Ballachurry Reserve, 26th August 2020.

Something worth seeing?

  After Tuesday's torrential rain and gales Wednesday was sunny and bright once more. I headed down to the Reserve around three and, seeing a long lens protruding through the hide shutters, crept in quietly to find out what was about. It seems I'd just missed the Water Rail! I waited hoping it would reappear but after about 20 minutes headed off round the reserve once more to see what else was about. I returned to the hide an hour later to be told I'd just missed the Rail once more! I had heard it screaming minutes before though. Eventually I had a brief glimpse of it but no photo on this occasion, I'm afraid. The guys in the hide reckoned there are actually 3 on the Reserve at present, which is good news.  Here is what else I saw:

Birds:

SC 209694  ( from hide) Water Rail;  juvenile Moorhen; 2 x Blackbirds; Swallow swooping over water;

SC 209694 ( elsewhere) 2 x Great Tit

SC208694 Robin; Chaffinch

SC209695 Robin 

Butterflies & Moths:

SC210694 Green Veined White

SC209693 Speckled Wood; Green Veined White

SC209694 Speckled Wood x3

SC209694 ( hide) Small Tortoiseshell

SC208694 Speckled Wood x5; Small Copper, 2 x Common Blue; Small Tortoiseshell

SC208695 Speckled Wood

SC208694  I saw a whitish moth among the scum on the stream. Presuming it was drowned I took it out to see what it was. To my amazement it was alive so I deposited it on the  nearby vegetation. Probably a Wainscot species but too bedraggled for proper ID/

SC210694 Anthrophila fabricana Nettle-tap moth on Ragwort ( nettles are caterpillar food plant)

 

Ladybirds:

 

SC210694  7-spot on nettles

SC209694  2 x 7-spot on thistles; 7 x 7-spot on gorse; 1 on Hazel catkins

Other:

SC209694 4 x Gorse Shieldbug

SC210694 Carder bee on Burdock;

SC209694 unidentified fungus

SC209695  Syritta pipiens Hoverfly on Cushag ( Ragwort)

                  Eriothrix rufomaculata parasitic fly NEW RECORD

 Contender for this year's Blog Christmas card?

Juvenile Moorhen

 suddenly all attention - a Longtail  had appeared

 safe once more

 juvenile Blackbird

an acrobatic Blackbird taking berries

7-spot Ladybird on Hazel catkins

another in gorse

snoozing in the sunshine

 Hibernating already?

 Unidentified fungus

Angelica

 the taller Angelica plants had been battered by recent gales

Carder bee on the Burdock near the gate

 Controversial Cushag ( Ragwort) is brilliant for wildlife

Eriothrix rufomaculata  - a parasitic fly

 same fly, different angle

and again

 a new record for the reserve

 Syritta pipiens Hoverfly

Common Blue butterfly

Green Veined White on Marsh Woundwort.

the same Green Veined White later

Red Admiral sunbathing on the boardwalk

 Small Copper

Speckled Wood

another Speckled Wood

 Small Tortoiseshell

 Moth in the stream - possibly a Wainscot species

it was alive!

Anthrophila fabricana  - Nettle-tap moth

cascades of Rowan berries

Shieldbug nymph among the berries

and another elsewhere

 Gorse Shieldbug

 view across the meadow towards the hide

                                        An interesting afternoon at Ballachurry Reserve

Again, thanks to Steve Crellin for the fly identifications and Ian Scott for the moths.

Please click on photos to enlarge

Ballachurry Reserve: 19th August 2020 - a scientific morning.

 No lingering over breakfast this morning, as I needed to be at the reserve early to meet Dawn to check the traps. I headed for the hide first just to see if the Water Rail was showing but only a preening Mallard and a juvenile Moorhen were about. I then joined Dawn and fellow committee members, Sheila and Margaret, to check the traps.

 This we did with some excitement which rapidly turned to disappointment as each one proved empty. Finally, the very last 2 traps we checked had closed doors confirming that something was inside.  A quick sniff also spoke of mouse! Dawn had attended a special course on mammal trapping and dealt with our two little mice swiftly and professionally to cause minimal stress to the animals. Indeed, one sat up and happily began to wash in the big polythene bag to which it had been transferred for observation. They seemed more curious about their new surroundings than frightened.

Dawn skillfully measured and weighed our two little residents. The first was a juvenile female and the second an adult male. Both were Long Tailed Field Mice, also known as Wood Mice. Given that we had trapped them both under our ash trees this seemed entirely appropriate. 

These little guys do indeed have very long tails but also big ears and large bright eyes. Dawn explained that their little white tummies distinguished them from House Mice which are more grey underneath. All vital statistics taken and recorded, they were released back into the undergrowth where they quickly vanished from sight. 

The plan is to repeat the exercise in 12 months' time to see whether they have increased or declined.

We three Committee ladies are very grateful to Dawn for involving us in this science and giving us such an interesting morning. Unlike Beatrix Potter's story, this was definitely a Tale of Two Good Mice!

We were all grateful to Margaret too for providing some refreshments in the hide afterwards.

Here are a few photos -

 trap door firmly closed

mouse and bedding carefully transferred to large bag

Once in the corner of the bag observation begins

White tummy shows this is a Wood Mouse

a juvenile female in this case

 an excellent view of the long tail

nocturnal creatures need large ears and eyes

Dawn assesses what has been caught and Sheila makes appropriate notes

 Body length and tail length are both measured

and carefully noted

the mouse is weighed in the bag then weight of the bag deducted

finally the mouse is released

 the second mouse was an adult male - a very long tail

again statistics taken and recorded

just a brown blur as he leaps to freedom

a few details still to be added

 

Also noted on the the reserve this morning:

Sparrowhawk kill of Goldfinch  SC209694

Spiderwebs  showing up well with raindrops SC209694 and throughout reserve

2 x Mallard + 1 juvenile Moorhen SC209694 

Speckled Wood butterflies SC210694 , SC209693, SC208694.

 

Spiderwebs show up well when wet

lots of them along the paths

 Mallard.

Noticeboard full, so photographed it before clearing some space

 

  A most interesting  week at the Reserve and Wood Mice added to the Ballachurry records.