Ballachurry Reserve, 26th October 2016.

The reed bed nearest the road, taken from the Hide.

What a difference a week can make! I visited the Reserve on Wednesday and it was quite a contrast with my walk there on 20th October ( see previous post) . Instead of being awash with birds it was very, very quiet! 

Birds:

SC209694 from the Hide: Moorhen; Wren; Kestrel

SC208694 path through the willows:  Great Tit; Chaffinch; Blue Tit; Robin heard but not seen

SC209694 gorse boundary: female Blackbird; Robin heard but not seen.

Usual corvids and gulls overhead.

Other:

SC209694  7spot ladybird on the grass path

SC209694 more fungi appearing round the willow in the cut grass.

SC208694 Noon flies on the handrail

SC209694 Forget-me-Nots still a bright splash in the stream

SC209694 Some lovely rosehips - next meal for the birds now the Rowan and Hawthorn have mostly gone.

Our juvenile Moorhen is looking more and more like an adult

7-spot Ladybird

Unidentified fungus

Gills of these same fungi

These may be something different or just older specimens

Noon Flies

Water Forget-me-Nots

Luscious Rosehips

 I also sowed a few wild flower seeds in the area strimmed  during the Work Party. These included Yellow Rattle, which is parasitic on grass, so will hopefully reduce its vigour and eventually allow the more delicate wild flowers a chance to establish.

Ballachurry Reserve, 20th October 2016.

Low sun picking out the autumn colours

I'm very late getting this report in, but here goes! It was certainly a bumper number of birds.

Birds:

SC208695 Red wing taking hawthorn berries

SC208695 Song Thrush

SC208695 Robin

SC208695 Great Tit

SC208695 Chaffinch m.

SC209695 Chaffinch f.

SC208695 Wren

SC208695 Coal Tit

SC208695 Willow Warbler/Chiffchaff ( whistling)

SC208695 Blue Tit x 2

SC208695 Goldfinch

SC208695 Blackbird male taking berries

SC209694 Robin

SC209694 Blackbird m.

SC209694 Pheasant  x 2 m. & f.

SC208694 Chaffinch m.

SC209694 ( seen from hide) Juvenile Moorhen; Blackbird m. Robin; Great tit; Song Thrush ( juvenile?); female Blackcap

SC210694 Willow Warbler/Chiffchaff (whistling) 

SC210694 Blackbird m.

SC209693 Blackbird m.

SC208694 Pheasant m.

SC208694 Robin

SC208694 Snipe

SC209694 Raven flying over

SC209694 Large flock of Redwings flying over ( 40+)

SC208694  2  Water Rails heard calling simultaneously from reed bed.

SC209695 Jackdaw

Butterflies:

SC209694 Red Admiral

Other:

SC209693 Gorse Shieldbug on Hazel

SC209693 unidentified Hoverfly "preening".

SC209694 unidentified slug on fungus

SC209694 large white Hebeloma species fungi growing on wood chip path ( thanks to Fungus Group for I.D.)

SC209694 small clusters of beige & brown fungi on wood chip path  ( not yet identified)   

SC208694 Cortinarius fungi previously reported now going over.

SC210694 Common earwigs on notice board

SC208695 High pitched squeaking heard from vegetation on old beehive loop.

So lucky to see this Redwing at close quarters

Female Blackcap in Rowan

Robin the Hawthorn

Juvenile Blackbird on Rowan

Blackbird taking the Hawthorn berries

Common Earwigs have made the noticeboard their home

Still Shieldbugs to be seen

This Hoverfly was "preening" - note legs over back of body

A couple of Hebeloma fungi on the woodchip

Another Hebeloma fungus showing the gills

We are still trying to identify these

a closer look

Slug finding the Hebeloma tasty

Jackdaw

Juvenile Moorhen

Song Thrush - normal colouring

This very dark thrush may be a juvenile

another view

Compare the size of this Willow Warbler/Chiffchaff
 with  the size of the leaves!

Chiffchaff/Willow Warbler.....

dozing off

another view

Back lit Willowherb 

later afternoon view of Reserve

time to go home for tea

Ballachurry Reserve - Work Party, 22nd October 2016

Ready to attack the brambles!

A very big thank you to all the volunteers who came along to our Work Party on Saturday. It was a lovely sunny morning and we completed many tasks including painting new wood on the hide, filling in ruts with old turf, strimming an area for wild flower seeding, some ditch clearance and removing brambles  growing through the Hazel trees. 

We also ate lots of cake! Many thanks to the baking sub-committee as always.

Incentive and reward!

Enjoying a sunny break

 time to socialise

removing old turf near the Hide to fill in ruts elsewhere

a new coat of paint

strimming long grass near the Notice Board

and raking it off so Yellow Rattle can be sown
to bring down fertility

down in the ditch

lost in the brambles

liberating a Hazel  sapling

found another!

cutting back  more brambles from round the Hazels

that looks better!

A quick walk round before the work started put up a Snipe at SC209693, the juvenile Moorhen was on the pond at SC209694 and a flock of about 20 Fieldfares flew over.

I had visited the Reserve earlier in the week to do some recording and I hope to post the notes and photos for that visit  later in the week.

Well done everybody - hard work much appreciated!

Work Party, Ballachurry Reserve, 22nd October 2016.

Just a reminder that we have our Work Party tomorrow at Ballachurry Reserve from 10 till 1pm. (just drop in/ drop out when it suits you)

Wide choice of tasks - delicate painting to bramble bashing!

Refreshments provided. All welcome. Weather looking good.

Ballachurry Reserve, 12th October 2016

Late afternoon sun at Ballachurry Reserve

I spent a relaxing afternoon at Ballachurry  last Wednesday (12th October)  and saw plenty of bird life. Here is the report:

Birds:

SC208694 2 x Robin

SC208694 3 x Goldfinch

SC208694 2 x Siskin

SC208694 Bluetit

SC208695 Wren

SC208695  Willow Warbler/ Chiffchaff

SC209695 Bluetit

SC209695 Coal Tit

SC209695 2 x Robin

SC209695  Great Tit

SC209695  3 x Long Tailed Tit

SC209695  Sparrow Hawk flew over ( lovely vue with low sun on wings) settled briefly in tree then flew off towards Sloc.

SC209694  Magpie
SC209694 Juvenile Moorhen

SC208694 9 Wood Pigeons flying over

Butterflies:

SC209695 Small White

SC209694 Red Admiral sunning itself on Ginnie's Bench

Shieldbugs:

SC209694 6 x Gorse Shieldbugs

SC209694 Sloe Bug

SC209693  2 x Green Shieldbug

Hoverflies & other flies:

SC209695 Various unidentified hoverflies on late Hogweed flowers

SC209694 Noon Fly

Other:

SC208694  Several Webcap fungi  ( Cortinarius) growing near Hawthorn tree. Spore print obtained, so hoping to identify. NEW RECORD 

Wasp Nests active throughout reserve.

SC208694 Several horizontal spider webs on gorse - no sign of spiders

Bluetit in the willows

Robin in Hawthorn

Robin in Rowan

Robin singing

Web Cap fungi

Brown gills and white "web"

a different sort of web

Hoverfly on Hogweed

another view

a couple more hoverflies

and another

this one was very small

and yet another elsewhere

juvenile Moorhen

Red Admiral

Small White

Sloe Bug (aka Hairy Shieldbug)

Green Shieldbug

Noon Fly

Long Tailed Tit

very acrobatic

one of three Long Tailed Tits

Long Tailed Tit

Autumn view of Hide

Autumn colours at Ballachurry Reserve