29 Oct 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

9.0°C > 11.0°C: Initially overcast apart from clear-skies to the far south-east. By 06:30 mist began to roll in from the north-east. Lifted to low cloud only after 09:00. Initially calm; a light southerly breeze developing. Mostly poor visibility.

Sunrise: 07:01 GMT

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:45 – 08:50

(240th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the male Pheasant was strutting about the south-west grass: noisily too.
- no Mute Swans seen.
- only two Great Crested Grebes found and both these were adults. No begging calls heard. With the mist it is impossible to be certain these were the only birds present.
- at least 450 Black-headed Gulls were on the water by 06:45. More than 50 were noted leaving at the West. As I was approaching the football field at 07:05 about 150 were estimated to be flying off. With them were four large gulls, one of these identified as an adult Lesser Black-back. There were still 72 on the grass along with another adult Lesser Black-back. I checked the field again at 08:45: just 13.
- the large gulls were early arrivals today. By 06:35 there were at least 400 on the water (pic) with some still arriving and some already leaving. No Herring Gulls were noted at this time.
- later gull arrivals were eight Herring and 28 Lesser Black-backs. None was noted flying over!
- Redwing(s) calls were heard at three separate locations. Nothing seen overhead. Probably birds calling from trees?
- a Reed Bunting was calling along the South side.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
very little was seen flying over: badly affected by the mist and low cloud
- 3 Wood Pigeons
- 152 Jackdaws
- 68 Rooks
- 3 Pied Wagtails

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese: visited briefly
- 7 (4♂) Mallard again
- 43 (23♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 19 Coots only: partial count?
- 2 Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- c.450 Black-headed Gulls
- 8 Herring Gulls
- c.425 *Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake:

None

Later on the Teece Drive fence:

Nothing found

Elsewhere:

Fungus:
- *Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig Coprinus comatus
- *Weeping Widow Lacrymaria lacrymabunda

On the West end street lamp poles before dawn:

Moths:
- 5 November Moth type Epirrita sp.

Four-winged flies
- 1 *Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea
- 1 *barkfly Ectopsocus briggsi agg.

True flies:
- 1 small midges
- 2 *winter cranefly Trichocera sp.

Beetles:
- 3 Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala

Planthoppers:
- 1 *planthopper Eupteryx urticae

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius [Bridge Orbweaver]

Have you a spare moment? Would you like to count the gulls on the water in this photo taken at 06:35? I thought not. I reckon about 400 and as far as I can tell all Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

A Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea covered in dew. None that I have seen recently have shown any sign of changing to the brown over-wintering colour.

This tiny insect is a barkfly Ectopsocus briggsi or similar. The wing markings (faint in my photo) do not help with specific identification. Out with the microscope!

It is not always easy to persuade the camera to focus on the winter cranefly Trichocera sp. and not its shadow. Not that it makes much difference as there is little in the way of markings to reveal.

Seems a strange time of year for these planthoppers Eupteryx urticae to be active. My third in as many days.

Two new fruiting bodies Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig Coprinus comatus with two of the existing Weeping Widow fruiting bodies Lacrymaria lacrymabunda.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

A very poor showing but at least there was a moth!

Moths:
- 1 *Rusty-dot Pearl Udea ferrugalis

True flies:
none!

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1! Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

My seventh Rusty-dot Pearl moth Udea ferrugalis in the tunnel this year. I did not record any in 2024 or 2025.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 08:55 – 10:00

(238th visit of the year)

Visibility under the low cloud was acceptable but not great.

Bird notes:
very quiet with most species in lower than usual numbers.
- a single adult Mute Swan again.
- yesterday's trio of (Common) Teal not found.
- Coot numbers seem to be dwindling further. Last Winter gave very low counts. So far this Winter period is worse. I know that there is an outbreak of avian botulism affecting many waterbirds. I have seen none here exhibiting the classic symptoms of sick birds – being unable to hold their neck up.
- I only confirmed three of the erstwhile four juvenile Great Crested Grebe.
- a single Grey Heron only.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 4 Canada Geese
- 1 Mute Swan
- 28 (20♂) Mallard
- no (Common) Teal
- 25 (15?♂) *Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens again
- 13 Coot only
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe: see notes
- 22 *Black-headed Gulls
- 1 *Herring Gull: third-winter
- 3 *Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

Noted around the area:

Dull and mild. Only wasps at the Ivy despite a prolonged search. Not even a fly!

Bees, wasps etc.:
- >30 wasp Vespula sp.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman Opilio canestrinii: as yesterday

Of note:

Nothing else

Drake Mallard always outnumber ducks here but 8:1 seems excessive (even if one of them is the "what sex is it really?" bird (dead-centre)).

Size comparison: a third-winter Herring Gull with an adult-winter Black-headed Gull in the foreground (and an immature / still-moulting drake Tufted Duck behind). The Herring Gull can be aged by the extent of the black on the bill and the faint brown tones to some of the feathers in the folded wing.

Two Cormorants and a Magpie have bagged the good vantage points on the island. At the bottom of the photo is the Cormorant that missed out.

This Cormorant, still just immature with a few white feathers in the belly. Not a bad photo considering the lighting conditions at the time.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
7 Gadwall
1 Teal
1 Raven
(John Isherwood)

The Flash
Location
1 Pochard
1 Teal
(John Isherwood)

2012
Priorslee Lake
1 Yellow legged Gull
2 Gadwall
1 Shoveler
1 Wigeon
Chiffchaff
10+ Fieldfare
Siskin
Willow Tit
(John Isherwood)

The Flash
Location
3 Pochard
Sparrowhawk
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
34 Pochard a high count
500+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls
432 Jackdaws
228 Rooks
171 Fieldfare
5 Redwings
2 Siskins
4 Linnets
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
115 Canada Geese
9 Pochard
52 Tufted Ducks
1 Kestrel
c.200 Golden Plover
23 Pied Wagtails
17 Robins
18 Blackbirds
12 Song Thrushes
70 Redwing
1 Mistle Thrush
9 Fieldfare
1 Chiffchaff
1 Blackcap
1 Willow Tit
195 Jackdaws
206 Rooks
31 Greenfinches
4 Redpoll
10 Reed Buntings
(Martin Adlam)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Buzzard feeding on earthworms, mobbed by Black-headed Gulls
1 Raven
7 Pied Wagtails
3 Grey Wagtail
11 Meadow Pipits
Kingfisher
1700+ Wood Pigeon
192 Redwing
111 Fieldfare
(Martin Adlam)

28 Oct 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

8.0°C > 13.0°C: Mostly cloudy with a few breaks then c.10:00 an unforecast spell of heavy drizzle. Moderate south-westerly wind. Very good visibility but poor in drizzle.

Sunrise: 06:59 GMT

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:45 – 09:30

(239th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- four Mute Swans today. A pair presumably throughout though the managed to "disappear" for a while. Another pair flew in without causing much aggro.
- as yesterday no more than c.50 Black-headed Gulls on the water. It seems that some / many are heading direct to the football field where I counted 137 (together with single first-winters of both Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls) at c.07:30 [there were still 12 there at c.09:15].
- the first Lesser Black-backed Gulls started arriving at 06:25 all from the West. With one of the Grey Herons standing on a buoy near their preferred bathing point they spent many minutes circling around before c.100 settled on the water. Seven Herring gulls were with them.
- later I noted six Herring Gulls and 61 Lesser Black-backs visiting, again with smaller numbers passing over.
- a small passage of Wood Pigeons today: 259 birds in six groups.
- another big number of Jackdaws and Rooks flying South on roost dispersal.
- no Starlings left any roosts around the water. A single of this normally gregarious bird was an unusual fly-over.
- also a small passage of Redwings with 74 seen in four groups.
- a Reed Bunting was calling and then seen to fly out of a roost in the West end reeds.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Canada Goose: flew East together
- 5 Herring Gulls
- 38 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants together
- 1 Stock Dove again
- 287 Wood Pigeons: of these 259 were seen flying South in six groups
- 446 Jackdaws
- 234 Rooks
- 1 Starling
- 74 Redwings: flew West in four groups
- 1 Pied Wagtail again

Counts from the lake area:
- 4 Mute Swans: see notes
- 7 (4♂) Mallard only
- 47 (>15♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens again
- 27 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes only
- c.50 Black-headed Gulls [but 137 on the football field]
- 14 Herring Gulls
- c.160 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 6 Cormorants: two arrived separately (one departed); also a quartet arrived
- 2 *Grey Herons

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake:
- 1 Reed Bunting

Noted later on the Teece Drive fence:

Moths:
- 1 *Large Pale Masoner Blastobasis lacticolella [was London Dowd]

Slugs, snails etc.:
- 1 Girdled Snail Hygromia cinctella

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Noted elsewhere:

True flies:
- 1 *Muscid fly Phaonia subventa
- 1 *moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

On the West end street lamp poles before dawn:
A much smaller haul but at least some moths

Moths:
- 1 *Garden Rose Tortrix Acleris variegana
- 12? *November Moth type Epirrita sp. Eight at rest on poles; four more, presumed this species, flying around the lamps.

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 1 *ichneumon wasp.

True flies:
- 2 *small midges

Beetles:
- 5 Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala
- 1 *unidentified beetle

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none!

An unspectacular sunrise.

Either a punk Grey Heron or it is having a bad hair day.

A surprise find on the Teece Drive fence well after dawn was this, my second Large Pale Masoner moth Blastobasis lacticolella this year. "Large" is a misnomer as this a species of micro moth with a wingspan of about 20mm. There are two other Masoner species, neither given the "Small" epithet. It is perhaps better than the historic name London Dowd.

Also a second for the year: a Garden Rose Tortrix moth Acleris variegana.

"Come in #3". One of the eight November Moth types Epirrita sp. I noted resting on the West end street lamp poles. Another four moths fluttering about the lights were almost certainly also from this group.

This ichneumon wasp was the most interesting sighting on the street lamp poles. Almost none of them can be identified from photos. There are about 2500 species in the UK. There are no identification guides, just a select photos of a handful of the larger and more distinctive species. This isn't one.

Just one fly caught me eye: this Muscid fly Phaonia subventa.

The clearest shot I could manage of one of the tiny moth flies Psychodidae sp. The hundred or so species look very similar.

A male small midge. There was another with "simple" antennae and therefore a female.

A by-product! When I examined the ichneumon wasp photo I noted this beetle. It looks not unlike yesterday's Round fungus beetle Leiodes calcarata but there are many similar species. This was on a different pole. Best leave as unidentified.

A particularly strongly-marked harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Why did I bother?

Bees, wasps etc.:

- 1 *ichneumon wasp.

True flies:
- 1 midge

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 2 Missing Sector Orb-web Spiders Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

The only thing of interest in the tunnel this morning, indeed just about the only insect I noted, was this smaller ichneumon wasp.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:35 – 10:50

(237th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- now just a single adult Mute Swans.
- a trio of (Common) Teal (one drake) just about visible beside the island through the drizzle.
- fewer Tufted Duck once again
- no Goosander seen.
- the usual two adult and four juvenile Great Crested Grebe seen
- three Grey Herons today.
- singles of Jay and Bullfinch seen: species I do not see too often here.

So far only tentative information on the ringed Mute Swan seen here yesterday. Martin Grant has better eye-sight than me and notes it as "4IAN" which was ringed in Lancashire earlier this year. He is awaiting further information.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- >30 Redwings: a large party was fast disappearing when I first noted them

Noted on / around the water:
- 8 *Canada Geese
- no Greylag Geese
- 1 Mute Swan
- 32 (21♂) Mallard
- 3 (1♂) *(Common) Teal
- 29 (13?♂) Tufted Duck
- no Goosander
- 7 Moorhens
- 14 Coot only
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) *Great Crested Grebe: see notes
- 37 Black-headed Gulls
- 6 Cormorants: one of these departed
- 3 *Grey Herons

Noted around the area:
Still drizzling and wet vegetation. A surprise to see anything!

Bees, wasps etc.:
- c.25 wasp Vespula sp.

Hoverflies:
- 1 *Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus

True flies:
- 1 *unidentified root-maggot fly

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *harvestman Opilio canestrinii

Of note:

Nothing else

I was very pleased with the camera rendering this view so clearly, all the way to the island in the heavy drizzle. Behind the trio of Canada Geese are three (Common) Teal. A duck visible between the geese; a drake behind the right-hand goose showing the green speculum in his wing and the yellow patch near his tail; and what I believe to be another duck with her head in the water.

A headless Grey Heron? I am sure it was tucked up somewhere but I cannot work out where.

"Feed me, feed me". The adult Great Crested Grebe is not taking any notice of the juvenile's begging calls. It looks large-enough to feed for itself

Not easy to see: this is a Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus. It was nowhere near the bank of Ivy and I was fortunate to see it alight on a small twig in squirrel alley.

The only fly I saw here this morning was this otherwise unidentified root-maggot fly.

This is a harvestman Opilio canestrinii.

(Ed Wilson)

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2010
Priorslee Lake
c.75 Starlings left roost at W end
118 Wood Pigeons
2 Skylarks
7 Meadow Pipits
478 Fieldfare
76 Redwings
9 Siskins
13 Linnets
1 Redpoll
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
2 Cormorants
26 Pochard
47 Tufted Ducks
1 drake Ruddy Duck
1 Water Rail
64 Coots
35 Fieldfares
3 Song Thrushes
24 Redwings
4 Mistle Thrushes
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
2 Little Grebes
Wigeon
Cormorant
300 Black-headed Gulls
40 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
c.75 Lapwings
2 Fieldfares
1 duck Pochard
34 Tufted Duck
200 Coot
(Ed Wilson)

27 Oct 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

11.0°C: Clear apart from overnight cloud still clearing away to the East. Fresh, gusting strong, south-westerly wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:57 GMT

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:25 – 08:40

(238th visit of the year)

Best today was a Water Rail heard calling at the West end at 06:20. My first of this season.

Bird notes:
- the male Pheasant was on the south-west grass again.
- some Mute Swan confusion. A party of five adults arrived from the North at 07:05. Some minutes later two more "appeared" and chased the visitors in to the north-east corner. The chasing pair(?) then paused alongside the nest site used earlier this year and peace broke-out. One of this pair was the previously seen blue '7JXV'. Of the five visitors two were confirmed as unringed and one appeared to have a metal BTO ring only. Later the two groups were moving freely, but always separately, around the water.
- 47 Tufted Duck counted.
- I saw no more than c.50 Black-headed Gulls, the first at 06:35.
- the first Lesser Black-backed Gulls started arriving at 06:20. Unusually birds were arriving from the West, the East and the North concurrently. About 200 were involved.
- later I noted 12 Herring Gulls and 48 Lesser Black-backs visiting with a smaller number passing over.
- there was no passage of Wood Pigeons today.
- a big number of Jackdaws and Rooks flying South on roost dispersal again.
- just 22 Starlings left the West end reeds and sedges at 06:45. No others seen.
- four Redwings were seen together overhead.
- at least six Siskins were noted flying over.
- a Reed Bunting was calling along the South side c.07:30.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Canada Goose: flew West together (at 05:55!)
- 1 Herring Gull
- 29 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Stock Dove
- 55 Wood Pigeons
- 597 Jackdaws
- 196 Rooks
- 4 Redwings
- 1 Pied Wagtail
- 6 Siskins

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese: arrived
- 7 *Mute Swans: see notes
- 12 (8♂) Mallard only
- 48 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 29 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes again
- c.50 Black-headed Gulls
- 12 Herring Gulls
- c.250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants: arrived separately
- 1 Grey Heron

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake:
- 22 Starlings

Noted later on the Teece Drive fence:

Slugs, snails etc.:
- 1 *Girdled Snail Hygromia cinctella

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *Garden Spider Araneus diadematus [Garden Cross Spider]
- 1 *harvestman from the species pair Dicranopalpus ramosus / D. caudatus

On the West end street lamp poles before dawn:
Almost all the records came from a single pole.

True flies:
- 1 *caddisfly Chaetopteryx villosa
- 1 cranefly Tipula sp.
- 2 species of unidentified flies

Planthoppers:
- 1 planthopper Eupteryx urticae

Springtails:
- 1 globular springtail sp., probably Dicyrtomina saundersi
- 5+ other smaller globular springtails
- 1 springtail Orchesella cincta

Beetles:
- 1 *possible Round fungus beetle Leiodes calcarata
- 3 *Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 2 *Nursery Web Spider Pisaura mirabilis
- 1 *harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

A not very good photo of the not quite full Harvest Moon: not full because there is a slight cross-light picking out some of the craters in the seven o'clock position.

The five Mute Swans that arrived together.

These are the other two. The right hand bird is ringed and...

 ...to some extent because I know what it might be I can read '7JXV'.

Here are the quintet again. The third from the left seems to have a BTO metal ring on its right leg. There does not appear to be a Darvic plastic ring on its left leg.

The caddisfly Chaetopteryx villosa. An unusually bright-coloured species.

This is possibly the Round fungus beetle Leiodes calcarata. Both Obsidentify and Google Lens suggested a species in the genus. Here on a plastic tie left on the pole at least five years ago.

One of three Cabbage-stem Flea Beetles Psylliodes chrysocephala. These are at most 4.5mm and if you look carefully there are two tiny globular springtails also in view. One at the very top of the photo and an even smaller one near the bottom. How does one identify these?

A Girdled Snail Hygromia cinctella on the Teece Drive fence.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:

A Garden Spider Araneus diadematus showing the markings that support the alternative name of Garden Cross Spider. The abdomen colour of this species is very variable.

One of two Nursery Web Spiders Pisaura mirabilis.

The other one. This species often holds the two front pairs of legs together, as here.

A harvestman from the species pair Dicranopalpus ramosus / D. caudatus. This one missing two legs on its left side.

A harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis 

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
none

True flies:
- no midges
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
- 2 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger
- 4 Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 11 Missing Sector Orb-web Spiders Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
seems they had eaten all the midges!

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 08:45 – 09:50

(236th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- only four adult Mute Swans.
- fewer Tufted Duck: perhaps some the additional birds at the Balancing Lake today.
- just one brownhead Goosander confirmed. Presumably the same one seen at various locations.
- no Little Grebe found
- six Great Crested Grebe seen. The low sun made ageing them all impossible: I assume the two adults and four juveniles.
- two Grey Herons today.
- no egrets.
- my first Siskin of the Autumn for this site was heard calling.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 36 Canada Geese: of these 28 arrived in two groups
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 4 *Mute Swans
- 29 (20♂) Mallard
- 43 (20?♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 (0♂) Goosander
- 1 Moorhens only
- 18 Coot only
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) *Great Crested Grebe: see notes
- 35 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult visited briefly
- 4 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons

Noted around the area:
A very high level of activity around the Ivy bank. I had to get away otherwise I am sure I could have found other things many of which would normally be unusual in late October.

Butterflies:
- 1 *Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Moths:
- 1 *November Moth type Epirrita sp.

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 1 *Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- >5 *Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris
- c.100 wasp Vespula sp.
- 1 European Hornet Vespa crabro: my first at this site flew through

Hoverflies:
- 1 *Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- 2 *Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax [Tapered Drone Fly]
- 3 *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax [Common Drone Fly]
- 1 *Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae [Migrant Hoverfly; Migrant Aphideater]
- 1 *Humming Syrphus Syrphus ribesii [Common Flower Fly]
- 1 *Glass-winged Syrphus Syrphus vitripennis [Black-thighed Flower Fly]
- >2 unidentified Syrphus sp.

True flies:
- 1 *Tachinid fly Tachina fera
very many other flies of at least six species I did not have time (or inclination!) to ID

Beetles:
- 2 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata

Fungus:
- *unidentified fungus.

Another Mute Swan for which Martin Grant can possibly provide some information. Perhaps I am misreading it: it looks like '7VAN' or '7YAN'. Both these identifies seem well out of range from any previously seen in the area.

A head-on view of a Red Admiral butterfly Vanessa atalanta. As I repositioned for a better angle a wasp came close and it flew off. This species will probably over-winter in the area and may well emerge on any warm sunny day during the Winter.

One of the pesky November Moth types Epirrita sp., never easy to spot when high up on a street lamp pole.

It strikes me as a very late date to see a Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum out and about.

A Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris at ease!

A Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus

A two-fer. A male Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax. Not sure about the wasp: leave it as Vespula sp.

Another two-fer. Another male Tapered Dronefly and with it for sure a Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris.

A female Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax.

Much "brighter" than any of the other hoverflies this morning. It is Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae.

This Syrphus hoverfly has an all-yellow hind leg. But I cannot see for sure which sex it is. Males of both S. ribesii and S. vitripennis have all-yellow hind legs.

A female Humming Syrphus Syrphus ribesii showing the hind legs is all yellow.

 It then took off showing the leg even more clearly (though on this view alone it is not possible to sex it).

This female Glass-winged Syrphus Syrphus vitripennis is also helpfully showing its hind leg allowing a specific identity to be made. Obsidentify's name of Black-thighed Flower Fly is more apposite than the Steven Falk name that I major with.

How could I resist my favourite fly! The Tachinid fly Tachina fera.

Unidentified fungus. Obsidentify said Roman Snail Helix pomatia!

(Ed Wilson)

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Priorslee Lake
1 Adult Great Black-backed Gull
1000+ large gulls
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Great Black-backed Gull
11 Golden Plover
2 Kingfishers
16 Reed Buntings
5 Skylarks
8 Meadow Pipits
71 Redwings
457 Fieldfare
31 Siskins
1 Linnet
4 Redpolls
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
40 Tufted Duck
16 Pochard
2 Ruddy Duck
Common Buzzard
Sparrowhawk
c.2500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 Kingfisher
2 Goldcrest
42 Fieldfare
Willow Tit
14 Long-tailed Tits
(Martin Adlam)