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| Ballachurry Reserve meadow in early June |
I have been to Ireland on a "TT Escape" holiday so missed my weekly visit to Ballachurry last week. Driving home from the ferry on Tuesday afternoon we passed the reserve and, glancing in, I could see another large load of woodchip had been delivered while we were away! So I am expecting to receive a Work Party notification at any moment! On Wednesday morning I headed down to the reserve to see what had changed during my absence. Clearly there had been a storm as one of the Hawthorn trees was almost out of the ground and a large Willow had fallen across the path, blocking my way. A chainsaw job to remove it no doubt. Otherwise the Reserve is looking luxuriant in its summer livery and I enjoyed my morning there in the bright but very breezy sunshine. Here is what I recorded:
Birds:
SC209694 Willow Warbler; female Blackbird; Great Tit carrying food and 2 x Great Tit together seen later; another Great Tit which seemed larger than the usual size; Sedge Warbler; Blackcap & Chaffinch heard not seen; 8 x Goldfinch flying over; 2 x Greylag Geese flying over; 2 x Swallow flying over.
SC209693 Woodpigeon.
SC208694 Sedge Warbler; Wren + 2 fledglings; male Chaffinch; Blue Tit going into nest box; Blackcap heard but not seen; Magpie flying over.
SC209695 Blackbird heard not seen.
SC210694 Goldfinch; Chaffinch on Millet feeder.
Butterflies:
SC208695 Speckled Wood; Green Veined White.
SC209695 Speckled Wood.
SC209694 Speckled Wood; Green Veined White.
Other:
SC209694 Blue-tailed Damselfly x 2.
SC209695 Gorse Shieldbug.
SC209694 Gorse Shieldbug.
SC209694 Common Carder Bee.
SC209693 Leucozoma Hoverfly.
SC208695 Leucozoma Hoverfly.
SC210694 2 Spot Ladybird ( flew away before I could take a photo)
SC210694 unidentified bugs.
SC208694 Capsid bugs + nymphs.
SC209694 Great Water Boatman.
SC208694 Eristalis species Hoverfly.
SC209694 Jumping Spider
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| Wren on a reed |
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| Greylag flying over |
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| this Great Tit seemed a little larger than normal |
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| this distant bird proved to be... |
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| a Sedge Warbler |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Speckled Wood |
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| approaching the dragonfly pond |
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| will there be any dragons or damsels today? |
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| Yes! A Blue-tailed Damselfly |
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| and another (with a small snail) on an Iris leaf |
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| the two had a a bit of a territorial dispute |
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| is it Drone Honey bees that have the big eyes? |
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| there were lots of bees in the Dropwort |
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| Honey bee on the right and a solitary bee in the foreground |
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| close-up of the solitary bee |
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| a "footballer" Hoverfly also enjoying the nectar |
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| Helophilus species I think |
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| a much larger Hoverfly |
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| possibly an Eristalis species |
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| Another Hoverfly - Leucozona lucorum ? |
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| they are a distinctive black and white |
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| rather like a small Pied Hoverfly |
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| identification to be confirmed |
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| I don't know what this is! |
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| it may be the nymph of some kind of bug |
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| Capsid bug and it's nymph? |
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| I hope to get these identified |
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| this small Hoverfly had been parasitised |
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| Depressaria daucella caterpillar |
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| they will be come moths |
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| and provide food for hungry fledglings |
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| this one is starting to pupate in the Hemlock Water Dropwort |
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| Gorse Shieldbug |
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| Garden Snail hasn't moved inside the hide |
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| a Jumping Spider living inside the noticeboard |
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| the mini meadow |
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| plenty of Yellow Rattle this year |
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| they are partially parasitic on grass |
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| this one is already forming the "rattle" seedheads |
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| tiny apples starting to form |
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| usual view of the boardwalk |
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| it crosses us through a sea of Dropwort |
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| usual view from the boardwalk |
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| the Dropwort is starting to collapse along the stream |
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| and elsewhere |
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| Dropwort from the hide |
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| and the usual view of the hide - can you even see it? |
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| usual view from the hide ramp |
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| the area of water continues to shrink |
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| the damp meadow |
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| Flag Iris in the meadow |
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| this Oak tree is not looking too healthy |
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| the path junction |
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| one side of the blocked path |
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| a sizable tree has come down in a recent storm |
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| pleasing to see the White Clover on the hide roof |
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| colourful flowers on the gorse boundary |
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| a reminder of work to come! |
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| it's a sizeable pile |
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| containing many small fir cones |
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| bye bye till next time |
In Ireland we had remarked on the lack of Willow Warblers so it was lovely to both hear and see them at Ballachurry all morning.
please click on photos to enlarge them
