Ballachurry Reserve, 31st December, 2018.

Stream brimful

I thought had made my last recording visit for December on Christmas Eve but an opportunity presented itself today so I headed down to the Reserve at 9.15. It was still very gloomy at that hour but a couple of birds crossed my path as I entered the reserve. The old adage "the early bird catches the worm" came to mind and there  did seem to be plenty of bird life about trying to do just that. The light had improved by 10 o'clock but my camera was still encouraging me to "Raise the Flash", particularly under the trees by the compost heap where most of the birds seemed to be congregating. Obviously I wasn't going to follow this instruction, so the photos I took today are not great - record shots more than anything else - but I think this is a great bird list for the last day of 2018. Sixteen species. I looked back to my first visit of 2018 ( 2nd January) and noted that I recorded 15 that day, so numbers for this week of the year seem pretty consistent.

Birds:

SC210694 Wren; Goldfinch; female Pheasant; Great tit; female Blackbird.
SC209694 ( path junction) Blackbird, Robin, and Wren heard but not seen. Great tit.
SC209694 ( near hide) female Reed Bunting; Robin; Chaffinch heard but not seen; female Blackbird.
SC209694 ( from Hide) 30+ Goldfinch in trees on Church boundary; Great tit; Heron.
SC208694 ( compost area) 5 x Long Tailed tits; Dunnock; female Blackbird; Robin; Coal tit; Blue tit    Wren; 3 x Goldcrest;  male and female Chaffinch.
SC208694 ( willows) 2 x Great tit;
SC208694 ( near reed bed) male Blackbird; Chaffinch.
SC209695 ( near Private entrance) Blue tit flew out of bird box.
SC209695 ( gorse boundary) female Blackbird; Hooded Crow; Rook.

Other:
SC209695 Still some Cushag in flower (Ragwort)
SC209693 Hemlock Water Dropwort has  fresh leaves already throughout reserve.

Hemlock Water Dropwort gearing up for Spring already

not quite uprooted in recent storms - hopefully will survive.

distant Goldfinches in large flock on Church boundary

for those of you not familiar with the Reserve this
 is the compost area referred to.

record shot of one of the Goldcrests
light levels too low for a clear picture

Long Tailed Tit. I was surprised to see 3 of them
actually picking over the compost on the ground. They are
usually in trees or on bird feeders!

spot the bird? 

I would have missed this female Reed Bunting had another Birder
 at the Reserve not pointed it out to me.
(Thank you, Peter)

Small but still going strong - Cushag

cloudy skies over Ballchurry

just over the gorse boundary - new neighbours.
about 7 Highland "Coos", including a Bull and calves.

and finally - a last look at 2018 before the board is cleared
and we start again with 2019

Thank you for following the Blog. 2019 will record sightings for the 5th Year running.

Happy New Year to you all and "good birding"!

Ballachurry Reserve : First Work Party of 2019

Hello everyone,

I hope you have had a very enjoyable Christmas break and are looking forward to the New Year Celebration still to come.

This is to remind you that, weather permitting, our first work party of the New Year is programmed for Saturday, 5th January from 10  till 1 p.m. ( or whatever you can manage in that time scale). There will be refreshments provided at half time but if you can remember to bring your own mug that would be helpful. I'll try to bring along a few spares though!

The main task will be to cut back brambles where they are trying to cross the boundary ditch and root into the other side, threatening to encroach onto the path. There are also a couple of other areas which we try to keep bramble free needing attention. Work gloves, wellies (there may be some water in the ditch) and eye protection if you have it (we have a couple of spares if not). Loppers, shears, secateurs etc. but again we have some spares. 

I'll listen to the 8 a.m. weather forecast on Friday, then post a confirmation ( or otherwise!) but as always please check your messages ( if on the email list) or the Blog on Saturday for any last minute cancellation.

Looking forward to seeing some of you soon.

My very best wishes for 2019.

Sheila

Ballachurry Reserve, 24th December 2018. Christmas Eve.

morning sunshine at Ballachurry Reserve

I should have been doing other things but Christmas Eve dawned a beautiful blue-sky day so I grabbed the binoculars and camera and was at the reserve by 9.30. My plan was to put back the trail camera, complete with new batteries, and then do a full recording visit but alas I discovered that the camera still would not work, even with a full set of 8 new batteries. Recent weather conditions have perhaps proved just too much for it.

Despite the sunshine it was very chilly and there did not seem to be very much about. My friend the Robin quickly appeared as I reached the compost heap and the star of today's visit was without doubt the Redwing but otherwise there is not a great deal to report.

Birds:

SC209694  ( path junction)Blackbird; Robin
SC 209694 ( gorse boundary)  Magpie; Redwing; Blue tit; female Chaffinch; 2 x Hooded Crow flying over.
SC208694  (compost area/ boardwalk) Great tit;
SC208695 ( beehive loop) Wren
SC209695 ( near Private entrance) Blue tit
SC209694 ( hide) Robin; Wren;

Other:

SC208695 Jelly ear fungus on overhanging branch.
SC208694 plenty of Alder catkins here and throughout the Reserve

I could only stay an hour and perhaps there would have been more to see as the day became warmer but my quick walk round put the roses back in my cheeks and gave me the energy to tackle the Christmas Eve chores!

not a cloud in the sky for once

No it's not my Christmas card again!
Same tree, same branch, same Robin?

Jelly Ear fungus

Numerous Alder catkins

a closer view

sun picking out the reeds

compare this shot with the same one in the previous post

taken from near the Hide

Redwing

on the gorse boundary

fluffed up because of the cold?

the oak trees have retained their leaves
through all the recent gales

Folklore follow-up: Earlier in the year I commented that "If the Oak is out before the Ash, then we'll only have a splash". This was the case this spring at Ballachurry and we did indeed experience a very dry summer. Unfortunately more recently we have certainly been making up our average annual rainfall!

Ballachurry Reserve, 22nd December 2018.

A dull December day - one of my regular "fixed point" photos
enabling comparisons to be made in future years.

No opportunity the week before Christmas to do a proper recording visit to the Reserve but I called in briefly  late afternoon on Saturday to return the SD Card to the trail camera only to find the batteries needed replacing! I took the opportunity to walk round the Reserve once in the fading light and noted the following:

SC210694  Scurfy Twiglet fungus near the entrance gate on the remains of wood chip ( new location)
SC210694 a small amount of Jelly Ear fungus on the dead elderberry
SC210694 Stinking Iris berries  very prominent.
SC208694  2 x Great Tit; male and female Chaffinch; Goldfinch; Blue Tit; Robin.
SC208694  a bunch of oak apples on the boardwalk - caused by gall wasp- washed down the stream.

I stayed 10 minutes in the hide but saw nothing.

The most exciting part of this visit came as I drove round  grass triangle by the Church before parking near the reserve. Here, barely a foot off the ground, heading for my car came a male Sparrowhawk! We avoided each other somehow and it continued its flight round the corner towards the cemetery!  A close encounter! Wonderful! SC209692

Scurfy Twiglet fungi ( I think!) growing where the
 pile of woodchip was near the gate.

Jelly Ear fungus

a bunch of oak apples (caused by a gall wasp)  washed down
the stream during a recent storm and deposited on the boardwalk

Light fading and the teapot beckons

Ballachurry Reserve: Video footage of Snipe on 4th December, 2018.

I promised you some video footage of the Snipe I saw on 4th December, so here are a couple of clips for Christmas Eve. Square icon, bottom right makes it full screen. Press "Esc" when it's finished. 

I

Happy Christmas!

Ballachurry Reserve, 11th December 2018.

gloomy old December day

My visit to the Reserve this Tuesday was  very different from my last report. What a difference a week can make! With a bad forecast for most of the week I made the best of a bad job. No Snipe or Water Rail this time, although it was good to see the Long Tailed Tits, one of my favourite birds.

Birds:

SC209694 ( gorse boundary) Long Tailed Tit
SC209695 ( near private entrance) Blackbird; Robin heard but not seen; Wren.
SC208695 ( old beehive loop)  2 x Jackdaw; Great Tit; 2 x Blackbird; Wren
SC208694 ( compost area/ reed bed) Robin; male and female Blackbirds together; Magpie heard not seen; Chaffinch heard not seen; 2 x Long Tailed Tit;
SC209694 ( hide) Blackbird; Great Tit; Wren

Other:

SC209694 unidentified fungus in grass
SC208694 unidentified fungus on fallen birch tree.
SC209693 Scurfy Twiglet fungi in wood chip

hoping to get these identified 

I think these are Scurfy Twiglet , as last year

the fallen birch tree near the compost heap is being recycled
by fungus - will try to have it identified.

a closer view

a young Blackbird?  I checked with  Neil Morris of manxbirdlife
who said:

young (1^st winter) Blackbird in transitional moult.

Thanks, Neil.

I also put up a Trail Camera that afternoon and retrieved the
SD card a few days later

quality not wonderful, but we caught a Robin on camera

and again after dark

I shall be adjusting the angle of the camera next time to focus at ground level in the hope that something interesting might just be passing by. 

Watch this space!

Ballachurry Reserve, January Work Party.

Hello everyone,

Sorry to interrupt your Christmas preparations with a January diary date! Our next Work Party at Ballachurry, weather permitting, will be Saturday, 5th January from 10 till 1 as usual ( or whatever you can manage in that timescale). This will be the annual bramble bash / ditch clearance unless something more urgent crops up in the meantime. I'll send out a reminder after Christmas but you may like to note the date in your brand new 2019 diary / calendar straight away!

Please bring loppers, sickles, secateurs, shears if you have them. Suitable footware for a wet site and some strong work gloves to protect your hands from thorns and prickles. Refreshments provided at half time but if you can remember a mug that would be helpful.  I'll bring some spares.

Many thanks again for all your hard work in 2018, it just remains for me to wish all of you a very enjoyable festive season.

Ballachurry Reserve. 4th December 2018

December at Ballachurry Reserve

I had no plans to visit Ballachurry on Tuesday but, having heard the 7 a.m. weather forecast, I decided it was now or never. The rest of the week sounded dreadful and so it has proved to be. So 9.30 saw me down at the Reserve, watching a solitary Chough fly over as I walked through the gate. A good omen I thought, as indeed it was. Here  is what I saw:

Birds:

SC210694  Chough flying over
SC209694 ( Ginnie's Bench area) Wren; Robin; Blackbird;
SC209694 ( path junction) Song Thrush; Blackbird
SC209693 Blackbird & Robin heard not seen
SC209694 ( Hide) 3 x Mallard flying away; Redpoll x 2; Water Rail feeding;  2 x Great tit; Snipe feeding.
SC208694 ( compost area) Robin; 3 x Blue tit together;  25+ Goldfinch flying over;
SC209695 ( private entrace area) Dunnock; Great tit; 3 x Blue tit together; 2 x Chaffinch;
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) 3 x Blackbird
SC208693 ( on church boundary) 5 Redwings; 10 Goldfinch.

Other:

SC209693Lawn daisies in flower along path + fungus ( Scurfy Twiglet?)
SC208694 Red Campion in flower.

I had made straight for the Hide where my approach ( however stealthy) unfortunately put up the Mallards. Having opened a shutter I was amazed to see  a couple of unpeturbed Redpolls directly opposite taking Willow Herb seed, shortly followed by the Water Rail  which appeared  in just the same area as last Friday. I watched it for some time, hoping it might come out to an area without any intervening vegetation where I might get a better photograph . Then I suddenly noticed a movement in the Brooklime - a small dark head, could there be a second Water Rail? I found it through the binoculars and was delighted to find myself looking at a Snipe. Over the years I have put up quite a few when walking round the Reserve but this is the first time I've had a good view of one down in the pond. I couldn't believe my good luck to be watching a Snipe and a Water Rail at the same time! Time was ticking away, however, and if I wanted to walk round the rest of the Reserve I had to tear myself away. I returned to the hide just before leaving and was surprised to find both birds still there so started clicking away with the camera once more. The Snipe became bolder and started walking around more, crossing the pond to the area of bright green weed opposite ( this is the infamous New Zealand Pygmy Weed!). It was feeding as it went but then suddenly decided to fly off. That was my own cue to leave too. One of my best visits ever to Ballachurry Reserve, I would say ( though unfortunately marred by finding quite a bit of litter round the front of the hide - reported to the Police)

it seemed slightly odd to see both Lawn Daisies and Fungi
growing together in December

a close look at the Fungi which are growing on the
underlying wood chip - Scurfy Twiglet again I think.

Red Campion is also still in bloom here and there

A small flock of Redwings landed in the trees on the
Church boundary - very much in silhouette though

Lovely to see Redpolls on the Reserve

The cheeky Robin flew down beside me
 as soon as I appeared again

it seemed very tame, getting closer and closer to me

someone's garden Robin, I reckon.

I watched the Water Rail for nearly an hour

an unusually still day, I could see its reflection

alternately feeding and hurrying back into the rushes

I just kept taking photo after photo

the view through binoculars was much better

here you can see the position of both birds together

my first view of the Snipe

I think it had been there some time before I noticed it

keeping a wary eye skywards from time to time

it too was feeding

a good view of its cryptic plumage

 I also took some video footage of the Snipe which I hope to post
on the Blog later

finally it emerged into the open and I saw the entire bird

out on the Pygmy Weed it continued to feed

that long bill must probe down a long way

as you can see in this photo

I'm now so glad that the appalling weather forecast for the rest of the week 

got me out of bed early and down to the Reserve!

P.S. My husband went down to the Reserve late afternoon  and the Water Rail was still there.