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| Blackthorn by the bridge |
Tuesday was my only opportunity to visit the Reserve this week and with snow showers forecast for late morning onwards I arrived at 9.30 hoping the sunshine would last a little longer. In fact the snow showers never arrived ( at least for Rushen) and the afternoon weather was considerably better than that of the morning! It clouded over quite quickly and the temperature plummeted too but I stayed the full three hours, lingering because of the number of birds I kept seeing. Here is my record:
Birds:
SC209693 Great Tit; male & female Chaffinch; Song Thrush; Water Rail heard but not seen; 3 x Redwing; Robin; Blackbird; Wren;
SC209694 ( hide) 2 x Blackbird; Magpie; Woodpigeon; 2 x Blue Tit, one ringed; Great Tit; Moorhen; 3 x Mallard Drakes; Wren; 5 x Goldfinch; 2 x Greenfinch; Robin; male Chaffinch;
SC209694 ( elsewhere) 2 x Goldfinch; Great Tit seen not heard;
SC208694 Robin x 2; Goldfinch in bushes + 8 flying over; Great Tit; male Blackbird; Blue Tit; Chiffchaff heard not seen; Male Chaffinch; 3 x Geese flying over towards Bradda, probably Greylag.
SC209695 Great Tit;
SC208695 female Chaffinch; Buzzard; Sparrowhawk
SC210694 Blue Tit; Blackbird x 2; Great Tit.
Other:
SC208694 Velvet Shank ( Flamulina velutipes) fungus growing on willow ( new record)
SC208694 Tremella messenterica fungus growing on dead gorse (new record)
SC210694 Jelly Ear fungus on elder by gate.
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| Great Tit |
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| and another elsewhere |
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| Goldfinch |
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| seen from bird hide |
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| Geese flying over |
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| Blue Tit - it's ringed. |
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| Blackbird |
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| Robin |
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| distant Magpie |
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| female Greenfinch |
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| male Greenfinch |
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| looking through the hide shutters |
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| nothing about initially |
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| later just one Mallard drake which soon flew away |
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| but then 3 drakes arrived together |
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| and began feeding |
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| they paid their compliments to the Moorhen |
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| Mallards and Moorhen |
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| Moorhen |
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| Moorhen just leaving |
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| Velvet Shank fungus spotted on dead willow ( Flamulina velutipes) |
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| a closer view |
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| the gills are very forked |
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| Jelly Ear fungus near the gate |
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| Tremella mesenterica fungus |
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| it's a new record for the Reserve |
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| trees near the stream |
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| usual shot to show progress |
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| looking back along the boardwalk |
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| boardwalk view with Blackthorn now going over |
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| stream running well with snow melt water |
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| usual shot of new pond |
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| and looking in the other direction |
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| there was blue sky when I arrived |
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| but it didn't last long - meadow very wet |
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| looking back along the stream to pond |
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| the reserve boundary with the thicket next door |
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| floods again where the snow has melted |
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| usual view from the ramp |
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| trees along the old beehive loop |
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| under the ash trees |
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| weather looking wintry, time to go home! |
An interesting if chilly morning!
With thanks to Karen Rodger for the fungus identifications
please click on photos to enlarge them
