Ballachurry Reserve, 26th October, 2022.

the new pond is nearly brimful

 Other commitments at the moment mean I am visiting the Reserve fortnightly rather than weekly, so on Wednesday I was keen to see how the wildlife was faring since my last recording visit on 10th October. I had waited for early morning rain to clear before heading down to Ballachurry, arriving at about 9.45 a.m. There was plenty of blue sky and sunshine but it was also very windy and I had the impression that most of the wildlife was sheltering down in the heart of the vegetation. Here is what I recorded:

Birds:

SC209694 Robin heard not seen near the new dragonfly pond;  Robin seen along the direct path to the hide; Magpie heard not seen;  

 SC209694 ( from hide) Blackbird ( with only one or an injured leg); 5 x Goldfinch; Wren; Robin; Water Rail heard three times.

SC209695 Robin heard not seen

SC208694 3 x Great Tit

Butterflies:

SC209694 Red Admiral flying

SC209693 Red Admiral flying

Other:

SC208694 Common Darter Dragonfly resting on wooden planks

SC209694 Common Darter over pond, seen from hide.

SC208694 "Footballer" Hoverfly

SC209693 Unidentified Hoverfly

SC208694 Noon flies on boardwalk timber

SC209694 Inkcaps and other fungi along paths

SC208694  Various Fungi along paths, and under willows

SC209695  2 different species of fungi under trees either side of path

SC209693 Various Fungi along path

SC208694 Woody Nightshade berries now glistening red

one of several Robins on the Reserve

this Blackbird is standing on one leg in every photo taken

it was preening

Common Darter

Unidentified Hoverfly 01

"Footballer" Hoverfly 02

fungi under the willows

Inkcaps looking inky

left of path

right of path

one of many species of fungus on the Reserve at present

they are often growing in the underlying wood chip

these were recorded earlier as Toughshanks

something had been nibbling these

there are many emerging under the willows

Woody Nightshade berries with this morning's raindrops

water gushing into the Reserve

a good flow into the main pond

highest water level for some time

autumn colours

and blue sky

low sun puts many areas into the shade ( from boardwalk)

again, a shady view from the hide ramp

autumn view of the bridge

and the meadow

final view before heading home for lunch

A very enjoyable couple of hours at the Reserve.

please click on photos to enlarge them

 

Ballachurry Reserve, 12th October 2022 - Anne Kaye Memorial Plaque

the new Memorial Plaque to Anne Kaye

  A short ceremony was held at the Reserve on Wednesday to officially unveil the new Bird Hide Memorial Plaque to Anne Kaye. A small group of Anne's friends were present to hear her daughter, Tina, make a short speech and watch her daughter, Alyson, unveil the Plaque, which details the history of the bird hide, the family's sponsoring of its construction and most of all, Anne's huge contribution to the Manx community.

Guests were treated to hot drinks and a variety of cakes and biscuits, many of them made to Anne's own recipes. Chair of the Southern Group Committee, Margaret, also contributed a coffee and walnut cake which was, in fact, Anne's own favourite cake.

 Everyone enjoyed the event and many happy memories of Anne were exchanged.

 A series of wildlife flyovers seemed appropriate - Lapwings, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Swallows and Buzzard all paid their respects!

Anne was a very keen birder and would have been interested to see this full list of the wildlife noticed during the morning ( with thanks to Chris Sharpe) 

SC209694 6 x Lapwing ; 12 x Swallows; 3 x Common Snipe;  Buzzard being mobbed by corvids; Sparrowhawk; c. 6 Goldfinch;  2-3 Siskin heard;

 A few photos from the ceremony.........

 

 

Anne at Ballachurry Reserve, August 2020.

with thanks to Tina and Aly for permitting these photos to be used on the Blog

Ballachurry Reserve, 10th October 2022.

 

not a cloud in the sky for my first October visit, but a very squally wind

 I missed my visit to the Reserve last week because I was away on holiday. This week I had planned to go on Tuesday morning, but then at short notice I had to swap my visit to Monday at 11 o'clock.  Again I headed straight for the new pond to see what the recent heavy rain had achieved  while I was away and was pleased to see that even the shallower areas are now filling up. Then I resumed my normal route and recorded the following wildlife: 

Birds:

SC209693 Robin heard but not seen

SC209694 Robin ; male Blackbird taking Hawthorn berries near hide; 2 x Buzzard overhead being mobbed by corvids;

SC208695 male Pheasant; Magpie flying over;  Robin.

Butterflies:

SC210694 Red Admiral on ivy flowers

SC208695 Comma on blackberries

Ladybirds:

 SC208695 7-spot  on bramble leaf

SC209694 7-spot on thistle

SC209695 7-spot on Oak leaf 

Dragonflies:

SC210694  3 x Common Darter

Other:

SC209694  2 x Gorse Shieldbug 

SC208695 Green Shieldbug

SC209695 Green Shieldbug

SC209694 new unidentified fungus on path

SC208695 unidentified fungus under willow

SC209695  Cortinarius fungi continuing to appear

SC209694 Bumble Bee on Cushag (Ragwort)

SC209694 Carder bee on dandelion

SC209694 various Hoverflies on Cushag ( Ragwort) 

SC209694 3 x Noon Fly

SC210694 Noon fly on ivy

Corvids were giving the Buzzards a hard time

they were very persistent

 the aerial "dogfight" went on for some time

a somewhat blurry image of one Buzzard

this one appears to have wing damage?

Blackbird in heart of the Hawthorn tree

evidence that the birds are also enjoying the fruit on the ground

Red Admirals also enjoy fallen apples but today.......

this one was enjoying the ivy nectar as were other insects

I was delighted to see this Comma, they are fairly rare down here in the south

Green Shieldbug

I think this is a Green despite being in the gorse!

whereas this is a Gorse Shieldbug

Common Darter enjoying the warmth of the tool shed roof

 

7-spot Ladybird rolled in Thistle leaf

and another sunbathing on an oak leaf

this 7-spot was among the brambles

a very large Bumble bee on the Cushag

and a Carder bee on a Dandelion

a variety of flies on the reserve  01

02

03

a "footballer" Hoverfly  04

and a different species 05

another Hoverfly on  Cushag 06

three Noon Flies enjoying sunshine on  cherry tree trunk

fungi beneath the trees round the old beehive loop

these were just inside the entrance gate

a large and very slimy specimen  along the path to the hide

these are beneath an oak tree

the pond will soon be full I think

a little more heavy rain should do the trick

looking back to the hide from the boardwalk

and the more usual view

view to the hills from the boardwalk

the sun was still shining when I left at 1o'clock

  

Another interesting morning spent at Ballachurry Reserve, marred only by the time I had to spend cleaning up the hide after some antisocial visitors.

Please note that the reserve will be closed to the general public on Sunday morning, 16th October while a Manx Wildlife Trust event is held there. This is a ticket holder only event, "Autumn well-being in nature session"   for which you can find full details on the Trust website www.mwt.im 

please click on photos to enlarge them