Ballachurry Reserve, Work Party Saturday 1st September

The weather forecast for Saturday is for "patchy light rain and drizzle from time to time", so a work party  at the Reserve will go ahead in the hopes that we'll get away with it!  Not a great day certainly but at least sunstroke won't be on the risk assessment!  10 till 1 as usual with refreshments half time. 

We'll be clearing vegetation from both streams and digging out silt near the boardwalk section. PLEASE NOTE WE SHALL NOT BE CLEARING THE SHORT SECTION  FROM THE BOARDWALK INTO THE REED BED as we do not wish to disturb any late nesting birds in the reeds. We'll leave this until later in the month. 

This is the priority task but the wattle fence panel still needs attention + a general tidy up round the back of the hide. There is always the odd bramble encroaching on the paths to cut back in idle moments, of course! 

Wellies, waterproof gloves ( and please cover any skin abrasions you may have on your hands) while working in water. 

Shears, loppers, secateurs, sickles for cutting back the vegetation.

Shovels, spades etc for any silt that we may need to remove.

Consider bringing insect repellent if you use it as harvest mites and midges can be troublesome at this time of year.

As always, please check your email  ( if on the list) for last minute cancellation before setting out in the morning, especially if travelling from some distance, as the weather forecast could change during the next 24 hours. I'll post a cancellation notice on the Blog if necessary too. 

Look forward to seeing you there if you are planning to come along.

Best wishes,

Sheila.

Ballachurry Reserve, 16th August 2018.

Loosestrife in the early evening sunshine

This was to be a recording visit starting early after lunch, but just as I was about to set out the heavens opened! Was this forecast? I don't think so. So I had to delay my start by half an hour. Once at the reserve there were things to do - work party equipment to be returned to the tool shed and some overhanging willow clipped back in advance of a forthcoming workshop at the reserve. So my visit proper didn't start until nearly 3.30 p.m.

It seemed very quiet at the Reserve this afternoon, very few birds about and not "all a-buzz"as you might  have expected on an August afternoon. Perhaps it was the strong breeze keeping the wildlife hidden away but I recorded over 100 butterflies during Monday's brisk north westerly when I walked my butterfly transect near the Sloc. Thursday was much calmer and in theory there should have been more about. Here's what I saw:

Birds:

SC209694 small flock of  Goldfinches flew up from thistles along the gorse boundary; male Blackbird;
SC209694 ( hide) 2 juvenile Goldfinch in tree across the water; three more came down to drink from the pond; juvenile Moorhen;Blue tit
SC209694 ( path junction)  Chiffchaff or Willow Warbler - couldn't get a good sight of it and photo rather distant.
SC210694  Chiffchaff or Willow Warbler in the ivy near the gate

Butterflies:

SC208694 Speckled Wood x 2; unidentified White
SC209694 ( near hide) male Common Blue
SC2085694 ( damp meadow) Small Copper; Common Blue
SC209695 very dark female Common Blue; Speckled Wood; Green Veined White

Ladybirds:

SC210694  ( near entrance) 7-spot
SC208694 ( damp meadow) 7-spot
SC209695 ( near private entrance) 7-spot
SC209694 ( gorse boundary ) 7-spot

Other:

SC208694  ( near reed bed) 2 x tiny spiders in gorse; Gorse Shieldbug nymph
SC209695  ( near private entrance)  Several Adult Gorse Shieldbugs + nymphs ( various instars)
SC208695 ( old beehive loop) undersides of oak leaves had tiny flies; very small fly on underside of sycamore leaf; Noon fly on underside of willow leaf;
SC209694 Solitary fungus has appeared near hide
SC208695 very small bug on Blackberry

young Goldfinches

this one stayed a long time

but eventually flew away

juvenile Moorhen

acrobatic Willchaff

I think this was the same bird

Goldfinch

one of 4 7-spot Ladybirds seen that afternoon

this one was well hidden in the gorse

Small Coppers certainly love the Sneezewort

hard to believe that this is a Common Blue - seemed to be
a particularly dark form even for a female

even the underside looked dark until I captured a back-lit shot

Speckled Wood enjoying the sunshine

a very Manx grouping of Gorse Shieldbugs!

four different life stages together here

once I had got my eye in I noticed them everywhere

I didn't manage to spot any eggs this year but they
were clearly there somewhere

if Shieldbugs fascinate you, as they do me,  take a look at
www.britishbugs.org.uk
there are downloadable identification sheets with all the instars

5th instar, I think - almost an adult

the finished article

Brambles are attacked every year by this fungus
but it doesn't seem to curb their vigour

spot the bug?

female Eristalis species

Noon Fly doing acrobatics

nearly every oak leaf had one of these small flies
sheltering underneath

a composite photo of  an even smaller fly

Sneezewort also attracting very small flies - a male Syritta pipiens

and larger ones - a male Eristalis species

quite a large patch of Sneezewort which likes damp conditions

Ballachurry colours near the bridge

I tried to see how our poor turf roof was faring  after
the drought -it does seem to be greening up but there are some
docks up there too by the look of it

can't stop photographing the Loosestrife!

Hawthorn Shieldbug nymph this time - on Rowan

Hemlock Water Dropwort well and truly over now

Bindweed near the gate - I don't think I've noticed it before
one of those plants we take rather for granted perhaps?

plenty of food for the House Sparrows

Angelica is popping up all over the place suddenly

no butterflies on the Hemp Agrimony today

a very autumnal combination, I thought

unidentified fungus

a rather elegant gate now graces the private entrance

one of the Rowans near the pond has already been stripped by birds
I suspect this one is next

one of my favourite views of the Reserve.

Well, the Reserve may have been quiet but I still managed to put 46 photos on the Blog!

Ballachurry Reserve Work Party, 11th August 2018

(Click on photos to enlarge, then click them again to move on as a slide show)

 the damp meadow had Docks growing here and there

A  big thank you to the 13 volunteers who joined Saturday's Work Party at Ballachurry.  It was a busy week-end with lots going on, including the Royal Show at Knockaloe, so I was very grateful to those who chose to come along to the Reserve to help out with the various tasks. Earlier in the week it looked like heavy rain might cause a cancellation, but as you can see from all the sunhats in the photos below we enjoyed perfect weather.

Left to its own devices our damp meadow would soon be over run with Docks to the detriment of other species. Docks are a good seed source for birds ( I've been watching the sparrows take them recently)  but there are plenty elsewhere on the reserve so we didn't feel guilty about taking out those in the meadow. There's also some Hemlock Water Dropwort creeping in - I dead headed it to prevent seeding earlier in the year - but it's hard to spot at the moment so we'll have to wait till it reappears in the spring to dig that out, I think.

Other tasks were to strim alongside the boardwalk ( damp, overhanging vegetation causes the timber to rot) then once that was safely done, move in to weed between the slats for the same reason.  Although this is quite a fiddly task it is also very sociable  - a chance to sit down and catch up on the conversation! Weeding the ramp to the hide was a similar necessity. The path to the compost heap was also strimmed to make access with barrows easier. Grass was removed from under the main gate so that it can be opened once more to allow access for deliveries/ unloading equipment.

Elsewhere volunteers were using the last of our recycled grids to raise a wet part of the footpath  (hard to imagine them wet at the moment but do you remember all that mud?) We didn't quite manage to finish this job but it is almost done and the grids will be filled with pea gravel later in the year.

Others patrolled the paths cutting back brambles which were impeding access and clipping back the willow which was doing likewise. Any brambles or willow straying outside the reserve across the footway by the road were also dealt with.

In other words, plenty to keep everyone busy and we got an enormous amount done. The time always seems to fly by and the refreshment break is a welcome interlude to catch up with everyone's news in the sunshine. Thanks to Margaret Kelly for providing the reviving drinks and to volunteer, Helen Leigh, for a delicious chocolate cake even though she was unable to attend herself that day. It was much appreciated!

During the morning we saw lots of butterflies, a frog, 7-spot Ladybird and the ladies weeding the boardwalk were lucky enough to have a large Dragonfly join them! Sounds like a Common Hawker.   (All SC208694)

Wildlife seen certainly brings home what this hard work is all about and gives us a real sense of achievement.

strimming each side of the boardwalk

getting out the grass

this has become a regular task

one woman work party

getting down to work

removing the docks

a few more yet!

this certainly looks like synchronised teamwork!

shears at the ready

these grids were once the car park at the Sound Cafe!

definitely time for coffee and cake

sunhats and sunglasses

some prefer the sun and some the shade

tea break with a fantastic view

" where did you get  your hat? "

a great job done

7-spot spotted on Ian's hat while he was working

a rather tattered Red Admiral

and a rather more pristine one

Thanks again to everyone who helped in any way - you did a great job!

Next work party will be 1st September .