Ballachurry Reserve, 27th November 2019.

an unexpected blue-sky day!

We have had seemingly endless days of either rain or gloom lately. Today's forecast was for cloudy skies and showers so it was with some surprise I suddenly noticed a sunbeam streaming through the window at 9.30 this morning! Looking out I could actually see blue sky so I immediately changed my plans, grabbed my binoculars, camera and notebook and headed down to Ballachurry, arriving round about 10 o'clock. I was not surprised to find it living up to its Wetlands name and definitely needed my wellies! Here is what I recorded:

Birds:

SC209694    2 x Chaffinch; male  & female/juvenile Blackbird; Robin; Song Thrush.
SC209694 ( from hide) male and female/ juvenile Blackbirds taking Rosehips; Robin; Wren; Rook; Magpie; Pheasant heard but not seen.
SC209693  Wren; Robin.
SC208694  male Blackbird; Robin; Great Tit;  Sparrowhawk kill;
SC208695 Wren; Blackbird.
SC209695 male and female/ juvenile Blackbirds; male Chaffinch.

Other:

SC209694 Harts Tongue fern and what is probably Stinking Iris
SC209693 Catkins on Hazels
SC210694 Honey bees on ivy flowers.
SC210 694 unidentified flies on ivy flowers + Yellow Dung Flies.
SC209694 I found my path barred by a tiny spider crossing on a silken thread from one side to the other. I ducked underneath and took a photo, see below.

size of a money spider, could it be.....a money spider? 

possibly a new Stinking Iris plant in the ditch

Harts tongue fern in the ditch

this year's Hazelnuts have fallen but
the new catkins are there already

all that now remains of the Hazelnut crop

we are once more losing the water to weed
action required!

sunshine picking out the reeds beautifully

beautiful seed heads

meadow is wetter than ever

Green bottle fly - one of many flies in the ivy
All part of the food chain, of course

Blackbird was taking the Rosehips

Click on photos to enlarge them

Dates for your diary in the South of the Island.

The Manx Wildlife Trust's Southern Group Committee has organised the following events which may be of interest to you.

November

Click to enlarge

December

Click to enlarge

Ballachurry Reserve, Work Party 16th November 2019.

a blue sky day and plenty of work awaits us

but wellies are essential!

Saturday dawned bright and sunny for our work party. A dozen volunteers converged on the cut meadow area with rakes and barrows at the ready. Ian also provided some large builders' sacks as an alternative to barrows for us to try out this year. Many hands made light work and the job was finished in less than an hour! Eleven o'clock saw us back at the  hide for a well-deserved cuppa and slice of cake ( or two!) Thank you, Margaret, for providing the refreshments today - very much enjoyed and appreciated. As the task was already finished we could linger and chat but the sky was starting to cloud over and the temperature to fall without the sunshine so about 11.45ish everyone headed for home.

making a start

off to the compost heap

making good progress

aren't these sacks supposed to hold a ton???

still room for a bit more

yes, feels like a ton!

just a bit of momentum needed!

perhaps a barrow is the easier option after all

here comes the next load

half way there

and the pile once finished

another view

not much point raking this!

job finished

We were watched in our work by a Robin ( SC208694) & there were two frogs hopping around  where we had been raking off .We even saw a couple of winter thrushes ( Redwings?) flying over as we enjoyed our refreshments( SC209694)

smaller of the two frogs, off in a hurry

this one was quite large 

heading for the stream

Various invertebrates were left behind in our barrows.....

Apparently this is a beetle larva - trying to find out what kind.

 A very small ground beetle - Carabidae species.

 a Wolf spider

Ah! This is going to be good!

time to be sociable but notice the clouds

I think we've seen the last of the sun for today

I know from experience that the piles of fresh compost bring in the birds, as the cut vegetation is full of insects and spiders. So rather than go home immediately I fetched my binoculars from the car to have another walk round and see what had reappeared once the reserve was quiet again. As I suspected the compost heap was proving attractive and I saw a Robin, a Wren and a Goldcrest taking full advantage of an easy meal. There was a Song Thrush on the path nearby and a pair of Chaffinches watching from a branch above. ( All SC208694) A walk through the willows also  provided a Wren and a Long Tailed Tit.  At the Hide I saw both a Robin and a Wren ( SC209694) When I arrived at the reserve ahead of the work party there were 3 Goldcrests near the entrance (SC210694)

the Wren was busy on the compost and between the planks

the Robin darts down from a branch above, then retreats back again

But the highlight of this post work party stroll was hearing the Water Rail squealing from the reed bed ( SC209693)  - something I hadn't heard here for a long while. I sat in the hide for quite a while hoping it might emerge but all went quiet. Good to know we still have one though.

I am very grateful to all today's volunteers for turning out at short notice to get this job done. It's an annual task and we have seen the condition of the meadow improve year on year following such maintenance. Our reward for this morning's toil will be to see the flowers and the butterflies next summer!

Thank you !

Ballachurry Reserve, Work Party Saturday 16th November 2019.

Hi Volunteers,

"cloudy with occasional showers developing mainly for the afternoon and overnight.It will be 9 degrees with light to moderate north to north easterly breeze" So says David Britton at Ronaldsway Met. Office, so I think we may be able to get  the Ballachurry job done before the rain arrives. Details of task/ tools etc. as previously circulated.

Please check your email or this Blog before leaving home just in case the forecast has changed drastically overnight but otherwise I look forward to seeing some of you tomorrow around 10.

Best wishes and thanks,

Sheila

Ballachurry Reserve, 14th November 2019

sun picking out the reeds

Despite being a bright sunny day the temperature was only 6 degrees at 10 a.m.  today as I arrived at Ballachurry. As I was putting on my wellies at the car ( essential footware at Ballachurry just now!)  I could hear Long Tailed Tits and glancing up there they were just over the wall in a willow close to the road. No camera at the ready of course, so no photos. With nice symmetry they reappeared by Ginnie's  Bench just as I was leaving. Here is what else I saw during the course of the morning:

Birds:

SC210694 3 x Long Tailed Tits; Wren in ivy;  8 x Goldfinch taking Alder seeds
SC209694  Blue Tit; Robin; 3 x Long Tailed Tits; male and female Chaffinch; Song Thrush; male and female Blackbirds;
SC209695 Song Thrush

Other:

SC208694  hibernating 7-spot ladybird in gorse
SC210694 2 x Yellow Dung flies in nettles
SC209695  Calliphora species fly in oak tree
SC208694 Probable Calliphora species fly in gorse
SC209694 berries on holly for the first time
SC209694 Noon Fly
SC209693 and SC208694 various fungi on compost heaps, as recently identified by the IOM Fungus Group.

male Chaffinch

we think Blue Tits are acrobatic but this Goldfinch fed
upside down for quite some time

yellow Dung fly

Possibly Calliphora species fly

Noon fly

Calliphora species fly

I deliberately looked for and found this 7-spot
 recorded last week hibernating in the gorse

fungus on compost near the road

showing the gills

quite a  lot of them

these are the fungi on the other compost heap
Tawny Funnel

again, quite a lot of them

previously photographed Wood Blewits
colour now fading as they age

our Hollies have grown a lot this year and
 one is suddenly producing a few berries for the birds

the meadow waiting to be cleared of vegetation on Saturday

the usual view of the hide

will take  a while to barrow all this cut vegetation to the
compost heap

a different view of the hide

just before I left, these trees behind Ginnie's bench had
3 Long Tailed Tits in them, probably the ones I saw earlier
by the gate when I arrived

a silvery view of the Church

Click to enlarge photos - some a bit fuzzy, just record shots.

With thanks to Steve Crellin for fly identifications.