Ballachurry Reserve, 25th July 2019.

One of the areas we rake off in the autumn
 to encourage wild flowers. Some Yellow Rattle has survived
this year and will help reduce fertility & make the grasses
less vigorous, giving wild flowers a chance in future.

Thursday was a very warm day! I thought there might be more of a breeze at Ballachurry than at home and it was indeed very pleasant just by the gate. However, most of the reserve was sheltered from the breeze and I soon donned my sunhat to walk round. The exception was the area by the compost heap which was in deep shade. I was tempted to linger there but there didn't seem to be much wildlife so I ventured out into the sunshine once more. Here is my report:

Birds:

SC209694  ( hide) 2 x female Mallard; Great Tit. Swallow flying over. Blackbird on rowan berries. Unidentified small bird in berries.


Butterflies & Moths:

SC209694 ( path junction)Meadow Brown; Small White; Speckled Wood.
SC209694 ( hide) Small Tortoiseshell flew in through window and out through the door!  Meadow Brown outside. 6 Spotted Burnet Moth on bramble flowers outside; Unidentified White flying.
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) Meadow Brown; Painted Lady;
SC208694 ( meadow area)Meadow Brown x 2:
SC208694 ( willows) Meadow Brown; Speckled Wood x 2; unidentified White flying
SC208694 ( boardwalk) Speckled Wood; unidentified White flying.
SC209695 Meadow Brown; unidentified White flying.
SC209693 Red Admiral; Meadow Brown;


Ladybirds:

SC210694 ( near entrance)7-spot x 2
SC209693 ( path parallel to road)  7-spot
SC208694  ( meadow area) 7-spot x 2
SC208694  ( near boardwalk) 7-spot
SC209694 ( gorse boundary) 7-spot

Other:

SC210694 here and throughout reserve - Soldier Beetles.
SC209693 Capsid  Bug ( Grypocirus stysi)
SC209694 Very large spider in the hide with very large web - probably Tegenaria sp. ( gigantea?)
SC209694 Nursery Web Spider ( Pisaura mirabilis) tent in grass outside hide
SC208694 here and elsewhere Honey Bee; Common Wasp. Common Green Capsid Bug
SC208694 (willows) Tortoise Beetle nymphs, Cassida family

Mallard feeding in the pond

7-spot Ladybird

another on Greater Birds Food Trefoil

this one was on Hogweed

and this one on nettles

Meadow Brown Butterfly

You will have to believe me when I say
 this was a 6-spot Burnet Moth ! Too deep in the brambles for
a good photo.

Speckled Wood Butterfly

Rowan Berries look spectacular against
a blue sky

and always merit a closer inspection

the little green Shieldbug nymph obligingly walked
onto my hand when I lifted the bunch of berries

This is the nymph of a Tortoise Beetle.
It disguises itself as a bird dropping by covering itself
in its own excrement, politely referred to as frass!

a very large web in the hide

the view from underneath the elbow shelf

some eggs and possibly  some spiderlings too

the owner was at home

another spider nest - Nursery Web Spider

Soldier Beetle on Creeping Thistle

Common Green Capsid Bug

this fallen nettle leaf had a small spider and egg sack inside

the route to the compost  area - the grasses look lovely in flower

Sneezewort and Purple Loosestrife in the meadow area

Loosestrife and Meadowsweet together

Great Willowherb now starting to flower

the pond area looking very lush

looking in the other direction

A very enjoyable stroll through the reserve.

Click on photos to enlarge them

Ballachurry Reserve, 20th July 2019 - Work Party

a lovely day for a work party
(Hemp Agrimony in the foreground)

 

We try not to hold  full work parties during the bird nesting season in order to keep disturbance on the reserve to a minimum but with everything growing at a terrific rate it was becoming difficult to walk round the paths, especially after recent rain storms which had blown down vegetation in places.

Accordingly a small group of 9 volunteers met up on Saturday morning to take matters in hand. Brambles arching over the paths were cut back, overhanging branches lightly trimmed and fallen vegetation  strimmed back. The ramp was weeded and boardwalk area strimmed too to prevent the timber edges rotting.

We enjoyed a welcome cuppa and delicious home made cake kindly provided by Janet around 11 o'clock . Tempting as it was to sit in the sunshine and enjoy the convivial conversation,  there was still work to be done so it was secateurs at the ready once more to get the job finished.

I didn't manage to get shots of everyone working this time, apologies for that. A warm welcome to Chris, our new recruit, and well done everyone! A big thank you to all concerned.

off to the compost heap

against the sun but what a dramatic sky

snipping back the brambles

 

strimming the boardwalk edges

a welcome break

 cuppa and cake

back to work shortly

We did notice some wildlife, 7-spot Ladybirds at SC209693 & SC209694   and more Haresfoot Inkcaps at SC209694. Two female mallards were on the pond at SC209694.

 2 x Speckled Wood butterflies at SC208695

this photo insists on  appearing upside down!
no matter how I flip or rotate it then save, it is still upside down!
The original file in the folder is fine. I've given up!

7-spot ladybird

Inkcaps growing by the path

they are actually growing in the wood chip beneath the grass

And a few general views to end  this post:

taken from near the hide

Meadowsweet in the meadow

looking back to the hide from the meadow

Looking across the meadow from the path
Purple Loosestrife in the foreground

What a beautiful place to be a volunteer!

 Don't forget you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them - this is the first time I've used a mobile phone camera at a work party. The close-up shots of insects etc. seem fine but people in the foreground seem a bit distorted.

Ballachurry Reserve, 24th June 2019.

sunny, lush meadow

The weather seemed warm on Monday 24th June, even if not sunny, so I set off round the reserve in shirt-sleeves. As I reached the hide the mist was coming down over the hills and the temperature plummeted! I quickly headed back to the car to collect my cagoule and continued my recording. Needless to say by the end of the afternoon the mist had lifted again and I was far too warm! I think the wildlife was similarly confused by the temperature fluctuations! Here is what I recorded:

Birds: 

SC210694 Goldfinch

SC209693 Song Thrush heard but not seen

SC209694 ( path junction) Goldfinch; Willow Warbler heard but not seen

SC208694 Willow Warbler heard but not seen; male Chaffinch; male Blackbird;

SC209694 ( gorse boundary) Goldfinch

Butterflies, Moths & Caterpillars:

SC210694 unidentified Moth; Small Tortoiseshell Caterpillars;

SC209694 tiny green Micromoth on rush; unidentified Micromoth on grass; larvae of Depressaria daucella moth

SC208694 Speckled Wood butterfly; unidentified White butterfly flying

SC208695 unidentified moths; Speckled Wood

SC209695 unidentified Grass Moths; unidentified flattened caterpillar or pupa

SC209694 ( path junction) Speckled Wood

Ladybirds :

SC210694 4 x 7-spot  larvae +  1 pupa.

Other:

SC210694   several Capsid bugs (Grypocoris stysi); unidentified Crane Fly;  Eupeodes species Hoverfly ( probably corollae); Sloe Bug,

SC209693 Eupeodes Species Hoverfly;  female Syrphus species Hoverfly ;ripening Hazel nuts on bushes; "Footballer"  Helophilus  species Hoverfly; Blue-tailed Damselfly

SC209694 female Chloromyia Formosa ( Soldier Fly)  fly; Wolf spiders with egg sacks; Dolichopodidiae  (long-legged fly); "Footballer "  Helophilus species Hoverfly; Parasitic Wasp?  Scaeva pyrastri Hoverfly on stake by hide; Honey bees on brambles;Common Wasp; unidentified small beetle in grass.
SC209694 Cuckoo Spit  thoroughout reserve, some with trapped flies.

SC208695 Hawthorn Shieldbug nymph? 

SC209695 Green Shieldbugs + Sloe Bug ?  Shieldbug instars + Gorse Shieldbug eggs on gorse
SC208694 Black thistle aphids here and throughout reserve
SC208694 Noon Fly and other unidentified fly on bridge handrail
SC209695  male Syrphus species Hoverfly

7-spot ladybird larva

and another

and another nearby

this ladybird larva was smaller but I think it is still a 7-spot

Ladybird pupa - 7-spot?

Wolf Spider

Wolf spider carrying egg sack

camouflaged spider with egg sack on gorse

Spider with egg sack on gorse + Gorse Shieldbug eggs behind

Honey Bee

close-up of  same bee

another bee 

"Fotballer" Hoverfly Helophilus species

male Scaeva pyrastri Hoverfly 

male Eupeodes species  Hoverfly  ( probably corollae)

different view of the same one

same species elsewhere - male Eupeodes species

 female Syrphus species

this "footballer" has a more flattened body - Helophilus species 

yet another!  - male Syrphus  species

mating Hoverflies  - Eupeodes species

Noon Fly and friend

unknown fly - not possible to identify from photo

male Long-legged fly - Dolichpodidae

beautiful irridescent green fly
a female Chloromyia Formosa ( Soldier Fly)

mist coming down and temperature dropping

bumble bee in the Meadowsweet

another in the Vetch

Common Wasp on Hogweed

Alder Tongue galls on Alder

Click beetle

and another view

Speckled Wood Butterfly

Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars

Depressaria daucella caterpillar 

and another

this may be another, but not on the usual Hemlock Water Dropwort

Parasitic Wasp? and unidentified caterpillar

Caterpillar of Orange Tip butterfly

this was like a flattened caterpillar

unidentified moth 01

unidentified moth 02

unidentified moth 03

unidentified moth 04

Hemlock Water Dropwort starting to collapse after flowering

Blue-tailed Damselfly ( 1st I've seen here this year) 

looking colourful on dock

Cuckoo Spit (with trapped aphids?)

unidentified Shieldbug nymph ( possibly Sloe bug?)

another nymph on another tree

Common Green Shieldbugt

Sloe Shieldbug

Marsh Woundwort in flower

Purple Loofstrife 

Meadowsweet

ripening Hazelnuts

Thistles coming into flower but covered with black aphids

closer view of aphids

Grpocoris stysi Capsid bug

cats make lovely pets but pose great danger for some wildlife
on the reserve

pond looks lush at this time of year but water level is low

Wildlife on the reserve at a mid-summer high - hence the number of photos!

Apologies for the late posting!  Remember you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

With thanks to Steve Crellin for fly identification