Ballachurry Reserve, 12th March 2018.

a touch of mist on the hills but generally a sunny afternoon

The unexpected sunshine on Monday afternoon tempted me to visit the Reserve for a couple of hours. Initially it was very quiet, but towards 4 p.m. a few more birds began to appear. In the meantime I'd been looking for signs of spring and looking what was lurking under the carpet placed round our little Hawthorn saplings to suppress the vegetation. Here is my list:

Birds:

SC209693 Robin; male Pheasant
SC208694  ( willows) female Chaffinch; 3 x Great Tit; Magpie;
SC208694  (boardwalk) Great Tit; Wren;
SC208695 ( old beehive loop)  Robin
SC209695  (near private entrance) Great Tit; Blue Tit; Wren;
SC209694 ( Gorse boundary) Robin
SC209694 ( from Hide) 3 x Mallard  flying; 2 x Blue Tit; Wood Pigeon; male Chaffinch;
SC208694 ( compost area) Robin; Wren; Dunnock; 2 x Blue Tit;
SC209694 ( near Ginnie's bench) Robin;  2 x Wren; Blackbird
SC209694 ( direct path to hide)  Blue Tit

Thicket outside reserve SC209692 : 6 x Mallard;
Ballakilley Land opposite reserve SC209693  14 x Wood Pigeon, 4 x Hooded Crow , &  7 x Jackdaw on  grass.

Ladybirds:

SC209695  7-spot Ladybird  (first I have seen this year)

Other:

SC209693  several  small Wolf Spiders on dead stems of Hemlock Water Dropwort.
SC210694 beneath carpet squares: unidentified snails, Pill millipede; White legged snake millipedes; unidentified Woodlice.
SC209694 beneath carpet squares: Common Hairy Snails, White Legged Snake Millipedes; unidentified slugs; a different unidentified millipede; 2 x Nemastoma bimaculatum Harvestmen
SC209694 ( near Ginnie's bench) unidentified worms and slugs
SC208694 in stream near boardwalk several  fresh water shrimps visible
SC209695 Water Crickets ( first time I've seen them this year)
SC208694 Marsh Marigolds and Flag Iris shoots now showing
SC209694 lawn daisies, celandines, dandelions, cultivated daffodils, gorse all in flower.
SC210694 Snowdrops
SC208694  2 distinct types of lichen on Blackthorn twigs

starry Celandines

good old daisy

Dandelion waiting for the first Butterfly of the season

Cultivated daffs in full flower

yellow gorse looks so good against a blue sky

Snowdrops fighting their way through the brambles

I often see a wren on the boardwalk

I didn't crop this photo so you can see how far out into the
pond this wren had ventured

This Wren was flirting with another nearby
by a lot of tail waving

our fallen birch tree makes a good perch for the birds

Another Robin

and yet another right over the other side of the Reserve
from where I was standing. Sheep in the distance.

Lichen on Blackthorn

different kind of Lichen

Marsh Marigolds coming through

and flag iris too

stream by the boardwalk...

...from which these creatures are visible

fresh water shrimps, I think

another

the water crickets are back

A few photos from under the carpet squares

top: hairy snail
left: slug and millipede
right: very small Harvestman

thanks to Kate Hawkins for confirming I.D. of the
Harvestman ( Nemastoma bimaculatum)

bird food for thrushes and blackbirds!

Wolf spiders are back too

composite picture of Ballachurry's hidden wildlife

Blue Tit

Chaffinch

Great Tit

Mallards in the adjoining thicket

path near the compost heap

A friend visiting the Reserve the same day was lucky enough to see the Water Rail. Good to know it is still about (but a bit miffed that I missed it!)

Work Party: I still can't fix a date unfortunately - waiting for information from others, but hope to be in touch soon.

Clicking on a photo enlarges it, then clicking on it again will give you a slideshow.