Ballachurry Reserve, 24th June 2020

Meadowsweet in the meadow

Two visits to Ballachurry on Wednesday! We'd received a report that a tree had blown over and was blocking the path so I went down with loppers, hoping they would be adequate and that I wouldn't need a man with a chain saw! One of the willows on the old beehive loop had split right down the middle in the recent gale and had indeed completely blocked the path. I cleared a way through but we can leave the main trunk where it has fallen and it may well root in where it touches the ground. Thanks to the member of public who reported it to the MWT office.

Fortunately I found no nests in the fallen tree

the split trunk

all clear again

Of more concern was the fact that we had clearly had some sheep on the reserve! Sheep dung everywhere - especially on my shoes! They had left some wool behind too as evidence, if more evidence were needed. It seems they may have got in through the adjoining private land but the gate has now been padlocked so hopefully it won't occur again. The sheep dung was attracting flies which were quite persistent in their attentions so when I returned in the afternoon to do a recording visit I made sure I  was well and truly covered in insect repellent!

Exhibit A - woolly evidence. I'll spare you Exhibit B!

I returned to the reserve about 3 and spent a couple of hours there. Here is what I recorded:

Birds:

SC209693  Sedge Warbler

SC208694  Sedge Warbler; Willow Warbler &  Chiffchaff  ( both heard but not seen)

SC209694 Chiffchaff heard but not seen

SC209694 ( from hide) female Mallard; 2 x Adult Moorhens + 2 chicks.

Butterflies & moths:

SC210694 Red Admiral

SC209694 Common Blue;  Meadow Brown seen singly but also a mating pair; Speckled Wood

SC208694 Speckled Wood

SC208694 Silver Y moth; Speckled Wood; Red Admiral; Meadow Brown

SC209695 Meadow Brown

SC209693 Unidentified white flying

Ladybirds:

SC210694 23 x 7-spot Ladybirds

SC209694 5 x 7-spot Ladybirds

SC208695 3 x 7-spot Ladybirds

SC208694 4 x 7-spot Ladybirds

Other:

SC210694  2 x Grypocoris stysi bugs

SC208694 Scaeva pyrastri (?) Hoverfly sharing Hemlock Water Dropwort flower with Ladybird

SC208695 Syrphus species Hoverfly

SC209694Syrphus species Hoverfly

SC209694 Tephritis species fly on thistle -Xyphosia miliaria
SC209694 unidentified micro moth

Moorhen with chick

juvenile growing fast

female Mallard

the fly on the left does not have long to live!

mating Meadow Browns on gorse boundary SC209694

 Tephritis species fly on thistle  (Xyphosia miliaria)

unidentified micro moth

Grypocoris stysi Capsid bug

one of many 7-spot ladybirds on the reserve

three spots on each wing case and a shared spot in the middle = 7

Syrphus species Hoverfly

Syrphus species Hoverfly

a very popular floret of Hemlock Water Dropwort

Scaeva pyrastri Hoverfly?  If so, a migrant species.

they eventually settled for one each

but perhaps that one was better after all....

as the Dropwort dies down the Meadowsweet comes into its own

bridge has been repaired and the Dropwort cut back

shady corner

Common Valerian

unfortunately several trees on the reserve have succumbed to Ash Die-back

Stinking Iris

ripening cherries on Memorial Tree

Angelica leaves give a jungly feel

June wild roses

With thanks to Steve Crellin for fly IDs

Please click on photos to enlarge them

A real treat for those who live in the South!

Ian and Carrie Costain are again opening their amazing wildlife garden over the first weekend of July. As it is not a particularly large garden and because others in the area are unable to open as originally planned, Ian suggests that those of you who live further afield do not make a long journey to visit on this occasion. Also, please note that it is not possible to provide refreshments this year.

Wildlife Garden Open

July 3, 4 & 5

11.00 – 4.00

Thie Yuan, Fistard,

Port St Mary

(The cottage in the fields)

No charge; donations welcomed to Manx Wildlife Trust

(Warning: garden includes steep/irregular steps & a pond)

Ballachurry Reserve, 15th June 2020

A perfect summer's day at Ballachurry Reserve

Monday's forecast sounded perfect for my next visit to the Reserve. But things kept cropping up and it was actually 11.45 before I walked through the gate. Very frustrating! So it was nearly 2.30 when I headed home for a late lunch! During that time I had the reserve completely to myself  and managed to see quite a lot:

Birds:

SC209693 Willow Warbler heard but not seen
SC209694 Blackbird heard but not seen;  Sedge Warbler; 2 x adult Moorhen + 1 chick; 2 x Blue Tit; Chaffinch Heard not seen.
SC208694 Goldfinch; Sedge Warbler in reeds; Chaffinch; Willow Warbler heard not seen; Chiffchaff heard not seen; Woodpigeon flying over;
SC208695 Great Tit x 2; Chaffinch; Blackbird heard not seen

I am very grateful to my friend, Anne Kaye, for loaning me her camera while mine is repaired so that I could take photos of the Sedge Warblers.

Ladybirds:

SC210694   44 x 7-spot!
SC209693   9 x 7-spot
SC208694   2 x 7-spot
SC209694   26 x 7-spot
SC208695   4 x 7-spot
SC208695  1 x 11-spot  ( lucky to notice this as tiny)

Total 7-spots = 85

Butterflies:

SC210694 Small Tortoiseshell; unidentified White flying
SC209693 unidentified White flying
SC209694 ( path junction) Speckled Wood
SC208694 Red Admiral flying; unidentified White flying
SC208695 2 x Speckled Wood

Other:

SC210694 5 x Grypocoris stysi Capsid bugs + probable Common Green Capsid bug
SC210694 various unidentified Hoverflies
SC209693 very small fly on dock - male Microchrysa ( soldierfly ) Possibly flavicornis
SC 209693 Depressaria daucella caterpillars on Hemlock Water Dropwort
SC209695  Broken Brown lipped Banded Snail shell on  stone near stream ( evidence of Thrush)
SC209695 Longtail - obviously sick  ( if you are reading this from outside IOM I should explain that we don't use the R-word!)
SC208694 Gorse Shieldbug nymph, early instar.

Sedge Warbler in reeds

another view

Chaffinch in neighbouring garden

Goldfinch

distant Moorhen and chick

Sedge Warbler near the hide

taken through the hide doorway

7-spot Ladybirds are having a good year

they love nettles and thistles because they often have aphids

on Hemlock Water Dropwort seed head

same 7-spot Ladybird + Depressaria daucella moth caterpillar

11-spot Ladybird is smaller than a grass seed!

a male Syrphus  species Hoverfly

three views of the same Hoverfly on Hogweed

 a male Microchrysa ( soldierfly) possibly flavicornis

later the sea mist came rolling in in the distance

Hemlock Water Dropwort starting to obstruct bridge - will be cut back

view from hide

one of my fixed point photos

Small Capsid bug with a big name - Grypocoris stysi

early instar of Gorse Shieldbug nymph

another view - they are really tiny

possibly Common Green Capsid - checking

the wild roses are truly at their best in June

garden escape Oxalis near gate

another garden escape

Elder flower - the Reserve has its own Tramman Tree!

Meadowsweet now in flower

and thistles too

first Hazel nut I've noticed

a rather blurry picture of  Yellow Rattle - the only one I could find

Hogweed looking like lace

grasses are beautiful when in flower

a rather sick Longtail I fear ( poisoned elsewhere?)

the stream is hard to see in summer because of the lush vegetation

we think a Thrush is using this stone as an anvil - Banded Snail

                

Speckled Wood butterfly

sea mist still rolling in as I left but reserve still sunny




Blogger is refusing to let me present these 2 photos in the usual way or put any concluding text beneath them! My apologies but it's a complete mystery!  Hopefully all the photos will enlarge if you click on them.

with  thanks to Steve Crellin for fly IDs