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| notice the green clumps of Hemlock Water Dropwort there already |
For my exercise today I returned to Ballachurry Reserve. Two circuits took less than an hour as it was too cold to linger even in the patches of intermittent sunshine. Everywhere was very quiet - I was the only person there and there was very little wildlife either. The private gate to the reserve was standing open, often a sign in the past that there have been unwelcome visitors to the hide ( I don't mean the private landowners!) so I put my head round the door to check there had been no vandalism. Everything looked in order, I'm glad to say. Here are the birds I noticed as I walked round.
Birds:
SC209693 Blackbird
SC208694 Great Tit; Small flock of Goldfinches flying over; Blue Tit; female & male Chaffinch
SC208695 Blackbird; 2 x Chaffinch
SC209695 Great Tit; male Blackbird; ( blackbird flew out of adjoining private land at low level, almost taking my head off! Gave me a fright! Landed in nearby bush - see photo)
SC209694 2 x Robin
Also noted:
SC208694 & SC209694 Celandines in flower
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| entrance to the reserve - shall I turn left or right today? |
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| Left! A veritable lake under the willows |
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| usual view of the hide |
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| and the meadow |
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| a perfect winter's day - a cold wind though |
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| female Chaffinch |
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| and a male Chaffinch |
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| they were not together - yet! |
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| male Blackbird |
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| beautiful colours |
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| shaft of sunlight lighting up the compost heap |
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| this particular Hogweed always flowers early |
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| looking back towards the new bridge |
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| another sunny spot - temporarily! |
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| again signs that the water had flooded the boardwalk bridge |
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| Catkins along the gorse boundary |
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| with Celandines growing close by |
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| Celandines under the brambles too |
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| cultivated daffs showing through |
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| private gate standing open |
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| no bees in the gorse today |
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| plenty of water in stream after heavy rains |
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| Alder cones |
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| Homeward bound - heading for the gate. |
Not so many birds today as last week, despite the better weather, but an enjoyable walk nonetheless.
Please click on photos to enlarge them.
