1 Jul 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

14.0°C > 14.0°C: Early cloud to the north-east soon cleared to good sunny periods. More cloud later. Light / moderate mainly north-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:51 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 04:50– 06:00 // 07:05 – 09:50

(151st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- all seven Greylag Geese goslings were trying their wings this morning, managing lift-off for a few yards.
- another new brood of six Mallard ducklings seen early only. No other ducklings seen.
- *to my surprise a single juvenile Great Crested Grebe from the first pair to hatch their young appeared out of the reeds. Where has that been hiding? The other two pairs each with a trio of juveniles were also present and correct.
- a Common Sandpiper seen [a fishermen who arrived yesterday noted one then: the same?]
- an adult Black-headed Gull was present at dawn. By 07:15 a different(?) adult was feeding *two begging juveniles on the boating platforms.
- the warbler update: noticeably less song today.
I visited the Garden Warbler area on two occasions without hearing anything.
a brief burst of a Common Whitethroat song appeared to come from the original south-west location. Nothing seen.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 6 Cormorants: together
- 71 Wood Pigeons
- 5 Jackdaws only
- no Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 4 + 7 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- *34 (?♂) + 6 (1 brood) Mallard
- 3 Moorhens
- 48 Coots: of these at least seven were obvious juveniles from five broods.
- *6 + 7 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 1 Common Sandpiper
- *2 + 2 (1 brood) Black-headed Gulls: see notes
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: very scruffy birds dropped in together, briefly
- 1 Grey Heron: later only

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 6 Swifts

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 8 (8) Chiffchaffs
- 6 (6) Reed Warblers
- 8 (8) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroat

Also noted:
Another high number of butterflies but little else.

Butterflies:
- *2 Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola
- 8 Small Skipper-type Thymelicus sylvestris
- 1 Large Skipper Ochlodes sylvanus
- *8 Green-veined White Pieris napi
- 6 unidentified "whites"
- 1 Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
- 22+ Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus
- *14+ Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
- *9 Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
- 2 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
- *1 Peacock Aglais io
- 1 ! Common Blue Polyommatus icarus (sadly no photo yet!)

Moths:
very poor
- 3 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]
- 1 Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae caterpillar

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- *Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
- Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- ichneumon wasp Amblyteles armatorius
- * $ male ichneumon wasp Ischnus inquisitorius

Hoverflies:
- *Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata
- Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
- Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae [Migrant Hoverfly; Migrant Aphideater]
- Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
- Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis / S. torvus
- *Hornet Hoverfly Volucella zonaria

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
as usual most damselflies not checked.
- Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
- Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans [Common Bluetail]
- Black-tailed Skimmer Orthetrum cancellatum

True flies:
a few including...
- *root-maggot fly Anthomyia procellaris
- Black Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus
- *dagger fly Empis livida
- greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- * $ Large Marsh Horsefly Tabanus autumnalis
other unidentified flies

Bugs:
- Common Froghopper Philaenus spumarius

Beetles:
- Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni : adult and * ! larva
- 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
- *Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva
- *Spotted Longhorn Beetle Rutpela maculata

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
- 1 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]

Cloud to the North and East at sunrise. Clearer for a while thereafter.

The latest brood of Mallard: six ducklings.

Juvenile Black-headed Gulls do not look much like adults with extensive brown, almost ginger, feathering.

It is a long way across the width of the lake. A juvenile "humbug" Great Crested Grebe is making a splash as it tries to keep up with one of its parents. I thought this pair, the first to hatch young, had lost all their three juveniles as I had not seen any for over a week.

 The tips of the antennae are all black so this is an Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola

This is a female Green-veined White butterfly Pieris napi. She has two black spots on each forewing. Males only have one spot on each forewing. Here on Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria.

I mentioned that you can separate Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina from Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus by (among other things) by the number of white dots in the black mark on the forewing. Not when it sits like this you can't! Note here the pattern where the dark and light occur on the underwing of Meadow Brown....

 ...and compare with the stronger marking of Gatekeeper (with two white dots).

Just to prove Meadow Brown only has one dot here is a better posed example.

 Splendid: a Peacock butterfly Aglais io.

A Cinnabar moth Tyria jacobaeae caterpillar. These specialise in feeding on the leaves of Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris that contain toxins poisonous to most caterpillars and larvae. As a result Cinnabar caterpillars are distasteful to most predators. Although there are many ragwort plants around the lake I only ever seem to find the caterpillars on rather scrawny plants growing on the poor soil along the dam top.

A Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius shares the flower of Knapweed Centaurea nigra with two Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva.

Apologies for the poor quality of this photo of a new species for me. It is a male ichneumon wasp Ischnus inquisitorius that was running and flying around at speed. There is enough detail to make an identification with the banded three-tone abdomen, yellow around the eyes and dark and pale areas on the legs.

Like one of the three wise monkeys: "I see no evil". A Bumblebee Blacklet hoverfly Cheilosia illustrata probably cleaning its eyes.

Perfectly harmless. Nectar-feeding Hornet Hoverflies Volucella zonaria just look fierce.

With very neat and distinctive markings on the thorax this should be easy to identify as the root-maggot fly Anthomyia procellaris. It almost certainly is though there are, as usual, similar species.

It is many days since I last saw the dagger fly Empis livida.

A new record for me here. This is a Large Marsh Horsefly Tabanus autumnalis. Only the second species of horsefly I have found here (though I did squash one that was biting me a few days ago). This, with eyes touching, is a male: males do not bite. The females need a blood meal for their eggs.

On a fisherman's bivvy I found this larva of an Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni.

A Spotted Longhorn Beetle Rutpela maculata on Common Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium.

And here on a Butterfly-bush Buddleja davidii (where there were no butterflies).

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

The council workers' efforts were not entirely successful. Some of the scribblings needed at least another coat to obliterate them. And their handy-work has already been defaced.

Moths:
- *2 Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata
- *1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata of the form remutata

Flies:
- 10 midges of several species
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
- 3 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman Phalangium opilio

The ceiling moths today: there were two of these Small Fan-footed Wave moths Idaea biselata...

...and one Riband Wave Idaea aversata of the form remutata.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:05 – 07:00

(148th visit of the year)

The path across the bridges will be shut for the foreseeable future.

Bird notes:
- some of the Canada Geese have taken to visiting the front gardens in Derwent Drive and are good at hiding behind walls and bushes.
- only eight Mute Swans for certain. The best vantage point for seeing as much of the water as possible is not available.
- I did not see any Mallard ducklings again.
- a Great Crested Grebe seen at each end of the water.
- no Grey Heron.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 6 Jackdaws again

Noted on / around the water:
- 164 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- *108 Greylag Geese
- *8? Mute Swans: see notes
- 14 (?♂) Mallard only
- 13 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens again
- *52 adult and immature Coots: five of these obvious juveniles from four broods
- 2 Great Crested Grebes

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

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

Noted around the area:

Butterflies:
- 1 Green-veined White Pieris napi

Moths:
- 5 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]
- 1 Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata
- 1 Treble Brown Spot Idaea trigeminata

Bees, wasps etc.:
none

Hoverflies:
- 3 Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- *2 possible Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus [Broad-banded Aphideater]
- 1 Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
- 2 Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]

Other flies:
none identified

Beetles:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

If you (can) zoom in I think you will find one Greylag Goose; one Mute Swan; one moulting Mallard; and 31 Coots, some of which have paler chests and are therefore immatures.

My first Green-veined White butterfly Pieris napi of the year here. I have usually departed before butterflies are on the wing.

I am not certain of the identity of this one of two hoverflies of the same species apparently asleep a long way up one of the wooden telephone poles near the surgery. My best suggestion is Meadow Field Syrph Eupeodes latifasciatus. A strange place to find them.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)

30 Jun 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

13.0°C > 18.0°C: Early cloud produced a very light shower c.06:00 before clearing to good sunny periods. Clouded again after 09:15. Light, becoming moderate mainly southerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:50 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 04:45– 06:00 // 07:15 – 09:45

(150th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the seven Greylag Geese goslings with two extra adults present.
- yesterday's new brood of two Mallard ducklings now down to just one.
- six adult Great Crested Grebes with two trios of juveniles.
- probably the same adult Black-headed Gull appeared and disappeared several times.
- less early breeze meant fewer Swifts early: about 15. Again not so many later.
- the warbler update:
three of the Reed Warblers were singing from outside the reeds. I still did not manage to see any of them.
I did not hear the Garden Warbler possibly because I did not go close to that area this morning.
both the Common Whitethroats at the West end and along the South side were singing, the former persistently.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 83 Wood Pigeons
- 22 Jackdaws
- 5 Rooks
That's all

Counts from the lake area:
- 4 + 7 (1 brood) Greylag Geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- 30 (?♂) + 1 (1 brood) Mallard
- 2 Moorhens
- 53 Coots: of these at least six were obvious juveniles from four broods
- 6 + 6 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes: as yesterday
- 1 Black-headed Gull
1 Grey Heron: early only again

Hirundines etc. noted:
- c.15 Swifts
- 2 House Martin

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 11 (10) Chiffchaffs
- 111 (11) Reed Warblers
- 10 (8) Blackcaps
- no Garden Warbler
- 2 (2) Common Whitethroats

Also noted:
Many butterflies while to sun was out. Otherwise disappointing

Butterflies:
- *1 ! Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola
- *18 Small Skipper-type Thymelicus sylvestris: by far my largest ever count of this species here. A few of these may also have been Essex Skippers: not all could be checked in detail.
- *4 Large Skipper Ochlodes sylvanus
- *1 ! Small White Pieris rapae
- 4 Green-veined White Pieris napi
- 10+ unidentified "whites"
- 1 Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
- 17+ Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus
- 3 Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
- *7 ! Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
- 2 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Moths:
In the sunny conditions most flushed moths disappeared in to the far distance

- *1 ! Common Knapweed Tortrix Eucosma hohenwartiana [was Bright Bell]
- 5 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- *ichneumon wasp Amblyteles armatorius

Hoverflies:
- *Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata
- Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- *! Furry Dronefly Eristalis intricaria
- Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
- Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corollae [Migrant Hoverfly; Migrant Aphideater]
- *Common Spotted Field Syrph Eupeodes luniger [Lunuled Aphideater]
- *Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta [Long Hoverfly; Common Globetail]
- Syrphus sp. S. ribesii / S. vitripennis / S. torvus

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
Again most damselflies not checked. I am sure there are Azure Damselflies Coenagrion puella somewhere!
- Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
- Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans [Common Bluetail]
- *Black-tailed Skimmer Orthetrum cancellatum
- mating pair of Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum
At least two other species of large dragonfly seen in flight only/

Lacewings and other four-winged flies:
- *Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea

True flies:
a few including...
- Black Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus
- greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- *semaphore fly Poecilobothrus nobilitatus
- * $ rust fly, possibly Psila fimetaria
- *flesh fly Sarcophaga sp., possibly S. carnaria
other unidentified flies

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
- *Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva [Hogweed Bonking-beetle]

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *male harvestman Leiobunum rotundum

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:
Another blank morning

The first skipper butterfly I photographed this morning turned out to be an Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola. Like a Small Skipper T. sylvestris but with the tip of the antennae wholly black.

 Here is a Small Skipper.

And to complete the trio Large Skipper Ochlodes sylvanus with more shading around the wing edges. The vernacular names of this trio are misleading. The Essex Skipper is not confined to Essex and you would need a micrometer to separate Small and Large Skipper on size.

My: what a long tongue you have. Another Small Skipper.

My first confirmed Small White butterfly Pieris rapae of the year. No "veins" on the underwing and can be separated from Large White on size. This is often hard to do in practice and the most obvious distinction is that on Small White the black on the trailing edge of the wing stops before the level of the black wing spot. On Large White the black extends beyond the spot.

My first Gatekeeper butterflies Pyronia tithonus of the year appeared this morning: at least seven. A similar colour to Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina but smaller and crucially it has two white dots in the dark circle in the wing. The Meadow Brown only has one. This is a male, identified by the shading in the centre of the forewing.

A micromoth I see most years: a Common Knapweed Tortrix Eucosma hohenwartiana.

For the third consecutive day I have seen an ichneumon wasp Amblyteles armatorius.

With waving grass somewhat blurring the photo here is a Bumblebee Blacklet Cheilosia illustrata, the only hoverfly of this genus that is easy to identify.

Not a hoverfly I see too often: this is a Furry Dronefly Eristalis intricaria...

...and from this angle shows the typical brown marks of the genus at the top of the abdomen.

A Common Spotted Field Syrph Eupeodes luniger or, as Obsidentify calls it, a Lunuled Aphideater. Note on this species, unlike the Migrant Field Syrph E. corollae, the yellow "lunules" do not wrap around the side of the abdomen but stop at the edge.

A male Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta. This species is most easily spotted by the obvious yellow scutellum (the half-moon shaped area behind the thorax) and the yellow antennae.

Trying to be camouflaged is a Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly Orthetrum cancellatum

Perhaps a vegetarian Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea taking time off from munching aphids and getting nectar from Common Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium.

A well-posed male semaphore fly Poecilobothrus nobilitatus.

Both my apps tell me this is a rust fly. Only Obsidentify names it as Psila fimetaria. It is not shown in either the NatureSpot or eakringbirds photo galleries to allow me to confirm its identity. I am sure I have seen this fly before. I wonder what I identified it as then?

Scary! A flesh fly from the genus Sarcophaga. Out with the microscope to say which particular species if is.

There almost looks to be more individuals but as there are only four antennae this is a mating pair of Common Red Soldier Beetles Rhagonycha fulva. They are clearly botanically challenged as they are not living up to their internet name of Hogweed Bonking-beetle by using Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra instead.

A round body and black surround to the oculum (the eyes on top of the body) indicated this is a male harvestman Leiobunum rotundum. This fully a month earlier than I have recorded this species previously. Has harvest started early?

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

On my return through the tunnel council workers were painting the wall to obliterate the often obscene scribblings of the mindless.

Moths:
- 1 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]
- *1 Common Grey Scoparia ambigualis
- *2 Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata
- *1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata nominate form aversata

Flies:
- 8 midges of several species
- 2 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- *1 cranefly Nephrotoma quadrifaria

Warming its feet on one of the strip-lighting covers was this Common Grey moth Scoparia ambigualis

One of two Small Fan-footed Wave moths Idaea biselata in the tunnel. One on the wall and this one on the ceiling.

On the ceiling I found this Riband Wave moth Idaea aversata of the less common nominate form aversata with the area between the two cross-lines filled in.

For comparison here is a Riband Wave moth of the form remutata taken at The Flash this morning. I was tempted to suggest it was the one I photographed yesterday as it was on the same street lamp pole. When I passed by the pole an hour later it had gone.

The combination of abdomen and wing markings identify this as the cranefly Nephrotoma quadrifaria.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:05 – 07:10

(147th visit of the year)

The path across the bridges still firmly shut.

Bird notes:
- counting the geese was, as always a challenge. With the footbridges closed some had decided to go in to the cut-offs where they were hard to see.
- I think ten Mute Swans. There were eight on the open water and probably two seen around the island at different times. At least neither of these seemed be slumped down as I suspected the previous two days.
- I did not see the duck Mallard with her partly-grown ducklings. *I noted a small group of fully grown birds keeping close-company and all with duck(female)-like plumage suggesting they might be from the same brood. If so where have they come from? Are they able to fly? Some Mallard certainly can and do fly as a very few still appear on roof-tops,
- a small arrival of Tufted Duck. I am not attempting to sex all of them as they go through their moult.
- *Coots have begun their usual post-breeding gathering along the East side of the island, all bunched up (no more testosterone) and hard to count.
- no Great Crested Grebe seen.
- a Grey Heron was on the edge of the island again.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 176 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 116 Greylag Geese
- 10? Mute Swans: see notes
- *19 (?♂) Mallard
- 12 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 Moorhens
- *48 adult and immature Coots: eight of these juveniles from six late broods
- no Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
These appeared overhead as the light shower faded away and were seen no more.
- 3 Swifts
- 3 House Martins

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

Noted around the area:
Conditions were poor at the time I was here.

Moths:
- 2 Garden Grass-moth Chrysoteuchia culmella [was Garden Grass-veneer]
- *1 Riband Wave Idaea aversata form remutata
- 1 Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata
- *1 Swallow Prominent Pheosia tremula

Bees, wasps etc.:
none

Hoverflies:
none

Other flies:
- 1 larva of a mayfly Caenis sp. If the same as yesterday it had moved several feet up the street lamp pole.
- 1 Black Snipefly Chrysopilus cristatus

Beetles:
- 1 Rough-haired Lagria Beetle Lagria hirta

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.

This group of four Mallard were keeping close together and may well be siblings. If so I did not see them growing up from ducklings. Of the right hand trio the back two have pale bills suggesting they will moult in to drakes; the other the pale-edged bill of a duck. I am not sure about the left-most bird. None of them looks to have flight feathers.

At the end of the breeding season Coots congregate on the East side of the island – as here. I make it 19 (and one Mute Swan, likely the resident pen).

I found this Swallow Prominent moth Pheosia tremula where I see a few every year: on one or other of the two street lamp poles in the wooded area top left. This species is bivoltine (it has two generations each year). Since I saw one at the Balancing Lake in April this must be from a second generation specimen.

(Ed Wilson)

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2010
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)