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| early November at Ballachurry Reserve |
Other commitments meant I couldn't visit the reserve until 10.30 on Tuesday morning but as I walked through the gate I saw a Buzzard flying low but being chased off by corvids. It didn't return. A grey, unusually still day but reasonably mild for the time of year. Here is what I recorded:
Birds:
SC209694 ( hide) female Mallard; Moorhen; Blue Tit.
SC209694 ( elsewhere) male & female Blackbirds seen separately; Buzzard; Robin; Great Tit; Song Thrush; Wren x 2 together; female Chaffinch.
SC210694 male and female Blackbirds together.
SC208695 ( on or near feeders) male and female Chaffinch; 6 x Goldfinch; Dunnock; Great Tit x 2; Blue Tit; Robin; Coal Tit; Great Spotted Woodpecker on side of feeder tree.
SC208694 Coal Tit; Siskin; 5 x Long-tailed Tits; Robin x 2; Goldcrest.
Other:
SC208694 Red Campion in flower near boardwalk.
SC210694 Groundsel
SC208694 Milk Cap Fungus near compost heaps.
SC210394 large area of fungi near gate.
SC209693 Fungi under birch.
SC208694 Hare's Foot Ink cap.
SC208695 Brown Rat
Blackbird near the gate 
Great Tit by the dragonfly pond 
female Mallard among the reeds 
Moorhen 
Robin among the willows 
Song Thrush
The winter feeders were very busy with birds. No photo of the Great Spotted Woodpecker, I'm afraid. It was towards the top of the same tree.
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| Coal Tit on the left, Blue Tit on the right |
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| Goldfinch |
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| it was soon joined by others |
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| and a lot of squabbles ensued |
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| Great Tit |
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| another on the peanuts |
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| Coal Tit again |
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| male Chaffinch awaiting its turn |
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| female Chaffinch nearby |
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| It's not often I get to photograph mammals on the Reserve |
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| inevitably long-tails will be attracted to scavenge below the feeders |
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| it can't help being a long-tail and was actually quite cute! |
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| fungi continue to appear |
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| although there was considerably less than a fortnight ago |
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| these Milkcaps were near the compost heap |
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| something different elsewhere |
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| the largest patch were on remaining wood chip near the gate |
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| use of wood chip has greatly increased the fungi on the Reserve |
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| again on wood chip - Hare's Foot Inkcap |
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| Campion still in flower |
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| Grounsel near the gate also still flowering |
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| Oh dear! but it had been used upside down! |
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| a lot of synthetic material in the nest |
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| three of the four eggs appeared to have hatched |
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| wintry looking bird hide |
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| grey skies from the ramp today |
What a surprise when I opened the shutters today! There had been a work party during my recent absence and a lot of work done on the pond. Will the mudflat attract some different birds, I wonder?
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| recent work by volunteers |
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| a new dam also installed recently |
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| and renovations done on the old one |
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| a good flow of water coming into the reserve |
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| taken from the boardwalk |
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| stream from a different angle |
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| the Boardwalk through the wet area |
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| usual view from the boardwalk - no blue sky today |
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| The dragonfly pond |
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| and from the other direction |
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| the recently cut meadow is greening up already |
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| some autumn leaves still on the trees |
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| looking along the gorse boundary path |
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| No apples left for the birds this year! |
Unfortunately I think the apples were "scrumped" this year. They seemed to vanish overnight and there was no trace of them on the ground. Last year I photographed Blackbirds, Thrushes and Blackcaps enjoying them. Birds can't go to the supermarket to get their vital supplies! ( At least three houses in my road had their apples stolen last year!)
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| a very new view through the shutters |
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| good to see encroaching vegetation removed |
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| Bye bye Blackbird! Time for me to go home! |
I hadn't been to the Reserve for two weeks so this was a particularly interesting visit. The work party I missed had been preceded by a bird ringing session and I believe over 30 birds were ringed, including some Redwings. I'll post the full details once they are available.
please click on the photos to enlarge them
