18 Mar 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake, Woodhouse Lane and The Flash

4.0°C > 13.0°C: Fine with just wisps of high cloud to the West. Light mist early. Very light north-easterly breeze. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:18 GMT

* = a species photographed today
$ = a new species for me in this area

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:45 – 06:30 // 07:40 – 09:05

(61st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a trio of Black-headed Gulls dropped in c.08:20 to hawk insects. No other gulls noted.
- of the 88 Wood Pigeons noted flying over 28 of them were in two loose groups flying very high North. There were more I am sure: I had seen a few singles before I realised there was a movement and they were flying so high as to be difficult to find.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Stock Doves
- 88 Wood Pigeons: see notes
- 18 Jackdaws
- 2 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 9 Canada Geese: of these three pairs and a single arrived; the single departed
- 2 Mute Swans
- 14 (9♂) Mallard
- 22 (15♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 26 Coots
- 5 Great Crested Grebes still
- 3 Black-headed Gulls: two adults and a first year
- 3 Cormorants: see notes
- no Grey Heron
- no Great (White) Egret

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 8 (8) Chiffchaffs

Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Shoulder Stripe Earophila badiata

Nothing else on dew-covered poles

Noted later:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 2 Buff-tailed Bumblebees Bombus terrestris

Beetles:
- 2 7 Spot Ladybirds Coccinella 7-punctata

The misty / hazy lake pre-sunrise.

A female Pied Wagtail standing on a rock on the dam. It is the rock that slopes.

Now in full plumage with black bib. On the female the black of the bib does not join with the black head. She has a grey, not black, back (though it seems that older female may have black speckling). Separate from the Continental race/species White Wagtail we may see passing in the next few weeks but the grey on the flanks - pure white in both sexes of White Wagtail.

What a difference a few hours make. This is the dew-covered Shoulder Stripe moth Earophila badiata at 06:00.

By 09:00 the dew had gone and all the markings are revealed.

(Ed Wilson)

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Woodhouse Lane area: 06:30 – 07:40

(1st full visit of the year)

The only inhabitant of the two storm pools was:
- 1 Coot
All the Mallard were flying in to the inaccessible pool in the large field.

Otherwise noted in the area (common garden birds omitted) (the number in brackets refers to birds singing)
- 2 Pheasant: heard only
- 2 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 4 (2) Skylarks
- 3 (3) Song Thrushes
- *3 Meadow Pipits
- 1 Pied Wagtail
- 5 (2) Chaffinches
- c.6 Linnets
- *3 Yellowhammers: 2 males, 1 female (no song)

Also noted:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 1 Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris

A few atmospheric sunrise type photos from the Woodhouse Lane area.

Another.

A third.

Not sure what the Blue Tit had just plucked to eat. Was it the bud itself on a morsel in the tip of the bud?

On the spoil heap from the composting plant I noted several Meadow Pipits. Here is one.

Another. Compare the tone of this bird with...

...this one. All to do with light and shade. As I recall the birds were the same colour in reality.

Good to see Yellowhammers still in the area despite the encroaching housing. A male.

Another almost glowing in the early light.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:10 – 10:40

(60th visit of the year)

New bird species
Highlight of the day was a calling Curlew heard flying West well to the North at 09:15. My first at this site since one on the 23 June 2019. Bird species #57 here this year for me.

Also worth highlighting:

My second-ever *Brimstone butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni here. my previous sighting was on 31 March 2021. Not that unusual I am sure: butterflies mostly start flying after I have departed.

Other bird notes:
- *two adult Great Crested Grebes seen together and later with one on a nest (site?)
- the feeding station had a lone Wood Pigeon present.
- two Siskins at least heard in trees at the top end with several more heard above the feeding station.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Canada Geese: together
- 2 Greylag Geese: together
- 1 Curlew
- 1 Grey Heron
- 3 Jackdaws

Noted on / around the water:
- *19 Canada Geese
- 4 Greylag Geese: these arrived together
- *6 Mute Swans: two pairs were separately "seen off"
- 23 (17♂) Mallard
- 28 (17♂) Tufted Duck
- 12 Moorhens
- 28 Coots
- *2 Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Black-headed Gulls: one adult and two first-year
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: (near?) adult, very briefly

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- *4 (4) Chiffchaffs

Of note around the area:

Butterflies:
- *1 (or 2?) Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 mining bee Andrena sp.
- 3 Buff-tailed Bumblebees Bombus terrestris
- 2 wasps Vespula sp.

Hoverflies:
- *1 Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax

Other flies:
- *1 clusterfly Pollenia sp.
- otherwise very few for some reason

Beetles:
- 2 7 Spot Ladybirds Coccinella 7-punctata

Plant:
- *White Dead-Nettle Lamium album

Somewhere in there a Canada Goose is having a shower!

The resident cob Mute Swan was not happy!

This visiting pair take the hint a leave.

Another pair to go. One leaving...

...and the other. Note this bird is ringed. I cannot read the metal ring on its right leg. All I can make out on the blue (hence Shropshire) Darvic ring on the left leg is '7...' which does not help. Its leg was tucked up in all my other photos of this bird.

The resident cob making sure they leave.

A bit obscured in the dappled shade. One Great Crested Grebe on a nest platform with its partner in close attendance.

An unusual duck: a Wood Pigeon duck! I often see Wood Pigeons at the water's edge taking a bath. I am not sure I have ever seen one in the open water before.

A Chiffchaff with a morsel it has caught.

I don't know about the Chiffchaff but it was making my neck ache trying to follow its antics overhead.

A Song Thrush with a grubby beak. It was but a few feet from a noisy playgroup at Priorslee Academy and seemed oblivious.

My best attempt at photographing the ever-flying Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni. I read that there is some suggestion that this "butter-coloured insect" is the origin of the term "butterfly".

One of the pesky mining bees Andrena sp. again

Very late to be seeing my first hoverfly of the season: a Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax

A clusterfly Pollenia sp., perhaps even the same one as yesterday but with its wings closed to obscure the abdomen markings.

Not a new plant for the year: the flowers of White Dead-Nettle Lamium album that were present throughout December and early-January took a battering from the snow and rain. This is a new generation.

(Ed Wilson)

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2014
Priorslee Lake
2 Gadwall
(John Isherwood)

The Flash
2 Teal
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
2 Lapwing
Green Woodpecker
Linnet
Meadow Pipit
Red-legged Partridge
Stock Dove
(John Isherwood)

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Mediterranean Gull
1 Iceland Gull
4 Great Crested Grebes
5 Wigeon
2 Gadwall
7 Wigeon
21 Tufted Ducks
Chiffchaff
(Ed Wilson/John Isherwood)

The Flash
2 Pochard
1 Greater Scaup
69 Tufted Duck
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
20 Linnets
Meadow Pipit
Fieldfare
Redwing
Lapwing
(John Isherwood)

Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site
1 Caspian Gull
(Tom Lowe)

2010
Priorslee Lake
4 Great Crested Grebe
6 Gadwall
22 Tufted Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
2 Great Crested Grebe
1 Pochard
23 Tufted Duck
1 Ruddy Duck
4 Tufted Duck
1 Green Woodpecker
9 Chiffchaff
1 Willow Tit
4 Buzzard
24 Wren
24 Robin
21 Blackbird
33 Redwing
39 Magpie
6 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson, Martin Adlam)

2006
Priorslee Lake
c.2500 Black-headed Gulls
605 Lesser-black backed Gulls
5 Herring Gulls
3rd Winter Lesser-black backed Gull Larus fuscus race: heuglini (Siberian Gull)
7 Pochard
34 Tufted Duck
6 Great Crested Grebe
2 Little Grebe
1 Cormorant
7 Siskins
(Martin R Adlam)

17 Mar 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

9.0°C > 12.0°C: Low cloud broke earlier than forecast to leave a pleasant Spring morning – out of the fresh southerly wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:20 GMT

* = a species photographed today
$ = a new species for me in this area

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:45 – 09:05

(61st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- two pairs of Canada Geese throughout. Another pair arrived causing much noise.
- no Goosander seen.
- after many weeks with as many as 16 Coots grass-feeding on the dam top there were only three there this morning with many disputing the water in the south-east area instead.
- gulls today:
- 15 unidentified large gulls flew south-east at 06:00.
- 11 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (all apparently adults) flew South at 06:25. Another much later.
- 2 immature Herring Gulls flew North at 08:20.
- 5 Black-headed Gulls (two adults and three first year bird) flew West at 08:30.
- the only Cormorant of the morning went straight to work diving for food and did not appear on the boating platforms at all.
- a Great (White) Egret present much of the time. It is depressing that this large white bird can arrive and depart without me seeing it. What else do I miss?
- the Skylark singing over the fields to the East was heard again.
- no Reed Bunting seen or heard.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 3 Canada Geese: a pair flew North; a single flew West
- 4 Greylag Geese: a pair flew East after circling once; a pair flew West
- 5 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 12 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 15 unidentified large gulls
- 21 Wood Pigeons
- 113 Jackdaws
- 17 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 6 Canada Geese: of these a pair arrived
- 2 Mute Swans
- 10 (7♂) Mallard
- 21 (13♂) Tufted Duck
- no Goosander
- 7 Moorhens
- 25 Coots
- *5 Great Crested Grebes
- no gulls
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Great (White) Egret

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 1 (1) Cetti's Warbler
- 9 (9) Chiffchaffs

Noted on the West end street lamp poles pre-dawn:

Bugs:
- *1 probable Hawthorn Shieldbug Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale

Noted later:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Flowers:
- *Common Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium

My weather apps both suggested it would be late morning before the cloud broke. By 06:25, just as the sun was rising, the cloud was already starting to break.

Typical: yesterday a pair of Great Crested Grebes were displaying at some distance. Today two (a pair?) came close but were only interested in looking for (and failing to find) fish. I am not sure why one has a more chestnut flank. I am not aware of any distinction in plumage between the sexes.

It is that time of the year when the local Common Buzzards are staking out their territory.

At last some sun. A very intent-looking Dunnock.

They may be the archetypical small brown bird but in detail they do not deserve that moniker.

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris apparently admiring its shadow.

Splat!

A very awkward angle on this shieldbug. Certainly not a Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes as suggested by Obsidentify. Where did it get that idea from? I think it is a Hawthorn Shieldbug Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale.

The larger outer petals on this umbellifer identify it as Common Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium. It seems an unusual date to see this species. It often "hangs on" in to Winter. This Winter's snow would have flattened any they were still extant so this has to be an early example from this year.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:10 – 10:30

(59th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the single adult Great Crested Grebe was heard calling: too whom?
- the feeding station had a lone Chaffinch precariously perched.
- one Siskin at the bottom end was the only one noted today.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 6 Wood Pigeons: flew very high North well beyond (my) visual range
- 2 Jackdaws

Noted on / around the water:
- 25 Canada Geese
- 3 Greylag Geese: of these a pair departed
- 2 Mute Swans
- *21 (15♂) Mallard
- 30 (19♂) Tufted Duck
- 7 Moorhens
- 27 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- *1 Herring Gull: first year

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 3 (3) Chiffchaffs
- no Blackcaps

Of note around the area:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *2 mining bees, one possibly Tawny Mining Bees Andrena fulva
- 2 Buff-tailed Bumblebees Bombus terrestris
- *1 unidentified ichneumon

Flies:
- *1 clusterfly Pollenia sp.
- *very many small midges
- other unidentified flies

Beetles:
- >7 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata

Molluscs:
- *a shell of a freshwater mussel, either Swan Mussel Anodonta cygnea or Duck Mussel A. anatina.

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *1 probable Long-jawed orb-weaver spider Pachygnatha degeeri

A pair of likely lads dressed to impress.

I wonder whether this is the same first year Herring Gull. A second year would show a pale grey panel in the centre of the wing and a less contrasting tail-band.

From below Herring Gulls at all ages show the paler inner primaries. Also at this age a Lesser Black-backed Gull would have darker tips to the underwing feathers making the underwing look banded.

It is the time of the year when mining bees are around. I find them a real challenge to identify. The males and females look different and there are very few I feel at all confident about identifying. My best suggestion for this is Tawny Mining Bees Andrena fulva.

I am sure a different mining bee species: but which? It looks longer and proportionally more slender. It is a bee and not a hoverfly because of the long antennae.

An unidentified ichneumon but an intriguing species. Very long antennae; red eyes, orange body. With an ovipositor it has to be a female.

Among many flies that I didn't bother with was this clusterfly Pollenia sp. with the checker-board markings on its abdomen. A hand-lens and a knowledge of the identification key for the genus might have got a full identity for this one.

The currently abundant small midge: this a male. Note the slim body extending beyond the folded wings.

Is this just the female of the same species. No plumes on the antennae of course. Note the stouter and shorter body.

This looks to be a very different midge species with wide banding on the abdomen. No idea as to its identity.

I found this shell lying on the east-side grass. It is a shell of a freshwater mussel, either Swan Mussel Anodonta cygnea or Duck Mussel A. anatina. On size likely the former. I needed to have examined the shape around the hinge to have obtained confirmation. How did it get where I found it?

This looks a good match for the Long-jawed orb-weaver spider Pachygnatha degeeri. The white areas on the abdomen are real markings and not reflections of light. It would be a new species for me. I'll see whether I can get back in contact with the Shropshire spider recorder for his thoughts.

(Ed Wilson)

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2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Bramblings
2 Chiffchaffs singing
(Martin Grant)

Priorslee Flash
2 Shoveler
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
1 Stonechat
3 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2011
Priorslee Lake
1 Wigeon
14 Pochard
25 Tufted Duck
1 Lapwing
2 Sand Martins
26 Greenfinches
23 Linnets
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
2 Cormorants
24 Tufted Duck
1 Kestrel
1 Tree Sparrow
2 Reed Buntings
1 Chiffchaff singing
Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
2 Little Grebe
5 Great Crested Grebe
12 Swan
6 Gadwall
20 Tufted Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Mute Swan nest building
16 Tufted
(Mike Cooper)

The Flash
c.25 Tufted Duck
Chiffchaff singing
(Mike Cooper)

2007
Priorslee Lake
2 Great Crested Grebe
3 Cormorant
12 Tufted Duck
1 Ruddy Duck
2 Kestrel
2 Stock Dove
1 Green Woodpecker
31 Wren
36 Robin
6 Redwing
5 Chiffchaff
2 Willow Tit
44 Magpie
9 Greenfinch
8 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
6 Great Crested Grebe
2 Pochard
33 Tufted Duck
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
2 Chiffchaff singing
1 Redpoll
1 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)