9 Jan 20

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake:  07:05 – 09:30
The Flash:  09:35 – 10:30

9.0°C:  Clear overhead to start with more cloud to E. Generally more cloud later. Very gusty SW winds early. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 08:19 GMT

Priorslee Lake:  07:05 – 09:30

(9th visit of the year)

After heavy overnight rain the lake was badly discoloured by mud coming in from the drains under the fields to the N and NW. The Wesley Brook itself was running clear. This discolouration was perhaps responsible for the lower number of Tufted Ducks and also for a group of seven Cormorants departing within a minute of arriving.

Two small wooden posts have appeared, driven in beside the path along the N side. Reason?

Other bird notes:
- A group of 54 Wood Pigeons came off the fields to the E of Castle Farm Way. Some of them stopped off briefly in the trees along the N side of the lake. Most dispersed.
- Possibly my largest-ever single group of Jackdaws – I estimated 1150 by trying to count how many groups of c.50 there were as they streamed past. Previous experience suggests that this is quite likely to prove a significant underestimate. Several smaller groups, mixed with Rooks, both before and after this group.
- A Reed Bunting was singing again at the W end.

Bird totals:

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 32 Canada Geese
- 10 (7♂) Goosanders
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 139 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 13 Wood Pigeons
- >1500 Jackdaws
- >85 Rooks
- 2 Pied Wagtails

Birds logged leaving roosts around the lake:
- 4 Redwings
- 7 Reed Buntings

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 7 Canada Geese
- 7 (4♂) Gadwall
- 7 (4♂) Mallard
- 4 (4♂) Pochard again
- 17 (12♂) Tufted Duck only
- 9 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron again
- [no Little Grebes]
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 12 Moorhens
- 88 Coots

Gulls:
The first Black-headed Gulls arrived somewhat earlier on this brighter morning by 07:20. They started to leave again by 07:35 when it was still too dark to provide a reliable count. c.750 I would judge
Only nine large gulls arrived before 08:00.

Early arrival counts:
- c.750 Black-headed Gulls
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls

Later most gulls passed overhead with only a few stopping off. Many Black-headed Gulls were swirling around overhead and to the N: these assumed to be birds from the lake being blown about in the wind while orientating before departing.
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull

On lamp poles pre dawn: [* = new species for the year]
- 1 *7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata): a surprisingly early date.
- 1 Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)

Other sightings:
- in flower
        - Daisy (Bellis perennis)
        - Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)
- fungus
        - Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor)

New bird species for my 2020 bird list at this site.
None

Dreadful ‘grab’ photo but bear with me! On the left a Cormorant has a rather large fish sideways in its bill. A ‘friend’ is hoping it will drop it and provide a free meal.

 It was out of luck – we see the fish inside the distended throat of the winner.

Another seven Cormorants inbound. As already noted these did not stay, perhaps due to the very muddy water.

Song Thrushes are becoming very vocal with as many as seven in song around the lake. Most cease singing soon after dawn, presumably to commence feeding. This one was motivated to carry on and so was the subject of some pixels.

An unexpected sighting 10 feet up a lamp pole in January – a 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata). At this time of year ladybirds are usually only found in houses looking for somewhere sheltered to hibernate.

A plant managing to struggle on during this mild winter is Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris). Not much around to pollinate it though. The only other plant I have noticed in flower so far this year is Daisy (Bellis perennis). Unless the ground were covered in snow I would expect to see the flowers of that species every day.

These fungus have been around for some weeks but I have previously forgotten to photograph them. A very common bracket fungus of dead wood – Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor)

The Red River – or Wesley Brook as it used to be known.

Here is the culprit – mud pouring in through the drain after the overnight heavy rain.

This is the Wesley Brook discharge – the water in the brook is on the left and the mud on the right is backwash. For confirmation ...

 ... here is the Wesley Brook alongside Teece Drive. Clear water.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  09:35 – 10:30

(8th visit of the year)

Bird notes from here:
- The missing Tufted Duck from the lake were not here.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 2 Common Buzzards
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Counts from the water:
- 3 Mute Swans
- 9 Canada Geese
- 33 (19♂) Mallard
- 8 (8♂) Pochard
- 46 (28♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 (1♂) Goosander still
- 1 Cormorant
- 2 Great Crested Grebes again
- 2 Moorhens
- 13 Coots
- 41 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: adult
- 1 probable Herring Gull: first-winter

Other sightings:
- 1 Grey Squirrel
Also: omitted from yesterday’s log: on a lamp pole
- 1 Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)

New bird species for my 2020 bird list at this site.
None

Must be a challenge to scratch the top of your head with a webbed foot. This Cormorant shows how. I think the white specs in the crown are water droplets rather than emerging white shafts of the breeding head plumes – these are the few flecks on the side of the neck.

After scratching it stretches its wings. The white on the underwing is sun glistening on wet feathers. A few specks and a pale area on the thigh suggest that the white patch that is acquired in the breeding season is about to appear.

If only the Great Crested Grebes were always this friendly with each other I would have a lot less trouble trying to decide how many are present.

Yet another first-winter gull I am unsure about. I first noticed it in flight when the extent of the pale area around the inner primaries seemed too restricted for a Herring Gull. The possibility of a Yellow-legged or Caspian Gull? Sadly I did not see it in flight again and this photo of the perched bird is not especially conclusive. The bill looks too thick for Caspian Gull. The tertials do not look ‘notched’ as they would on a regular Herring Gull. Without any real ‘clinching features’ and especially as the bill is not all black I have logged it as a ‘probable Herring Gull’.

Look sunshine and blue sky. Did not last. Before it disappeared I managed to photo this Nuthatch.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2017
Local area
Today's Sightings Here

2014
Priorslee Lake
2 female Scaup
10 Pochard
79 Tufted Duck
1 Great Crested Grebe
39 Herring Gulls 
85 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
4 Great Black-backed Gulls
296 Black-headed Gulls
(Gary Crowder)

2013
Priorslee Flash
A drake Scaup
(Observer Unknown)

2012
Priorslee Lake
14 Pochard
12 Tufted Duck
5 Yellow-legged Gulls
36 Great Black-backed Gulls
A dark-mantled Scandinavian Herring Gulls
Common Gull
c.550 Black-headed Gulls
39 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
88 Herring Gulls
32 Redwings
(Ed Wilson, Tom Lowe, John Isherwood)

Priorslee Flash
3 Great Crested Grebes
7 Pochard
78 Tufted Duck
233 Black-headed Gulls,
1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
1 Herring Gull
1 Great Black-backed Gull
1 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)

Holmer Lake
71 Goosander,
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Bittern
15 Wigeon
1 Common Gull
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
46 Magpies
39 Swans
4 Gadwall
28 Pochard
89 Tufted Ducks
3 Goosander
3 Water Rail
1 Snipe
303 Coots
>1000 Black-headed Gulls
c.50 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
2 Yellow legged Gull
c.15 Herring Gulls
3 Redwings
2 Willow Tits
126 Jackdaws
10+ Siskins
(Ed Wilson, Jim Almond, John Isherwood)

2009
Priorslee Lake
2 Great Black-backed Gull
1 Common Gull 
2 Raven 
(John Isherwood)

2007
Priorslee Lake
16 Pochard
47 Tufted Ducks
>670 Black-headed Gulls
>515 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
43 Herring Gulls
1 Caspian Gull
3 Yellow-legged Gulls
7 Great Black-backed Gulls
22 Robins
3 Fieldfares
50 Redwings
351 Jackdaws
264 Rooks
(Ed Wilson, Paul King)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Gadwall
8 Pochard
63 Tufted Duck
1200 Black-headed Gulls
21 Robins
19 Blackbirds
28 Greenfinches
28 Siskins
1 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)