Ballachurry Rerserve, 29th July 2020

Purple People Protector

 As many of you will know, Ballachurry Reserve is frequently used as an educational resource for Island children. Manx Wildlife Trust has a wonderful  Education Officer, Dawn Dickens, who enthuses  children about all aspects of wildlife on the Island and often takes them to Ballachurry for some amazing wildlife experiences. One such event was programmed for Thursday 30th July and local Scoutmaster, Guy Thompson, had kindly agreed to provide a Scout Marquee on site for their use. On Wednesday afternoon a small party of volunteers went down to help Guy put up this tent on the grassy area near the Private entrance. Some of us also stayed on afterwards to cut back those ever encroaching brambles.

Although this visit to the reserve was not intended as a recording visit, who can resist walking round Ballachurry on a sunny July afternoon? Here is what I noted:

Birds:

SC208694 Sedge Warbler with insect in its beak.
SC208695 Female Blackbird
SC209695 Willow Warbler heard but not seen
SC209694  5 x Mallard
SC209694  Juvenile Moorhen

Butterflies :

SC208695, SC209694, SC208694  Speckled Woods

Ladybirds:

SC209695  3 x 7-spot ladybirds
SC208694 7-spot ladybird

Other:

SC209695 Adult Gorse Shieldbug + several nymphs, various instars.
SC208694 Angelica in flower
SC208694 Unidentified fungi
SC209695 Wolf spider with egg sack
SC209695 Metallina species spider in web.

with the sun in my eyes I couldn't be certain of what I was photographing

 

I had been alerted by a call and suspected a Sedge Warbler

the photo confirmed this but I hadn't anticipated the insect in its beak!

fungi  under the willows

hopefully can be identified

different species?

active 7-spot Ladybird

inactive 7-spot Ladybird

another nearby

7-spot and some Gorse Shieldbug nymphs

Adult Gorse Shieldbug

a variety of instars for Gorse Shieldbug nymphs

Wolf Spider carrying egg sack

Speckled Wood Butterfly ( SC208695)

a large flower head on Angelica

Rowan berries on a sunny afternoon

Mallards  bathing

A very enjoyable afternoon at the Reserve.

Please click on the photos to enlarge them