:
SC210694 Green Shieldbug nymph, early instar on nettles
SC208694 Numerous Gorse Shieldbug instars + adults on gorse bush near the dam + one bright red one which might be something different ( to be identified)
SC208694 Cluster of Shieldbug eggs on one side of willow leaf with newly hatched nymphs on the other side. (to be identified)
SC209695 Hawthorn Shieldbug nymphs - various instars, but no adults found
Other:
SC210694 I was able to photograph the Scarlet Pimpernel flower near the noticeboard this week - new record from last week.
SC208694 Leaf Hopper ( many of these throughout the reserve)
SC209693 Marsh Damsel Bug - caught by helper Sue Kinrade and identified by Dawn Dickens - new record
SC208694 Common green capsid bug
SC210694 Field Grasshopper.
SC208694 Frog
SC208694 Common Blue Damselfly
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| 7-spot Ladybird in Hemlock Water Dropwort |
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| 7-spot Ladybird in thistles eating Blackfly |
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| Hunting for bugs |
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| Here's one we found earlier - Common Green Capsid Bug |
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| Common Blue Damselfly |
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| Dawn Dickens, Bio-diversity Education Officer with Garden Snail |
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| Grey Dagger Moth caterpillar starting to spin cocoon |
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| Hunting for Hawthorn Shieldbug instars ( on Rowan) |
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| Some early instars |
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| An older instar |
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| and another |
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| Hawthorn Shieldbug nymph |
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| This one is a Green Shieldbug nymph |
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| Harlequin Ladybird pupa (empty) |
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| Leaf hopper |
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| Marsh Damsel Bug |
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| another view |
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| yet another view of the Marsh Damsel Bug |
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| Nursery Web Spider guarding her brood |
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| Another Nursery Web spider elsewhere in the Reserve |
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| Found with Gorse Shieldbug instars, but may be something different |
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| Scarlet Pimpernel |
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| Eggs and a Shieldbug instar |
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| The other Shieldbug nymphs were clustered on the other side of the leaf |
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| two views of a very handsome snail |
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| Spider egg sack found on Hogweed leaf |
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| A beautifully patterned spider found on the back of a Sycamore leaf |
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| Unidentified tiny snail |
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| Male Syritta pipiens Hoverfly |
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| Possibly a Sawfly caterpillar |
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| A tiny spider living under a curled leaf |
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| A beautiful yellow snail |
All the "potted" creatures were, of course, quickly released from the magnifying jars once they had been admired and identified.
I went back to the reserve this Monday, tempted by the sunny weather. I was about to leave when the elusive Water Rail put in an appearance! Dinner was late that evening! I hope to post the details of this visit later in the week but will tell you now that there were, in fact, 2. There was some very aggressive behaviour between them, so I suspect they are 2 males vying for territory.
Here is a sneak preview of my next post
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| Water Rail. Ballachurry Wetlands Reserve, 8th August 2016. |
