14 Jan 19

Priorslee Lake, The Flash, Trench Lock Pool and Trench Middle Pool

Priorslee Lake:  06:45 – 09:30
The Flash:  09:35 – 10:20
Trench Lock Pool:  10:30 – 10:45 // 11:30 – 11:55
Trench Middle Pool:  10:50 – 11:25

6°C > 8°C:  Mostly cloudy and a few light sprinkles: some clearer periods. Moderate WNW wind. Very good visibility

Sunrise: 08:16 GMT

Priorslee Lake:  06:45 – 09:30

(14th visit of the year)

Bird notes
- yet again the Mute Swans went for a fly around. I cannot recall such restless residents in the past
- the small goose party outbound was 11 birds today: the smaller Greylag Goose always seems to be #2 in the group
- I think an additional pair of Gadwall today – they are no longer staying together and do some repositioning making it difficult to be 100% certain. I wondered whether the additional pair, if indeed there was an extra pair, might have been the birds seen at The Flash yesterday. But no: they were still there
- yesterday’s drake Shoveler gone
- party of 6 Cormorants approached with one peeling off to land
- rather few (c.65) Black-headed Gulls arrived at 07:40: apparently no new arrivals later
- two concurrent large parties of Jackdaws, one passing directly overhead, made an accurate count impossible (and an estimated count difficult)

Bird totals

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake
- 1 Greylag Goose [outbound]
- 10 Canada Geese [outbound]
- 5 Cormorants
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 8 Wood Pigeons
- >675 Jackdaws

Birds recorded leaving roosts around the lake
None

The counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 8 (4♂) Gadwall
- 10 (7♂) Mallard
- 9 (5♂) Pochard
- 36 (21♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron
- 3 Little Grebes
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 9 Moorhens
- 72 Coots
- c.65 Black-headed Gulls

My log of other things, on lamp poles
- 1 new Mottled Umber moth

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash:  09:35 – 10:20

(13th visit of the year)

Notes from here
- pair of Gadwall still here
- lower number of Mallard. Just as I arrived something spooked all the ducks and seems some of the Mallard did not settle back
- the Great Crested Grebe was ‘in’ today and was displaying with another bird
- the Ring-necked Parakeet was heard this morning but not seen to enable me to check whether it is still entangled in fishing line. It can be amazingly hard to find a large bright green, noisy bird when it sits still in trees on the island
and
-1  Grey Squirrel again
- yesterday’s cluster of the possible fungus Glistening Inkcap (Coprinellus micaceus) looking a bit sad

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Sparrowhawks again

The counts from the water
- 2 + 1 Mute Swans
- 2 Canada Geese
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 27 (19♂) Mallard
- 39 (19♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Moorhens
- 19 Coots
- 25 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull

The progress on the possible fungus Glistening Inkcap (Coprinellus micaceus). Definitely looking a bit sad after just one day.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trench Lock Pool:  10:30 – 10:45 // 11:30 – 11:55

(4th visit of the year)

Bird species added to my 2019 log from here
32      Grey Wagtail
33      Goldfinch

Notes from here
- the resident Mute Swans chased one of the visiting swans away twice – it came back the first time. They left the other alone
- big number of Canada Geese

Birds noted flying over / near here (other than local Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws)
- 22 Starlings

The counts from the water
- 4 Mute Swans
- 173 Canada Goose
- 6 (4♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Feral Mallard
- 7 (3♂) Shoveler
- 1 (1♂) Pochard still
- 13 (6♂) Tufted Ducks
- 3 (1♂) Goosander
- 1 Grey Heron
- 3 Little Grebes
- 1 Great Crested Grebe still
- 4 Moorhens
- 75 Coots
- 37 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull

The back bird in this trio gave me cause to pause over its ID and I am still unsure. The chinstrap is much narrower than usual and also slightly greyer. When I first saw it moving away from me I thought it would be one of the Greylag x Canada Goose hybrids. I don’t think so as there are no features that suggest Greylag (or any other species come to that). An immature might show a greyer chinstrap though unlikely at this date. Not sure why the marking should be narrower though.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trench Middle Pool:  10:50 – 11:25

(4th visit of the year)

Bird species added to my 2019 log from here
27      Feral Pigeon
28      Dunnock

Notes from here
- lots of Greylag Geese here: a few more Canadas too
- the small party of Teal still here
- the Great Crested Grebe was ‘in’ today
and
- the fungi first noted on 10 December have almost disappeared

Birds noted flying over / near here
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Feral Pigeon

The counts from the water
- 56 Greylag Geese
- 42 Canada Geese
- 4 (1♂) Teal again
- 19 (14♂) Mallard again
- 9 (4♂) Tufted Ducks again
- 3 (1♂) Goosanders
- 1 Cormorant again
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 13 Moorhens
- 29 Coots
- 97 Black-headed Gulls

Never very much light in to here unless it is sunny – and it wasn’t. So not a great shot of the Great Crested Grebe having a late breakfast on a Perch.

Well it has gone down so far – still wriggling in the neck apparently!

The Teal still here and slightly more cooperative though they stayed in the darkest recess of the pool. Here is one of the three duck ...

 ... and here is the drake.

I found this group of fungi in early December. Whether or not they were edible then they certainly don’t look very appetising now.

(Ed Wilson)

Note:

1. Click Here for a Summary of the 2018 Priorslee Lake Report.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

2017
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2014
Priorslee Lake
3 Scaup
2 Great Black-backed Gulls 
Willow Tit
(John Isherwood)

2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Wigeon
4 Gadwall
15 Pochard
76 Tufted Ducks
1 Greater Scaup
1 Goldeneye
>114 Coots
72 Black-headed Gulls
176 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
53 Herring Gulls
Yellow-legged Gull
1 Great Black-backed Gull
(Ed Wilson/Tom Lowe)

Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site
Caspian Gull.
5+ Yellow-legged Gulls
(Tom Lowe)

2012
Priorslee Lake
 Lapwing
5 Great Crested Grebes
26 Pochard
23 Tufted Duck
12 Redwing
Redpoll
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Pool
141 Canada Geese
3 Pochard again
57 Tufted Duck
102 Coot logged
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Yellow-legged Gull
(Mike Cooper)

2007
Priorslee Lake
3 Great Crested Grebes
16 Cormorants
24 Pochard
39 Tufted Ducks
3 Goosanders
1 Water Rail
200 Lapwings
>640 Black-headed Gulls
66 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
7 Herring Gulls
25 Robins
18 Blackbirds
14 Fieldfares
7 Song Thrushes
19 Redwings
7 Mistle Thrushes
42 Magpies
5 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
600 Wood Pigeons
13 Great Crested Grebes
12 Pochard
26 Tufted Duck
216 Coots
1 Water Rail.
219 Jackdaws
210 Rooks
62 Siskins
3 Reed Bunting
1 Brambling
(Ed Wilson)