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| Dull weather but not a dull afternoon! |
Am I living under a cloud? Whenever I visit Ballachurry Reserve it does seem to cloud over! Nevertheless there were plenty of birds about this afternoon, mostly concentrated round the compost heap area. I waited there patiently on three separate occasions and at one point just about everything arrived together! Wrens, Long Tailed Tits, Goldcrests, Great Tits and a Blue Tit all at the same time. Nevertheless I failed to get any really good photos even when a Goldcrest practically landed on my head! I could have reached out and plucked it from the branch it was so near! So just record shots, I'm afraid. The first time I was observing the area I noticed that the Wrens and Great Tits seemed to be in pairs. One Great Tit even seemed to be collecting nest material, flying off with grass in its beak. Very odd in November! The biggest surprise though was a Warbler, almost certainly a Chiffchaff. Ten species observed from exactly the same spot, no less.
Here is the list:
Birds:
SC208694 ( compost area) 2 x Wren; 2 x Great Tit; 2 x Chaffinch m&f; Robin; Grey Heron flying over; 5 x Goldfinch in brambles; female Blackbird; Blue Tit; Chiffchaff/ Willow Warbler; Long Tailed Tits x 3;
SC209695 Robin
SC208694 ( near boardwalk) female Blackbird; Blue Tit.
SC209694 Magpie
Other:
Carpet life at SC209694 several White legged Snake Millipedes; Several Common Hairy Snails; 2 x unidentified slugs.
SC208695 Hogweed attracting Yellow Dung Flies
SC208694 Unidentified fungus growing on compost heap beneath the willows
SC208694 clump of what I think is Stitchwort growing out of compost heap under willows
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| Stitchwort? |
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| Very little nectar about now, so late Hogweed most welcome. |
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| Unidentified fungi |
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| Unidentified slug |
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| the carpet is a popular habitat for Common Hairy Snails and White Legged Snake Millipedes |
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| Close-up of the snails. The smallest one may be a different species |
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| Goldcrest - Ballachurry's smallest bird |
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| Long Tailed Tit |
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| Wren |
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| and another |
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| Wren looking for insects |
