Ballachurry Reserve, 29th January, 2020

rather a bleak January day at the Reserve

Rather a gloomy day to visit the Reserve this week, but my only opportunity. I began to think that I would leave without recording a single bird but things improved slightly on my second circuit. Here is what I saw:

Birds:

SC210694 2 x Mallard flying over
SC209694 30 + Goldfinches flying over
SC209694 female Pheasant
SC209694 Robin
SC209694 male Blackbird
SC209694 ( from hide) 2 x Blue Tit; 2 x Great Tit; Goldfinch.

Other:

SC209694 Blackthorn is in flower bud
SC210694  Garden escape  Snowflake has first flower.
SC209693 Hazel catkins lengthening and opening

Unfortunately the reserve had received some  visitors over the week-end who had thoughtlessly left litter along the paths and in the hide. Also signs of smoking in the hide and a shutter left open. A spoof entry on the whiteboard tells us these people were there on Sunday ( at least, I hope it is a spoof entry as a Boomslang is a very venomous African snake!)

an unusual sighting on Sunday!

I was also rather surprised to see how much the water level had fallen in the pond. Much of the weed was no longer afloat and there were large areas of silt showing along the streams. This is an unusual sight in the winter and I fear there may be some sort of blockage or diversion upstream causing this lack of water flow through the reserve. Time will tell if this is a permanent or temporary situation.

Please take your litter home!

Blackthorn waiting to burst into blossom shortly

Hazel catkins lengthening and opening

most of the Brooklime is no longer floating

photo showing extent of Brooklime

and from another angle

water levels low in streams also

not much of a flow for winter

some sunshine would have made all the difference!

Not the best of visits one way or another but hopefully things will improve as spring approaches.

Clicking on the photos will enlarge them