 | |
| a gloomy afternoon at Ballachurry Reserve |
It has been difficult this week to find a convenient weather window to visit the Reserve. I finally got there just after 3 on a very gloomy afternoon. My expectations were not very high but hearing the Water Rail in the distance I quickened my pace towards the hide only to find the door standing open and the floor wet with recent rain. It soon became apparent that we'd had an unwelcome visit from some uncaring youngsters who had left behind a lot of rubbish, emptied the bird books out of the box onto the floor and made a paper aeroplane out of one of the newsletters. A discarded lighter and multiple fag ends suggested why they had visited the Hide. The afternoon suddenly seemed even gloomier. It took me 20 minutes to clean up after these antisocial people which didn't then leave me with much daylight for my visit to the Reserve. Sigh! Incident will be reported to the Police who tell me they know who these regular miscreants are.
 |
| such a shame that the few spoil it for the many |
Nevertheless, here is my report:
Birds:
SC209694 Water Rail heard but not seen.
SC209694 Snipe put up from very close to hide
SC208694 Snipe put up from stream ( same one or another?)
SC208694 ( near compost area) Wren, Chaffinch, 10+ Woodpigeon flying over
SC208694 ( near boardwalk) male Pheasant
SC209694 Blackbird gave alarm call
SC210694 Robin
Ladybirds:
SC209695 Hibernating 7-spot still in the gorse
Other:
SC210694 Stinking Iris seeds now visible
SC210694 Fungi photographed near gate last week may be Brittlestem species
SC208694 The tiny white fungi near the compost heap might possibly be Mycena species.
( my thanks to Karen and Mick Rodger for these clues)
 |
| Wetlands living up to its name |
 |
| my usual photo of the hide on arrival |
 |
| opening seedheads of Stinking Iris |
 |
| the berries make a bright splash |
 |
| debris on the boardwalk suggests the stream had been overflowing |
Sitting in the hide as the light faded yielded no more sightings of birds so I headed home for a nice hot cup of tea ( the temperature was only 7 degrees). Perhaps next week's visit will be in sunshine once more!
