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July at Ballachurry Reserve
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My first visit for July! In the afternoon this time, starting at 1.30. Intermittently sunny but with a cool breeze for the most part. My first impression was that everywhere was very quiet from a birding point of view although I did see a few species during the next couple of hours. Here is what I recorded:
Birds:
SC209694 (from hide) Sedge Warbler in reed bed ( possibly juvenile?) with second bird also going into the reeds
SC209694 ( from hide) hybrid Mallard duck with duckling
SC209694 juvenile Robin; male Chaffinch; Sedge Warbler; Goldfinch.
SC208694 2 x Goldfinch; Blackbird heard but not seen.
SC209695 Wren heard but not seen; Pheasant heard but not seen
Butterflies & Moths:
SC209693 Speckled Wood
SC208694 Speckled Wood x 2
SC208694 Common Blue male; Speckled Wood x 2; Small Tortoiseshell
SC208695 Speckled Wood; Small Tortoiseshell
SC209695 Meadow Brown x 2; Small Tortoiseshell; Speckled Wood.
SC209694 Meadow Brown x 2; Small White; Small Tortoiseshell
SC209695 Common Carpet moth
SC209694 Celypha lacunana micro moth
SC208694 Nettle-tap moth
Ladybirds:
SC209694 7-spot Ladybird on Hogweed
SC208695 7-spot pupa on Bramble leaf
Other:
SC209695 Eristalis species Hoverfly ( nemorum?)
SC209694 Marmalade Hoverfly ( Episyrphus balteatus)
SC209693 Hazel nuts getting bigger ( winter food for Wood Mice!)
SC209693 and elsewhere - Nursery Web spider nests
SC208695 several Green Muscid flies ( Eudasyphora cyanella?)
SC209695 Several Gorse Shieldbug nymphs, various instars.
SC209695 3 unidentified spiders in gorse carrying egg sacks
SC209694 5 x Tortoise beetle larvae on Thistle
SC209694 Froghopper on thistle
SC208695 Banded Snail
SC208694 several leaches on back of hazard warning tape that had fallen into water
SC209694 Soldier Beetle
SC209694 resting Bumble bee
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perhaps a juvenile Sedge Warbler?
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Sedge Warbler
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same Sedge Warbler
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possibly a hybrid female duck - she has juvenile duckling
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mother duck
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| Goldfinch |
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| Chaffinch |
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colourful Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil
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beloved of Common Blue butterflies
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Small Tortoiseshell
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Celypha lacunana micromoth
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Common Carpet moth
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Nettle-tap moth
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7-spot Ladybird on Hogweed
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note green aphid - for dessert perhaps?
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7-spot Ladybird pupa
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spider carrying egg sack in gorse
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another without eggs
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web of a Nursery Web spider
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Froghopper - probably the adult of the Cuckoo Spit variety
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larva of Tortoise Beetle on thistle.
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2 different instars of Gorse Shieldbug nymphs
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another Gorse Shieldbug nymph
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Banded Snail
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Leeches - probably Horse leeches.
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on the back of the warning tape that had fallen into the water
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Eristalis Hoverfly ( nemorum? )on hogweed
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another view
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Marmalade Hoverfly ( Episyrphus balteatus)
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Muscid flies - possibly Eudasyphora cyanella
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for once there was no collapsed Dropwort on the bridge
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reedbed from the compost heap area
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I had not noticed Horsetail in this location before
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Loosestrife coming into flower in the meadow
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Hazel nuts swelling nicely
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resting Bumble Bee
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Soldier beetle - first of many?
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usual view from the hide ramp
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neatly mown grass near the private entrance
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Meadowsweet & gorse near the reed bed
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then home for tea!
With thanks to Steve Crellin for fly identifications, Ian Scott for moths and Dawn Colley for leeches.
please click on photos to enlarge them
