Ballachurry Reserve, Rushen, IOM.: Ballachurry Reserve, 21st July 2022

view from the new boardwalk - Marsh Woundwort in foreground

An afternoon at Ballachurry Reserve on Thursday seemed like the perfect antidote to a morning in town! Although the shopping centre hadn't been exactly crowded, I had Ballachurry completely to myself and the sights, sounds and smells were, of course, quite different! No hurrying pedestrians, deafening pneumatic drills or pungent cooking smells but instead butterflies, occasional birdsong and the scent of Meadowsweet on the air. I'll let you guess which I prefer! Here is what I recorded, although the Reserve seemed quite sleepy in terms of bird life:

Birds:

SC209694 2 x Warblers - Chiffchaffs or Willow Warblers; Swallow flying over; Wren; juvenile Blackbird taking Rowan berries.

SC208694 Woodpigeon flying over; Wren.

SC208695 Woodpigeon flying over.

SC209695 Wren; male Blackbird.

Butterflies and Moths:

SC209693 2 x Meadow Brown

SC209694 Clouded Border moth

SC209694 Meadow Brown

SC208694 Unidentified White flying; Speckled Wood; 6 x Meadow Brown

SC208695 COMMA*; Meadow Brown; unidentified White flying

SC209695 Speckled Wood ; 3 x Meadow Brown; Unidentified White flying.

SC209694 2 Meadow Brown together ( courtship behaviour); Unidentified White flying

SC209695 Pammene aurana moth on Hogweed flowers NEW RECORD. With thanks to Ian Scott for I.D.

SC209693 Unusual moth on hazel; Unidentified White flying

* Although a Comma was photographed on the reserve in 2019 this was the first time I'd seen one here, so I was delighted.

Other:

SC208694 2 x Marmalade flies

SC208695 Scaeva pyrastri Hoverfly

SC208695 Harvestsman on nettles

SC208695 Common Wasp on brambles

SC208695 Hawthorn Shieldbug nymph on Rowan berries

SC209695 Eristalis Hoverfly - probably nemorum

SC209695 Honey Bees

SC209694 Rhingia campestris on Marsh Woundwort

SC209693 Lasioglossum species bee on Hazel.

SC208695 Lasioglossum species bee - either albipipes or calceatum - on flower

SC209694 Soldier beetle on Cushag ( Ragwort)

SC209693 Great Pied Hoverfly - Volucella pellucens

SC209695 12 x Water Crickets just visible at stream inlet

SC209694 Sloes starting to ripen

young Blackbird feasting on Rowan berries

seen from bird hide

plenty to choose from

having stocked up, it carried them away

Pammene aurana - a new record for the reserve.

they feed on Hogweed nectar and their caterpillars feed on the seeds

Meadow Browns were everywhere

taking nectar

butterflies love the brambles

Meadow Browns need the long grass for their eggs

Speckled Woods like dappled shade

this one was near the compost heap

you can see why the Comma is so called

vegetation is returning round the boardwalk

view from the private entrance

the pond liner is on order!

main pond also starting to dry out in drought conditions

Loosestrife round the pond

composite image of same Hoverfly fly - probably Riponnensia splendens

Muscid Bluebottle - Eudasyphora cyanicolor

Eristalis Hoverfly, probably nemorum

Marmalade fly

Volucella pellucens - the Great Pied Hoverfly

Volucella pellucens - another view

Harvestman on nettle

seeking identification of Harvestman

Hawthorn Shieldbug nymph among the Rowan berries

A male Lasioglossum species bee - either albipes or calceatum

Soldier beetle on Cushag ( Ragwort)

I am a little concerned about the lack of Cushag on the reserve this year. I have found only 2 small plants flowering so far and others have vanished entirely from their usual spot in the grass near the private entrance. These were where in the past I could almost guarantee a sighting of Small Copper Butterflies and also Common Blues. I described one plant near Ginnie's bench last year as being like a "motorway service station for wildlife", recording many butterflies, ladybirds, moths and other insects using it over several weeks. The law changed a few years ago regarding this plant and it is a lifeline for many insects on the reserve.