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October 1st, Ballachurry Reserve.
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1st October
I made a brief visit to the Reserve on Friday morning ahead of a site meeting that afternoon. The grass paths had been cut very recently so there was very little fungi to be seen and it was windy too, so hardly any butterflies either. The whole reserve seemed very quiet, in fact, so my recording list is correspondingly short:
SC209694 Long tailed Tits x 6; Great Tit; Dunnock; Speckled Wood butterflies x 2; a few unidentified red fungi remaining along path.
SC209693 Speckled Wood x 3
SC208695 Various flies enjoying the black berries including Noon Flies and Green Bottles ( Lucillia species)
During the afternoon site meeting we also saw a Buzzard over the adjacent field and a Swallow was seen from SC209694 and SC208694.
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there were various flies enjoying the blackberries - Lucillia sp. Green Bottle
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| Dunncok |
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Fungi lining the wood chip path
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6th October
This was a longer visit but again the Reserve seemed quiet. However, this time there were a few highlights. Here is my full list.
SC209693 Sadly the road kill near where I parked my car was a female pheasant.
SC209693 ( within Reserve) Blue tit; Robin
SC208694 Robin; Wren; Chaffinch heard but not seen
SC209695 Robin heard but not seen. Chiffchaff; Blackbird heard but not seen.
SC209694
Song Thrush; Robin; Chiffchaff; 4 Goldfinches taking
Meadowsweet seeds;Woodpigeon flying over; Water Rail heard but not
seen. Male and female Blackbirds. 5 x Buzzards overhead.
The
Water Rail was calling from 11.30 for a full 15 minutes its "quick
quick" call but it didn't emerge. I returned to the hide an hour later
where it again began the "quick quick " call immediately followed by
what is generally termed the "squealing pig" call. Again it did not
appear. Good to know it is still here though.
Other:
SC208695 Speckled Wood
SC209693 Green Shieldbug x 2; Various flies on Hazel leaves including a Muscid species, and a Calliphora Species Blue Bottle
SC209693 Gorse Shieldbug on Hazel
SC209695 Gorse Shieldbug
SC209694 Gorse Shieldbug
SC209694 Darter dragonfly over water ( probably Common)
SC209694 various unidentified fungi along pathways
SC209693 unidentified fungi
SC208694 Hare's foot Inkcap
SC209694 Nettle tap moth and unidentified fly on dandelion
SC209694 Footballer hoverfly either Helophilus pendulus or hybridus ( can't be distinguished in the photo)
SC209693 Various unidentified flies + Noon Fly on Hazels
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I heard the Buzzards mewing while inside the hide - they were right overhead
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Chiffchaff seen briefly across the pond
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Song Thrush
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Chiffchaff in the birch tree
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another view of it
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the Robin was singing loudly
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I think it was auditioning for this year's Ballachurry Christmas card
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this one was near the compost heap
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unidentified fungi
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and more elsewhere
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it had grown back since being destroyed by mowing last time
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this species had a large umbel
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Inkcaps creeping back along the paths too
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Catkins on the Hazels already
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Nettle Tap moth and unidentified fly on Dandelion
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silhouette of fly on backlit leaf
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"footballer" Hoverfly - either pendulus or hybridus
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Calliphora species Blue Bottle on Hazel leaf
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A noon Fly nearby
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Muscid species Fly on Hazel - everything was sunbathing!
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including this Green Shieldbug
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| a Gorse Shieldbug but not on gorse! |
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Gorse Shieldbug
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hard to say what this is over the water - not a dragonfly . Kept dipping in.
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Speckled Wood Butterfly
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taken from afar to see what is surviving on the green roof
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the meadow will soon be given its annual cut
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looking back to the hide as I left
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With thanks to Steve Crellin for fly IDs
please click on photos to enlarge them
