 | |
| early February at Ballachurry Reserve |
Wednesday, 2nd February was a rather gloomy day for a visit to the reserve, but my only possibility for a proper recording visit this week. Apologies therefore for the photos being rather gloomy too. Here is what I saw:
Birds:
SC209693 Robin; Great Tit;
SC209694 male Blackbird; male & female Chaffinch; Magpie heard but not seen; Song Thrush in full voice.
SC209694 ( from hide) female Chaffinch; 6 x Goldfinch; 2 x Great Tit; Long Tailed Tit; Blue Tit
SC208694 7 x Goldfinch taking Alder seeds; Wren; Blue Tit; Robin;
SC208695 male Blackbird; 2 x Blue Tit;
Other:
There are new leaves on the Hemlock Water Dropwort throughout the Reserve.
SC208694 black cat stalking through the grass
SC210694 a black & white cat came in under the gate, saw me and fled back out again!
SC208694 Parmelia lichen on bridge handrail.Apparently some moth caterpillars feed on this species.
SC209695 Lichen is appearing on the Bowman bench. Possibly two different species?
 |
| this blackbird nearly flew straight into me -hence the accusing look! |
 |
| Great Tit |
 |
| and another elsewhere |
 |
| I had several sightings of a small flock of Goldfinches |
 |
| they were mostly in the Alder trees |
 |
| Goldfinch feeding in Alder Tree |
 |
| 7 Goldfinches feeding |
 |
| this Song Thrush could be heard all over the Reserve |
 |
| it was in a tree very near the new pond-to-be. |
Having sung numerous melodic phrases all morning, as soon as I attempted to record it, the Thrush seemed to run out of ideas! Those of you who follow the Blog by email will need to go to the Blog itself to see this video.
 |
| Lichen appearing on the arm of the Bowman bench |
 |
| possibly two species, or is one an early version of the other? |
 |
| Lichenologist needed! |
 |
| Parmelia species on the hand rail |
 | ||
| it has been there many years |
Lichens are a partnership between a fungus and an alga. When the bridge hand rail is replaced later this year we'll be sure to keep the Lichen encrusted one on site to keep the bio diversity.
 |
| the wattle fence near the hide has Lichen too. |
 |
| this was the nearest we got to sunshine! |
 |
| it was a dry January and a silt bank is visible in the stream |
 |
| not a great deal of water coming in |
 |
| hard to remember what a green outlook this is in summer |
 |
| but the Hemlock Water Dropwort has fresh leaves already |
 |
| and one or two Hawthorns are also in leaf |
 |
| but mostly the trees are bare |
The previous Monday I was on an errand - to photograph some posts marking out levels in the new pond-to-be & take some measurements. Unfortunately, the posts had all blown over during stormy weather at the week-end. Fortunately, the holes where they had stood were still visible so I was able to put them back in again with a little help from a lump hammer. Job done, I did one very quick circuit of the Reserve with my binoculars, calling in the hide on the way. Someone had had an interesting visit the day before, recording on the whiteboard a Grey Wagtail among other things . I was very pleased to see it myself near the stream just beyond the hide. Here's what I recorded :
Birds:
SC209694 5 x Goldfinch; 1 x Blue Tit; 1 x Grey Wagtail; 1 x male Blackbird; 1 x Wren; 3 x Redwing.
SC208694 Great Tit; Male Chaffinch.
 |
| a final look at January |
We are very grateful to Chris Preston of Roots to Shoots for letting us have a load of free wood chip this week. It is intended for mulching round new trees planted at the very end of last year. The surplus will be used along muddy sections of paths as in previous years.
 |
| awaiting our next work party |
The weather may have been gloomy for these visits but my spirits were not! It's always a pleasure to walk round the reserve.
Please click on photos to enlarge them
