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A hint of sunshine early afternoon
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After a busy morning on Thursday, I decided to have an early lunch and head down to the Reserve for a final recording session of the year. But then the bright sunshine of the morning gave way to cloudy skies and even a few spots of rain. I dithered. Some of the cloud looked black and ominous. In the end I decided to chance it and arrived at the Reserve around 2 p.m. I made the right choice! Here is my report for the last day of 2020.
Birds:
SC210694 Robin; Blackbird.
SC209693 2 x Robins "talking" to each other across the path. Only 1 seen.
SC2089694 Grey Heron flying over;
SC208695 2 x Blackbird; 2 x Chaffinch; 2 x Great Tit; 3 x Long Tailed Tit;
SC209694 (Gorse Boundary) Goldcrest; Blackbird; Great Tit; 2 x Goldfinch; Wren; Robin; Song Thrush; Blue Tit;
SC209694 (direct route to Hide and path Junction) 2 x Reed Bunting (f) 3 x Great Tit; Blue Tit; Blackbird alarm call heard; Rook sitting quite low in willow didn't budge as I walked underneath.
SC209694 ( hide) Greenfinch; Wood pigeon flying over; Robin; Wren; single Chaffinch (m) Blue Tit; 2 x Long Tailed Tit; 4 x Chaffinch together;small flock of Goldfinches flying over; Snipe; Water Rail;
SC209695 2 x Goldfinch
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usual view of the bird hide
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Chaffinch on the old beehive loop
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Composite photo of just one Great Tit looking for insects
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Long Tailed Tit in silhouette against the light
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Song Thrush alighted near Ginny's Bench
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Keeping an eye on the ground for potential meal
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and all around in other directions too
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looking along the ash walk......
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.....and across the reed bed
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Lovely view of a female Reed Bunting
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composite view of the same bird, various stances
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not such a good view of the second one but possibly another female
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King of the Castle Great Tit
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| Rook |
Two circuits of the Reserve, with a 20 minute session in the hide in
between, took me up till 3.45. With the light failing fast I decided I
might as well stay on in the hide in the hope that I might again be
lucky enough to see Snipe/ Water Rail/ Little Egret coming in at dusk.
Sunset was 4.06 that evening and at exactly that time I heard the Water
Rail calling from the right hand side of the pond but there was no sign
of it emerging from cover. Plenty of small birds suddenly appeared in
the shrubs around the pond but then there was a loud whirring of wings
and in flew a Snipe which landed amongst the vegetation on the far side
of the pond. It was hard to locate it with the binoculars but I
eventually spotted it hunkered down among the reeds. I managed a photo
with some difficulty as by now it was 4.18 and not exactly good
photographic light (I have lightened up the photo on my computer) . Ten
minutes later the Snipe suddenly became very alert and I followed its
direction of gaze just in time to see the Water Rail fly in to the reeds
on the left hand side of the water. It barely paused there before
vanishing off into the heart of the reed bed. I got a very poor photo -
it was practically dark by now - but you can just make out the grey body
and red bill. No sign of the Little Egret unfortunately but it was seen
around 3 p.m. one afternoon recently and hopefully will be seen again.
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looking through the shutters towards sunset
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Lovely reflections
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Chaffinch seen from hide at sunset
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sunset from the hide
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Snipe flew in about 4.18
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and the Water Rail about ten minutes later
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a final look at December - note comment on 28th! ( it wasn't me!)
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After two and a half hours on a cold December afternoon my feet and hands were feeling decidedly chilly and the teapot was beckoning! I decided to leave, but two of Ballachurry's regular bird watchers arrived at that moment so we exchanged some birding news before I left for home. I left them on dusk watch and hope they were lucky on this last day of the birding year.
2020 has been a difficult year for us all but it has seen several new records of various kinds at Ballachurry Reserve, including the Little Egret, a Migrant Hawker Dragonfly and several types of fungi.
What will 2021 bring?
Please click on the photos to enlarge them
P.S. Happy Birthday Blog! 6 years of Ballachurry records noted here making 10 years' recording in total. Time certainly flies when you are having fun!
