Priorslee Lake and The Flash:
11.0°C > 15.0°C: Variable cloud with left-overs from late night showers fading before more building. Moderate / fresh and gusty WSW wind. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 04:49 BST
Priorslee Lake: 04:06 – 06:10 // 07:05 – 09:00
(123rd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- Many of the Mallard were always 'at the other end' and in moult making sexing them impossible without a telescope.
- A relatively unusual sight of three Grey Herons happily sitting alongside each other – no social distancing for them.
- The party of five Cormorants looked to be circling in but saw me taking their photo and carried on.
- A Common Sandpiper again. Could not get close-enough to age the bird.
- Explain to me why a few days ago Rooks predominated in the post-roost dispersal; yesterday the number of Jackdaws was almost the same; and this morning there were many more Jackdaws.
Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 7 Cormorants (2 singles; 1 group)
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 26 Wood Pigeons
- 516 Jackdaws
- 260 Rooks
- 4 Starlings
- 4 Greenfinches
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 5 Swifts
- 1 House Martin only
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 12 (11) Chiffchaffs
- 11 (9) Blackcaps
- 2 (2) Garden Warblers
- 5 (3) Common Whitethroats
- 9 (8) Reed Warblers
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 15 (?♂) Mallard
- 3 Grey Herons
- 9 Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Moorhens again
- 36 + 12 (7 broods) Coots
- 1 Common Sandpiper
- 2 Black-headed Gulls: both adults: did not stay
NB: * means there is a photo today.
On / around the street lights etc. pre-sunrise: - raining hard
- *1 Little Grey moth (Eudonia lacustrata)
On the wall of the academy beside the security light
Nothing
Insects / other things etc. noted later:
Butterflies:
- Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
Moths:
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
Bees / wasps:
- Common Wasp (Vespula (Paravespula) vulgaris)
Damsel-/Dragon-flies:
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *Syrphus sp. - S. ribesii or S. vitripennis
Bats
None
Other things:
- *Mirid bug Leptopterna dolobrata
- *Mirid bug possibly Deraeocoris ruber
- Mirid bug Closterotomus norwegicus
- Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis): only larvae and pupae noted
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)
- Black Snipe fly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.)
- Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
- *Strawberry Snail (Trochulus striolatus)
Additional plant species recorded in flower for the year at this site:
- *Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
- *possible Hairy Tare (Vicia hirsuta)
- *possible Oil-seed Rape (Brassica napus subsp. oleifera)
Not a very inspiring sunrise with remnant shower clouds fading away.
Just a quick burst of colour to warn of the showers later in the day
Two of a group of five Cormorants that circled as if to come and fish but decided against it. Both these are immatures with some white on their bellies. Not enough white to be juveniles of this year. The pale in the underwing of the leading bird is a puzzle.
One of the trio of Grey Herons present this morning. The bright brown-orange bill of a breeding bird has been lost. The extended plumes on the wings are still present.
One of the others flying off with the low sun shining through the wing.
And the third also flying off. Note the wing-tip is just dipped in the water – they often seem to do this: just the very tip.
A Common Whitethroat nicely lit by the low sun and standing out well against the dark background. With a brown eye this is an adult. Does not look grey enough on the head for a male, though they are losing their breeding finery by now.
Frustrating. This is a female skipper – it lacks the dark scent gland in the forewing. It is just not possible to be 100% certain that it is an Essex Skipper and it is most likely 'just' a Small Skipper. An Essex Skipper - now widespread despite its name - shows all dark 'dipped in ink' tips to the antennae. To be absolutely certain the underside of the antennae tips needs to be examined. July is their usual emergence date and we are not quite there yet, though many insect species are flying earlier due to both global warming and the warm and sunny March.
A 'grey' moth. This is a Little Grey (Eudonia lacustrata).
This is one of the 'Syrphus pair' - S. ribesii and S. vitripennis – where only females can be separated on the basis of the colour of the top part of the hind leg. The hind leg cannot be seen here but it is a male anyway. Not too dissimilar to the Eupeodes corollae or Migrant Hoverfly I photographed yesterday, the most obvious difference being the yellow scutellum between the thorax and the abdomen. The bright red eyes are just the way the light is falling on this specimen.
Another chance to see... a Mirid bug Deraeocoris ruber (possibly). This is a rather variable species. Further confusion arises from the recent coloniser D. flavilinea. The separation of these species is not clarified on the web.
Very smart. This, surprisingly, is another example of the Mirid bug Leptopterna dolobrata. The sexes differ markedly and this is a female.
This seems to be a Strawberry Snail (Trochulus striolatus). The scientific name refers to the striations across the shell that are not so pronounced in other snail species. Why 'Strawberry'? No idea – no information on the web and the shell colour is very variable. (The background is one of the fishermen's black car. The snail walked there of its own volition - honest, Dave!)
I have been defeated by this before... The out-of-focus leaves in the background indicate this is a species of vetch and the only white (also pale lilac) vetch in my Flora is Hairy Tare (Vicia hirsuta). Does not look 'hairy' but then again....?
Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) are not that common around the lake. Here is the first I have seen here this year.
This is likely a farmland escape. It resembles Oil-seed Rape (Brassica napus subsp. oleifera) in that the buds slightly overtop the flowers. But it seems not quite right in that leaves are not grey-green and are rather more rounded. Could this be a natural cross with a native brassica? I found this in Teece Drive which is some way from any fields.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 06:15 – 06:55
(109th visit of the year)
Notes:
- The 2018 immature Mute Swan was around OK
- Some of the geese came (silently!) off the island boosting otherwise low numbers. A few more noted still inside.
- Two groups of five small Mallard ducklings. Those in one of broods almost looked small-enough to be yet another new brood. Almost all those logged as adults were asleep on the island and could not be sexed, such is the state of moult of the drakes. Indeed several of them could have been from the party of almost full-grown juveniles.
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 3 Jackdaws
Hirundines etc. logged:
- no Swifts
- 6 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 4 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (2) Blackcaps
Counts from the water:
- 3+ 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 30 Greylag Geese
- 58 + 2 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 10 (?♂) + 10 (2 broods) Mallard (see notes)
- 6 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Moorhens
- 13 + >9 (6? broods) Coots
Otherwise noted:
- 1 Light Emerald moth (Campaea margaritaria) - on a Neighbourhood Watch sign!
- 1 Leiobunum rotundum harvestman on its usual lamp pole
- 1 spike of Common Spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii): cannot recall seeing any orchid here previously
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
Of note
- 1 Inlaid Grass-veneer moth (Crambus pascuella) on a lamp pole
- 1 Little Grey moth (Eudonia lacustrata) on another lamp pole
Another one of those pesky 'grey' moths This is also a Little Grey (Eudonia lacustrata)
(Ed Wilson)
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Note
These photos were all taken recently at Priorslee Lake by Phil Nock. Thanks to him and his daughter for their interest.
A lurking reflective Grey Heron.
A rather soggy-looking Great Crested Grebe.
A female Kestrel on the hover. Would not like to see those talons descending on me.
A Chiffchaff leaves its perch.
And now at rest again – well as at rest as Chiffchaffs ever are.
A male Common Whitethroat singing away.
Difficult at this time of year as they glean the insects from leaves within the foliage – a Long-tailed Tit partly breaks cover.
A Mistle Thrush has found something to eat. I assume not a Cherry stone. Bullfinches could probably tackle these.
A smart Goldfinch.
A male Reed Bunting.
Another view of the male Reed Bunting.
(Phil Nock)