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the hide from the damp meadow
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My first recording visit to the Reserve during the merry, merry month of May! It was a lovely sunny morning but there was a strong North Westerly wind blowing which kept the temperature down and at one point I was glad to sit in the hide to warm up a little. There were baby Moorhen chicks on the pond and a fledgling Blackbird under the willows, so it clearly wasn't winter, even if it felt like it. Here is my report:
Birds:
SC208694 2 x Buzzard overhead; male and female Blackbirds + fledgling ; 2 Sedge Warbler heard but not seen near reed bed.
SC209694 2 x Adult Moorhen feeding 3 chicks between them; Woodpigeon; Whitethroat; Dunnock; Goldfinch; 2 x Shelduck flying over; Sedge Warbler heard from reed bed but not seen; Mallard drake flew in. Male Chaffinch. Willow Warbler heard but not seen.
SC208695 Robin; Wren; male Blackcap;
Other:
SC209694 male Orange-tip butterfly;
SC208694 male Orange-tip butterfly;
SC210694 Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly
SC209694 2 x Gorse Shieldbugs
SC208694 1 unidentified fly on bridge handrail + Calliphora species
SC210694 both White and Blue Spanish / hybrid bluebells near gate
SC210694 Garlic Mustard in flower ( though had been smothered by dumped poster from Sloc roundabout)
SC209693 Lawn daisies have quickly pushed back through the wood chip on path
SC209693, SC208694 and elsewhere Lady's Smock ( Cuckoo flower) in full bloom
SC208694 and elsewhere Hemlock Water Dropwort coming into flower
SC209693 lots of honey bees in willow flowers
SC209694 Memorial cherry in flower
SC209694 Sorrel in flower
SC208694 & SC209694 Apple trees in blossom
SC209695 unidentified bee on dandelion
SC208695 Rowan flowers starting to open.
SC209695 Thyme Leaved Speedwell ( Veronica serpyllifolia) flowering in grass ( Thanks to Andree Dubbeldam for ID)
SC208694 Ground Ivy ( Glechoma hederacea) in flower
SC209694 Red Campion ( Silene dioica) in flower
SC209694 Hogweed in flower ( Heracleum sphondylium). Dung Fly on the Hogweed
SC208695 Oak in leaf
SC209695 Earwig in gorse
SC209695 7-spot Ladybird
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adult Moorhen had 2 demanding chicks to feed
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note the little featherless wings which they flutter , begging for food
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the chicks are also bald
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the one on the left quickly moved in to get its share of the food
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the other parent only had one chick to feed
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but it was no less demanding
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silhouettes of the 2 buzzards overhead - one appears to be carrying something
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they were some distance away from me and appeared like this to the naked eye
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I had a nice close view of the Dunnock
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it spent some time preening
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not far away I spotted a Whitethroat
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which was singing from time to time
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has it spotted me?
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it took me a long time to find the Blackcap which was singing all morning
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the Mallard was drinking, notice the water droplets
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it flew in while I was watching from the hide
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Chaffinch on the gorse boundary
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another view of the male Chaffinch
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when I returned to the hide later one of the Moorhens....
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| was enjoying some downtime away from the family! |
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Ballachurry Reserve isn't just about birds....
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Gorse Shieldbug
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all part of the food chain - Calliphora species on left and unidentified fly on the bridge handrail
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and a bee on a dandelion
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an Earwig hidden in the gorse
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a rather tattered Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly
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7-spot Ladybird
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apple blossom
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cherry blossom on the memorial tree
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"Bouquet of Barbed Wire" ? Revealing my my age here - published 1969!
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Red Campion
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Lawn daisies unperturbed by the wood chip
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oak is out before the ash so we'll only get a splash?
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I was trying to photograph the bees in the willow but they are just too busy to pose!
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Rowan nearly in flower
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cultivated bluebells by the gate
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Ground ivy beneath the willows
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Sorrel flowers in bud
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pretty blue flowers in the grass - Thyme Leaved Speedwell
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Cuckoo flower is Orange Tip Caterpillar food plant
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as is Garlic Mustard ( Green Veined Whites too)
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Hemlock Water Dropwort will soon be covered in moth caterpillars
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Marsh Marigolds and Cuckoo flowers together in the damp meadow
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And a few views to end with
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through the hide shutters
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view from hide looking left
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view from hide looking right
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testimony to recent drought
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clouding over - time to go
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a last look back towards the hide before leaving
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please click on photos to enlarge them ( with thanks to Steve Crellin for Fly identification)
