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| a dry afternoon at the reserve despite an adverse forecast |
When the sun came out on Tuesday morning in defiance of a weather forecast for cloud and drizzle for most of the day (and indeed for much of the week), I was just making a chicken pie. Leaving the pots and pans to deal with later, I ate a hasty lunch on the hoof and headed down to Ballachurry by 12.45, hoping the sunshine would last. It came and went but stayed dry and I enjoyed my impromptu visit. Here is what I recorded:
Birds:
SC209693 Robin; male Blackbird; 3 x Goldfinch; 4 x Jackdaw flying over.
SC209694 ( hide) Blackbird; 28 x Redwing in Churchyard trees; Wren; 2 x Greenfinch; Mallard drake seen flying away; Woodpigeon in Churchyard tree; preening Great Tit; female Chaffinch; Hooded Crow in Churchyard trees.
SC209694 (elsewhere) 2 x Redwing in tree; 2 x male Pheasant in adjoining field; male Blackbird; female Chaffinch; 2 x Goldfinch; Goldcrest.
SC208694 Blackbird; Great Tit; Goldcrest; male & female Chaffinch; Long-tailed Tit; 25 Goldfinch flying over and 7 in a tree ( they flew up to join the flock) Kestrel mobbed by much larger Corvid; 2 x Great Tit; Robin.
SC209695 male and female Chaffinch; Goldfinch; Great Tit; 2 x Blue Tit.
SC208695 Robin; female Chaffinch; 2 x Great Tit investigating empty feeders; 3 x Blue Tit + Great Tit flying round together.
Other:
SC209694 Honey bees visiting gorse flowers
SC209694 tadpole embryos further elongating in frogspawn
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| Robin near the feeders |
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| and another on the path parallel to the road |
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| there were lots of Goldfinches on the reserve |
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| Great Tits too |
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| female Chaffinch near the feeders |
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| Greenfinches seen from the hide |
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| a closer view... |
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| ....of both of them |
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| a Great Tit checking out the empty feeder |
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| a closer view |
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| and another elsewhere |
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| can you spot the Blue Tit? |
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| a large flock of birds landed in the churchyard trees |
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| they proved to be Redwings |
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| another Great Tit seen from the hide, it was preening |
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| just as I left I spotted 2 Redwings |
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| they were over near the dragonfly pond |
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| not long till the tadpoles emerge now |
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| Marsh Marigold bud on the dragonfly pond margin |
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| and another by the boardwalk |
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| Blackthorn flowers and Alder catkins |
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| looking towards the Ash walk |
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| the Hide from near the path junction |
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| it's still very muddy beyond the boardwalk |
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| usual view from the boardwalk |
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| usual view of the boardwalk |
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| and of the dragonfly pond |
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| some nice reflections today |
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| do you remember this photo from last week? |
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| unfortunately the nest box had fallen down today |
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| the approach to the bird feeders |
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| looking back from the boardwalk |
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| Ginnie's Bench area |
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| a colourful corner |
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| still a good flow of water coming into the reserve |
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| later it will be hard to see the stream for the vegetation |
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| an increasingly colourful reserve |
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| meadow with muddy path |
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| usual view from the hide ramp |
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| looking left through the shutters |
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| and right - no wildfowl today |
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| stream near the boardwalk |
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| fixed point view of the hide |
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| blackthorn and gorse blossom together |
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| a reminder as I left that the next Work Party is scheduled for 23rd March. |
I left just after 3 p.m. to deal with those pots and pans. After two hours of fresh air and exercise I was already looking forward to our chicken pie for dinner that evening!
please click on photos to enlarge them
