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Autumn colours reflected in the new pond
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On Wednesday the Met. Office finally came up trumps! Sunshine, cloudless skies and barely a breeze! Such a contrast with the previous week when I needed hot soup to revive me after my visit. I was at the Reserve by 9.15 and stayed till nearly 1.30! Here is what I saw:
Birds:
SC210694 Robin heard not seen; 8 x long Tailed Tit.
SC209693 Robin; Magpie flying over; 8 x Woodpigeon flying over; 2 x Jackdaw flying over.
SC209694 ( Hide) male Blackbird; 4 x Mallards on pond ( 2 x drakes, 2 x ducks); Little Egret; Water Rail very vocal for 10 minutes but not seen; Blue Tit; Robin; Wren.
SC209694(Elsewhere) Pheasant heard not seen; 8 x Blackbird flew out from fallen apples as I walked along the path; Magpie; 2 x Robin; Goldcrest; 2 x Goldfinch; Buzzard x 3.
SC208695 2 male and 1female Chaffinch; Robin; female Blackbird; Hooded Crow flying over.
SC208694 3 x Woodpigeon in tree; 4 x Blackbird ( 2 on apples in tree) 2 x Robin; Dunnock; Siskin; female Blackcap; 3 x Goldfinch in firs on cones; Blue Tit; male Chaffinch
SC209695 Sparrowhawk just outside reserve in neighbouring property; 3 x Long-tailed Tit; Great Tit; 2 x sparring Blue-Tit; Wren.
Other:
SC210694 Red Admiral.
SC208695 2 x Rabbit.
SC210694 juvenile Jumping Spider; larger spider (Wolf spider?)
SC209694 3 x Nursery Web Spider.
SC209694 tiny spider found on camera lens
SC209694 2 x 7-spot Ladybird.
SC209694 2 x Diving Beetle.
SC209694 Marmalade Hoverfly.
SC209694 bright orange fly in grass
SC208695 Blue bottle type fly on oak leaf
SC210694 Common Wasps, and many flies on ivy flowers
SC209694 dead Long-tailed Fieldmouse on path.
SC209694 unidentified fungi under willows.
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only the second time I've seen a Little Egret at Ballachurry
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at first the Mallard drakes were keeping together
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| and so were the Mallard ducks |
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but eventually they met up
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later it was bath time for this Drake
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Blackbirds : "thank you for not foraging our apples!"
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the apples are a valuable food source for the birds
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one of about 10 Blackbirds on the Reserve, both males...
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....and females
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a female Blackcap was also enjoying the feast
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she was coming and going all morning
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I would have missed her without my binoculars
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as I was on the opposite side of the meadow
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near the private entrance a Blue Tit drama was unfolding!
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one was frequently going right inside this knot hole,
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presumably looking for insects
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but then a second one appeared
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and there was a rather vicious fight
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a Great Tit was also checking out the knot holes
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but then moved across to the nest box
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the technique seems to be to check from above
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then take a closer look - it went right inside
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the Wren was also busy looking for insects
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another Wren seen from the hide
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and a Robin near by
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male Chaffinch
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one of three Woodpigeons in the firs
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a tiny Siskin in the Alder by the boardwalk
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Coming out of the hide, I heard 2 Buzzards calling in the distance. They were soon circling above the reserve but as I watched I heard another very loud call directly behind me and a third came flying right by me at low level before going up to join them.
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| they have a wingspan of between 110 and 130 cm |
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that's around 4 ft.
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only marginally smaller than I am!
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beautiful, majestic birds
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I took some rather bumpy video of one of them
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On a rather smaller scale: Red Admiral feeding from the Ivy flowers
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7-spot Ladybird in the thistles
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and a second one nearby
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I was looking for Jumping spiders on the wall but this one is bigger
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juvenile Jumping Spider - only about 2mm long!
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Nursery Web Spider
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At this time of year small spiders can be found "ballooning" on gossamer threads to move home. The reserve was awash with the gossamer which caught the sunlight. But as I turned off my camera and the lens retracted I was horrified to see there was a tiny spider sitting on the barrel, vanishing off into the depths of the mechanism! I quickly turned the camera back on and out it came again, apparently unharmed! It sat on the lens so I pressed the shutter and got this photo before carefully removing it to the vegetation.
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probably a tiny Money Spider?
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Marmalade Hoverfly on Dandelion
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a bright orange fly enjoying the autumn sunshine
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there were several species around
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the ivy flowers were attracting many flies and wasps
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one of two diving beeetles seen at the new pond
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new fungi continue to appear
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these were under the willows
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2 species or just young and mature specimens?
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autumn colours against a clear blue sky
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walking through the ash grove
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the long route round to the hide
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colourful bramble leaves
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the tree where I photographed the Siskin
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usual view of the Boardwalk
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and the usual view from it
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the new dragonfly pond
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the hide was in full sun - it was quite hot inside!
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meadow view with my shadow
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view from the ramp
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autumn reed bed
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still not a cloud in the sky
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I started with pond reflections, so will end with them too!
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That was a perfect visit the Reserve! I visited another Manx Wildlife Trust reserve in the afternoon, which was also very enjoyable. No time to do a Blog for that one though!
please click on photos to enlarge them
