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| Spring at Ballachurry Reserve |
Another sunny Monday! A quick lunch and off to Ballachurry Reserve again, full of anticipation given the warm spring weather. I was not disappointed! The butterflies are back!
Birds:
SC209694 ( path junction) Song Thrush
SC208694 ( willows) Great Tit; Goldcrest; Chaffinch x 2; Blue Tit
SC208694 ( wildflower-glade-to-be) Snipe ( almost trod on it while photographing plant!)
SC208694( beyond boardwalk) Blue Tit
SC208695 ( beehive loop) Song Thrush; Great Tit x 2
SC209695 ( orchard entrance) Wood Pigeon
SC209694 ( from bird hide) Mallard drake; Wood pigeon; Great Tit flying over; Wren heard not seen.
SC209693 (corner near road/church) Robin.
Flying over : 3 x Mallard
Butterflies:
SC209695 Small Tortoiseshell on grass near orchard entrance
SC209694 1 x single Small Tortoiseshell & 2 x courting Small Tortoisehell in nettles near Ginnie's Bench.
Ladybirds:
SC208694 Seven Spot x 4 in gorse bush near reed bed.
SC209694 Seven Spot in Hemlock Water Dropwort near Ginnie's Bench.
SC209694 Seven Spot x 4 in gorse on gorse boundary
SC209695 Seven Spot in gorse near orchard entrance
Shieldbugs:
SC208694 10 x Gorse Shieldbugs in gorse bush near reed bed
SC209695 5 x Gorse Shieldbugs in gorse near orchard entrance
SC209694 Gorse Shieldbug on bramble leaf + several more in gorse along gorse boundary.
Other:
SC208694 ( path through willows) Wolf spiders; flies on tree guards; various flies, bumble bees and honey bees on willow flowers;
SC208695 Yellow dung flies on willows
SC210694 Grape Hyacinth ( Muscari) in flower near gate ( garden escape)
SC209694 First Water Lily leaves visible
SC208695 Dandelions providing early nectar
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| The Goldcrests are almost guaranteed to be seen |
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| Mallard drake |
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| Quite a thicket of Blackthorn blossom now |
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| Lovely when back lit |
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| Blinks going strong still |
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| A bank of sunny Celandines |
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| Dandelions making a sunny splash |
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| Flag iris planted last autumn |
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| Marsh Marigolds donated by Wild Flowers of Man project |
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| Marsh Marigolds by stream coming into bud |
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| Meadowsweet coming through in the wet areas |
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| Water lily leaves now visible |
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| Muscari by the gate |
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| Flies enjoying the willow flowers |
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| 7-spot Ladybird in Hemlock Water Dropwort |
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| The Ladybirds and Gorse Shieldbugs are often found together |
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| Is there some mutual benefit? |
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| Honey bee in willows |
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| Bumble Bee in willows |
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| Yellow dung flies in willows |
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| This is what is attracting the insects |
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| a closer look |
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| Flies sunbathing |
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| A Gorse Shieldbug on bramble for a change Note the red antennae |
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| Small Tortoiseshell with its caterpillar food plant |
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| Small Tortoiseshell soaking up the heat |
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| A pair of Small Tortoiseshells in courtship mode |
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| sunny view |
Very Rare Sighting - first of 2017:
Duncan Bridges, former Director of Manx Wildlife Trust.
Very surprised & pleased to find Duncan walking round the Reserve when I came out of the bird hide. Duncan put in a tremendous amount of work as a "mucker" at Ballachurry, as well as in the office in his official capacity. See Blog photos for 2015. Unfortunately he was expected elsewhere so there was only time for the briefest of catch-ups before he had to leave, but we hope he enjoys the rest of his stay on the Island and wish him well in the UK. It's good to know he is still interested in the progress of Ballachurry Reserve and we hope he will drop in again from time to time when visiting friends here.
Several other visitors were also enjoying walking round the Reserve in the sunshine. Thank you in particular to Jill and Steve for bringing along a photo of a Tree Creeper taken from near the compost heap recently. Clever stuff! Tree Creepers are notoriously difficult to photograph as they tend to spiral round the tree and disappear round the back just as you press the shutter! They had planned to leave it in the Hide for me but were able to deliver it personally. I have their permission to put it up in the hide for all to see, which I'll do shortly.
And finally......
A big round of applause for volunteer, Peter Hayhurst, who has been working very hard to make and install an elbow shelf in the hide. I put it to good use during my visit - it makes looking through binoculars, camera viewfinders etc. a lot more comfortable. Also useful for notebooks etc. On an earlier visit Peter had replaced a faulty shutter, put the white board back up and done various other hide maintenance jobs for us, so a heartfelt thank you, Peter, for all you do. Much appreciated by all who use the Hide.
