Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash
12.0°C > 14.0°C > 12.0°C: Early fog lifting to give a few bright intervals. Then after 09:20 drizzle, often heavy. Once again there were light winds early with a moderate north-westerly breeze developing. Very good visibility until drizzle when moderate at best.
Sunrise: 07:00 BST
* = a species photographed today. NB photos will be added later
! = a first sighting of the species this year
$ = a new species for me in this area
Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:50 – 09:20
(219th visit of the year)
Highlight today was the arrival of two *Great (White) Egrets at 07:45. They stayed about 15 minutes before heading off West
Other bird notes:
- the pair(?) of Mute Swans throughout.
- much flying about by the Mallard. Possible (many?) more that I have logged.
- no Little Grebe seen or heard but with fog early that may not mean much.
- gull counts badly affected by the fog:
- about 200 Black-headed Gulls were still present early when the fog temporarily thinned around 07:00. After 08:30 only 28 seen. I did not bother with the football field.
- I counted 62 Lesser Black-backed Gulls leaving to the East after c.06:45 with at least 75 still on the water. No Herring Gulls identified at that time but with many on the water being first year birds it was difficult to be sure. There was no big arrival / return later with just 29 Lesser Black-backs and a single Herring Gull noted
- just seven Chiffchaffs were noted with two of these heard singing.
- most of the Jackdaws and all of the Rooks on roost dispersal overhead were lost in the mist.
Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Stock Dove
- 19 Wood Pigeons
- 38 Jackdaws
- no Rooks
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 19 (?♂) Mallard
- 3 (0♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens again
- 46 Coot
- no Little Grebe
- 10 *Great Crested Grebes only
- >200 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull
- >150 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 *Cormorants: arrived separately
- 2 *Grey Herons
- 2 *Great (White) Egrets: arrived and departed
Warblers noted:
- 7 Chiffchaffs: of these two in song
Also noted:
Very little.
Bees, wasps etc.:
- Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris
True flies:
- cranefly Tipula confusa
Beetles:
- *(dead?) ground-beetle from the Pterostichus genus
Fungus:
- *Brown Rollrim Paxillus involutus
On the West end street lamp poles before dawn:
Moths / Butterflies:
- 1 *unidentified caterpillar
True flies:
- 1 female Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- 1 small midge
Beetles:
- 1 probable Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *Garden Spider Araneus diadematus [Garden Cross Spider]
(Ed Wilson)
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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
Moths:
none
True flies:
- 16 midges of at least three species
- 2 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.
Arthropods:
- 2 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger
- 8 Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber
Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 12 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:15
(216th visit of the year)
We were all affected by the soaking drizzle
Bird notes:
- just the four Canada Geese that never seem to fly anywhere.
- six Mute Swans again.
- a single duck/immature Tufted Duck noted: four of them certainly drakes.
- 37 brownhead Goosander.
- one full adult Great Crested Grebe was sometimes with the four dependent juveniles one of which is declaring UDI much of the time. No other full adult seen but an immature was at the top end.
- an adult and three immature Lesser Black-backed Gulls arrived.
- two Cormorants were arriving as I was departing. None had been sitting in the trees previously.
Bird(s) noted flying over here: None
Noted on / around the water:
- 4 Canada Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- 33 (19♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Tufted Duck
- 37 (0♂) Goosander
- 6 Moorhens
- 18 Coot
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe: see notes
- 21 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: arrived together
- 2 Cormorants: arrived
- 2 Grey Herons
- 2 Little Egrets remain
Warblers noted:
- 1 Chiffchaff in song
Noted around the area:
Almost nothing in the drizzle apart from....
Bees, wasps etc.:
- >10 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris
(Ed Wilson)
