Ballachurry Reserve, 24th February 2017.

View through the willows

          

I have been off-Island for a few days so was keen to visit Ballachurry Reserve, if only to see if Storm Doris had caused any damage or flooding. The hide roof seemed to be the only casualty ( see previous post for photos) and hopefully this can be put right at the next work party. The morning sunshine had given way to a rather gloomy afternoon, although the sun did try to shine from time to time, mostly without success!

Spot the sun!

There were quite a few birds flitting about and some birdsong too, but photographic conditions weren't ideal. Here is the list:

Birds:
SC209693 Blackbird
SC209694 ( from hide) Blue Tit; Great Tit; Robin; single Goldfinch nearby +  flock of c.35 in boundary trees;female Chaffinch;Song Thrush singing; single Long Tailed Tit; pair of Mallards mating.
SC208694 (Willows) 5 x Goldfinches; 2 x Wren; 3 x Chaffinch;  Goldcrest; Blue Tit; Song Thrush; Blackbird.
SC208694 ( near reed bed)  5 x Goldfinch; 2 x Chaffinch; Blue Tit; Great Tit; Blackbird; Robin.
SC208695 ( old beehive loop)  Great Tit
SC209695 (orchard entrance corner) 2 x BlueTit; Robin; Blackbird; Great Tit; domestic hen
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) Wren.

Other:
SC209694 more frogspawn than when I was last at the reserve, some in a second area.
SC209694 Fungi still appearing along the paths
SC210694 It's hard to spot the snowdrops this year but they have struggled through at last.
SC209693 Dandelion in flower 

Always pleased to see dandelions - good nectar source for
next month's insects, especially early butterflies.

a small lagoon of frogspawn
please don't remove any - illegal without a licence.

Mallards were bathing when I arrived

then mating

female is right under the water!

then feeding

and preening

some of the goldfinches in the boundary trees

Robin singing

female Chaffinch

Fungi looking frilly

Great Tit near the stream

very vocal

Robin seen from the hide

Snowdrops near the gate

Hopefully March will come in like a lamb and there will be some sunshine for my next visit.

Ballachurry Reserve - Work Party cancelled

Unfortunately we have had to cancel the Work Party on Saturday, 25th February as rain and gales are forecast. Working conditions would be very unpleasant!

It has been re-scheduled for Saturday 4th March, 10 till 1 as usual.

Storm Doris has caused some damage to the Hide Roof, so we shall be adding that to the list of tasks.

Hope to see you there!

Doris damage 

Doris damage

Ballachurry Reserve, 16th February 2017.

Spring has arrived at Ballachurry Reserve!
Please note: it is illegal to remove frogspawn without a licence.

I'd been planning my visit to Ballachurry Reserve all week as Thursday promised to be sunny with light winds! How disappointing then to wake up to the 7 o'clock forecast and learn that instead it was to be dull and drizzly! A peep  through the curtains confirmed this. BUT, by lunch time there was a hint of blue sky (didn't last) and it had stopped raining. I grabbed my binoculars and was at the Reserve by 1.15.

Opening the Hide shutters I was just in time to see the Water Rail hurrying back to cover ( if only I'd been there earlier!) and to watch the rain drops making rings again on the water. Since the Water Rail seemed unlikely to reappear for a while I decided to set off round the reserve once the shower was over. But wait! Some movement in the water weed caught my eye and a closer look showed 7 frogs , some mating, and  a few clumps of frogspawn.  Already this was clearly going to be one of my more interesting visits to Ballachurry!

Here is the list:

Birds:
SC209694 ( from the Hide) Water Rail; 2 x Wren flying together; 2 x Wood Pigeon; 2 x Great Tit; Pheasant m; 2 x Mallard ( pair); 2 x Blue Tit together; 20 x Goldfinch landed in boundary trees.

SC208694 ( Willows) Coal tit; Goldfinch; 3 x Blue Tit; 2 x Great Tit; 2 x Wren ; 2 x Chaffinch; female Blackbird; 5 x very confiding Goldcrests  in the trees and on the pile of compost. Whilst trying to photograph one about 6 feet away from me I realised there was another just over my shoulder a mere 3 feet away!

SC209695 ( orchard entrance  area)  2 x Great Tit; male Blackbird; Wood Pigeon flying over; Pheasant heard not seen.

Other:

 SC209694 7x Frogs + 4 balls of frogspawn.  A lot of loud croaking.
SC209693 Fungi in path - think these are still Scurfy Twiglet.
SC209693 Hazel catkins now open
SC209694 Blackthorn in flower

Wren - also seen on the compost pile

Ballachurry Frog

Frogs everywhere

Another view of the frogs

Blackthorn in flower

Hazel catkins

A handsome pair of Mallards

Male

Female

Wren taken from the hide

I love the way the fungi curl up to show the gills sometimes

Does this little Goldcrest remind you of an "unhappy" Emoticon?

Looking for insects?

A lovely close view of a Goldcrest - no binoculars needed!

There were at least 5

Remarkably tame too

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Chaffinch - I spy with my little eye....

High water level just getting under the bridge

Yes, I know it's out of focus!
Only had time for a very quick shot before it vanished into the rushes.
Water Rail.

March is supposed to be the best month for seeing Water Rail and I certainly had my best views in March last year. So another couple of weeks.....

Next Work Party, Ballachurry Reserve.

The next Work Party will be Saturday 25th February between 10 and 1 as usual (or whatever you can manage)

Please bring stout gloves for some bramble bashing along the ditch + loppers, secateurs etc. if you have them. We do have a few spares.

We shall also be laying the remaining plastic grids along wet areas of the paths. Again, work gloves useful and a spade might come in handy too.

Refreshments provided as usual, hope to see you there.

As always, do please check the Blog or ring Janet on 428953 if the weather suggests we might have to cancel.

Ballachurry Reserve 5th February 2017 - continued.

View from hide Sunday afternoon

Sunday afternoon saw me back at the Reserve with the sun still shining. I was pleased to see the streams flowing strongly again and the water levels falling in the "dry" ditches. Here is the report from the afternoon visit:

Birds:

SC210694  ( near gate) Male blackbird flying across at low level. Female blackbird pecking about in the wet soil of the ditch. Dunnock doing likewise.
SC208694  ( willows) Great Tit x 3; Blue Tit; Chaffinch. They appeared to be stripping buds on willows.
SC209695 ( near orchard entrance) Robin, heard not seen.
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) Robin
SC209694 ( from hide) Wren, heard not seen;Wood Pigeon; 3 x Robin together in one bush; Magpie; Heron flying over; Water Rail heard not seen.
SC208694 ( reed bed) Wren, heard not seen; small bird flying up from within reeds to take insect then returning to reeds. Seen twice but didn't manage to see through binoculars.
SC208694 ( near board walk) male Pheasant. Female Sparrowhawk flying over.
SC209694 ( path junction) Great Tit
SC209694 ( Ginnie's bench area) Song Thrush.
SC209694 Usual corvids flying over. Photo is of Jackdaws I think.


Other:

SC209694 Wet conditions have encouraged more Scurfy Twiglet Fungi to appear in the wood chip
SC209694   Blackthorn in blossom
SC210694  Snowflake in flower close to boundary wall; cultivated crocus close by (haven't noticed these before , so new record)
SC209694 and elsewhere - oak leaves still clinging on despite recent storms
SC209694 Cultivated daffs ( part of an earlier Ballachurry incarnation?) in bud
SC210694 and elsewhere - Hemlock Water Dropwort growing strongly now

Incidentally, I checked for frogspawn but found none yet. ( We have some in our garden pond)

Sunshine picking out the wintry branches

A bit out of focus - Blackthorn flowers

Blue Tit

"Corvids flying over"

and a closer view of that beautiful Ballachurry moon

Cultivated daffs coming into bud

Scurfy Twiglets again

Hemlock Water Dropwort getting quite large now

One of three robins in the thorn bush

Sunny view from the willows looking towards the Orchard trees

and looking back the other way

oak leaves hanging on

heard the Water Rail from in here somewhere

Stream flowing strongly again

this one too - was almost dry this morning

Heron flying homewards

High water levels in the pond have submerged some of the weed

We discourage people from walking round the pond
( causes disturbance) but I had a valid reason to be there and so
 took the opportunity to take a photo of a view not often seen.

View as I left reserve, about 4.45p.m.

Lovely to see signs of spring today, looking forward to visiting again soon.