Ballachurry Reserve, 21st June 2021

the inviting entrance to the Reserve

 

With bad weather forecast from mid-week onwards, this week needed some careful planning for my various wildlife visits . I was due to walk my June butterfly transect up in the hills on Tuesday  so it was essential to visit Ballachurry sometime on Monday to beat Wednesday's rain. I made it down to the reserve shortly after 11 and spent an interesting couple of hours recording the wildlife.  Here is what I saw and heard:

Birds:

SC209694 male Reed Bunting; Willow Warbler heard;

SC209695  male Chaffinch; Willow Warbler or Chiffchaff

SC209694 (from hide) Adult Moorhen with 1 juvenile; female Mallard with one largish duckling

Butterflies:

SC210694 Small Heath

SC209693 Green Veined White; Speckled Wood;

SC209694 Speckled Wood x 2

SC208694  Speckled Wood x 4 ( including 3 spiraling together); Green Veined White

SC208695 Speckled Wood x 2; Small Tortoiseshell; Green Veined White;  Small White; Large White;

Other:

SC210694 7-spot Ladybird larvae x 2

SC208694 7-spot Ladybird

SC210694  Orange-tip caterpillars on Garlic Mustard

SC209693 and elsewhere Depressaria daucella caterpillars on Hemlock Water Dropwort 

SC209695 Gorse Shieldbug nymph on gorse

SC209694   Helophilus pendulus  Hoverfly

SC209694  Syrphus species Hoverfly 

SC209694  Helophilus pendulus Hoverfly on Oxeye daisy 

SC209694  Episyrphus balteatus Hoverfly ( Marmalade fly)

SC208695 Helophilus  pendulus Hoverfly

SC208694 unidentified flies on buttercup flower

SC208694 Bumblebee on wood chip path

SC210694 Herb Robert in flower

SC210694 Elder in flower

SC208694 Ground Ivy in flower

 

Mallard with duckling

Moorhen chick swimming

Moorhen chick keeping its feet dry

adult Moorhen with chick

Reed Bunting

Oxeye daisies attracting insects

"Footballer" hoverfly  Helophilus pendulus

these flies are usually too small to identify from photos

 Marmalade Hoverfly  Episyrphus balteatus

 SC208695 Helophilus pendulus  "Footballer" Hoverfly ( 05)

 Syrphus species Hoverfly 

 Meliscaeva auricollis Hoverfly 

7-spot Ladybird

Ladybird Larva

7-spot Ladybird Larva

Gorse Shieldbug nymph

Depressaria daucella moth caterpillar

Orange Tip Butterfly caterpillar

Orange Tip Butterfly larva

Green Veined White Butterfly

and another keeping warm on the wood chip

Green Veined White nectaring on Bramble flower

Large White on Bramble flower

Small White

another view of Small White on Bramble flower

Small White and  Small Tortoiseshell together on Bramble flowers

Speckled Wood

another elsewhere on the Reserve

and yet another

Small Heath Butterfly

Bumblebee on Wood chip path

Herb Robert flowers

Gorse boundary path with Hogweed blown down by wind

Damp Meadow route

"green" roof on hide suffering from drought

a sad case of Ash Die-back

Elder in flower

Ground Ivy

path that runs parallel  to road

many thanks to Rushen Commissioners'  Contractor

for making such a good job of the grass cutting

..... and to the Commissioners themselves for continuing to undertake this work for us on the Reserve.

 I enjoyed my visit and think the day definitely belonged to the butterflies!

With thanks to Steve Crellin for fly IDs

 Please click on the photos to enlarge them

Ballachurry Reserve, 15th June 2021.

 

Hemlock Water Dropwort in all its glory!

 I spent most of the day at Ballachurry on Tuesday, 15th June! In the morning I took advantage of the fine weather to do my usual recording visit of the week. Once everything was carefully noted and photographed I  dived into the undergrowth to retrieve a barrow and went round the paths cutting back the Hemlock Water Dropwort which had collapsed across them as well as snipping back those ever intrusive brambles. On the boardwalk bridge the Dropwort was forcing pedestrians onto the very part of the bridge which is itself  currently marked with tape pending repairs. I had actually been round the reserve only a week ago doing this job in anticipation of a group visit, which was subsequently cancelled because of  the Southern foggy weather. I could not believe how much everything had grown back in just one week! Then it was back home for a hasty lunch before returning again in the afternoon.

U3A Herbs Group

  In the afternoon it was my pleasure to welcome the Herbs Group from U3A for a tour of the Reserve. This was the visit which had had to be cancelled the previous week. We enjoyed a leisurely stroll round the Reserve for a couple of hours and, as well as identifying and discussing the potential uses past and present of the plants and flowers we encountered, we also noted the birds, butterflies and other invertebrates which were going about their business regardless of human visitors. We were also delighted to see two frogs which crossed the broken bridge ahead of us and dived into the stream the other side! One obligingly posed for photos before doing so.

What follows is a combination of everything I noted during both the morning and afternoon visits:

Birds:

SC209693 Willow Warbler, Wren & Blackbird all heard but not seen

SC209694 Sedge Warbler;  2 adult Moorhen + 4 chicks; Robin heard but not seen; 2 x Mallard.

SC208694  family  of Great Tits ( 4) ; Woodpigeon, Willow Warbler both heard but not seen; Hooded Crow in adjacent fir tree.

SC209695 Wren heard but not seen; Dunnock

Butterflies, Moths & Caterpillars:

SC209693  Depressaria daucella caterpillars in Hemlock Water Dropwort

SC208694 Depressaria daucella caterpillars in Hemlock Water Dropwort

SC210694 Orange tip Caterpillars x 2 in Garlic Mustard; Small White

SC209694  3 x Speckled Wood; unidentified white flying ; Small Heath

SC208694 Common Blue ( male); Small Tortoiseshell;  Speckled Wood; unidentified white flying; Small Copper.

SC208695 Speckled Wood; unidentified white flying; Carpet Moth; Small White

SC209695 Speckled Wood

SC210694 Speckled Wood 

SC210694  Nettle-Tap  Moth

SC208694 signs of Orchard Ermine moth webs on Blackthorn

Ladybirds:

SC210694 parisitised 7-spot Ladybird still in situ but Dinocampus Coccinellae cocoon no longer visible. Ladybird probably now dead; 1 other active 7-spot Ladybird nearby. 

Other:

SC209695 Gorse Shieldbug

SC208695 Rhingia campestris hoverfly

SC209695 several unidentified flies on bench

SC208694 2 Frogs crossed the boardwalk and dived into the stream the other side

SC210694 Rust Fungus ( Puccinia urticaria) on nettles + unidentified aphids

SC210694 Wild roses in bloom here and elsewhere on the reserve

SC210694 unidentified Crane Fly

SC210694  at least 8 Yellow Rattle plants in Noticeboard meadow 

SC210694 Cuckoo Spit froghoppers nymphs here and throughout reserve  ( Philaenus spumarius)

SC208694  Mason wasp  ( probably Ancistrocerus species)  on bridge

SC208694 Noon Fly;

SC208694 Xylota segnis Hoverfly

SC208695  Eristalis pertinaxHoverfly

SC208694 sloes starting to form on the Blackthorn

SC209693 Honey Bees in Hemlock Water Dropwort

SC209693 Bee or bee mimic?

SC209694 dandelion family flowers in bloom - to be identified 

SC210694 unidentified aphids on nettles

SC210694 Dung Fly  parasitised by Entomophthora muscae fungus

SC210694 spider behind opening frame of noticeboard window. Usual earwigs and wood lice missing!

 SC210694  Dolichopus species fly

SC209693 Eristalis tenax Hoverfly

SC208695 Solitary Bee, possibly Andrena species

 SC208694 Flesh fly, Sarcophaga species

Adult Moorhen

and the other parent

chick begging for food

chicks walk on the lily pads....

trying not to get their feet wet!

beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Mallards - is female a hybrid ?

Hooded Crow

path through the damp meadow

male Common Blue enjoying the warmth of the wood chip

then it flew into the meadow

Small Heath

Small White

Large White

another Small White

Speckled Wood

and another keeping warm on the wood chip

Small Tortoiseshell

Small Copper - just fits in a buttercup!

Carpet Moth

web of Orchard Ermine Caterpillars in the Blackthorn

Nettle- tap moth

caterpillar of Orange Tip butterfly

and another slightly younger one

bridge through to the willows

Noon Fly basking in the sunshine

 Mason Wasp, probably Ancistrocerus species.

the willow grove

 crossing back over into the damp meadow area

looking across the meadow to the hide

the boardwalk through the Dropwort

this area was thoroughly weeded on June 5th - ten days later it needs doing again!

looking back through the Dropwort

one of two frogs on the boardwalk

Depressaria daucella  moth caterpillar

and another - they favour Hemlock Water Dropwort and Hogweed

 Dolichopus  species fly

 Eristalis tenax Hoverfly

 Eristalis pertinax Hoverfly

 Rhingia campestris Hoverfly

 Solitary bee, possibly Andrena species

 Xylota segnis Hoverfly

 Flesh fly - Sarcophaga species

Honey bees in the Dropwort flowers

Cranefly

Cuckoo Spit Froghopper nymph in spittal

dandelion family  - to be identified

spot the Gorse Shieldbug

Hide almost obscured from view by the frothy sea of Dropwort flowers

beautiful but deadly!

excellent for wildlife but very poisonous for humans

Rust Fungus gall on nettles ( Puccinia urticata)

path through the Hazels, near the road

Sloes on the Blackthorn still growing

Wild rose near the gate

Yellow Rattle near the noticeboard

Honey bee in the Dropwort

aphids on the nettles

This Dung Fly that has been parasitised by Entomophthora muscae fungus

dead ladybird now parasitic wasp has left its body😢

this 7-spot appears healthy

unidentified spider inside Noticeboard

sadly the mature ash tree now appears to have Ash Dieback

looking across the entrance meadow towards  Ginnie's bench

pond looking right from hide

pond looking left from hide

 a rare picture of  Mrs. Blogger with the Herb Group

Definitely a fresh air day!

With thanks to Steve Crellin for fly IDs

Please click on photos to enlarge them  ( with thanks to Herbs Group for letting me use their photo)