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| A warm summer's day at the reserve Hemp Agrimony in the foreground - attracts many insects. |
Thursday was a very warm day. I'd already walked from the Chasms to the Sound in the morning so the prospect of some heavy gardening in the afternoon did not really appeal. A leisurely stroll round Ballachurry Reserve seemed altogether more inviting and the light breeze made the location very pleasant indeed. The wildlife began at the gate with the sound of summer - Grasshoppers! Here is the full report:
Birds:
SC209693 Willow Warbler heard but not seen
SC208694 Swallow flying over
SC209695 male Pheasant
SC209694 male Pheasant
SC209694 2 x juvenile Moorhen on pond.
Butterflies & Moths:
SC209693 Speckled Wood; Wall Brown; Common Blue; Unidentified white flying; Small Copper.
SC208694 Six-Spotted Burnet Moth ( hitherto rare on Reserve); Peacock; Small Copper; Speckled Wood; .Common Blue x 4; unidentified White flying
SC209695 Red Admiral
SC209694 Common Blue;
SC210694 Holly Blue; Red Admiral
Other:
SC210694 Common Green Grasshoppers heard
SC209693 Eupeodes Hoverfly, possibly latisfasciatus
SC208694 Wolf spiders on boardwalk; Common Green Grasshoppers heard
SC210694 7-spot Ladybird
SC209693 7-spot Ladybird
SC209693 Common Green Shieldbug nymphs on Rowan berries.
SC208694 Common Earwig
SC208694 larvae of Cassida family Tortoise Beetle on thistle
SC208694 Tachina Grossa fly on Hemp Agrimony & on Hawthorn
SC208694 Eristalis species Hoverfly
SC208694 very small Cross Spider on gorse
SC209693 /4 and throughout reserve - thistledown starting to disperse.
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| 6-spotted Burnet moth on Hemp Agrimony |
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| quite a surprise |
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| rarely seen on the Reserve |
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| several Common Blue butterflies over the damp meadow and elsewhere - here on Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil |
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| Peacock butterflies look almost black with their wings closed |
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| but dazzle with their colours when they open their wings |
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| Small Copper in the damp meadow |
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| here on Sneezewort |
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| and here on Cushag ( Ragwort), one of its favourite nectar plants |
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| 7-spot Ladybird |
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| and another elsewhere |
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| Earwig keeping cool in the shade |
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| this is the nymph of a Tortoise Beetle |
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| they disguise themselves as droppings by covering themselves with frass ( poo!) |
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| Tachina grossa fly looks like an oversized bee |
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| they are parasitic on moth caterpillars |
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| these are the nymphs of Common Green Shieldbugs on Rowan berries |
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| Female Eupeodes ( posibly latisfasciatus) |
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| and another larger one ( Eristalis species), again on Hemp Agrimony This native plant loves damp conditions and provides lots of nectar for insects. |
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| a tiny Cross Spider in the gorse |
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| our juvenile Moorhens are growing up |
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| Hogweed already gone to seed - food for the birds. |
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| Thistles also seeding - Goldfinches love the thistledown |
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| light as thistledown! blowing away in the breeze |
Altogether a lovely afternoon.
