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| An April Afternoon at Ballachurry Reserve |
My first chance to visit Ballachurry in April! It was a beautiful spring afternoon with the reserve looking fresh and green. There was a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly basking in the sunshine just inside the gate and the birds were singing when I arrived at three o'clock. Here is what I recorded:
Birds:
SC209693 Swallow flying over; Robin singing from tree; Willow Warbler; Chaffinch heard not seen.
SC209694 ( Hide) male & female Mallard; 2 x Moorhen together; 2 x Chiffchaff chasing insects from reeds. At one point they were sitting on the same fallen reed together about 12" apart. male Blackcap in vegetation at back of pond; Pheasant heard not seen.
SC209694 ( elsewhere) Chaffinch heard not seen at the path junction; Song Thrush heard not seen; 2 x Blackbird flew across path, another flew into tree by dragonfly pond; Chiffchaff by dragonfly pond; Willow Warbler at path junction.
SC208694 Chiffchaff; Chaffinch heard not seen; Robin heard not seen; Wren seen twice near boardwalk; Blackcap in willow; Greenfinch in willow; male Chaffinch in willow.
SC208695 ( feeders) 4 x Greenfinch; Blue Tit; Great Tit x 2; Goldfinch x 2; 2 x Robin; male Pheasant foraging beneath feeders.
SC208695 ( elsewhere) Dunnock sitting in tree; male & female Chaffinch; Goldfinch "chatter" heard; Buzzard overhead.
Butterflies:
SC210694 Small Tortoiseshell.
SC209694 Comma.
Other:
SC208695 Longtail foraging beneath feeders.
SC209694 abundant tadpoles and 3 Whirligig beetles in dragonfly pond.
SC209694 2 x Gorse Shieldbug among gorse flowers.
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| Buzzard high in the sky |
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| Blackbird |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Blackcap |
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| there were 2 Chiffchafffs together in the reeds |
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| flying up to catch insects, then landing back in the reeds |
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| close-up of one of them |
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| male Chaffinch |
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| Dunnock |
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| Greenfinch |
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| there were 4 altogether using the feeders |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Mallards close to the hide |
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| Mallards swimming |
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| Moorhen in the reeds |
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| Moorhen pair swimming |
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| Moorhen |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Comma Butterfly |
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| Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly |
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| Honey Bee on dandelion |
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| Gorse Shieldbugs |
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| Long-tail foraging under bird feeders |
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| Tadpoles in the dragonfly pond |
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| Whirlygig Beetles are very hard to photograph! |
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| Bird Cherry in flower |
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| close-up of Bird Cherry blossom |
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| Spanish Bluebells near the gate |
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| Bogbean in bud |
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| Marsh Marigolds in flower |
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| Celandines |
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| Cuckoo Flower |
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| Hawthorn blossom opening |
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| Hogweed starting to flower |
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| Marsh marigolds in the damp meadow |
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| Primroses on the bank of the stream |
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| Stitchwort in the meadow |
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| taking my usual route round the reedy bend |
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| still muddy but no longer water logged |
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| usual view of the hide |
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| a closer view |
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| view from the hide ramp - nice blue sky |
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| a few views through the shutters |
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| meadow |
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| and looking the other way |
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| the willow copse |
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| the under storey greening up nicely |
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| a sunny glade since coppicing |
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| the willows are starting to re-sprout |
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| usual view of the boardwalk |
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| view from boardwalk - a clear blue sky today |
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| the dragonfly pond |
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| no dragonflies yet , but may not be long |
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| taken from near the Bowman Memorial Bench |
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| along the gorse boundary |
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| gorse on the gorse boundary |
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| gorse makes a bright splash |
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| hopefully this chip will sort out the muddy paths |
A very enjoyable April afternoon.
please click on photos to enlarge them
