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| Dawn setting up hedgehog tunnel with fresh paper |
Today I was due to meet Dawn Colley, MWT's Education Officer, at Ballachurry at 4 p.m. to hand back the small mammal food and watch her set the traps. We also took a look at the hedgehog tunnels. Although they had not been visited when I checked yesterday I'm pleased to say there were tiny footprints in one of them today. The other one had been visited by a cat! I deliberately arrived an hour early so that I could record what was around and you can see the results below.
Birds:
SC209694 pair of Mallard ducks; Chiffchaff; Blue Tit; Wren; male Pheasant; Willow Warbler; Chaffinch; House Sparrow; Goldfinch.
SC208694 Buzzard directly overhead, mobbed by another bird ( identity uncertain) ; Chiffchaff, WillowWarbler & Blackcap heard; Chaffinch; Sedge Warbler heard not seen.
SC208695 Chiffchaff; Woodpigeon; Dunnock.
SC210694 Willow Warbler heard not seen; Robin.
Butterflies:
SC209694 male and female Orange Tips near path junction. female seen again nearby; nearby Cuckoo flower had freshly laid egg. Orange Tip near the new pond.
SC208695 Speckled Wood.
SC209694 unidentified white flying; Red Admiral; Peacock flying.
SC209693 Speckled Wood.
SC210694 unidentified white flying.
Other:
SC209694 2 x Water Crickets in stream inlet.
SC209695 Honey and Bumble Bees on Dandelions.
SC208695 Eristalis Pertinax Hoverfly
SC208695 Pterostichus madidus beetle and Rove beetle species .
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| Dawn checking a Hedgehog tunnel for footprints |
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| excitement ! some are visible |
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| disappointment! they belong to a cat! |
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| better news at the other tunnel - these are Hedgehog prints |
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| good to know we still have Hedgehogs visiting the reserve |
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| Dawn checking the pitfall traps - basically a container sunk into the ground |
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| a spider and Rove beetle |
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| large Pterostichus madidus beetle, other beetles and spider, millipedes, a tiny snail waiting to be identified. |
And here are the photos of wildlife on the reserve taken during the afternoon.
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| a Willow Warbler was singing from the birch tree |
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| a closer view |
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| a blurry picture of the Buzzard |
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| colourful Goldfinch |
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| the Mallards were on the pond |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Blue Tit |
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| there were Bumble Bees on the Dandelions |
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| Honey Bees too |
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| an Eristalis Hoverfly - Pertinax? |
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| Red Admiral in a willow |
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| and a Speckled Wood in the Hawthorn |
I look forward to hearing from Dawn what the VI Formers find in the traps tomorrow and their identification of the invertebrates from the pitfall traps. Volunteering to help Dawn with this project led to an interesting week visiting the Reserve for me.
With thanks to Steve Crellin for early beetle IDs
please click on photos to enlarge them
