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Something worth seeing?
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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
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Contender for this year's Blog Christmas card?
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| Juvenile Moorhen |
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suddenly all attention - a Longtail had appeared
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safe once more
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juvenile Blackbird
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| an acrobatic Blackbird taking berries |
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7-spot Ladybird on Hazel catkins
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another in gorse
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snoozing in the sunshine
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Hibernating already?
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Unidentified fungus
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Angelica
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the taller Angelica plants had been battered by recent gales
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Carder bee on the Burdock near the gate
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Controversial Cushag ( Ragwort) is brilliant for wildlife
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Eriothrix rufomaculata - a parasitic fly
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same fly, different angle
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and again
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a new record for the reserve
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Syritta pipiens Hoverfly
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| Common Blue butterfly |
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| Green Veined White on Marsh Woundwort. |
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the same Green Veined White later
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Red Admiral sunbathing on the boardwalk
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Small Copper
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Speckled Wood
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| another Speckled Wood |
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Small Tortoiseshell
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Moth in the stream - possibly a Wainscot species
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it was alive!
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Anthrophila fabricana - Nettle-tap moth
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cascades of Rowan berries
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| Shieldbug nymph among the berries |
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and another elsewhere
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Gorse Shieldbug
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view across the meadow towards the hide
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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
