Ballachurry Reserve, 22nd January 2019

deceptively sunny!

This will be the briefest of Blog posts! A sunny but cold and windy day on Tuesday resulted in my seeing very little, but just for the record here is what I noted:

Birds:

SC209693 male Blackbird
SC208694 Robin
SC209694 Wren

Other:

SC210694 Garden snail hibernating in wall crevice.

tucked up for the winter

view from the Hide doorway

More interesting next week perhaps?

Ballachurry Reserve, 17th January 2019

a lovely winter's day at Ballachurry Reserve

Two short visits to the Reserve on Thursday. In the morning I arrived just after ten o'clock and only had time for a quick walk round. Despite the sunshine the reserve seemed very quiet. Here is what I recorded:

Birds:

SC208694  Robin; 2 x Long Tailed Tit.
SC209695 Great Tit + another heard at the same time; Blue tit;
SC209694 Goldcrest; Wren; Robin; female Blackbird
SC209694 ( from hide) Chaffinch; juvenile Blackbird.
SC209695  2 x Chough flew over the reserve calling and landed in the adjoining field.

Other:

SC208694  3 or possibly 4 Gorse Shieldbugs together + 1 singleton
SC209693 Lawn daisies in flower
SC209694 Alder catkins
SC209694 Cultivated daffodils in bud peeping through the dead bracken


After lunch I was able to pay a slightly longer visit to the Reserve and recorded the following:

Birds:

SC209693  male Blackbird;
SC208694 4 x Great tit together; Blackbird
SC208695 Dunnock; 4 x Chaffinch (2 pairs seen together); male Blackbird;
SC209694  ( near Ginnie's Bench) Robin; female Blackbird;
SC209694 ( path junction) Robin;
SC209694 ( from hide) 2 x Wrens together; Wood Pigeon flying over; Water Rail; male Pheasant;
SC210694  Wren

Other:

SC210694 very small flies ( about 1 mm long) on wall near entrance

I was lucky to see the Water Rail. I was about to leave the Hide when I realised that there were ripples spreading out over the water in quick succession. These seemed to be emanating from a particular clump of rushes to the left of the hide. I guessed that there must be a bird disturbing the water at this point and watched for a long time. I had a fleeting glance of  a small dark bird going away from me from this clump of rushes to another. The ripples resumed but gradually seemed to move back along the bank towards me. I kept watching and after what seemed like a very long time the Water Rail emerged and swam a short distance into another clump of rushes on the bank. No time for a photo but unmistakably the Water Rail. It seemed to be quite a small one but whether this has any significance ( e.g. female? young one?) I do not know. I rarely see Water Rails swim. Usually they do short sprints across the weed or fly off with their legs trailing. I waited for a further interval but the ripples stopped and it did not emerge again.

Alder catkins

Lawn Daisy

Cultivated daffs in bud

at least 3 if not 4 Gorse Shieldbugs here

Robin near compost heap

fly only about 1mm long

Great Tit

same bird

another elsewhere

one of 2 Wrens near the pond

both were singing

red throat visible when singing

peace shattered as this chopper flew low over the reserve

last view of the reed bed before heading home for hot tea.

Ballachurry Reserve, Diary Date

The next work party at Ballachurry is likely to be 16th February, weather permitting.  We'll be re-painting the hide & the back of the noticeboard. We may also be replacing boardwalk timbers. Then there's always more brambles!

Best wishes,

Sheila

Ballachurry Reserve, 9th January, 2019.

Still frosty at 9.30 a.m.

Only 4 degrees this morning and my old banger of a car did not want to start! Having coaxed it into action I headed for Ballachurry where it was no surprise to find frost on the grass by the noticeboard. But the sky was blue and the sunshine most welcome after recent gloomy weather. The Reserve was very quiet for the most part except for Great tits which seemed to be everywhere. The highlight today though was a brief view of a Chiffchaff on the compost heap. We have had them over-wintering at the Reserve for the last couple of years now, but this is the first I've seen this winter. No photo unfortunately as it flew up into the firs before I could get my camera focused. But now I know it's there......

Birds:

SC209694  ( near path junction) Robin; 4 x Great tit together in Hawthorn bush;
SC209694  ( near and from hide) Robin; 2 x Blue tit ; 2 x Great tit;
SC208694 ( compost area) Chiffchaff; Long Tailed Tit; 2 x Great tit; 2 x Blue tit;  Robin; Dunnock;
SC208694 ( boardwalk area) Robin; Blue tit;
SC208695 ( old beehive loop) male Blackbird; Magpie flying over;
SC209694 ( Gorse boundary)  Blue tit; 2 x female Pheasant;
SC209693 ( path parallel to road) Wren heard but not seen; 2 x Jackdaw flying over.

Other:

SC209694 ( gorse boundary) 3 x 7 spot Ladybirds hibernating together in gorse.
SC210694 ( entrance) Stinking Iris shedding seeds & making bright splash.
SC209694  still odd hawthorn berries left here and there.

The Robin was busy on the compost heap

it seemed to be finding plenty to eat and quickly saw off
the Dunnock which tried to join the feast

Great tit amongst the Alder Catkins

Hide due for a coat of new paint this year

stream banks to the reed bed greening up now

it's the Hemlock Water Dropwort putting out fresh leaves
nice reflections on a still day

reed seed heads look lovely against the blue sky

pond from the hide

back lit the reeds look silvery

hawthorn berries for the birds now few and far between

but some  of the Hawthorns are coming into leaf -
we have autumn, winter and spring all at the same time!

I always check the gorse on sunny days
3 x 7-spot Ladybirds in hibernation

Stinking Iris

sunny January day

Glad to say my car started first time when I headed for home after an enjoyable 90 minute stroll round the Reserve.

Click on photos to enlarge, then click again to run through them as slide show.

Ballachurry Reserve, 5th January 2019 - Work Party.

19 Volunteers for 2019.

What an excellent turnout for our first work party of the year! A new record for the reserve, I think! Our priority for the morning was to curb the enthusiasm of the brambles where they were threatening to cross the ditch and head for the path. Volunteers were soon spread out along the whole of the  boundary and by the tea break the task was pretty much done. "Many hands make light work" indeed.
This meant that after our refreshment break we were able to do a similar job in two other areas of the reserve.

Brambles are excellent for wildlife, providing nectar, berries, cover and nest sites but would soon take over the entire reserve if left to their own devices. We are trying to provide a variety of different habitats at Ballachurry, so in certain areas they are kept in check. Fear not though, they will be back! No doubt we'll be doing exactly the same task this time next year.

Those of you visiting the Hide may also notice that the ramp has been meticulously weeded, as has the boardwalk. This was a one woman job! Thank you Carrie. It's fiddly and hard on the fingers but Carrie did a great job.

Many thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work,  to Ian for use of his barrow, trailer and dustbins, Richard for dropping off more stuff at the tip on his way home, and to all our very own Mary Berrys for providing the refreshments at half time.

As usual the last word goes to the wildlife for whom all this effort is made:

SC210694 3 x Goldfinch
SC209694 10 x Mallard on pond
SC208694 Goldcrest; Blue tit; 4 x Chaffinch; Great tit.
SC209693 Water Rail heard  from reed bed just as I was leaving the reserve
SC209694 hibernating 7-spot Ladybird found by volunteer, Holly, & relocated to elsewhere on reserve.

an annual task

give an inch and brambles will take a yard!

down in the ditch

recharging the batteries for the next onslaught

hot drinks and delicious cakes

our new recruit looks slightly bemused by Ian's headgear
well, it is Old Christmas Day insisted Ian!

always good to catch up during the tea break

some liberated willows but plenty of brambles left for the wildlife

 

7-spot Lady bird.
They hibernate during the winter but on sunny days will  reappear
to soak up a bit of winter sunshine. This one was fast asleep though.

I think we all enjoyed the fresh air and exercise after the Christmas break, even if a few New Year Resolutions were broken when the cakes appeared!

Ballachurry Reserve, 4th January 2019.

general view of the Reserve taken from the gorse boundary.

My first visit of the year to the Reserve but I only made it down there very late in the day. Light levels too low for bird photography, I'm afraid. I was really doing a recce ahead of Saturday's Work Party but noted the following:

Birds:

SC208694 2 x female Chaffinch, 1 x male Chaffinch;  Blue tit;  Wren heard but not seen.
SC208695 male Chaffinch; Great tit
SC209694 Magpie; 2 x Great tit;  Robin
SC209695 2 x Jackdaw
SC209694 ( from Hide) Wood Pigeon; Wren; Blue tit.
SC209694 small bird's nest in Hawthorn tree (see below)

Fungus:

SC208694 What I think is Turkeytail bracket fungus on boardwalk, still looking fresh.

Tiny nest visible in Hawthorn tree. Only about 2 inches diameter
beautifully formed from moss and lined with sheep's wool
very cosy!

have posted this photo on the Fungus Group Facebook Page
asking for confirmation that this is indeed Turkeytail.

A final view of sightings for December.
The entry for 31st is mine but someone else was able to add
a female Hen Harrier and a Kestrel later in the day.
What a good end to the year for the Reserve!

Remember that clicking on the photos will enlarge them. An account of the Work Party follows shortly.

Ballachurry Reserve, Work Party 5th January 2019.

Hi Everyone,

Just confirming that Saturday's work party is on.  A cloudy but dry day is forecast with temperatures in the region of 8 degrees. Light winds. However, should the reality not fit this description  tomorrow morning, do check your email ( if on the list)  or the Blog before setting out just in case the Met. Office have changed their minds over night!

Look forward to seeing some of you there.

Best wishes  and Happy New Year to you all.

Sheila