Ballachurry Reserve. 1st February 2020. Work Party.

Pond before removal of excess Brooklime

On Saturday we held a special work party to remove some of the Brooklime from the pond. This native plant  seems to have carried on growing because of the mild winter and was quickly taking over the whole pond.  With frogspawn season fast approaching we really only had this weekend to rake out a proportion of it to restore a larger area of open water.

Three of our volunteers have waders and they set to with rakes to drag the Brooklime to the edge of the pond from whence it could be piled up on a nearby area of black plastic sheeting. This meant that any water creatures in the weed could escape back into the water . The plant will be left on the sheeting to rot down naturally. I had already spent some time uncovering this sheet from our previous years' efforts and the resulting compost was full of hard working worms who were doing a good job for us and would, no doubt, welcome some fresh new greens!

The black plastic is there for a particular reason. As well as the native Brooklime there is an alien species of water weed in the pond called New Zealand Pygmy weed which found its way into the reserve some years ago now, probably on the feet of water fowl. Unfortunately it can spread vigorously both in water and on damp land so should there be any amongst our rakings, without the plastic it would simply root into the soil where we dumped it. The first time we removed any from the pond the plan was to dry it out on the plastic and then burn it on site. In fact it composted down very quickly and there was nothing left to burn! Interestingly, I have noticed that our annual pond maintenance on this one area of the pond is keeping it in check in the water, whereas on the side of the pond which has never been cleared it continues to proliferate. On land among the rushes it is a different story however and in places there are patches of it looking green and mossy round the edge of the pond.

The presence of the Pygmy Weed means we have to adopt very strict bio-security measures when working in and around the pond. At the end of the session all tools, including the wheelbarrows were thoroughly washed down. Then it was the turn of the volunteers to clean their waders firstly in buckets of water then, to make extra sure, water was poured over the soles too. Given the very low level of water in the pond at present ( see previous Blog post) waders were a tad OTT perhaps but they kept the volunteers clean and warm so were worthwhile.

There is still plenty of weed left for the frogs and for water fowl such as Moorhens and the Water Rail in other areas of the pond

Myself and fellow committee member, Margaret, were there as supporting cast to our three  "stars". A big thank you is due to Margaret for providing us with refreshments at the end of  the session and for moving the pile of brambles by the gate in anticipation of a delivery to the reserve, of which more on another occasion.

Rakes at the ready

dragging the Brooklime to the edge

lest anyone be tempted to take some home to their own pond!

washing down the waders

making doubly sure

weed cleared from the water on the left means open water once more.
The "mudflat" in the foreground is usually below water level but a
dry January ( nothing to do with alcohol!)
and possibly other factors have left it exposed.

the birthday candle is for volunteer Richard!

birthday boy about to eat his cake

relaxing after a job well done

Margaret, our cake maker extraordinaire ! 

A very big thank you to everyone who helped today.

Ballachurry Reserve, 29th January, 2020

rather a bleak January day at the Reserve

Rather a gloomy day to visit the Reserve this week, but my only opportunity. I began to think that I would leave without recording a single bird but things improved slightly on my second circuit. Here is what I saw:

Birds:

SC210694 2 x Mallard flying over
SC209694 30 + Goldfinches flying over
SC209694 female Pheasant
SC209694 Robin
SC209694 male Blackbird
SC209694 ( from hide) 2 x Blue Tit; 2 x Great Tit; Goldfinch.

Other:

SC209694 Blackthorn is in flower bud
SC210694  Garden escape  Snowflake has first flower.
SC209693 Hazel catkins lengthening and opening

Unfortunately the reserve had received some  visitors over the week-end who had thoughtlessly left litter along the paths and in the hide. Also signs of smoking in the hide and a shutter left open. A spoof entry on the whiteboard tells us these people were there on Sunday ( at least, I hope it is a spoof entry as a Boomslang is a very venomous African snake!)

an unusual sighting on Sunday!

I was also rather surprised to see how much the water level had fallen in the pond. Much of the weed was no longer afloat and there were large areas of silt showing along the streams. This is an unusual sight in the winter and I fear there may be some sort of blockage or diversion upstream causing this lack of water flow through the reserve. Time will tell if this is a permanent or temporary situation.

Please take your litter home!

Blackthorn waiting to burst into blossom shortly

Hazel catkins lengthening and opening

most of the Brooklime is no longer floating

photo showing extent of Brooklime

and from another angle

water levels low in streams also

not much of a flow for winter

some sunshine would have made all the difference!

Not the best of visits one way or another but hopefully things will improve as spring approaches.

Clicking on the photos will enlarge them

Ballachurry Reserve, 21st January 2020 -Work Party

It's not often we have a week day work party but our scheduled Saturday had to be cancelled because of the recent stormy weather. Today's forecast was for a dry but cloudy day with light drizzle at times. We thought we could cope with that but, as you will see from the photos, we enjoyed blue skies, sunshine and the only drizzle was the lemon variety during our tea break!

Seven volunteers were on site today so we were able to tackle two separate areas of brambles, which means the job is pretty much finally done at last. We have some lovely dense areas of brambles for the nesting birds in the spring but do have to keep them in check each year or they would quickly fill the whole reserve.

One disappointment was not to be able to remove some Hemlock Water Dropwort from the damp meadow. The ground conditions made this impossible but we'll possibly have another go when the plants themselves are a little larger. We might be fighting a losing battle here though, alas!

Eleven thirty saw us sitting in the sunshine outside the hide for our tea break. Many thanks to Margaret who had dropped off our refreshments earlier in the day even though she couldn't  join us this morning.

Then it was back to work once more to get the job done. Special thanks to Ian ( again!) for the loan of his dustbins and his offer to remove the debris to the tip once his trailer is  available once more.

our real reason for volunteering!

sunshine and lemon drizzle

When I arrived at the reserve this morning there were lots of birds around - what a contrast with yesterday afternoon! I made a mental note of the following :

SC209694 2 x Song Thrush together ( one singing  beautifully);  flock of Goldfinches flying over; 2 x Long Tailed Tit; female Blackbird;  Magpie; Great Tit;  2 x Chaffinch; Blue Tit.
SC209693 Great Tit
SC208694 Robin; 2 x Chaffinch; Great Tit; Goldcrest; Blue Tit; Sparrowhawk flying through at speed.

Goldcrest seaching for insects on the compost heap.

Many thanks to all our volunteers today for all your help. A job well done!

Ballachurry Reserve, 20th January 2020 - incidental report

This should have been a recording visit but my plans were thwarted and I didn't reach the reserve until about 3 p.m.  Three o'clock on a cloudy day in January isn't very conducive to either seeing or photographing very much, but I needed some fresh air and enjoyed my quick walk round anyway. This was more of a recce ahead of tomorrow's work party, in fact, but here is what I saw:

Birds:

SC209694 ( hide) pair of Mallard; Blue Tit; c. 30 Goldfinch flying over.
SC208694 ( through willows and the compost area)  male and female Chaffinches; Goldcrest; 2 x Blue Tit; Great Tit;  5 x Wood Pigeons flying over.
SC208695 ( old beehive loop) male and female Chaffinches.
SC209695 ( near where stream enters reserve) female Pheasant.

Perhaps I'll have another opportunity for a longer, earlier visit later in the week.

Ballachurry Reserve, Work Party 21st January 2020

Hi Volunteers,

The forecast is OK for tomorrow so the work party will go ahead around 10 a.m. There may be some light drizzle although the Met Office seems to think this is more likely in the afternoon. All details as previously notified for the work party we had to cancel on Saturday 11th, but please bring a mug if you can remember. I'll bring a few spares just in case.

Look forward to seeing some of you there.

Best wishes and thanks,

Sheila. 

Ballachurry Reserve, 12th January 2020.

Cold ( 8 degrees) but sunny morning at the reserve.
Just one berry remaining on the Hawthorn bush!

Circumstances and the weather have prevented me from visiting the Reserve this new year, 2020, until today but this morning I struck gold: Golden sunshine, Goldfinches and Goldcrests! The sun was warm on my back at times and I stayed a full two hours. Here is what I recorded:

Birds:

SC208694  Goldcrest on the compost heap  and later in the firs behind.
SC208694  5 x Goldfinch in firs adjoining reserve and  1 later in tree on reserve; Wood Pigeon flying over; Herring Gulls and Corvids flying over.
SC208694  Water Rail heard calling intermittently from reed bed but not seen.
SC208694 Robin heard but not seen;Wren heard but not seen.
SC208695   10 x Long Tailed Tits; female Chaffinch; Blue Tit
SC209694  (gorse boundary) Magpie; Wren; Chaffinch; Robin
SC209694 ( direct path to hide) female Reed Bunting which flew off in tandem with another unidentified bird, possibly the male; Robin. Blue Tit.
SC209694 ( hide) Blue Tit
SC209695 5 x Goldfinch; Blue Tit.

Other, including plants in flower etc:

SC209695 Gorse Shieldbug
SC208694 and SC209694 Red Campion
SC209694 Celandines in ditch
SC208694 Hogweed
SC209693 Ragwort
SC209694 Gorse
SC208694 fresh leaves on Hawthorn
SC210694 Stinking Iris dropping seeds

Red Campion

Lesser Celandine

Hogweed

Ragwort ( Cushag) 

Spring leaves on Hawthorn!

Stinking Iris near the gate

Bradda Tower is just visible at this time of year

Bench blown over in yesterday's storm. I left it as more
severe gales are forecast for Monday

I don't often photograph this corner of the reserve

view through to the reed bed from the compost heap,
the Water Rail was calling

a plastic bag has blown into the pond during the gales -
unfortunately I can't reach it

Gorse Shieldbug

looking back as I left

Two hours well spent and a better bird tally than my last visit, which leaves me feeling optimistic for 2020! It was a shame we had to cancel the work party on Saturday but lighter volunteers might have suffered the same fate as Ginnie's bench!

Click on photos to enlarge

Saturday Work party cancelled

Happy New Year to you all!

This is not the sort of post I had hoped to start with in 2020 but unfortunately the weather forecast for tomorrow morning is for gale force winds + outbreaks of rain "heavy at times". Coupled with the fact that some of our regular volunteers are unable to come along anyway, I have decided to cancel our work party.

Unfortunately I have other commitments for the two following Saturdays so can't simply postpone the work party until a better Saturday comes along.  I am therefore considering the possibility of a weekday morning. It won't be this coming week as the weather remains unsettled but Tuesday 21st or Wednesday 22nd are possibilities, subject of course to the weather yet again. I have asked our regular volunteers to contact me to see if this is feasible.

Looking through the window right now there is sunshine and not a breath of wind! It's a pity I can't visit the reserve today to do a recording visit but unfortunately this is not possible. Ah well! 

Enjoy your weekend whatever the weather!