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| Lovely Loosestrife |
I made a late morning visit to the Reserve on Monday and spotted a Common Blue Butterfly flitting around before I was even through the gate! A good omen I thought. Here is the report:
Birds:
SC209694 ( from hide) juvenile Blackbird taking berries from Rowan. The bush will be empty by the time the winter thrushes arrive!
SC209694 ( from hide) brief view of a Willow Warbler or Chiffchaff in the same Rowan; House Martin.
SC208694 ( reed bed) Reed Warbler clinging to reeds. Another or possibly the same in birch?
SC208694 ( near reed bed) small flock of Goldfinches flitting from tree to tree.
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) 2 x Goldfinch
SC209694 ( near hide) Sedge Warbler in hawthorn
SC209694 5 x Swallows overhead
Butterflies:
SC210694 Common Blue; Unidentified White flying; Green Veined White.
SC209694 Green Veined White
SC209694 Red Admiral on Hemp Agrimony
SC208694 (Willows) Green Veined White; Speckled Wood
SC208694 ( boardwalk) Green Veined White
SC208695 ( beehive loop) Speckled Wood; unidentified White flying
SC208694 Meadow Brown
Moths:
SC210694 Silver Y
SC209694 Silver Y
SC208694 Unidentified moth
Shieldbugs:
SC208694 ( gorse near dam)1 adult Gorse Shieldbug, 2 x nymphs.
SC209695 (gorse near private entrance) 6 adult Gorse Shieldbugs + 9 nymphs, various instars
SC209695 Rowans near private entrance) 3 Hawthorn Shieldbug nymphs
SC210694 ( on Burdock) Sloe Bug nymph ( Sloe bug adult photographed near here on 1st May.)
SC209693 Forest Bug
SC208694 ( near the smaller bridge, in nettles) Green Shieldbug nymph
Plants and flowers:
SC208694 Angelica in flower
SC210694 Burdock in flower
SC209694 Turf roof to hide looking fantastic
SC209694 Sycamore keys ripening already
Other:
SC210694 4 x Field Grasshopper
SC210694 Tortoise Beetle on Burdock
SC209695 Froglet near stream inlet
SC209695 Unidentified spiders with the Shieldbug nymphs
SC208694 Nursery Web spider nest
SC208694 some sort of pupating caterpillar
SC210694 Syritta pipiens fly - male
SC208694 Eristalis species Hoverfly - male
SC209695 Eristalis pertinax Hoverfly - male
SC210694 very small unidentified wasp/fly x 2
SC208695 "ash tree fauna" what I thought were tiny flakes of bark ( 2-3mm) , started to scurry about, chased by something even smaller, reddish brown. New records, but not sure what they are.
SC208694 Brambles suffering from Violet Bramble Rust ( Phragmidium violaceum) a sort of fungus.
SC209694 Oak trees along the gorse boundary have Oak Spangle Galls on the leaves, caused by a small wasp with a big name - Neuroterus quercusbaccarum
SC209694 The Waterlilies are looking brown and crispy because, I think, the water level has fallen.
SC209694 and throughout reserve, thistles producing lots of thistledown seeds to feed the Goldfinches.
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| Reed Warbler! ( thanks to Manx Birdlife for identification) |
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| and another |
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| Sedge Warbler |
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| Sedge Warbler again |
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| Juvenile Blackbird plundering the berries |
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| Green Veined White |
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| Meadow Brown |
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| The same Meadow Brown |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| Red Admiral on Hemp Agrimony |
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| Silver Y moth - see a scary face looking at you? |
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| unknown moth - always lands wrong way up for a good ID photo! |
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| Nursery web spider nest |
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| Gorse Shieldbug family with unknown spiders |
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| Spider & Gorse Shieldbug nymph |
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| 3 more Gorse Shieldbug nymphs |
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| I love you, Mum! |
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| I was pleased to see so many - they are a little late this year I think. |
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| early instar of Gorse Shieldbug |
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| this picture gives an idea of scale |
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| Gorse Shieldbug adult |
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| early and later Gorse Shieldbug instars together |
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| nymph of Sloe Bug on Burdock |
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| nymph of Hawthorn Shieldbug . They are happy to eat Rowan berries too. |
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| Some sort of aphid perhaps? And what's the little brown chap that was chasing it? |
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| A closer view |
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| The effects of Violet Bramble Rust |
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| Underside of bramble leaf with Violet Bramble Rust - a sort of fungus |
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| Spot the froglet |
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| and the Field Grasshopper they go tst.........tst rather than a continuous reeling sound. |
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| bit of a blurry Hoverfly |
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two views of a male Eristalis species Hoverfly |
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| male Eristalis Pertinax |
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| Oak Spangle galls |
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| planning to pupate in the thistles - but what is it? |
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| At first I thought this was a tiny Hoverfly |
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| but it has been identified as a male Syritta pipiens fly |
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| my thanks to Steve Crellin for identifying flies at Ballachurry for me. |
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| Tortoise beetle ( remember the photos of its nymphs covered in frass?) |
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| Angelica |
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| Burdock |
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| Sycamore keys ripening |
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| Thistlerdown |
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| Waterlilies not looking too healthy |
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| Turf roof flowering beautifully |
