 |
| good to see some open water again |
I haven't been to the Reserve for over 2 weeks. Firstly because I was off-island and then the bad weather kept me at home. Unusually today though, I was able to make a morning visit and was at the gate by 9.30.
I was disappointed to find that what at first from afar I thought was a heron perched in a tree turned out to be a plastic bag! But then things improved as I spotted a Long Tailed Tit just inside the gate. Storm Emma had brought down a small branch of the Tramman Tree ( Elder) by the gate. It was lying on the concrete bridge but while deciding where to put it my eye caught sight of another branch nearby covered in Jelly Ear Fungus. It's always good to be able to start recording right from the gate! I had just about completed my first circuit when it started to rain! That wasn't forecast, was it? I hurried into the hide from where I saw quite a lot of birds, including 2 Redwings in the trees on the Church boundary. Unfortunately the rain went on quite a long while so I eventually gave up on doing a second circuit and had to head back to the car to go to another appointment. Nevertheless, an interesting morning and nice to be back.
Birds:
SC210694 (entrance area) Long Tailed Tit; Greylag Goose flying over towards Port Erin (new record?)
SC209693 ( path parallel to road) Robin; Blue Tit
SC209694 ( path junction) Blue Tit; Great Tit; Blackbird.
SC209694 ( from Hide) 2 x Mallard ( pair); 2 x Blackbird ( 1 m. 1 juvenile); Robin; Wren; Great Tit; Song Thrush; 2 x male Chaffinch; 6 x Goldfinch; 2 x Redwing; 5 x Wood Pigeon
SC208694 ( willows) 2 x Blackbird ( pair)
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) 5 x Magpie
Other:
SC209693 Stinking Iris with berries
SC210694 Jelly Ear Fungus on fallen Elder branch
SC209694 Frogspawn visible through binoculars across the pond.
SC209694 Cultivated daffodils starting to open
Whilst in the Hide I enjoyed reading other people's sightings on the board. I was particularly pleased to see a couple of Ladybirds mentioned and that the Water Rail had been heard. The 2 Mallards flew in during the rain shower and first drank, then fed, followed by some synchronised bathing. Finally they retreated to the pond margin to preen before solemnly marching off into the undergrowth at the back of the pond. They missed the frogspawn!
 |
| Mallards flew in during the shower |
 |
| both began to bathe |
 |
| ah, that feels better! |
 |
| hard to see the frogspawn without binoculars |
 |
| please remember you need a licence to remove spawn |
 |
| small flock of Goldfinches |
 |
| Blackbird |
 |
| probably a juvenile |
 |
| very distant shot of the Redwings |
 |
| Song Thrush living up to its name |
 |
| it had a marvellous repetoire of tunes |
 |
| the Robin was also singing |
 |
| two of 5 Magpies in the trees |
 |
I've not noticed the Stinking Iris
in this part of the Reserve before |
 |
| Distant shot of Long Tailed Tit |
 |
| Jelly Ear Fungi |
 |
| cultivated daffs |
 |
| February's sightings and the beginning of March |
By the way, to avoid checking the Blog for updates unnecessarily ( for example while I'm away) you can fill in the little box on the right hand side headed Follow by Email. Just fill in your email address and you will be notified every time there is something new. I put in my own email address a couple of years ago to try it and it seems to work very well. No spam or ads or anything. Just a slight delay, usually comes in the following morning.
And finally, for those of you interested in work parties, the next one will probably be towards the end of the month. Still a few things to work out before setting a date.
