23 Nov 18

Priorslee Lake: then Trench Lock Pool and Trench Middle Pool

Priorslee Lake: 06:25 – 09:10
Trench Lock Pool: 09:25 – 09:40 // 10:25 – 10:40
Trench Middle Pool: 09:45 – 10:20

3°C > 4°C: A dull, murky November day. Mainly light SE wind. Moderate / poor visibility

Sunrise(!): 07:46 GMT

Priorslee Lake: 06:25 – 09:10

(160th visit of the year)

VERY little flying around

Bird notes:
the Mute Swan cygnet may have flown off yesterday but was back this morning
4th pair of Gadwall reappeared
probably 4 Great Crested Grebes: even harder to keep track of in the poor light. At least 3, one an immature with remnant head stripes
a lone Black-headed Gulls arrived at 07:04: over 6 minutes before any more landed
my lowest-ever number of Wood Pigeons? Just 1 over and only 2 seen in the trees
two sizeable parties of Jackdaws today, separated by c.3 minutes
a Meadow Pipit seen. Seemed to flush off the SW grass area: it certainly did not seem to know where it was going once it was in the air, suggesting it was not a fly-over

Bird totals

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake
1 Wood Pigeon!!
254 Jackdaws
4 Pied Wagtails

Birds leaving roosts around the lake
1 Fieldfare
5 Redwings

The counts from the lake area
all numbers affected by low light levels again
1 + 1 Mute Swan again
8 (4♂) Gadwall
14 (11♂) Mallard
8 (7♂) Pochard again
138 (73♂) Tufted Ducks
3 Little Grebes
4 Great Crested Grebes
10 Moorhens
91 Coots only
c.145 Black-headed Gulls

And other notes
my log today consisted of
- 1 Winter Moth on a lamp pole
- 1 Mottled Umber moth on the same lamp pole
- 1 Scarce Umber moth on a different lamp pole. New for the year
- Daisy (Bellis perennis) still in flower
- new fungus species noted

After yesterday’s well-marked example of a Winter Moth this is perhaps a more typical specimen.

Just to remind ourselves what a Mottled Umber looks like. But then ...

... Here is a Scarce Umber. Not particularly ‘scarce’, indeed it is formally classified as ‘common’, though less abundant than the Mottled Umber. Identify by the golden ground colour: the dual parallel cross-lines at the base of the forewing: and the less ‘hooked’ shape to the outer cross-line. My previous record was on 28 November last year.

Amongst the leaf-litter was this Daisy (Bellis perennis) still in flower. In fact unless the ground is covered in snow then it is possible to find this species in flower almost every day of the year.

This fungus, found on the stump of a tree cut down some years ago, was a new find this morning. On the face of it the fruits have a very distinctive appearance, and should be easy to identify. On the face of it ....should ....

Very frilly.

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Lock Pool: 09:25 – 09:40 // 10:25 – 10:40

(23rd visit of the year)

Bird notes from here
further decline in Mute Swan numbers
Kingfisher brightened up the dull morning
and
1 Winter Moth on the wall of the Blue Pig: my first-ever here

Birds noted flying over / near here
None apart from the local Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws coming and going.

The counts from the water
6 Mute Swans
1 (0♂) Teal
7 (4♂) Mallard
1 (1♂) ‘feral’ Mallard as usual
24 (7♂)Tufted Ducks
8 (2♂) Goosanders
1 Cormorant
1 Grey Heron
3 Little Grebes
6 Great Crested Grebes
3 Moorhens
171 Coots
9 Black-headed Gulls only
1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
1 Kingfisher

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Middle Pool: 09:45 – 10:20

(22nd visit of the year)

Notes from here
very few geese – just 2 Greylags
Teal increased to a drake and three ducks
drake Pochard remains
small bachelor party of Goosanders
a Jay calling was bird #43 on my 2018 site list
a Goldcrest was bird #44 on my 2018 site list

Birds noted flying over / near here
None

The counts from the water
2 + 1 Mute Swans: one of the adults Blue 7LEH
2 Greylag Geese
no Canada Geese
4 (1♂) Teal
22 (16♂) Mallard again
1 (1♂) Pochard still
5 (2♂) Tufted Ducks
3 (3♂) Goosanders
1 Great Crested Grebe still
9 Moorhens
24 Coots again
48 Black-headed Gulls

I think this only looks gruesome. It is the cast-off exoskeleton of a spider. All spiders bust out of their old exoskeleton in order to develop a bigger body. For a while the new exoskeleton is soft to accommodate the growth, but it soon hardens. A process repeated many time in the life of a spider, but rarely noted.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day..........

2017
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2014
Local Area
Today's Sightings Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Gadwall 
2 Pochard 
123 Tufted Duck 
1 Goosander 
2 Water Rails 
15 Moorhens 
227 Coots counted 
1 Snipe
2 Yellow-legged Gulls
600 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
5 Great Black-backed Gulls
2 adult hybrid Lesser Black-backed x Herring Gulls
102 Fieldfare
39 Redwings 
266 Jackdaws
Redpolls
Siskins
(Ed Wilson/Tom Lowe)

Trench Middle Pool
22 Swans
6 Shoveler 
14 Tufted Duck 
183 Coots 
61 Black-headed Gulls
14 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
17 Herring Gulls
Caspian/Yellow-legged Gull
2 Ravens
1 Redwing
(Ed Wilson)

Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site
Adult + 1st winter Yellow-legged Gulls
1500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
(Tom Lowe)

2012
Priorslee Lake
30 Greylag
3 Gadwall
6 Pochard.
21 Tufted Ducks
3 Goosander
153 Coots 
c.640 Wood Pigeons
8 Redwings again.
453 Jackdaws
61 Rooks logged.
2 Siskins 
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
6 Yellow-legged Gulls
(Andy Latham)

2008
Priorslee Lake
2 Cormorants 
>60 Greylag Geese
14 Pochard
177 Tufted Duck
1 Lapwing
1 Snipe
2 Water Rails
159 Coot
c.1300 Black-headed Gulls
c.100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
5+ Herring Gulls
74 Redwings
c.60 Fieldfare
132 Jackdaws
166 Rooks
c.1750 Starlings
c.30 Siskin
(Ed Wilson)