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| a snowy backdrop to the bird hide |
I have been recording the wildlife of Ballachurry Reserve since 2010 but never visited on a snowy day. This is because I live on a steep hill and whenever it snows heavily the lane is too treacherous to make the journey! On Friday, 10th March we awoke to heavy snowfall but a beautiful sunny day . Everywhere looked very picturesque but it wasn't until mid-afternoon that I decided to venture down the lane to Ballachurry, hoping to see it in snow. Although we still had several inches at home, much of it had melted at lower levels and I had to be content with odd patches on the reserve but some lovely snowy backdrops to my usual photos. I was only able to spend an hour at the reserve and I must admit the main reason for my visit was to see the snowy conditions and take a few photographs. However I did record some wildlife and here is a list of what I saw:
Birds:
SC 209694 Song Thrush heard not seen; male Blackbird; Mallard Drake; Great Tit; Blue Tit; Moorhen; 2 x female Chaffinch; male Chaffinch.
SC208694 Robin; Blue Tit; 8 x Goldfinch flying over; Woodpigeon heard not seen; female Chaffinch; Magpie;.
SC 208695 male Blackbird ;
SC209695 Redwing.
Other:
SC209695 3 x 7-spot Ladybird & 2 x Gorse Shield bug; Eristalis pertinax Hoverfly?
SC209694 5 x Gorse Shieldbugs.
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| Blue tit |
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| female Chaffinch |
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| among the pussy willows |
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| Mallard drake, snow lingering at the back of the pond |
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| this lone male seems to have taken up residence lately |
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| later joined by the Moorhen |
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| Moorhen |
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| swimming |
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| and walking on the ice |
Great Tit
one of three 7-spot ladybirds recorded 
Gorse Shieldbug in the gorse 
there were several along the gorse boundary 
probably Eristalis pertinax Hoverfly
and some snowy pictures & views to finish........
There were lots of footprints in the snow so I imagine there had been many visitors earlier in the day. Perhaps they will have posted photos on social media of the reserve in its full snowy glory!
This was a brief unplanned visit but a thoroughly enjoyable one.
please click on photos to enlarge them
