Ballachurry Reserve, 27th and 28th December 2016.

It's that Robin again!

Hope you all had a very enjoyable Christmas!

Some sunny weather here in the south sent me off to Ballachurry Reserve on Tuesday morning about 11 o'clock. Sitting in the Hide just before leaving I was amazed to see a silhouette in one of the trees on the Church boundary which looked remarkably like a Waxwing. The binoculars proved this to be the case and I just had time for a quick, distant photo before it took off towards Port Erin. What a wonderful end to the year to finish with a new record for the Reserve! I walked through the Churchyard before heading for home just to check if there were any berries about that might be tempting in Waxwings, but sadly there were none.

There had been a lot of bird activity over towards the Church boundary that morning but the bright sun put everything in silhouette and was difficult to see. However, from the churchyard the sun was behind me and I had lovely views of the Reserve and the Alder thicket which adjoins it. There was a flock of Goldfinches busily extracting seeds from the alder cones. I watched one break off a cone ( possibly accidentally) and hold it steady with its foot while winkling out the seeds with its beak.

Here is my report for Tuesday 27th December:

SC210694  Blackbird ; Song Thrush x 2;
SC209693  Goldfinch x 20+; Wood Pigeon x 8
SC209694 ( seen from Hide) Waxwing ( new record, at SC207694 approx.); Goldcrest; Wren; Song Thrush; Robin; Blue Tit; Great Tit x 2; Blackbird.
SC208694 ( Willows path) Blackbird
SC208694 ( Reed bed area) Wren; Robin; Blackbird; Great Tit
SC208695 ( Old beehives loop) Wren; Blackbird; Robin; Blue Tit
SC209694 ( path junction) Wren; Robin; Blackbird. Great Tit x 3 together
SC209695 ( orchard entrance area) Blue Tit; Great Tit.
SC209692 ( viewed from Church yard) 20+ Goldfinches on Alder; Blackbird x 3; Wren; Robin; Blue Tit.

Could that possibly be.......?

A Waxwing!

Wood Pigeon

Blackbird

Goldfinch enjoying Alder seed

Song Thrush

View  from the stream

Although not in the Reserve, I was pleased to see a Grey Wagtail in the churchyard flying between the church roof, a gravestone , and back to the roof again.

Grey Wagtail

It's usually difficult for me to visit the Reserve much before 11 o'clock because of other commitments but today, an opportunity to visit for about an hour from 9 a.m. presented itself. What's more it was sunny! I was not the only early bird and was able to learn what was about from regulars Gill and Steve. Alas, I had just missed a Hen Harrier! Here is the tally for Wednesday, 28th December:

SC209694 Blue Tit x 2; Wren
SC209695 Blue Tit x 3; Great Tit; Goldcrest x 3; Robin; Wren heard but not seen.
SC208695 Robin; Blue Tit; Great Tit; Goldfinch x 3
SC209693 Wren; flock of Goldfinches on Church Boundary again.
SC209694 ( from Hide) Blue Tit; Wren; Goldfinches; Blackbird x 3.

That same view from the stream but in earlier morning light

Great Tit wearing antlers for Christmas?

Blue Tit

Blue tit  inspecting nest box

Only seconds later the Great Tit followed suit
I think they were looking for insects rather than a home.

Willowherb in morning sun

Morning sun turning the reeds to gold.

I was disappointed not to see the Long Tailed Tits for 2 days running but just after lunch  I called back to drop something off at the hide and three landed in the willows right beside me at the path junction. ( SC209694) Of course, by then I had neither binoculars nor camera with me!

The moral of the story is.....

Christmas Greetings!

Ballachurry Reserve, 21st and 22nd December, 2016.

December day at Ballachurry Reserve

Two visits for the price of one this week!  I thought the sunshine on Wednesday afternoon might have brought out the birds but I think the cold wind was keeping them mostly hidden in the vegetation. Mere glimpses of the following:

Birds:
SC209694 ( from hide)  2 x Male Pheasant; Robin; Blue Tit; Wood Pigeon; Wren.
SC209693  Male Pheasant flying in
SC209694  Song Thrush
SC208694  5 x Long Tailed Tits
SC210694  5 (possibly 6) Long Tailed Tits
SC209694 Wren

Other:

SC210694 Stinking Iris

Long Tailed Tit in the willows

Stinking Iris berries near the gate

Today, Thursday, I thought I would try the morning instead. My tally for the first hour was exactly one Robin! Only when I decided to leave did things start to improve, so I took another quick walk round and noted the following:

Birds:
SC208695  3 x female Pheasants
SC208694  ( compost corner)  very tame Robin, flew down to see me as soon as I arrived.
SC209694 ( from Hide) Moorhen; Great Tit; Blue Tit; 2 x Wren
SC208694  7 x Chaffinch, 2 x Great Tit, Blue Tit - all sitting together in the same tree.
SC209695  2 x Long Tailed Tits in Sycamore.

Other:
SC208695 A few daisies still in flower
SC209694 Oak Spangle Galls still on leaves

Lawn daisies

Oak Spangle Galls

a chilly looking pond and reed bed

Chirpy Wren near the Hide

My friend the Robin

Despite the sunshine, the reserve looked ( & felt) somewhat bleak both days, with a strengthening icy wind. With severe gales forecast for tomorrow and the weekend, today was my last visit until after Christmas. But....

To end with something seasonal a word or two about "The Holly and the Ivy". Now the vegetation is dying down near Ginnie's Bench it's possible to see the Holly saplings once more. These have been somewhat slow to "take off" but I was pleased to notice that there has been new growth on all of them this year. The nearby Ivy hedge is vigorous and, being mature, always covered in late flowers & early berries. Ivy is excellent for wildlife. The juxtaposition of these two plants gives me hope that one day we may be welcoming Holly Blue Butterflies to the Reserve. It is one of the very few Manx Butterflies not yet recorded at Ballachurry. Its caterpillar food plants are  - yes, you've guessed - Holly and Ivy. The first brood eggs are laid on Holly and the second brood on Ivy, so hopefully it is only a matter of time before we can add this beautiful small blue butterfly to the Ballachurry Species list.

Part of the ivy hedge with inset holly.

Holly Blue butterfly - a future possibility at Ballachurry Reserve?

Ballachurry Reserve, 15th and 17th December 2016.

December at Ballachurry Reserve

The weather didn't live up to expectations on Thursday, 15th December and far from the promised dry morning, it started to rain just as I arrived at the Reserve! I  headed for the hide but with little about I made use of the time for a quick tidy up with dustpan and brush until the shower passed over.
I eventually managed a proper walk round and here is what I recorded.

Birds:
SC209693 Blackbird; 7 x Long Tailed Tits; 2 x Goldcrests; 2 x Blue Tits; 2 x Great Tits. Chaffinch
SC210694 Great Tit; Blue Tit;
SC209694 ( from Hide) Blue Tit; 4 x Chaffinch.
SC208694 ( willows path) Goldcrest; Blue Tit; Great Tit;  3 x male + 1 female Chaffinch; Robin heard but not seen.
SC208694 (new compost heap area) Blackbird; Goldfinch;Robin; 3 x Long Tailed Tits.

One photo of a Long Tailed Tit shows it was taking Great Willow Aphids.

I decided to check the Robin nest box in the Alder tree near the road, hoping it had again been used this year. To my surprise it was full to the absolute top with  Alder seed. SC209693

Fungi

SC209694 Scurfy Twiglet fungi continue to appear in the wood chip paths
SC209694 There is still Coral Spot visible on the dead sapling.

Apologies for the poor quality of the bird photos in this post. Light levels very low and birds determined to sculk! Put in as record shots only.

No room for a nest - full of damp seed.

seed from the nest box

Chaffinch hiding behind twigs

Goldcrest doing likewise

Coral spot on the dead sapling

Just a record shot of a Long Tailed Tit

This Long Tailed Tit seems to be eating Great Willow Aphids

Close up of the same patch of aphids

Hard now to imagine this Hogweed covered in flowers, caterpillars,
and attracting Hoverflies all through the summer.

Saturday, 17th December dawned bright and sunny of course. I was busy in the morning but decided to drop into the reserve  during the afternoon, feeling sure the sunshine would have brought out the wildlife. In fact it seemed eerily quiet and at one point I wondered if I was going to see anything at all! Here is my eventual tally:

Birds:

SC209694 Song Thrush; Robin. Old nest now visible in hawthorn sapling near the path junction.
SC208694 ( compost corner)  3 x Goldfinch; Great Tit;  Blackbird alarm call heard; Blue Tit; Robin
SC208694 ( boardwalk area) Robin; Wren;
SC209695  Dunnock x 2 together; Blue Tit;
SC209694 ( from hide) Moorhen; Wren; Robin heard but not seen; Kestrel flying over; Water Rail heard but not seen.
SC210 694 Goldcrest; 2 x Long Tailed Tits

Other:

 SC209693 More and more  Scurfy Twiglet fungi appearing in the wood chip along the path.

late sun on the reed bed

Nest now visible in the hawthorn

Scurfy Twiglet fungi along the path

One of two Dunnocks in the hawthorn

December Robin.

Ballachurry Reserve, December Work Party - 10th December 2016.

Mr. S.Claus kindly dropped by to lend a hand
 at what must be a very busy time of year for him.

A very big thank you to  the dozen or so volunteers who did a mighty amount of raking and barrowing at today's Work Party. The good turn-out enabled us to get both recently cut areas done and we had finished by midday.

Being December, our refreshment break had a festive air with mince pies, Christmas cake and some hot ( non-alcoholic!) punch. The weather was not at all seasonal, however, with temperatures of 13 degrees feeling positively balmy!

A blue handled rake was left behind and a plain wooden handled rake went missing! If you find you have the wrong one could you please give Janet Thompson a ring on 428953 ( or email her on  jthompson@manx.net ) and she will put you in contact with the other person concerned to do a swap.

Many rakes make light work

Two of our regular volunteers

This is clearly Santa's day job!

Fodder for the reindeer perhaps?

Pile it high!

Going back for more

Our ever growing pile of compost

Only when piled up did we realise quite how much had been cut!

The compost heap will surely make a cosy  winter
 habitat for a variety of creatures

Time for hot toddy!

Winter warmer

But then it's back to work

This area was much easier

and quickly finished

Before raking

After raking

Just before leaving the Reserve I went to retrieve a notice pointing the way to the composting area. I found  our  large heap of rakings being thoroughly inspected by a variety of birds! A Chiffchaff was sitting on top of the pile and a Wren and Robin were going over it consistently. The surrounding trees were full of birds too - Goldfinches, Great Tits,  Blue Tits,  Goldcrest,  Dunnock, and a small flock of Long Tailed Tits. I went back to the car to collect my "bird camera" and staked out the area for some time, but didn't manage any good shots as there were always branches and brambles in the way! SC208694

When emptying the barrows we had noticed several small Wolf Spiders amongst the grass & rushes and I imagine these and other insects were providing an unexpected easy feast for all these small birds. We also found a large frog.

The frog quickly found a new home

This Long Tailed Tit flew off just as I pressed the shutter!

Wren inspecting the compost

Robin doing likewise

I dropped off some tools earlier in the morning on my way back from Port Erin and noted the following:

SC209694  ( pond) Mallard x 6; Great Tit; Moorhen; Blackbird;Water Rail heard but not seen.

SC209694   ( path junction) 7 x Long Tailed Tits flew right across the path in front of me and landed in the willows an arm's length away ( alas, no camera) 

SC209694 ( gorse boundary) glimpse of unidentified thrush

SC209695 ( orchard entrance) Blackbird

SC208695 ( old beehive loop) Great Tit.

Magpie and Kestrel flying over.

Once more, very many thanks to all our volunteers whose hard work makes Ballachurry Reserve the wonderful wildlife haven it has become.