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Wild roses at Ballachurry Reserve
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I am no lark! You will never find me at Ballachurry just after dawn when, friends tell me, there is a great deal of bird activity. Instead, I arrived at the Reserve just before 10 a.m. when all was fairly silent again. Chaffinches and Woodpigeons could be heard, but very little else, or only in small bursts, but by lunchtime I had a respectable list of wildlife both seen and heard. Here is what I recorded:Birds:
SC210694 Blackbird and Robin flew up together from behind the wood chip pile as I entered the reserve.
SC208694 Woodpigeon; Magpie and Chaffinch heard but not seen; Wren; female Blackbird flying over; Great Tit; Long-tailed Tit x 3.
SC208695 Female Blackbird; male Blackbird flying through; Woodpigeon flying over; Wren heard not seen; male Chaffinch.
SC209694 female Blackbird foraging on path; Chiffchaff heard not seen; Pheasant heard not seen; Blue Tit x 3 in vegetation near hide; Magpie heard not seen; Woodpigeon near hide; Great Tit; female/ juvenile Chaffinch.
SC209693 female Blackbird on path; male Blackbird in tree; 1 adult and 1 juvenile Sedge Warbler.
Butterflies:
SC210694 3 x Speckled Wood together seen in Reserve from pavement when I arrived.
SC208694 Green Veined White; Speckled Wood.
SC209695 Speckled Wood.
Sc209694 Unidentified White flying; Meadow Brown; Speckled Wood.
SC209693 Speckled Wood.
SC209694 small moth on Hawthorn near hide.
Other:
SC210 694 Inkcaps on wood chip.
SC210694 Birch Shieldbug NEW RECORD
SC208694 Pied Hoverfly on Meadowsweet.
SC208694 Honey Bees in Meadowsweet .
SC208695 Grypocoris Stysi Capsid Bug.
SC208694 Grypocoris Stysi Capsid Bug.
SC209695 Common Wasp.
SC209694 Greater Water Boatmen x 4.
SC209694 very small white lipped snail.
SC209695 Marmalade Fly.
SC209695 Great Pied Hoverfly on Hogweed .
SC209694 Meadow Plant Bug (Leptopterna dolabrata) NEW RECORD ( iRecord had this as 100% certain, although looking it up afterwards I do have some doubts!)
SC209693 Wolf Spider.
SC209694 Blue Flower on hide roof - possibly Vipers Bugloss.
SC209694 Gorse Shieldbug.
SC209694 juvenile Rat in Hemlock Water Dropwort.
SC208694 Woody Nightshade and Meadowsweet in flower.
SC209694 Cuckoo Spit Froghopper nymphs here and throughout Reserve ( Philaenos spumarius).
SC209694 unidentified Spider on Iris leaves.
SC208695 Eristalis species hoverfly.
SC209695 Honeybees on Hogweed.
SC209694 Bee mimic Hoverfly - possibly Narcissus Bulb Fly ( Merodon equestris) ?
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| Blackbird |
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| Chaffinch |
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juvenile Long-tailed Tit
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| Woodpigeon |
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Juvenile Sedge Warbler about to be fed
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parent Sedge warbler ( I think)
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| Wren |
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Speckled Wood
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another Speckled Wood elsewhere
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unidentified micro moth
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Cuckoo Spit containing the nymph of Philaenus spumarius Froghopper
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Bee Mimic - possibly a Narcissus Bulb Fly
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Meadow Plant Bug - a new record for the Reserve
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Marmalade Fly
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Just look at those pollen sacks!
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Great Pied Hoverfly
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and another elsewhere
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Eristalis Hoverfly ?
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Hoverfly and Honey Bee together
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tiny white-lipped Snail - will try to identify
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Grypocorris stysi Capsid Bug
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These Inkcaps had completely vanished....
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by the time I left the reserve
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unidentified spider on Iris
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will try to have it identified
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Birch Shieldbug
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approaching the boardwalk
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Hemlock Water Dropwort along the stream
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bridge to the compost and willows area
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Dragonfly pond
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no Dragonflies or Damselflies seen today
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view from the other direction
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view across the meadow
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left to the boardwalk or right to the beehive loop?
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hide just visible
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no waterfowl seen from the hide today
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blue Vipers Bugloss on hide roof?
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quite a wildflower meadow up there!
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the Hogweed is taller than I am
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meadow area
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first Meadowsweet to bloom
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the mini meadow
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Woody Nightshade in flower
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the main pond from the bird hide
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view from the hide ramp
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usual view of the hide
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everywhere looking very green and lush
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shady woodland area
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shaft of sunlight picking out the flowers
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| Marsh Woundwort starting to bloom |
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final photo before leaving
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please click on photos to enlarge them
