7 Oct 26

The Flash and Priorslee Balancing Lake

10.0°C: Light rain to start. A clearance from the north-west making limited progress. Moderate north-westerly wind. Very good visibility.

[Sunrise: 07:21 BST]

The "bad weather circuit" to avoid the dark and wet and starting after the school run at The Flash

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 10:25 – 11:15

(228th visit of the year)

Viewing from the dam-top area only. The model boat club were using the West end of the water and doubtless some things were hiding.

Bird notes:
None

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 23 *Greylag Geese: flew West together with...
- 1 *all-white feral goose
- 1 Herring Gull
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 6 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Skylarks: flew North together

Counts from the lake area:
- 13 (9♂) Mallard
- 3 (2♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens
- 28 Coot
- 8 Great Crested Grebes: probably an incomplete count
- 32 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 Herring Gulls
- 21 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron: departed

Of note:

Nothing else

23 Greylag Geese fly over. Alerted by the sighting yesterday I noted that the bird top left is the all-white feral goose.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:20 – 10:15

(223rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- no Greylag Geese today
- still six Mute Swans.
- yesterday's Tufted Duck gone.
- a drake Goosander and at least 53 brownheads. Possibly as many as 59 brownheads.
- yesterday's Little Grebe was not seen.
- a single full adults Great Crested Grebe was with two juveniles. This combination was seen at both ends of the water. I could not decide whether these were the same. Further confusion is that the juveniles are quite capable of diving and behaving like their submarine parents.
- two Great (White) Egrets were on the island with the only Grey Heron when something spooked them. One of the Great Egrets departed, the other joining four of the five Little Egrets in trees behind the collapsing bridge. There had been four Little Egrets in trees on the island. I assume these were the same four? Another Little Egret was feeding along the water's-edge
- a Chiffchaff was heard calling.
- more than 30 Goldfinches were in trees on the island and probably the same flock was in trees at the top end a few minutes later.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese: one of these flew in – alone!
- no Greylag Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- 35 (23♂) Mallard
- no Tufted Duck
- 54+ (1♂) *Goosander
- 3 Moorhens only
- 20 *Coot
- no Little Grebe
- 1 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe: see notes
- 21 *Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Cormorants as usual
- 1 Grey Heron only
- 2 *Great (White) Egrets: one departed
- 5 *Little Egrets

Warblers noted:
- 1 Chiffchaff calling

Noted around the area:
Still raining gently and I was surprised to see anything.

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

One of the two Great (White) Egrets in the company of a brownhead Goosander and an adult-winter plumaged Black-headed Gull.

The other Great (White) Egret departing.

The original Great (White) Egret top left, with four Little Egrets.

The fifth Little Egret in the water by the island with a Coot for company.

(Ed Wilson)

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2014
Wellington
Fieldfare
(Jenny Hood)

2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Shoveler
Chiffchaff
Grey Wagtail
Reed Bunting
Siskin.
(John Isherwood)

2009
Priorslee Lake
50 Mute Swan
(Mike Cooper)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Swallow circling with swirling Starlings
(Ed Wilson)

6 Oct 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 15.0°C: The Telford micro-climate wins again. Clear in Newport: here it was mist / fog / low cloud only lifting after c.09:15. Calm / light westerly wind. Poor / very poor visibility.

Sunrise: 07:16 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:55 – 09:05

(226th visit of the year)

The weather seriously hampered sighting on just about everything here.

Bird notes:
- no Mute Swans today.
- in a failed attempt to view over the mist I walked up the concrete road to Woodhouse Lane. I did learn where at least some of the Mallard have gone. I guess the storm pools dried up earlier leading to frequent counts of >40 birds at the lake back in August. I noted at least 24 on the very muddy water of the lower storm pool. The upper storm pool seems to so overgrown that it was unlikely to harbour any ducks (or anything else for that matter. Bittern?!).
- a brief partial clearance suggested at least 250 Black-headed Gulls present c.07:00.
- at least 400 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were also present at this time.
- I did not visit the football field.
- later I logged just two Herring and 62 Lesser Black-backed Gulls as new arrivals.
- no Chiffchaff seen or heard.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
seriously hampered by the mist / low cloud
- 3 Wood Pigeons
- 34 Jackdaws
- 29 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
also hampered by fog and mist
- 11 (6?♂) Mallard
- 5 Moorhens
- Coot not counted
- 6 Great Crested Grebes: probably a partial count
- >250 Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 2 Herring Gulls
- >450 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: see notes
- no Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron

Warblers noted:

None

Also noted:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris many annoying me pre-dawn; also one later
- *German Wasp Vespula germanica

On the West end street lamp poles before dawn:

Moths:
- 1 *Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria: moth species #75 for me here in 2026

True flies:
- 1 female plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- 1 wood gnat Sylvicola sp.
- 2 different Root-maggot fly sps.
- 2 unidentified dew-covered flies

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 unidentified dew-covered spider

Another moth for my lake year list. It is a Feathered Thorn Colotois pennaria. Amazingly this is exactly 31 days earlier than my first sightings of this species on each of the last three years – yes: 06 November in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Moth species #75 here.

Perhaps the same German Wasp Vespula germanica still munching away on the Teece Drive fence. A slightly different angle makes it more obvious that the yellow on the side of the thorax is not parallel-sided as it is on Common Wasp V. vulgaris.

This view confirms the identity. Common Wasp has an anchor-shaped mark on its face.

A species of Root-maggot fly (I cannot say which) against a back-drop of mist droplets on the leaf.

A typical sighting on a misty Autumn morning. How do spiders do that?

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
none

True flies:
- 9 midges of several species
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
- 1 *Brown-lipped Snail Cepaea nemoralis
- 2 Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber
- 5 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

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

Many species of snails are tricky to identify with considerable variability and some overlap in features. With that in mind I think this is a Brown-lipped Snail Cepaea nemoralis.

Its distinctive abdomen shape identifies this as one of the Stout Sac Spider from the Clubiona genus. I would not like to commit as to which species.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:10 – 10:25

(222nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the two "static" Canada Geese seen.
- *a large group of Greylag Geese arrived with an all-white feral-type (and probably three Canada Geese)
- still six Mute Swans.
- two Tufted Duck were new. A drake was at the top end and an immature/duck was at the bottom end.
- a drake Goosander and at least 48 brownheads. Again well-scattered, often lurking under over-hanging vegetation and some (later?) hauled out on the island.
- a Little Grebe was at the bottom end.
- why are the Great Crested Grebe so hard? At least three full adults one of which was, for a while, with three dependent juveniles.
- just(!) five Little Egrets.
- a Kingfisher seen speeding toward the top end.
- no Chiffchaff seen or heard.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- 34 *Greylag Geese
- 1 *all-white feral goose
- 6 Mute Swans
- 26 (16♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 49+ (1♂) Goosander
- 6 Moorhens remain
- 22 Coot
- 1 Little Grebe
- 3 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe: see notes
- 30 *Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Cormorants still
- 4 Grey Herons
- 5 Little Egrets
- 1 Kingfisher

Warblers noted:

None

Noted around the area:
Very intermittent sun with an ambient temperature still c.13.0°C

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

Hoverflies:
- 1 *Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax [Tapered Drone Fly]
- 1 Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax [Common Drone Fly]
- 1 *Syrphus sp.

Other true flies:
several species of fly not identified

Springtails:
- 1 *springtail Orchesella cincta

Just as I was arriving so too were these 38 geese. At the time, from the sound and what I could see, I thought they were all Greylags. I think close-examination of the fourth from the bottom may reveal...

...that there was an all-white feral goose among them. My later count from the water suggests there were also three Canada Geese among them.

A close-up of this brownhead Goosander clearly shows why this group of ducks are known as sawbills. All the better for gripping the slippery fish that constitutes their diet.

Always a shy species and soon away to open water. I can only suggest that the different tone on the left and right tail-feathers is due to the angle of light.

It is no wonder the bridge is collapsing. Send the bill to the gulls! All are winter-plumaged Black-headed Gulls.

There is always one (or in this instance two) contrary individuals who want to sit on the other hand-rail.

How could I resist?

Again!

A Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax tucks in to the Ivy blossom.

A Syrphus species of hoverfly. On this one the second complete yellow band on the abdomen shows a definite orange/brown cast. Three of the 62 examples in Steven Falk's photo-gallery on Flickr show this feature to some degree. He does not mention it in the text.

The white band across the black abdomen suggests this is the springtail Orchesella cincta. However that species typically has dark antennae with a small white segment whereas this example shows unmarked pale antennae. I found this on the same street lamp pole as the O. cincta three days ago. Obsidentify gives that suggestion a 96% rating. I'll go with that.

(Ed Wilson)

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2014
Priorslee Lake
1st-winter Caspian Gull.
(Observer Unknown)

2008
Priorslee Lake
3 Pochard
100 Tufted Duck
Water Rail heard
39 Lapwings
Kingfisher
3 Redwings
Redpoll
Siskin
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
49 Tufted Duck
1 Chiffchaff
Willow Tits
(Ed Wilson)

6 Oct 06 - Wesley Bridge under water (Ed Wilson)

5 Oct 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake only

13.0°C > 14.0°C: Again mostly thin high cloud with a few patches of lower cloud. Light south-westerly wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:17 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:40 – 09:20

(225th visit of the year)

New Bird species:

New for my 2026 bird list here was Tawny Owl. I heard a single call from the Ricoh grounds c.06:00. Then at c.06:10 one was seen to fly from the area around the Teece Drive gate to the wooded area behind the sailing club's container/shelter. I strongly suspect this is the third day I should have been aware of a bird's presence. I heard what I thought was a single call note from the Ricoh area on Saturday. Shortly afterwards on Saturday, and again on Sunday, there was a kommotion (© Duane Eddy, Lee Hazlewood) in the area around the Teece Drive gate with Jays, Magpies and Blackbirds seeming to be mobbing something. I could not see the cause of their ire. Bird species #97 for me here this year.

Other bird notes:
- still no Mute Swans.
- a Little Grebe again heard only c.06:15.
- fewer Black-headed Gulls today with c.350 early arrivals.
- also fewer Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A wandering Grey Heron kept the birds moving around. My best estimate for today: no more than c.100 birds on the water. I noted 67 flying South to the East at this time.
- when I visited the football field c.07:20 I counted 299(!) Black-headed Gulls with no other species present.
- later I logged just three Herring and 26 Lesser Black-backed Gulls arriving from the East. There was again almost no passage of gulls overhead.
- a Racing Pigeon paused momentarily on the dam-top just long-enough for me to see, but not read, the rings. Separately a single Feral Pigeon flew over.
- of the 44 Wood Pigeon over-flights 17 of them were in two groups flying South. It seems the Autumn passage has started.
- just a single Chiffchaffs heard calling.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 65 Greylag Geese: in four concurrent groups westbound
- 1 Herring Gull
- 73 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 44 Wood Pigeons: see notes
- 384 Jackdaws
- 198 Rooks
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Counts from the lake area:
- 12 (8♂) Mallard
- no Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 36 Coot
- 1 Little Grebe
- 12 Great Crested Grebes
- c.350 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Herring Gulls
- c.125 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant, briefly
- 1 Grey Heron

Warblers noted:
- 1 Chiffchaff: no song

Also noted:
Not much

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris many annoying me pre-dawn; also one later
- *German Wasp Vespula germanica
- European Hornet Vespa crabro

Hoverflies:
- *Syrphus sp.

Other true flies
- $ *possible Muscid fly Eudasyphora cyanella

Plant in flower:
- *White Dead-Nettle Lamium album

On the West end street lamp poles before dawn:

Moths:
- 1 *Lunar Underwing Anchoscelis lunosa.: moth species #75

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

True flies:
- two species of midge
- 1 *possible Flesh fly Macronychia dolini
- 1 *winter cranefly Trichocera sp.
- three unidentified small flies

Springtails:
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type

Arthropods:
- 1 *Striped Millipede Ommatoiulus sabulosus again

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

Mammals:
-1 Noctule-type bat was flying around at this time

 Sunrise with more contrails across the sky. The dots in the water are mainly Black-headed Gulls.

Contrails ripped apart by upper-air winds again. 120mph is typical at the height aircraft fly at when leaving trails.

New for the year and moth species #45 in the tunnel yesterday another Lunar Underwing Anchoscelis lunosa was on a street lamp pole pre-dawn here today. Moth species #75 for my 2026 lake list.

Not at the best angle to clinch the identification but I think this is a German Wasp Vespula germanica here still gathering wood to take back to construct and expand the colony's nest – late in the season? My reasoning is that the yellow on the sides of the thorax is not parallel-sided and the black spots on the body are mostly separated from the black bands.

Here is a Common Wasp V. vulgaris for comparison.

The only hoverfly of the morning was this female Syrphus. As the hind legs is not clearly visible specific identification is not possible.

This struck me as not "just another greenbottle Lucilia sp.". It is more robust and has a brown cast to the abdomen though the colour and tone of all these species can vary with the angle of the light. The thorax has thin dark lines and that suggests it is the Muscid fly Eudasyphora cyanella. A (possible) new species for me.

None of my apps was prepared to hazard a specific ID for this fly but the pictures under the Google Lens result led me to investigate Flesh flies where I found this as possibly Macronychia dolini. Another (possible) new species for me.

A winter cranefly Trichocera sp.

This was the larger(!) of two species of plumed midge. This male is silhouetted against the identification sticker on one of the West end street lamp poles.

And again: surely not the same Striped Millipede Ommatoiulus sabulosus as the previous two days?

I usually see Bridge Orb-web Spiders Larinioides sclopetarius lurking at the top of the street lamp poles. This one, smaller than usual, was scrunched up at head-height.

As yesterday a harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis showing white areas at the rear of the abdomen though to my eyes not so "bright white" as those I saw yesterday.

This is what I expect them to look like: the abdomen all-dark apart from the pale line running most of its length.

Not the best angle to show the flowers of White Dead-Nettle Lamium album. This plant will likely be in flower throughout the Winter.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- 1 Rusty-dot Pearl Udea ferrugalis: presumed same
- 1 *Brick Sunira circellaris (formerly Agrochola circellaris)

True flies:
- 10 midges of several species
- 2 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- 1 winter cranefly Trichocera sp.

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

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

A new species of moth for the year: a Brick Sunira circellaris (formerly Agrochola circellaris). Moth species #46 in the tunnel this year.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Chiffchaff
(Ed Wilson)

4 Oct 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

5.0°C > 13.0°C: Patchy, mostly thin high cloud. Mist over the water again. Calm / light westerly wind. Very good visibility above the mist.

Sunrise: 07:16 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:55 – 09:05

(224th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- no Mute Swans today.
- a lone brownhead Goosander flew West at 08:45.
- a Little Grebe heard only c.06:15.
- the largest arrival of Black-headed Gulls so far this year. Several very large groups arriving with, I would estimate, at least 700 birds.
- also a large arrival of Lesser Black-backed Gulls with arrivals from the East, the South and the West all swirling in to splash down making it a challenge to count. This was compounded by a car with the modern boy-racer "must have" of a staccato back-firing exhaust that put them all to flight with many leaving. My best estimate was c.350 birds
- when I visited the football field c.07:25 I logged 172 Black-headed Gulls, two first-winter Herring Gulls and two first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull.
- later I logged five Herring and just 15 Lesser Black-backed Gulls arriving from the East. There was another only minuscular passage of gulls overhead.
- a Grey Heron was heard calling as it flew off c.06:20. Another was over the water c.06:45 but not seen later.
- of the 50 Wood Pigeon over-flights 35 of them were in a single group flying South. Has the Autumn passage started already?
- at least one Skylark heard overhead passing just too high for my eyes to locate it.
- just two Chiffchaffs noted and I had to work hard for these as neither was calling let alone singing.
- another sign of the change in the seasons: four Song Thrushes seen or heard calling.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 4 Canada Geese: three East together; one South
- 1 Goosander
- 1 Herring Gull
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant yet again
- 50 Wood Pigeons: see notes
- 1 Skylark
- 249 Jackdaws
- 168 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 6 (3?♂) Mallard
- 9 (3?♂) Tufted Duck again
- 6 Moorhens again
- 27 Coot only
- 1 Little Grebe
- 11 Great Crested Grebes
- >700 *Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 7 Herring Gulls
- >350 *Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants, all briefly
- 2 Grey Herons: see notes

Warblers noted:
- 2 *Chiffchaffs: none of these calling or in song

Also noted:
Even less!

Bees, wasps etc.:
- no Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris with none annoying me pre-dawn as I tried to count the gulls arriving

True flies:
a few unidentified flies

Fungus:
- *Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig Coprinus comatus

On the West end street lamp poles before dawn:

Moths:
- 1 *Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba : moth species #74 for me here in 2026

True flies:
- several unidentified small flies

Beetles:
- 1 *Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala

Arthropods:
- 1 *Striped Millipede Ommatoiulus sabulosus

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *probable Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius [Bridge Orbweaver]
- 3 harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Pre-sunrise with the sky again criss-crossed with contrails mainly left by over-night airliners from the USA and Canada in to all-point in Europe. Mist over the water and a small part of the Black-headed Gull party on the left.

Two decaying contrails splayed by the upper-air winds.

What happens when a car persistently back-fires near a lake full of gulls. Somewhere there should be a small (unidentified) duck departing at speed.

It was a struggle...I just about managed a Chiffchaff photo!

A Blue Tit checking for a tasty morsel.

A Robin takes off. Its left wing is perpendicular to me while the feathers on the right wing are spread.

What I believe to be a Large Yellow Underwing moth Noctua pronuba. Identification is not helped by a light covering of dew and that it seems to be being eaten by, most likely, a Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius. It is moth species #74 for me at the lake in 2026.

What I am identifying as a Cabbage-stem Flea Beetle Psylliodes chrysocephala. The epithet "flea" refers to the swollen hind femur that allows this group of beetles to escape by jumping like fleas. It is also very small – 3mm to 4mm.

Today's Striped Millipede Ommatoiulus sabulosus looks more convincingly "striped" than my photo yesterday.

A harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis. It shows the two most useful identification features: the legs significantly thicker on the third near the body; and the pale line down the centre of the abdomen. This specimen seems unusual in that the rear the abdomen has unusually pale sides. Doubly strange because there were two of these harvestmen on the same street lamp pole and both exhibited this feature.

A fungus I can identify! This is Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig Coprinus comatus growing here more or less under the academy fence on almost bare ground where the fence-line has been sprayed to kill the vegetation (too hard to mow or strim apparently)

Plane of the day #1: This is a 36-year old Boeing 747-412(BCF) of Belgian operator Challenge Airlines. This aircraft started life with Singapore Airlines and after 22 years was converted to a freighter and operated by Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific. It has been with Challenge Airlines for over six years. Most Boeing 747 Jumbos are now dedicated freighters. Lufthansa is an exception and still has 25 operating passenger flights.

Data on the route from FlightRadar24.

Plane of the day #2. At the other end of the size scale is a German designed two-seat Scheibe SF25C Falke motor-glider that can be used either as a touring aircraft or as a self-launching glider. This particular example is operated by the The Royal Air Force Gliding and Soaring Association out of RAF Shawbury. It is most often used to tow "real" gliders in to the air on the one day a week that gliding is permitted at this otherwise busy helicopter training base.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- 1 Rusty-dot Pearl Udea ferrugalis : presumed same though in a slightly different potion
- 1 ! *Lunar Underwing Anchoscelis lunosa.

Four-winged flies:
- 1 *Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea

True flies:
- 17 midges of several species
- 3 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

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

A Lunar Underwing moth Anchoscelis lunosa. A distinctively-marked species with no confusion species. My first in Shropshire since 2018. Moth species #45 in the tunnel this year for me.

A slightly kinked Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:10 – 10:25

(221st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- no obvious "static" Canada Geese seen though they may have been amongst the other geese beside the island.
- still six Mute Swans.
- a drake Goosander and at least 44 brownheads, once again well-scattered and difficult to see all birds at the same time.
- one full adult Great Crested Grebe was seen feeding just one juvenile. No other adults / immatures / juveniles seen. Although the juveniles are probably capable of feeding themselves if they want to I doubt they are fledged. So where have the others gone?
- *now SIX Little Egrets.
- a Chiffchaff in song at the top end and later one singing in squirrel alley. Just perhaps the same bird passing through?

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 26 Jackdaws: of these 24 in one group.

Noted on / around the water:
- 19 Canada Geese
- 26 Greylag Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- 36 (18♂) Mallard
- 45+ (1♂) Goosander
- 6 Moorhens yet again
- 20 Coot
- 1 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe: see notes
- 26 Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Cormorants yet again
- 2 *Grey Herons
- 6 *Little Egrets

Warblers noted:
- 2 Chiffchaffs in song: see notes

Noted around the area:
Again warm sun with an ambient temperature only c.13.0°C

Butterflies:
- 1 *Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 2 Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- >20 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
- 1 Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- 2 *Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax [Tapered Drone Fly]
- 2 *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax [Common Drone Fly]
- 1 Humming Syrphus Syrphus ribesii [Common Flower Fly]

Other true flies:
- 2 "bluebottle" Calliphora sp.
- 1 $ *Muscid fly, probably Polietes lardarius
several other species of fly not identified

Whee! I like this trampoline!

In reality the Grey Heron was just looking for somewhere to land in the trees. The other Grey Heron does not look too happy.

Missed and try again.

Better luck this time?

Now SIX Little Egrets. Two questions arise. Do they ever descend to eat? And how do the new arrivals find where to come?

That's better. With both wings of this Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta at a similar angle to the light the camera shows them as the same shade though still not the red that my eyes see.

A Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax

This example of a Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax shows no pale brown areas on the abdomen. A very variable species.

This speckled fly seems likely to be the Muscid fly Polietes lardarius which is a new species for me.

(Ed Wilson)

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Also at The Flash

I thought I'd share a photo of a Great White Egret that I took at the Flash this morning. It was there from 8am until I left at about 09:30am, mostly stood on one of the closed off bridges. Nice to see one here. I also saw a Kingfisher at 8am fly from the island. 

Great White Egret at the Flash this morning. (Laura Peyton)

(Laura Peyton)

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2013
Candles Landfill Site
1st-winter Yellow-legged Gull
(Tom Lowe)

2008
Trench Lock Pool
1st- winter Mediterranean Gull
c.150 Black-headed Gulls
15 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
Shoveler
(Ed Wilson)