 |
| View across the reserve to the hills |
Almost a week late with this report - very busy + a spell of nice weather always means I'm outside catching up on the outside jobs rather than inside on the computer. However, it's damp and drizzly this afternoon and the hill fog is down too, so no excuses accepted for not signing in.
I heard a Chiffchaff calling from the reserve as soon as I opened my car door last Thursday and was delighted to hear my first Willow Warbler of the season as I walked along the path parallel with the road. I managed with some difficulty to spot it singing in the willows . The only photo I managed was blurred and it flew off towards the gorse boundary before I could try again. I had hoped to catch up with it later but none of the warblers I managed to photograph during the rest of the afternoon were singing and my birding skills are not such that I can readily distinguish between silent CCs and WWs despite some coaching by various Manx Ornithological Society Committee members. I'm grateful to Neil Morris of Manx Birdlife for sorting a couple out for me from the photos on this occasion. Here is the report:
Birds:
SC210694 ( near entrance) Chiffchaff heard but not seen; Robin;
SC209693 ( willows parallel to road) Willow Warbler; Goldcrest;
SC209694 ( path junction) Chiffchaff
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) Wren; Robin ; Song Thrush; Goldfinch; Chiffchaff/ Willow Warbler; Pheasant & Chaffinch heard but not seen
SC209694 ( from hide) 2 x Blackbird ( pair) Great Tit; Chiffchaff/ Willow Warbler + Chiffchaff heard elsewhere at the same time. Mallard flying over.
SC208694 ( willows ) Great Tit; Blackbird; Goldfinch;
SC208695 ( old beehives loop) Goldcrest; female Blackbird; Chiffchaff/ Willow Warbler; 2 x Goldfinch; Great tit;
SC209695 ( near entrance to orchard) Goldcrest
SC208695 ( between end of boardwalk path and start of beehive loop) Chiffchaff ;Wren heard but not seen.
SC208694 As I walked along the willow path I heard a din overhead and witnessed a dogfight ( if birds can have dogfights?) between what I think was a Sparrowhawk and some sort of large Corvid. If any of my birding friends can ID the corvid from its sihouette please let me know. It was the corvid making all the noise but it wasn't a call I'd heard before. Appropriately it almost sounded like an ack- ack gun! The Sparrowhawk must have called up some help as its mate suddenly arrived and joined in the affray but I lost sight of the drama as they headed off beyond the fir trees. I couldn't really see what I was photographing as it was extremely bright looking up and my eyes were soon streaming. I just kept clicking, with mixed results. Composite photo below.
Not strictly the Reserve: adjoining thicket viewed from the road SC209692 Wood Pigeon; Blue Tit.
Other:
SC208694 4 x Gorse Shieldbugs in gorse bush near the dam
SC208694 Wolf spiders on the boardwalk
SC209694 and SC208695 Honey bees in the gorse and in the willows
SC209694 ( near Ginnie's bench) Small Tortoiseshell butterfly in the nettles.
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) 7-spot Ladybird in gorse.
SC208695 Hogweed in flower
SC209694 Unidentified Hoverfly
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) 20 + Gorse Shieldbugs counted.
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) primroses and celandines flowering together in the bank
 |
| Chiffchaff |
 |
| Chiffchaff |
 |
| Chiffchaff |
 |
| Chiffchaff |
 |
| Spring flowers |
 |
| 7-spot Ladybird |
 |
| Honey bee on willow |
 |
| Honey bee on gorse |
 |
| Goldcrest |
 |
| Goldcrest |
 |
| Early |Hogweed flowering |
 |
| Unidentified Hoverfly |
 |
| Chiffchaff |
 |
| Chiffchaff |
 |
| Goldfinch |
 |
| 3 Gorse Shieldbugs |
 |
| Marsh Marigold now has multiple flowers |
 |
| Robin |
 |
| Small Tortoiseshell |
 |
| Wren |
 |
| Pigeon in the adjoining thicket, photographed from road |
 |
| along the boundary, heading for home |
