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a beautiful blue sky day at Ballachurry Reserve.
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Sun shining, bees buzzing, Song Thrush singing -it certainly felt like Spring at Ballachurry Reserve on Thursday! I saw 20 species of bird , plus heard the Water Rail, which was a pretty good tally, I thought, but very few of them wanted to be photographed, I'm afraid. I walked right round the Song Thrush's song post hoping to find an angle where it wasn't obscured by branches or other vegetation but it remained low down in the heart of the tree rather than atop and I had to admit defeat. It was a pleasure to listen to it though as it went through its repertoire, which included a car alarm and a Buzzard! The latter had me fooled for a minute but a Buzzard's call doesn't end with a trill!
Here is my list:
Birds:
SC210694 Robin in Reserve seen from road; male Blackbird; male Pheasant.
SC209694 Magpie; 4 x Rook; Woodpigeon heard not seen; single Redwing; Great Tit; male & female Chaffinch; Wren; Song Thrush; male Blackbird; Robin x 2 ;
SC209694 ( bird hide ) Robin; Wood pigeon; 4 x Mallard ( 2 pairs) Moorhen; Long Tailed Tit; Water Rail heard.
SC208694 Robin x 2; Woodpigeon; Long Tailed Tit x 2; male Pheasant; Dunnock.
SC209695 Magpie; Hooded Crow; Dunnock; Blue Tit; 10 + Redwings; 5 + Chaffinches; Goldfinch; Long Tailed Tit x 2 ; Woodpigeon x 3;
SC208695 Sparrowhawk flying through; Chaffinch x 2 females
Other:
SC209695 Gorse Shieldbug
SC209694 Green Shieldbug (in winter colours)
SC209695 Honey bees in gorse x 3
SC209695 female Yellow Dug Fly Scathophaga stercoraria)
SC208694 Celandines in flower in front of reed bed.
SC209693 Hazel catkins lengthening.
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as I watched from the hide, two Mallards flew in to take a bath
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after a good shake....
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they headed for the bank to preen
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a third preferred to doze among the reeds
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a little later there were two pairs out on the water
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and can you spot the Moorhen on the bank too?
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it was foraging for food among the vegetation
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two Rooks near the entrance
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and a Magpie in next door's garden
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a Hooded Crow seen from afar on the boundary
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one of several chaffinches seen during the morning
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The Meet & Greet Robin, serenading me as I got out of my car
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and another behind Ginny's bench
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this one was near the compost heap
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and this one in the willows near the stream
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there seemed to be Robins everywhere in fact!
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the Honey Bees were enjoying the gorse flowers
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lovely to hear the buzz of bees once more
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female Yellow Dung Fly
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you can see how small it was
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Gorse Shield Bug in spring livery
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although in Gorse, I think this is a Green Shieldbug in winter colours
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new pond, looking towards the dead hedge constructed last week
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and usual shot with the reflections
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green algae starting to form in the shallows
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looking into the reed bed from the boardwalk
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lengthening catkins on the Hazels
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Celandines flowering near the reed bed
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there were quite a few of them
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silvery reeds in the sunshine
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with willow cut back we can see the young Oak trees once more
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looking along the gorse boundary
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the new dead hedge
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and seen from the other side
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gorse in the sunshine
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usual view of the hide
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and usual view from the boardwalk
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in a few weeks the stream won't be seen for vegetation
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my long shadow on the wet meadow
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awaiting volunteers on Friday
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through the shutters
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the reeds look lovely at this time of year
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and looking the other direction.
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Spring-like days such as Thursday are most welcome in January and made my visit a real pleasure.
Please click on photos to enlarge them . With thanks to Steve Crellin for fly identification.
