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| the damp meadow |
My plans for last Monday changed radically. I'd hoped to walk my Butterfly transect for "Butterflies in the Wider Countryside" in the late morning and go to Ballachurry Reserve in the afternoon. What a fabulous day I was going to have! But at 11 o'clock my butterfly square was in thick mist, although it was sunny enough down here near Port Erin. So I went to Ballachurry first and eventually walked my transect about 3p.m. when the mist had cleared from the hills.
The Reserve was really noisy ( sorry, tuneful) with bird song. Sedge Warblers everywhere, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers, to mention just three. Here is my report:
Birds:
SC210694 ( entrance) Chiffchaff heard but not seen; Goldfinch; Robin
SC209694(path junction) female Blackbird; Pheasant; Wood Pigeon; Sedge Warbler.
SC209693 ( path parallel to road) Willow Warbler heard but not seen; Wren Heard but not seen; Sedge Warbler;
SC208694 ( compost area) 2 x Wood Pigeon; Willlow Warbler heard but not seen; Chiffchaff heard but not seen.
SC208694 ( near boardwalk) Sedge Warbler; Long tailed Tit; male Blackbird; Willow Warbler heard but not seen.
SC208695 ( beehive loop) Magpie; 2 x Long Tailed Tit; Willow Warbler
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) Sedge Warbler.
SC209695 Great Tit
Butterflies:
SC209694 male Orange tip
SC210694 male and female Orange Tips + Garlic Mustard has Orange Tip eggs
SC209693 Unidentified White flying
Other: (with thanks to Steve Crellin for identifying flies)
SC210694 7-spot Ladybird
SC210894 Noon Fly + unidentified fly on noticeboard, possibly a Muscid or Anthomyiid sp.
SC208695 on Hogweed - Yellow Dung Flies both male & female (Scathophaga stercoraria); Noon Fly; Blowfly ( Calliphora sp.) ; male Eristalis pertinax; Syrphus sp. hoverfly; another Scathophaga sp. possibly inquinata;+ unidentified Bumble Bee; One Hogweed has a flower
SC208695 on ash tree Muscid or Anthomyiid sp.
SC209695 Water Crickets
SC209694 Hawthorn now in blossom; Crab Apples in blossom
SC208695 Unidentified spider on Hogweed
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| Sedge Warbler making a din |
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| and another elsewhere |
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| same bird pausing for breath |
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| male Orange Tip nectaring on Bluebells |
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| patterned underwing visible |
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| on garlic mustard this time - its caterpillar food plant |
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| perfectly camouflaged female Orange tip |
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| spot the Orange tip egg on Ladysmock - another caterpillar food plant |
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| two eggs here on Garlic Mustard |
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| close up of Orange tip egg |
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| Noon Fly on the left Unknown on the right ( Muscid or anthoyiid) |
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| Unknown on left (probably Calliphora species - a Blowfly) Noon Fly on right |
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| this one was on the ash tree (again, probably a Muscid but could be Anthomyiid) |
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| this one on Hogweed -identified as a female Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria) by the Island's dipterist, Steve Crellin. |
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| yellow dung fly, male this time |
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| Eristalis pertinax Hoverfly - male ( apparently spring ones can be hairier than summer adults) |
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| Syrphus species Hoverfly |
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| this fly had startling red eyes Scathophaga species, possibly inquinata |
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| Great Tit |
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| 7-spot among the nettles |
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| unidentified Bumble bee |
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| tiny spider |
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| Hawthorn coming into blossom |
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| first Hogweed flower of the season |
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| Sedge Warbler again! |
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| singing |
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| listening |
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| singing again |
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| and looking very grumpy! |
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| if you didn't know before what a Sedge Warbler looks like well I'm sure you do now! |
SC209693 male Blackbird
SC209694 ( path junction) Blue Tit; Willow Warbler or Chiffchaff
SC208694 ( near boardwalk) Long Tailed Tit; Willow Warbler; Sedge Warbler heard but not seen
SC208694 ( near dam) Blue Tit and later 2 x Blue Tit together
SC208695 ( beehive loop) 2 x Great Tit together; 2 x Goldfinch
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| spot the blackbird |
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| evening sunshine |
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| Blue Tit |
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| too late ! Long Tailed Tit |
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| and you've guessed it! Sedge Warbler in the reeds |
I did indeed have a fabulous day!
