14 Sep 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

14.0°C > 19.0°C: A clear start with mist over the lake, this turning in to extensive low cloud. Initially calm with a light south-westerly breeze developing. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:41 BST

* = a species photographed today
! = a first sighting of the species this year
$ = a new species for me in this area

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:15 – 09:00

(208th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- no geese again.
- still the single Mute Swan. It went for a short flight around the water.
- *a pair of Gadwall new in.
- four Tufted Duck also arrivals since my visit yesterday.
- hard to know how many Black-headed Gulls visited. Once they settled on the water many were "lost in the mist". There seemed to be groups flying out and back to the football field where I counted (sad but true) 173 at 06:45.
- the mist also played havoc with my count of Lesser Black-backed Gulls first thing. I think no more than c.30. A single immature visited later. A small number flew over. Once again I failed to note any Herring Gulls among them.
- no hirundines seen.
- 18 Chiffchaffs with six heard singing.
- as yesterday three Blackcaps with one singing quietly. Today they were in three separate location where as yesterday they were all together.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 31 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 13 Wood Pigeons only
- 224 Jackdaws
- 144 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 1 *Mute Swan
- 2 (1) *Gadwall
- 24 (>8♂) *Mallard
- 4 (2♂?) *Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- 43 *Coot
- 18 *Great Crested Grebes
- >175 Black-headed Gulls
- c.30 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 2 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

Warblers noted:
- 18 Chiffchaffs: of these six in song
- 3 Blackcaps: of these one in song

Also noted:
Almost nothing in the cloudy conditions:

Butterflies:
none

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
none

Other true flies:
- 1 *fly Dryomyza anilis
no other flies noted.

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
none

Slugs, snails etc.
- 1 *probable Large Red Slug Arion rufus

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 2 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

True flies:
none

Springtails:
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp.
- 1 *unidentified spider
- 2 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis
- 1 male harvestman Leiobunum blackwalli / rotundum [ran away before I could check the eye detail]

Mammals:
- 1 Noctule-type bat

The sunrise looked promising with mist over the water. The colour did not last long and those black clouds soon formed in to a low overcast.

NEVER look with you naked eye. The sun trying to break through the low cloud and showing three sun-spots.

Our now lone Mute Swan. Is it a cob or a pen? The books say you can tell by the size of the swelling at the base of the bill. That is easy when there is a pair. Tricky for a lone bird and outside the breeding season the swelling is smaller anyway. I could not see whether it is ringed: the pen that was here had a blue Darvic ring on her left leg.

While still gloomy and misty the drake Gadwall. Identify by the black rear-end and the white in the wing.

Better light but now further away! The pair here with the duck on the left with the orange side to her bill and the drake on the right.

This very pale drake Mallard has been around the area for a number of year. His all-pale bill is just about visible. In front of him is a preening immature / duck Tufted Duck.

 Here book-ending a Coot are two drake Tufted Duck.

One of the family of four juvenile Great Crested Grebe. Now growing fast but yet to lose the strange-looking pale bare skin between the bill and the eye.

It, or another from the brood, beside one of the parents as it flaps its wings showing that it is in wing-moult.

This fly Dryomyza anilis is very distinctive.

As soon as it rans out come the slugs. They are a nightmare to identify as Black Slug Arion ater can be reddish and Large Red Slug Arion rufus can be very pale which is what I think this probably is.

A Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp. covered in dew. The abdomen shape identifies it to the genus.

A male spider that neither of my apps gave a suggestion that seems applicable. Obsidentify suggested "money spider"! Google Lens one of the six-eyed spider species - but none of those show the elongated abdomen of this spider. It is reminiscent of a Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. but I have never seen one so brown-toned previously.

(Ed Wilson)

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

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- 1 *White-shouldered House Moth Endrosis sarcitrella

True flies:
- 12 midges
- 1 *unidentified cranefly
- 1 *unidentified fly!
- no moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
- 1 Common Shiny Woodlouse Oniscus asellus
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp.
- 1 *crab spider Xysticus cristatus
- 12 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

A White-shouldered House Moth Endrosis sarcitrella. As is usual with both this species and the Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella as soon as I shone my torch nearby it fluttered away at speed. Moth species #44 for me found in the tunnel this year.

Not at all sure about this. The antennae look long for most fly species; the middle legs have at least one spur and the hind legs look distinctly hairy. None of my apps suggested anything that matched these features.

An unidentified cranefly which is, unusually, holding its antennae out at right-angles.

This is probably the crab spider Xysticus cristatus. There are similar spiders of course.

(Ed Wilson)

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

The Flash: 09:05 – 10:10

(205th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- six Mute Swans remain and unusually all together most of the time.
- yesterday's Tufted Duck gone again.
- 23 brownhead Goosander I think: tucked up against and on the island.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- 29 (17?♂) Mallard
- 23 (0♂) *Goosander
- 7 Moorhens again
- 19 *Coot
- 3 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe
- 13 *Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons

Warblers noted:
- 3 Chiffchaff: no song

Noted around the area:

Butterflies:
none

Moths:
- 1 ! *Small Blood-vein Scopula imitaria

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 6 Honey Bees Apis mellifera
- 1 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

True flies:
none

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Fungus:
- *two species of fungus, neither identified.

Two of the Goosanders present. Some field guides suggest that individuals that show white between the bill and the eye as well as on the throat are immatures (born this year).

I saw only six Goosanders on the open water. Later these had joined others on and around the island. Here there are 23 visible if you enlarge the photo and look carefully. There are also three Canada Geese, one Coot, four Black-headed Gulls and a clutch of three large eggs!

An unexpected find sitting in full sun on an Ivy leaf: it is a Small Blood-vein moth Scopula imitaria. Moth species #49 in the area of The Flash for me this year.

Another species of fungus that I see every year in the wooded area beside the water at the top end. Every year my apps give me a different suggestion. I will pass.

This is what I thought yesterday might be a Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris. It has grown since yesterday and the stem and underside are easier to access. The stem does not look to have a collar and the cap is now concave whereas it should be convex. So I will pass this one too.

Well now... what is this? I've looked at earthworms (unlikely on a leaf several feet off the ground and alongside a footpath) and leeches and drawn a blank. After long deliberation Google Lens' AI came up with a "discarded child's sweet" as the best option. I cannot provide a better suggestion.

(Ed Wilson)

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

Priorslee Lake
Water Rail
Hobby
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
Snipe
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Sandwich Tern
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Green Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

13 Sep 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

16.0°C > 19.0°C: Very low cloud with light drizzle. Beginning to lift and break after 10:00 with a few sunny spells. Almost calm. Eventually very good visibility.

[Sunrise: 06:39 BST]

* = a species photographed today
! = a first sighting of the species this year
$ = a new species for me in this area

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 07:55 – 09:20

(207th visit of the year)

A late start to avoid the worst of the drizzle

Bird notes:
- the single Mute Swan still.
- I have no idea where many of the Mallard had gone.
- the first Barn Swallows appeared overhead c.08:05 with up to ten seen high up and then a few, probably of the same, low over the water for a while. All seemed to have gone by 09:00.
- 12 Chiffchaffs with five singing in the drizzle.
- a trio of Blackcaps one of which was singing.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants
- 4 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Jackdaw
- 4 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 1 Mute Swan
- 9 (?♂) Mallard only
- no Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 44 Coot
- 18 Great Crested Grebes
- 9 Black-headed Gulls
- no Herring Gulls
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
- c.10 Barn Swallows

Warblers noted:
- 12 Chiffchaffs: of these five in song
- 3 Blackcaps: of these one in song

Nothing else noted:
Even the wasps would not venture out in the drizzle

(Ed Wilson)

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

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Visited c.10:15 "just in case"

Moths:
none

True flies:
- 8 midges
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp.
- 2 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

Probably the same Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp. that I photographed here yesterday but in better light.

(Ed Wilson)

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

The Flash: 09:25 – 10:35

(204th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- six Mute Swans again.
- two Tufted Duck new in. Apparently not the two seen at the Balancing Lake yesterday and not today. Those were both immatures / ducks and one of these looked to be a moulting drake.
- now 26 brownhead Goosander.
- only one of the two full adult Great Crested Grebes was seen.

Note
Thanks again to Martin Grant I can give an update on the ringed Mute Swan:
- Blue 4IAN was ringed as a second year on 09/02/2026 on the Sankey Valley Canal at Waterways, Warrington.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 4 Jackdaws

Noted on / around the water:
- 14 Canada Geese: of these nine arrived
- no Greylag Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- 29 (20♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂?) Tufted Duck
- 26 (0♂) Goosander
- 7 Moorhens
- 20 Coot only
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe
- 7 Black-headed Gulls only
- 3 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons again

Warblers noted:
- 1 Chiffchaff: no song again

Noted around the area:

The weather was brightening up.

Butterflies:
none

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 6 Honey Bees Apis mellifera
- 5 Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris

True flies:
- Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
a few other unidentified flies

Bugs:
- 1 *Dock Bug Coreus marginatus

Beetles:
- 1 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata

Spiders:
- 1 *Garden Spider Araneus diadematus [Garden Cross Spider]

Fungus:
- *presumed Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris
- *unidentified species #1, probably from the Parasola genus
- *unidentified species #2

No identification problems with Dock Bug Coreus marginatus.

A Garden Spider Araneus diadematus also known as the Garden Cross Spider though the cross marking on this specimen is none too obvious. Top side...

...and from underneath.

I was not able to see the stem or underside of this fungus without destroying it. It looks to me like a Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris.

These delicate toadstools are from the Parasola genus which is all one can say from a photo.

These fungi look to have been trampled and I cannot get any identity for what they might have been

(Ed Wilson)

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

2007
Priorslee Lake
Shoveler
Redwing
(Ed Wilson)

12 Sep 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 18.0°C: Broken cloud with some sunny intervals. Clouding as I was leaving. South-westerly breeze increasing moderate. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:38 BST

* = a species photographed today
! = a first sighting of the species this year
$ = a new species for me in this area

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:10 – 09:25

(206th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- no geese recorded at all here.
- the single Mute Swan remains.
- Great Crested Grebes are becoming increasingly difficult to count. Most families have juveniles with each of the parents and are no longer staying near the nesting area but mixed up as they range widely across the water.
- c.50 Black-headed Gulls flew in from the West c.05:50. Eventually >200 were present. My count of birds on the football field c.06:40 was 102.
- my best estimate of the number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls first thing is 450. I was merrily counting a continuous small arrival from the West after 05:50 when at 06:05 a mass arrival on a broad front of at least 250 birds overwhelmed me. Thereafter small numbers followed. The Grey Heron flying across the lake always put them all up from the water with many leaving. I have no real idea whether c.75 that arrived together at 06:25 were new arrivals or returning birds. I am sure there ought to have been some Herring Gulls somewhere. Immatures are hard to spot but I noted no adults among them. Very few large gulls visited later.
- no Swifts seen.
- the first hirundine was a single Barn Swallow at 07:35. Thereafter up to 15 Barn Swallows low over the water and up to five House Martins high up. The swallows seemed to be going to and from the East as if they might be birds from the local farms rather than on migration.
- an even higher count of Chiffchaffs with at least 20 noted. Song only started when the sun came out with just four heard.
- a single calling Blackcap again.
- a loose party of 31 Starlings flew East across the football field c.06:50.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Herring Gull
- 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- c.30 Racing Pigeons
- 13 Wood Pigeons only
- 192 Jackdaws
- 166 Rooks
- 31 Starlings

Counts from the lake area:
- 1 Mute Swan
- 31 (?♂) Mallard
- 2 (0♂?) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens again
- 43 Coot
- 20 Great Crested Grebes
- >200 Black-headed Gulls
- >8 Herring Gulls: all later; one adult
- >450 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 *Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
- >15 Barn Swallows
- >5 House Martins

Warblers noted:
- 20 Chiffchaffs: of these four in song
- 1 Blackcap

Also noted:
A few things tempted by the sunny spells:

Butterflies:
- 2 *Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
- 1 *Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
- *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
- *presumed Syrphus sp.

Other true flies:
- *bluebottle Calliphora sp.
- greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- *male Muscid fly Musca autumnalis aka Face Fly
- Flesh fly Sarcophaga sp.
- *European Cranefly Tipula paludosa
other unidentified flies.

Bugs:
- *Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina

Beetles:
- 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
- 1 *Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 2 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

True flies:
- 1 female plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- 1 *male Banded Mosquito Culiseta annulata
- 1 *female Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- 1 *Tachinid fly Gastrolepta anthracina
- 1 *dance fly possibly Tachypeza nubila
- several other unidentified flies

Springtails:
- 2 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 2 Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius [Bridge Orbweaver]
- 2 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Mammals:
- no bats seen

The sunrise did not look up to much until...

...suddenly and briefly.

A Cormorant looking at me and wondering what to do.

An almost side-elevation view of a Speckled Wood butterfly Pararge aegeria. I have never noted the markings on the abdomen previously.

A Red Admiral butterfly Vanessa atalanta that may be destined to fly in circles with one damaged wing?

I had high hopes for this moth. Not so. Just a faded example (note the "bald head") of a Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa.

How hairy can you get? A Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris enters the competition.

A male Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax

I remain puzzled by this hoverfly. With the bright yellow face and scutellum is reminiscent of Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta which is what I thought it was at the time [the epithet Long Hoverfly is only appropriate for males and this is a female]. But it isn't: on that species all the yellow bands are horizontal and here the upper-band is hooked.

Another view shows it is also too robust for that species. Obsidentify suggested Syrphus sp. and it may be correct. But I cannot find any species in that family with five yellow sections and it also seems too small and too yellow.

A bluebottle from the Calliphora genus.

The strange antennae identify this as a male and the abdomen pattern define it as a Banded Mosquito Culiseta annulata.

This small fly is a female Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii. Only the males have spots at the tip of the wings.

This black, narrow-bodied and hairy fly seems to be the Tachinid fly Gastrolepta anthracina [anthracina is from the Greek translating as "coal black" (anyone remember anthracite as a type of coal?) The Greek derivation illustrates why the terminology "scientific name" is preferable to "Latin name"].

This is a male Muscid fly Musca autumnalis aka Face Fly. Female have four pale stripes on their thorax. [Somebody else has been unwell on the street lamp pole].

Not a brilliant photo but this fly was doing what it is noted for – running away at speed rather than fly. Its is a dance fly possibly Tachypeza nubila. A slender body, a small, rounded head almost detached from the thorax and legs with swollen thighs and the front legs also with a swollen femur.

It is Autumn: we will be seeing many of these European Craneflies Tipula paludosa in the next few weeks.

An adult Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina.

(Ed Wilson)

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

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
none

True flies:
- 16 midges
- 7 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
- 1 Common Shiny Woodlouse Oniscus asellus
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *spider Clubiona sp.
- 1 *Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 9 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
- 1 *harvestman Opilio canestrinii

This is a spider Clubiona sp. An unusual find in the tunnel but common enough elsewhere. The shape of the end of the abdomen defines this genus.

Another spider genus I do not find very often in the tunnel: a Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

A harvestman Opilio canestrinii. This species seems to be almost a permanent resident in the tunnel.

(Ed Wilson)

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

The Flash: 09:30 – 10:35

(203rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- six Mute Swans again.
- probably more Mallard than I have logged. When I arrived there was a swirling melee being fed and many of these them dispersed before I could check other parts.
- now 18 brownhead Goosander.

Thanks to Martin Grant I can report the Mute Swan with the blue Darvic ring is showing a Lancashire code. Martin is awaiting further ringing details and I'll report them when I have them.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull

Noted on / around the water:
- 25 Canada Geese
- no Greylag Geese
- 6 Mute Swans again
- >33 (?♂) *Mallard
- 18 (0♂) *Goosander
- 5 Moorhens
- 18 Coot only
- 3 + 4 (1 brood) *Great Crested Grebe
- 28 *Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants: of these two arrived
- 2 Grey Herons

Warblers noted:
- 1 Chiffchaff: no song

Noted around the area:

Butterflies:
- 4 Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 4 Honey Bees Apis mellifera
- 1 *Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- 3 Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris

True flies:
- Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- Flesh fly Sarcophaga sp.
various other unidentified flies

Bugs:
- 1 *instar Hairy Shieldbug Dolycoris baccarum [Sloe Bug]
- 1 *instar Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina
- 1 adult Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina

Beetles:
- 6 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata

Table manners guys! Mallard and Black-headed Gulls battle for the proffered corn.

Thirteen of today's 18 Goosanders. Every day there are more. How do they find out where to come? Do birds have social media?

It is the turn of the right-most juvenile Great Crested Grebe to be fed.

Down it goes.

A Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum has found a late-flowering Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra.

An instar of a Hairy Shieldbug Dolycoris baccarum. Compare with...

An instar of Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2013
Priorslee Lake
9 Ravens
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
1 immature Peregrine Falcon
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
3 Wheatear
Yellow Wagtail
(John Isherwood)

Trench Lock Pool
1 Arctic Tern
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Albino Wood Pigeon
3 Swifts
1 Sedge Warbler
Redpoll
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)