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The Mini Meadow with Yellow Rattle
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I have been away on holiday so missed one of my weekly visits to the reserve . However, while away, a little birdie told me that the boardwalk was finally finished! Congratulations and many thanks to Ian (who designed, built and generally master minded the project), to Peter (his right hand man) and all the other volunteers who helped in any way. I was really keen to see the finished walkway and it certainly is aesthetically pleasing as well as practical. Well done, Ian!
It was a lovely sunny afternoon last Thursday, although the breeze was strengthening by the time I left, and I spent a very pleasant few hours there observing the wildlife. Not such a haven of peace as usual though! It was TT week and the usual buzz of bees was often replaced by the roar of motorbikes along the adjacent road! Here is what I recorded:
Birds:
SC210694 Chaffinch heard not seen; Willow Warbler heard not seen; Blue Tit x 2.
SC209694 male Sparrow; Great Tit; Goldfinch x 2; female Mallard with 3 almost fully grown ducklings; Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler & Reed Warbler heard not seen; 2 x Moorhen with 4 chicks between them ( not sure if they are all the same family); Swallow & Woodpigeon flying over.
SC208694 Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Chaffinch all heard but not seen; Great Tit x 3 together; Goldfinch; Woodpigeon flying over; Sparrowhawk flying over.
SC208695 Blackcap & Goldfinch heard not seen; Song Thrush with beak full of worms and grubs; Jackdaw flying over; Blackbird heard not seen.
SC209695 2 x Willow Warbler ( one with beak full of caterpillars possibly feeding the second one which was only heard not seen); Swallow flying over.
Butterflies, Moths & Caterpillars:
SC209693 Depressaria daucella caterpillars in Hemlock Water Dropwort.
SC208695 unidentified caterpillar on Rowan.
SC208694 larval webs on Blackthorn ( Ermine moth species?)
SC209693 larval webs on Bird Cherry with caterpillars of the Bird Cherry Ermine Moth (Yponomeuta evonymella -NEW RECORD)
SC209695 unidentified green caterpillars caught by Willow Warbler
SC209693 Speckled Wood ; Light Brown Apple Moth?
SC209694 Unidentified White flying; Speckled Wood; Small Tortoiseshell; Red Admiral.
SC208694 Speckled Wood x 2 ( at least) ; unidentified Whites flying; Small Heath; Clouded Border moth; Red Admiral;
SC208695 female Common Blue,( more or less completely brown and ragged) Green Veined White; Small White; Red Admiral; Speckled Wood x 2; several unidentified Whites; Silver Ground Carpet Moth.
SC209695 Speckled Wood.
Other:
SC208695 Great Pied Hoverfly on nettle; several unidentified flies on Docks.
SC209694 ( new pond) several Pond Skaters; 3 x Diving beetles; large Water Boatman (aka Common Backswimmer) - Notonecta glauca (NEW RECORD) ; many unidentified flies on mud and adjacent stones.
SC209695 Gorse Shieldbug and 2 nymphs.
SC209694 Hairy Shieldbug ( aka Sloe Bug) on Dandelion
SC209694 2 species of Aphid on Sycamore leaves
SC209695 tiny unidentified flies in courtship ritual.
SC209694 Nursery Web Spider nest ( Pisaura mirabilis)
SC209694 Sloe Bug ( aka Hairy Shieldbug)
SC208694 Spear Thistle ( NEW RECORD)
SC209694 Foxglove ( NEW RECORD)
SC209695 Click Beetle Athous haemorrhoidalis_ ( NEW RECORD)
SC209694 Honey bee landed on floating leaf in middle of pond to drink
SC209693Large Narcissus Bulbfly - Merodon equestris (NEW RECORD)
Sc208695 Buff-tailed Bumble Bee
SC209694 Pocket plum galls on Blackthorn ( Taphrina pruni - caused by fungal pathogen)
SC209695 Yellow Dung Fly
SC209695 Unidentified Hoverfly - Syrphus species?
SC208694 several Honey Bees in Hemlock Water Dropwort
SC208694 Cuckoo Spit Froghopper nymphs Philaenus spumarius
SC210694 Wild roses in bloom near gate
SC208694/ SC209694/ SC209693 Ragged Robin in flower
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| Goldfinch |
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Great Tit
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male Sparrow
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Song Thrush with hungry mouths to feed
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Willow Warbler also feeding young
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I enlarged this to try to ID the caterpillars
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Moorhen with one of 3 chicks
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all 3 in this photo - love the one peeping over the lily pad!
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they were mostly keeping close to their parent
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| but occasionally went exploring alone! |
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suddenly another adult with one chick appeared - same family, or another?
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Mother Mallard was in the reeds
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she still has 3 ducklings, now nearly fully grown
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mother and one duckling
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Speckled Woods were everywhere
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flying along the paths, basking in the sun
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keeping warm in the wood chip
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Small Heath
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this very brown butterfly had me quite perplexed at first
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it was a rather ragged female Common Blue
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I eventually managed to see the underwing which was also very faded
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Small White
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Silver Ground Carpet moth
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Clouded Border Moth
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Light Brown Apple Moth
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this tree is defoliated and strewn with webs
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they are the larval webs of the Bird Cherry Ermine Moth
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the caterpillars were clearly visible
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a couple of close-ups
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this caterpillar is a Depressaria daucella moth larva
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I was looking for a Hawthorn Shieldbug but found a caterpillar - seeking ID
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Blackthorn also has larval webs - probably Orchard Ermine Moth
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Blackthorn also has some Pocket Plum Galls among the healthy ones
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Yellow Dung Fly
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Hoverfly - Syrphus species?
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Great Pied Hoverfly
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unidentified flies round new pond
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unidentified flies on docks
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It's not just birds and mammals which need to drink
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the pond is evaporating during the hot weather
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a lot of liner is showing
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but the wildlife can retreat to the deeper area
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there are diving beetles
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pond skaters
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and Water Boatmen
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Large Narcissus Bulbfly - Merodon equestris
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Bees were enjoying the Hemlock Water Dropwort Flowers
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as were the Hoverflies
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the toxicity doesn't seem to affect them
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Cuckoo Spit - home to the Philaenus spumarius Froghopper nymph
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Bumble Bee in the Brambles
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I think it may be a Buff Tailed
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Gorse Shieldbug
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Gorse Shieldbug nymph
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and another close by
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Sloe Bug - aka Hairy Shieldbug
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Click Beetle - Athous haemorrhoidalis, suggested by iRecord
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2 types of aphid on the Sycamore leaves
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Nursery Web Spider web - no sign of the spider
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looking along the finished boardwalk
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the ramp to the boardwalk is now finished
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stream? what stream?
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the Dropwort was full of insects
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usual view from the Boardwalk
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some of the paths are quite jungly!
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some of the Ash trees have succumbed to Ash Die Back
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another stark reminder of this devastating tree disease
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Ballachurry's first ever Foxglove!
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and this Spear Thistle is also a new record
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Wild roses near the gate
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Ragged Robin near the new pond
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some late Hawthorn blossom
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I was pleased to see the Burdock had forced its way through the wood chip
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Flag Iris in the meadow
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the hide is hardly visible in places
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but here is the usual view
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the meadow looks very pretty at present
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another view of it
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the dead hedge made by volunteers now camouflaged by long grass
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and the coppiced and layed willows making a thick, effective screen
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the mini meadow in front of the bench is developing nicely
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the Yellow Rattle is doing its job
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back to where I first started and time to go home!
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The Bird Cherries will undoubtedly recover from the attention of the Ermine Moth caterpillars which are devouring them.The caterpillars themselves will be providing food for bird nestlings on the Reserve. Here is a short video of the caterpillars in the larval webs.
And finally, my attention was caught by a tiny fly
which was jumping from side to side apparently to impress a female on
the same leaf. He broke off briefly to see off a rival but then returned
to dance rather frenetically in front of her before seeming to mate
with her extremely briefly. She turned, rather forlornly I thought, to
look where he had gone!
Spending time at Ballachurry Reserve can be truly fascinating if you can find the time to stop and stare!
With thanks to Steve Crellin, the Island's Dipterist, for pointing out that what I thought was a Carder Bee was, in fact, a type of Hoverfly called Merodon equestris ( Large narcissus Bulbfly)
please click on photos to enlarge them
