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
Robin near the feeders 
and another on the path parallel to the road 
there were lots of Goldfinches on the reserve 
Great Tits too 
female Chaffinch near the feeders 
Greenfinches seen from the hide 
a closer view... 
....of both of them
a Great Tit checking out the empty feeder 
a closer view 
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
