Ballachurry Reserve, 24th September, 2022 - Work Party.

 The weather for our work party on Saturday was perfect. Blue sky and lots of sunshine. I arrived late, having forgotten to take my wellies, which I had placed by the garage door so I couldn't miss them! Fortunately I live close by and it was a matter of minutes to go back and collect them. When I returned there was a large group of volunteers gathered around the new pond learning how to roll back the turf round the edge to accommodate the border of the liner. 

I and a few others set off for the opposite end of the Reserve to tackle some of the other tasks  programmed for the morning. The non slip strips had arrived for the boardwalk and soon there was a whir of electric screwdrivers as a handful of volunteers fitted them to the planks.

I meanwhile was helping other volunteers cut back in front of the reed bed to the channel we excavated last year to keep the water flowing in front of the reeds. A couple more volunteers were clearing the section of stream from the boardwalk bridge back into the reed bed itself, something we left last time as nesting warblers had been seen in the area. Eventually our two groups met together in the reeds and we decided it was definitely refreshment time! 

A quick head count during the break showed 16 volunteers including two guests from Somerset, over on the Island to visit a relative. Welcome, Veryan and Andy and thanks for your help today which was most useful.

After fortifying ourselves with delicious cake, thoughtfully provided by the Committee,  as well as catching up with everyone's news since our last meeting, it was back to work. Not satisfied with baling out the pond water and playing in the mud all morning, the volunteers now turned their attention to the streams which needed silt digging out. This had been impossible at the last work party as the streams had run dry in the drought and were baked hard. Recent rain had now softened the stream bed and there was plenty to dig out ahead of the winter rains. This job has to be finished by the end of September every year to comply with Government regulations, so we are always pleased when the weather allows us to finish it on time.

With tasks reaching the end, people began to collect up their tools and say goodbye until next time. We had achieved an enormous amount of work between us in about 3 hours and all went home for a well deserved lunch!

Here are a few photos taken during the morning to give you a flavour of the Work Party.

 

making a start on the reed bed

and clearing vegetation from the last section of stream

at last Janet breaks through the reeds to meet the other party

front of the reed bed once work completed

and a better flow into the reeds with vegetation and silt cleared

putting down the anti slip strips

and the finished job

meanwhile a hive of activity at the new pond

baling out water and digging out sharp stones

a few more to go

buckets at the ready for stones

the rolled back turf

Rob said later how soft the mud made his hands feel! Face pack anyone?

time for tea and a slice of cake

A welcoming chat with our Somerset visitors

just look at that blue sky!

always good to catch up and rest for awhile

then back to work - more mud!

getting a good flow under the bridge is important

a happy worker!

this is where the birds were bathing in my last Blog post

but recent rain has now made the stream too deep for that

 I called in at the pond on my way out

they had dug out plenty of stones to stop them puncturing the liner

the Daphnia and midge larvae now find themselves in a water butt!

the water is being saved to go back into the pond once the liner is in

final view once today's work was done

Today's wildlife included a frog which was seen diving into the pond SC209694

3 x Long Tailed Tit SC210694

Speckled Wood Butterfly SC209693

SC208694 Common Funnel fungi  near compost heap ( Clitocybe gibba)

One volunteer who arrived early was lucky enough to see a Great Spotted Woodpecker too!

A very good morning's work which I think we all enjoyed.  Thanks to all concerned for your hard work and good company today and to the Committee for the delicious cake which was much appreciated. 

With thanks to Liz Charter of the IOM Fungus Group for ID.

 

please click on photos to enlarge them

Ballachurry Reserve, 20th September 2022.

the new pond - more work is imminent

 The Reserve was very quiet when I arrived on Tuesday. After an hour I had only seen a Robin, a Blackbird, a Chaffinch, a couple of butterflies and virtually nothing else. The arrival of a fellow bird watcher confirmed that it was not just Ballachurry that was quiet, he reported a similar story elsewhere. I returned to the hide and added a single Goldfinch to the list but then as I walked past the meadow at about 11.45 it was as if someone had opened a cage door and let everything out!  Unfortunatly there was still more fresh dog fouling on the  Reserve. Here is what I recorded:

Birds:

SC209693 Robin; Woodpigeon;

SC209694 Robin heard not seen twice in different areas; Goldfinch; Woodpigeon flying over; Great Tit.

SC208694  2 Robins heard  at the same time but not seen;  2 x male Chaffinch together;  single Chaffinch seen drinking from stream later; 2 x Blackbird in stream; Blue Tit in tree and Blue Tit bathing in stream later; male Pheasant;  2 x Blackcap together, one drinking from steam and one bathing

SC209695 male Blackbird flying through

SC208695 3 x Magpie in tree

Butterflies:

SC208694 Small White on Sneezewort; Speckled Wood;

SC209695 Green Veined White;  3 x Speckled Wood together

SC209694 4 x Speckled Wood; unidentified White flying

SC209693 Speckled Wood

Dragonflies: ( I have never seen so many on the reserve before)

SC209694  at least 4 Migrant Hawker over pond; at least 3 Common Darter over pond.

SC208694 three sightings of Migrant Hawker over meadow.  Common Darter on stored wooden planks. Common Darter x 3 including conjoined pair on boardwalk

SC209694 2 x Common Darter males over new dragonfly pond!

SC209695 female Common Darter

Other:

SC209695 7-spot Ladybird on oak sapling

SC210694 7-spot Ladybird on thistle

SC209694 Diving beetle, daphnia and gnat larvae in new pond

SC208694 Unknown insect on boardwalk. Seeking ID.  NEW RECORD

SC208694 2 x Noon Fly on stored planks

SC208695 Noon Fly and unidentified fly 

SC209694 Great Pied Hoverfly ( on same flower as last week!) 

SC209694 on Hogweed flowers -  4 x Hoverflies + one bright orange fly ( probably NEW RECORD) + 1 very small black fly ( possible NEW RECORD)

SC209695 Hoverfly on yellow flower

SC208694 Gorse Shieldbug

SC210694  Common wasps on ivy and bridge handrail

SC210694 Hoverflies on ivy flowers

SC210694 Bees on ivy flowers

SC208693 Bee on Cushag (Ragwort)

SC208694 Wolf spider on stored planks 

SC209694 stash of hazelnut shells just off path - evidence of mice 

SC208694 Woody Nightshade has one red berry among the green 

SC209694 Shepherd's Purse seeds visible on hide roof

 SC208694 2 x Hare's Foot Inkcaps, one each side of path 

SC208694 very large fungus near compost heap ( probably too decayed to ID)

SC208694  unidentified fungus under tree close to above

SC208695 2 species of unidentified fungi  

SC208694 unidentified red fungi

NB. as the paths had been mown recently most of the fungi reported last week had gone.

 

I sat on the boardwalk here to watch the birds bathing

 

two Blackcaps were in the stream

one decided to take the plunge!

and enjoyed a bath while the other was satisfied by just a drink

a Blackbird was feeding along the stream bed

male Blackcap and male Chaffinch in the stream

Blue Tit enjoying a bath

another in the willow tree nearby

Great Tit

one of three Magpies together in a tree

Robin

one of many Speckled Wood butterflies

on ivy near the gate

note the Hazelnut

another on Hogweed Seedhead

all Blog readers must recognise Speckled Woods by now!

Green Veined White

and a good view of the green veins

male Common Darter

this one is female or perhaps teneral

this one landed directly outside the hide shutters!

a closer view

the unfinished dragonfly pond.......

is already attracting dragonflies!

male Common Darter over the water

there were two - both males

catching flies above the water , I think

my first circuit of the reserve was under cloudy skies

everywhere looked quite gloomy

no sign of blue over the hills today

then suddenly I had a shadow! but it was raining at the same time!

the view from the boardwalk early in my visit

and later when the sun appeared

the sunshine made such a difference

suddenly the Hogweed had insects feeding

two Hoverflies  01 & 02

Hoverfly 03

Hoverfly 04 with another peeping over

Hoverfly 05

Hoverfly 06

Great Pied Hoverfly

Fly 07

probably a new record for the Reserve

a closer view

Fly 08 possibly another new record

Noon Fly

lots of these around today

this one was on the stored planks

Hoverfly  09

the entrance to the old beehive loop

where fungi are growing

the usual Hare's Foot Inkcaps

there was one on each side of the path

a very large, old fungus near the compost heap

it reminded me of my early attempts at Yorkshire pudding!

still a few of these about despite recent mowing

very pleased to see 7-spot taking care of any aphids on this memorial oak

7-spot Ladybird on Thistle

wasp on handrail near gate

Pond life at the unfinished pond

Gorse Shieldbug

seeking ID on this one

Bee on the Cushag ( Ragwort)

Hoverfly on ivy flowers

Bumble bee likewise

Wolf Spider

mice have been enjoying the hazelnuts

not sure what was making the incoming water foam

foam had spread about  4 feet along stream

Shepherd's Purse on the roof of hide

just one ripe berry on the Woody Nightshade

virus and autumn combine to be colourful

And finally,  the  Common Darter landed right beside me while I was watching the birds in the stream.  Occasionally it flew up to take a fly before returning to keep me company!

I have had to split the bathing birds video into three parts as the file size is otherwise too large.

 

(Those of you who receive the Blog by email will need to access the Blog itself to see the above videos.)

A thoroughly enjoyable morning !

please click on photos to enlarge them