Happy New Year, everyone!
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hail on the mudflat - January 2025.
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With "unbroken sunshine" forecast for Thursday, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for my first visit of 2025 to Ballachurry Reserve and I did indeed arrive in sunshine on a cold and frosty morning. At 10 o'clock it was just 4 degrees and there was frost on the grass as I entered the reserve. My initial photos have blue-sky backgrounds but cloud quickly built up, looking positively ominous at times. The feeders were empty and the birds hungry after a cold night. They started flying in to feed before I had even finished filling them up. But then I felt the first stinging shafts of hail on my face and hurried back to the hide for shelter. The first shower was brief but a later one was heavy and quite prolonged. I did walk round again afterwards but more clouds were gathering and with so few birds about I decided not to linger - some hot tea was by now required! Here is what I recorded:
Birds:
SC210694 Chaffinch heard not seen.
SC209693 Song Thrush; Great Tit.
SC209694 ( hide) Moorhen; Robin; Kestrel flying through at low level.
SC209694 ( elsewhere) Wren; male Blackbird at path junction & male & female Blackbirds together on gorse boundary; 2 x Chaffinch; Robin; Magpie.
SC208694 male Chaffinch; Buzzard flying over adjacent field.
SC209695 (on or near feeders) 2 x Robin; 2 x Great Tit; Blue Tit; male & female Chaffinch; Goldfinch; Dunnock; male Blackbird.
SC208695 ( elsewhere) Redwing; Magpie on the ground.
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Blue Tit
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Great Tit
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Moorhen feeding
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and swimming
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Robin near the feeders
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Robin among the hail stones
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frost on the grass when I arrived
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blue sky on arrival
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usual view of Hide
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view from the ramp on arrival
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wintry sun across the meadow
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sun picking out the board walk
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frost lingering on the boards
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looking back the way I've come
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But then the light began to look more stormy............
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gorse boundary
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near the private entrance
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and the clouds more menacing............
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an increasingly cloudy view from the board walk
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not a twister, surely?
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soon it began to hail - twice!
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hailstones floating away downstream as I hurried back to the hide
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I got there in the nick of time!
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it lasted quite a while
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and gave quite a covering
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view from ramp during hail storm
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no blue sky now!
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the dragonfly pond at the start of my visit
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usual views
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after the storm, with floating hailstones and interesting reflections
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clouds reflected in pond
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silver lining reflected in the water
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Not many bird photos to start the year, but an interesting visit none the less.
And finally,
Happy Birthday Blog! Ten Years completed - today starts year Eleven.
🎂🥂
please click on photos to enlarge them
