Ballachurry Reserve, 14th May 2017.

Sorry for the long silence!  Now trying to catch up with recording visits made to Ballachurry in May. Here are the notes and photos for May 14th.

Looking along gorse boundary towards the road

Looking along gorse boundary in opposite direction
from the same spot.

Just back from a UK holiday I was anxious to see how things had progressed at Ballachurry during my absence so arrived at the reserve soon after lunch on Sunday, 14th May. Despite the prolonged drought everything had grown enormously, especially the Hemlock Water Dropwort.  A birder who was just leaving as I arrived said that the birds were keeping mostly hidden and that too was my experience. Here is the full report:

Birds:

SC209693 ( road boundary path) Sedge Warbler heard but not seen; Goldfinch.
SC210694 House Sparrow
SC209694 ( path junction willows) 2 x Sedge Warblers heard but not seen.
SC209694 ( from hide) pair of Mallard; Wren heard but not seen; Hooded Crow flying over;Willow Warbler heard but not seen; Swallows flying over
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) House Sparrow
SC208694 ( compost area) Chiffchaff heard but not seen.
SC208694 ( reed bed) 2 + Sedge Warblers; 2 x Goldcrest in Willows
SC209695 Whitethroat  ( also seen by others singing from the same tree)
SC208694 ( path through the willows) Great Tit
SC208695 ( old beehive loop) Chiffchaff

Butterflies:

SC210694 Small Tortoiseshell; male Orange Tip; Peacock (very ragged)
SC208695  male Orange Tip
SC209695 Small Tortoiseshell ( very ragged)
SC209694 ( Gorse Boundary) Wall Brown ( first  I've seen this year); Small Tortoiseshell
SC209694 ( near Ginnie's bench) 2 x Small Tortoiseshell together

Ladybirds:

SC210694 Parisitised 7-spot has gone; 2 x 7-spot in vegetation + 4 on concrete bridge
SC208694 ( near dam) 3 x 7-spot

Other:

SC210694 Unidentified spider
SC208695 ( beehive loop) Oak  saplings have oak galls on leaves
SC208695 ( beehive loop) Common Blue damselfly ( 1st I've seen this year)
SC209695 12 x Water Cricket
SC209695 unidentified fly on buttercup
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) 2 Gorse Shield bugs on gorse + 1 on Hogweed
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) Wolf Spider carrying egg sack
SC209695 ( near orchard entrance) overhanging sycamores have variety of aphids
SC208694 (near dam) Blackthorns have developing sloes.
SC208694 ( near dam and elsewhere) Blackthorn galls. Inside are developing larvae, so caused by some sort of insect rather than fungus.
SC210694 (entrance) garden escape Oxalis in full flower.
SC209694 ( wildflower area) large patch of blue Speedwell
SC209694 ( boundary) hawthorn in full flower.
SC208694 ( near dam) cultivated purple iris in flower
SC208694 & SC209694  both reed beds have new growth showing through old Phragmites reeds.

Whitethroat

Whitethroat

Goldcrest

Mallard

Goldfinch

7-spot Ladybirds

7-spot Ladybird

7-spot Ladybird

3 out of 4  7-spot Ladybirds on the bridge

7-spot Ladybird

aphids on the underside of sycamore leaves

Common Blue Damselfly

Tiny larvae inside Blackthorn gall

Unidentified fly on buttercup

mating Gorse Shieldbugs

Very small spider on nettle leaf

Wolf spider carrying egg sack

Small Tortoiseshell

Wall Brown

Water cricket

very ragged Peacock Butterfly

very ragged Small Tortoiseshell

Oak gall on topside of leaf

oak gall on underside of leaf

garden escape Oxalis

Cultivated purple Iris

Speedwell

developing sloes on Blackthorn

stream level very low because of drought weather conditions

A lush green reserve despite the drought

Two of our regular volunteers, Ian and Peter, have been working hard between working parties to fix various problems that have arisen with the new turf roof. Damage caused by storm Doris has been fixed and some guttering put up to carry away excess water not absorbed by the turf. This was overflowing  in places and finding its way inside the hide, causing the timber to start rotting. So a round of applause for Peter and Ian for giving up their free time to deal with these problems. Now we just need some rain to revive the turf and test out the new guttering!

turf roof needing some rain

new guttering in place

wattle hurdles awaiting a work party.

I visited the reserve on 26th May, a couple of days before another trip off-island, so have another report for the Blog when time permits. Watch this space!