Location
Sunrise: 05:26 BST
5°C > 12°C Clear with high cloud. Calm / light E wind later. Good visibility
(70th visit of the year)
A new bird for my site year-list was the humble House Sparrow: normally confined to the estate area this morning three birds ventured as far as the bushes around the new Academy and were therefore within my recording area
A couple of postscripts to previous sightings this week
- the arrival of the Oystercatchers on Tuesday and Wednesday coincided with birds reported as deserting their nest at Belvide Reservoir, some 12 miles to the E
- yesterday’s unidentified bug is almost certainly a female Chironomid midge: only the males of this abundant non-biting midge have plumed antenna
Other notes
- the 2 Greylag Geese took one look at the cob Swan and decided to fly on: the Swan is getting very aggressive and keeping all dogs well away from the water at the moment – I guess he knows that the cygnets may hatch any day now
- a single drake Tufted Duck ‘appeared’ and then ‘disappeared’: some time later a pair flew in
- 2 sightings of Sparrowhawk: both, on size, of a female. On the first sighting she was carrying prey
- the Green Woodpecker flew from the NW and carried on SE until lost from view in the Nedge Hill area
- no Willow Warblers seen or heard this morning
- after a blank day yesterday back to 2 Lesser Whitethroats this morning. But song is very intermittent and it is likely a question of being in the right place at the right time and today I was and yesterday I probably wasn’t
- I have logged the Yellow Wagtail as a fly-over but it was so low that it could well have come, unseen, from the SW grass
and
- my first lacewing sp. of the year
Counts of birds flying over the lake (in addition to those on / around lake)
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 4 Stock Dove (2 groups)
- 20 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Jackdaws
- 5 Rooks
- 1 Green Woodpecker
- 1 Starling
- 1 Yellow Wagtail
Hirundine etc. totals
- c.15 Common Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
Warblers seen / heard around the lake: numbers in brackets are singing birds
- 1 (1) Cetti’s Warbler
- 8 (6) Chiffchaffs
- no Willow Warbler
- 20 (10) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
- 2 (2) Lesser Whitethroats
- 2 (2) Common Whitethroats
- 1 (1) Sedge Warblers
- 5 (5) Reed Warblers
The counts from the lake area
- 2 Mute Swans
- 11 (9♂) Mallard
- 3 (2) Tufted Duck
- 1 Little Grebe heard only
- 8 Great Crested Grebes
- 6 Moorhens again
- 27 Coots
A pensive-looking Goldfinch among the Blackthorn blossom.
The lacewing from this morning.
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Priorslee Flash: 09:30 – 10:00
Location
(43rd visit of the year)
Notes
- the all-white feral duck not noted again today
- some Tufted Duck back
- no Cormorant seen by me but had apparently been present earlier
- no Blackcaps recorded here again and no Chiffchaffs either
and
- a terrapins sp.: the warm weather must be here!
Birds noted flying over
- 2 Buzzards
Hirundines seen here today
None
Warblers seen / heard around the water: numbers in brackets are singing birds
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler
The counts from the water
- 2 Mute Swans
- 38 Canada Geese
- 8 (7♂) Mallard
- 9 (6♂)Tufted Ducks
- [1 Cormorant – see notes]
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 15 Coots
The terrapin at ease
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On this day in..........................
2015Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
2012
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)
Nedge Hill
10 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)
2008
Nedge Hill
5 Wheatear
Yellow Wagtail
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
Hobby
1 Common Sandpiper
1 Cuckoo
2 Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson / Martin Adlam)
Nedge Hill
1Ring Ouzel
4 Wheatear
(Arthur Harper)