Priorslee Lake: 06:40 – 09:40
The Flash: 09:45 – 10:25
Trench Lock Pool: 10:35 – 10:45 // 11:25 – 11:40
Trench Middle Pool: 10:50 – 11:20
6°C > 8°C: Cloudy again. Light WNW wind. Good visibility
Sunrise: 08:21 GMT yet again
What I thought would be the last quiet day before the chaos of everybody back at work and the start of the school run turned out to be anything but
- a yacht was on the lake by 09:00 – I thought they were curfew-ed until later? May have chased some of the Tufted Ducks off
- one of the too many fishermen at The Flash was flying a drone over the water. Later he seemed to be using a green laser
- the disease-inspired fishing ban at Trench Lock Pool seems to have been lifted so there were fishermen present. Later the Sea Cadets and their canoes appeared
- families competing for feeding the ducks and geese at Trench Middle Pool meant the resident birds were dashing too and fro and hard to count
Priorslee Lake: 06:40 – 09:40
(6th visit of the year)
New bird species for my 2019 log from here
None
Other bird notes
- a / the Mute Swan alone overnight and at the start. Another had arrived by 08:45 and these then stayed close together. Unable to see whether either was ringed
- 10 Canada Geese flew outbound at 07:47: more birds heard twice later, hidden behind trees though
- small influx of Tufted Duck. Some may have been flushed by the yachts after I left
- two Goosanders on the water at 08:30: a drake by the dam; the brownhead in the NW area. Did not see either arrive or leave
- Little Grebes probably went in to hiding when the yacht appeared and before I did the count
Bird totals
Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake
- >10 Canada Goose [outbound] (see notes)
- 18 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull
- 4 Stock Doves
- 15 Wood Pigeons
- c.150 Jackdaws
- 1 Goldfinch
Birds recorded leaving roosts around the lake
- [Magpies not counted]
- 4 Redwings
- 8 Reed Buntings
The counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans (see notes)
- 6 (3♂) Gadwall
- 8 (5♂) Mallard
- 10 (7♂) Pochard
- 39 (19♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 (1♂) Goosanders briefly
- 2 Cormorants
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Water Rail
- 9 Moorhens again
- 72 Coots
- c.100 Black-headed Gulls
My log of other things, on lamp poles
- 1 Common Flat-body moth (Agonopterix heracliana). A new species for me here
- 3 Mottled Umber moths
- 1 Winter Moth
- 1 Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
- 1 Trichocera regelationis ('winter gnat')
- 1 unidentified fly
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 09:45 – 10:25
(6th visit of the year)
New bird species for my 2019 log from here
None
Notes from here
- many of the Tufted Duck could have been refugees from the lake, flushed by the yacht(s). However I only saw 4 ducks fly in
- the Black-headed Gulls seemed remarkably sanguine about the drone being flown overhead
and
- 2 Mottled Umber moths on lamp poles
- 1 Winter Moth on a lamp pole
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash
- 2 Wood Pigeons
The counts from the water
- 2 + 1 Mute Swans again
- 4 Canada Geese still
- 29 (17♂) Mallard
- 59 (21♂) Tufted Ducks
- 29 (3♂) Goosanders
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 1 Moorhen again
- 20 Coots
- 71 Black-headed Gulls
A Winter Moth here.
(Ed Wilson)
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Trench Lock Pool: 10:35 – 10:45 // 11:25 – 11:40
(2nd visit of the year)
Bird species added to my 2019 log from here
26 Pochard
27 Coal Tit
28 Chaffinch
Notes from here
Birds noted flying over / near here (other than local Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws)
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
The counts from the water
- 2 Mute Swans
- 32 Canada Geese
- 5 (4♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) ‘feral’ Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Pochard
- 14 (6♂) Tufted Ducks
- 9 (4♂) Goosanders
- 3 Little Grebes
- 1 Great Crested Grebe still
- 2 Moorhens again
- 83 Coots
- 22 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
(Ed Wilson)
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Trench Middle Pool: 10:50 – 11:20
(2nd visit of the year)
New bird species for my 2019 log from here
None
Other notes from here
- rather boring day with no Pochard, no Cormorant, no Grey Heron, and no Great Crested Grebe: even the feral Mallard had left or were hiding
Birds noted flying over / near here
None
The counts from the water
- 4 Greylag Geese again
- 35 Canada Geese
- 27 (20♂) Mallard again
- 11 (6♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 (0♂) Goosanders
- 9 Moorhens
- 33 Coots
- 92 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
(Ed Wilson)
Note:
1. Click Here for a Summary of the 2018 Priorslee Lake Report.
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On this day..........
2017Local area
Today's Sightings Here
2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
2014
Priorslee Lake
2 Scaup
5 Great Black-backed Gulls - 4 adult and a 1st winter
(John Isherwood)
2013
Priorslee Lake
1st winter Caspian Gull
6 Great Black-backed Gulls
(John Isherwood)
2012
Priorslee Lake
2 adult Caspian Gulls
10+ Yellow-legged gulls (most adults and 3rd-winters, at least 1 1st-winter)
10 Great Black-backed Gulls
(J W Reeves)
2011
Priorslee Lake
Adult Mediterranean Gull
Pair of Brambling
(Ed Wilson)
2010
Priorslee Lake
Evening Report
An adult winter Ring-billed Gull at about 3:15pm
3 adult Common Gulls
(Ed Wilson)
Daytime Report
4 Common Gull
2 adult Yellow-legged Gull
1 adult Great Black-backed Gull
Black-necked Grebe
1 Snipe
(Jason, Pete Jordan and Ian & Jim)