16 Aug 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

11.0°C > 15.0°C: Mostly cloudy at several levels clearing from the north-west after 08:45 with sun after 09:00. Light north-westerly breeze fell away for a while. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:51 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 04:45– 06:30 // 07:35 – 09:25

(182nd visit of the year)

A very quiet morning with, in particular, many fewer large gulls.

Bird notes:
- no Tufted Duck: perhaps gone to The Flash?
- at least 160 Black-headed Gulls arrived with all of them settling on the water before any of them moved off East.
- a very slow early arrival of Lesser Black-backed Gulls included a trio of Herring Gulls.
- two juvenile Common Buzzards were making begging calls from the Ricoh copse c.06:15.
- two Swifts were briefly over the North wood at 05:50. A lone bird was there briefly c.06:05: a different individual?
- a party of four Barn Swallows flew through c.08:10, likely departing birds.
- House Martin(s) were heard high overhead or distantly (or both) at 06:00. Nothing seen.
- another bumper count of calling Chiffchaffs. No Reed Warblers heard today.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 14 Canada Geese: 11 flew East as two duos and a septet; a trio flew West later
- no Greylag Geese
- 28 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 35 Wood Pigeons
- 16 Jackdaws
- 29 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 36 (?♂) *Mallard
- no Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 45 Coots
- ? Great Crested Grebes: I forgot to log them!
- c.160 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Herring Gulls
- 34 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 (3?) Swifts: see notes
- 4 Barn Swallows
- ? House Martins: see notes

Warblers noted (no song):
- 16 Chiffchaffs
- no Reed Warblers
- 5 Blackcaps

Also noted:
Very few insects had woken up with the late appearance of the sun:

Butterflies:
- 1 Green-veined White Pieris napi

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
- *Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
- *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
just singles of each species

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
none

True flies:
- greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- $ *Tachinid fly Voria ruralis
a few other unidentified flies

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- ! *Furrow Orbweaver Larinioides cornutus [Furrow Spider]
- White Crab Spider Misumena vatia [Flower Spider]: same place as yesterday

Plants:
- $ probable *Trifid Bur-marigold Bidens tripartita

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
- 11 *Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella [was Common Grass-veneer]
a welcome sight: some variety would be nice but then a photo revealed...
- 1 !*Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa (moth species #64 for me here this year)

Flies:
- 1 !*Tephritid or Fruit fly Anomoia purmunda
- 1 *Root-maggot fly

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius [Bridge Orbweaver]
- 2 *harvestmen from the species pair Dicranopalpus ramosus / D. caudatus
- 1 *harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis

Pre-sunrise there was a delicate shade of salmon-pink to the sky.

Later there were shafts of sunlight during the actual sunrise. The white dots between the street lamps in the centre are all Black-headed Gulls.

Not good: rather the (immature?) Mallard than me swimming in the algae-infested water. I warned one of the dog-owners. Too late he said – his dog-walker had let his spaniel in the water last week and he had the large vet's bill to prove it.

It's off to Spec Savers for me (other opticians...). I photographed the Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella on the right. Only when I was editing the photo did I notice part of another moth in the view. Luckily there is enough to identify it as my first Square-spot Rustic moth Xestia xanthographa of the year. A very common species I see most years.

The only bee I saw today was this Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum climbing out of a convolvulus flower.

A well-posed Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus giving an idea of scale perched on a grass stem.

The sun eventually came out and so too did this male Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax.

Another splendidly ugly and hairy fly. It is the Tachinid fly Voria ruralis. A species I have not identified previously.

Not a good photo with the camera flash reflecting off the shiny street lamp pole well before sunrise. The shape indicates a Tephritid or Fruit fly and the distinctive marking on the wing identifies it as Anomoia purmunda. I have only one previous record of this species in the area.

A better photo but no positive ID. One of many similar-looking Root-maggot flies.

I think this spider is a Furrow Orbweaver Larinioides cornutus. It has just caught a small fly and that was probably my fault for flushing the fly.

Another winner for the camera. I was photographing the spider – a Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius – and I now see another Common Grass-moth lurking.

A harvestman from the very distinctive but inseparable species pair Dicranopalpus ramosus / D. caudatus. They are characterised by very long legs usually held bunched at right angles to the body and with very long and forked pedipalps.

My first harvestman Paroligolophus agrestis of the, er, second-winter period. Identify by the noticeable thickening of the legs in the half nearer the body.

I have not noted this plant previously. Obsidentify is 100% sure it is Trifid Bur-marigold Bidens tripartita. NatureSpot cautions that there are other Bidens species (garden escapes?) that are very difficult to separate. I suspect the low water-level has either allowed this plant to flourish in the mud or provided me with easier access to its site.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- 1 *Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata
- 1 *Yellow Shell Camptogramma bilineata

Flies:
- 1 midge
- 1 female Banded Mosquito Culiseta annulata
- 2 cranefly Tipula sp.
- 13 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
- none

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

The fifth Double-striped Pug moth Gymnoscelis rufifasciata I have found here over an eight-week period.

Another Yellow Shell moth Camptogramma bilineata on the ceiling in he tunnel.

Today's puzzle. Animal? vegetable? mineral?

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash: 06:35 – 07:30

(179th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- now 12 Mute Swans.
- five Tufted Duck were new arrivals. Perhaps from the Balancing Lake though there were only four there yesterday morning.
- photos confirmed three Great Crested Grebes: one still sitting; another full adult with the bird near the top end not fully adult.
- only one Cormorant perched in trees on the island; enough "beach" beside the island for three others to dry their wings.
- two Grey Herons with one chased away.
- the Little Egret still here.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 5 Canada Geese
- 12 *Mute Swans
- 27 (?♂) Mallard again
- 5 (1♂?) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 34 Coot
- 3 *Great Crested Grebes
- 29 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 *Cormorants
- 1 *Grey Heron
- 1 *Little Egret

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 House Martins: should there not be family parties overhead by now?

Warblers noted (no song):
- 2 Chiffchaffs
- no Blackcaps

Noted around the area:

Moths:
- 4 Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella [was Common Grass-veneer]

Bugs:
- 1 Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes: third day, trapped in a web

Billy-no-mates was at the other end of the water. Meanwhile the eleven other Mute Swans were having a get-together.

Identification photos: the Great Crested Grebe at the top end has no black-face stripes of a juvenile but is clearly different from...

...this adult near the island where a third bird is sitting on a nest.

Three Cormorants, all immatures, on the beach now the tide has gone out. They have not brought their bucket and spade to make sand-castles.

No wonder the bridge is collapsing with the Grey Heron perching on the hand-rail.

The Little Egret looking mean after I accidentally flushed it from a favourite fishing spot.

(Ed Wilson)

15 Aug 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

14.0°C > 17.0°C: Some early breaks but mostly cloudy. Moderate north-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:51 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– 06:25 // 07:25 – 09:35

(181st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- again the only geese this morning were fly-overs.
- only a single Mallard noted at 05:15. By 09:00 there were 48 including at least three unfledged juveniles.
- a quartet of Tufted Duck today.
- yesterday's apparently lone and previously unseen juvenile Great Crested Grebe was close-by an interested adult today.
- at least 125 Black-headed Gulls were scattered on the water by 05:10. Two groups flew directly over soon after.
- the early arrival of Lesser Black-backed Gulls was later than the last few days and birds were flying from the West after 05:05 until 05:40 in a scattered and continuous stream. Until c.05:30 all flew over: thereafter some visited the lake for a drink and wash. At least 220 flew straight over with c.70 on the water. As far as I could see there were no Herring Gulls with them: certainly no (near) adults, with some of the first year bird indeterminate in the low light. Two Herring Gulls visited later. Otherwise it was small numbers both over and visiting briefly.
- no Swifts seen.
- a Ring-necked Parakeet was calling from the Ricoh area again.
a male (on size) Peregrine was seen powering away to the West c.08:50
- a Kingfisher heard flying across the water.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 10 Canada Geese: 8 flew East as a single and two quartets; a duo flew West later
- 1 Greylag Goose: flew East
- 53 Black-headed Gulls
- >225 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Stock Dove
- 94 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Peregrine
- 42 Jackdaws
- 40 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- no geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- 48 (?♂) *Mallard: see notes
- 4 (3?♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens again
- 48 Coots
- 6 + 9 (5 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- >125 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 88 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Herons
- 1 Kingfisher

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 House Martins

Warblers noted (no song):
- 14 Chiffchaffs
- 3 Reed Warblers
- 4 Blackcaps

Also noted:
Only a few more things on a cloudy morning:

Butterflies:
- 1 unidentified butterfly in flight only

Moths:
- 1 Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella [was Common Grass-veneer]

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
- *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
- *Common Copperback Ferdinandea cuprea [Bronze Sap Hoverfly; Eurasian Copperback]

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
none

True flies:
- $ *Muscid fly Lispe tentaculata or similar
- greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- *cluster fly Pollenia sp.
a few other unidentified flies

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- *White Crab Spider Misumena vatia [Flower Spider]

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
- 2 Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella [was Common Grass-veneer]

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

As good as it got with cloud spilling in from the West to eventually cover the sky.

A small group of Mallard caused me to double-check their identity. They were spinning around in a group with bills on or slightly under the water, reminiscent of the behaviour of Shoveler ducks. The photo confirms from the bill pattern that these are both drake Mallard. They are in the so-called "eclipse" plumage they acquire after the breeding season and when they become flightless as they moult their wing feathers. They need to be less conspicuous. A few new adult feathers are visible - the breast of the left-hand bird has some.

These Mallard were conspicuously slightly smaller than usual. Note the wings folded on the back barely go beyond half-way. They are immatures but where were they hiding as ducklings?

A Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris explores one of the street lamp poles pre-dawn. Why do they do this?

A Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax

A Common Copperback hoverfly Ferdinandea cuprea against the white background of a convolvulus petal.

Obsidentify says "unknown fly, mosquito etc." Not strictly "unknown", more "unidentified" by Obsidentify despite the spotting on the abdomen flanks. Google Lens put me on the right track with the Muscid fly Lispe tentaculata with NatureSpot adding the caution of "similar confusion species" in the genus.

This is a cluster fly from the Pollenia genus. I cannot say which species. Too many look-a-likes.

A White Crab Spider Misumena vatia also known as a Flower Spider. It will surely have a long wait for a prey-item to stumble past. There were very few insects around this morning.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
- 1 *Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella

Flies:
- 2 midges
- 2 female Banded Mosquito Culiseta annulata
- 1 *caddis fly Limnephilus lunatus
- 1 *cranefly Tipula sp.
- 17(!) *moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
- none

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

Yet another Brown House-moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella. The markings differ slightly from the example I noted two days ago,

I inverted the photo for easier viewing. It is the caddis fly Limnephilus lunatus. A typical caddisfly shape with long antennae pointing forward and wings held tent-wise over the body. This species is unusual in having distinctively marked wings. Many species have plain wings when the arrangement of spurs on each pair of legs needs to be checked to obtain specific identification.

With or without the camera flash I could not obtain enough detail on this cranefly on the ceiling of the tunnel to go beyond Tipula sp.

A moth fly Psychodidae sp. Since there were seventeen this morning I felt I ought to photograph one of them. Several looked smaller than others but then there are about 100 different species, none of which is separable from photos.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash: 06:30 – 07:20

(178th visit of the year)

Bird notes:

Surprise this morning was finding *two Little Grebe here. This is a species I have yet to record this year at the Balancing Lake though I noted bird(s) here frequently in January and February.

Other bird notes:
- 13 Mute Swans: one then departed.
- no sign of yesterday's Little Grebes: not too surprising as this shy species would not be too impressed with the fishermen.
- perhaps three Great Crested Grebes: one still sitting; another full adult close-by at the bottom end; also a full adult near the top end that could well have been a different bird. Not easy to be sure when the water in not visible as I walk along the path through the wood.
- two Cormorants perched in trees on the island; another fishing in the water.
- one Grey Heron only
- the Little Egret was present again.
- a Ring-necked Parakeet was heard yet again. I will only report this in future if behaviour changes.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 6 Canada Geese
- 13 Mute Swans: one of these departed
- 27 (?♂) Mallard again
- 6 Moorhens
- 31 Coot only: where were the others?
- 3? Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 24 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Little Egret

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

Warblers noted (no song):
- 4 Chiffchaffs
- 2 Blackcaps

Noted around the area:

Moths:
- 1 Common Grass-moth Agriphila tristella [was Common Grass-veneer]
- 1 *Dun-bar Cosmia trapezina

Bugs:
- 1 Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes : as yesterday, trapped in a web

This is a Dun-bar moth Cosmia trapezina. A faded specimen with the "bar" neither obvious or particularly "dun" coloured. The shape of the two cross-lines that enclose the "dun" area are diagnostic.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Little Egret
Common Sandpiper
Common Gull
Hobby
Wheatear
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Yellow Wagtail
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

14 Aug 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

19.0°C > 23.0°C: Broken cloud with good sunny spells. Calm start with a light, even moderate, westerly breeze developing. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:49 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– 06:15 // 07:20 – 09:30

(180th visit of the year)

New bird species:
New for my 2026 bird list from here was a Ring-necked Parakeet heard calling from or behind the Ricoh copse alongside Teece Drive. Almost certainly the bird I heard a few minutes previously (and on many days recently) at The Flash. My species #92 here in 2026.

Other bird notes:
- the only geese this morning were a few eastbound groups.
- 19 Mallard flew off East at 05:30 together.
- a pair of Tufted Duck today.
- an apparently single previously unseen juvenile Great Crested Grebe.
- Grey Heron(s) coming and going.
- as yesterday the gull totals quoted are likely to be under-recorded. When I arrived Lesser Black-backed Gulls were calling from the inside / overhead the Ricoh grounds and while I was checking the West end street lamp poles at least 80 flew low over going East. As soon as I could see the water there was none of these visible on the water but there was c.100 Black-headed Gulls scattered about. Thereafter more Lesser Black-backed Gulls arrived in dribs and drabs and then at least 100 arrived from the West and South c.05:30. Only a handful arrived later. Among all these I noted noted a single Herring Gull.
- a single Swift was over the North wood by 05:45 and still there c.06:00. None was seen later.
- even fewer Jackdaws and Rooks were noted flying by on roost dispersal.
- a Willow Warbler was heard to sing once from the West end. It is always a puzzle that males (I presume) of this species sing when they are on return/Autumn passage but that the outwardly similar Chiffchaffs never do, only call.
- a Reed Warbler was heard calling in the West end reeds.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 28 Canada Geese: flew East together
- 5 Greylag Geese: flew East together
- 10 Black-headed Gulls
- >100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron
- 64 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Jackdaws only
- 11 Rooks only

Counts from the lake area:
- no geese
- 2 Mute Swans
- 25 (?♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) *Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 38 Coots
- 6 + 9 (5 broods) *Great Crested Grebes
- >100 Black-headed Gulls
- no Herring Gulls
- >180 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 *Grey Herons

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 Swift: see notes
- 4 Barn Swallows
- 4 House Martins

Warblers noted:
- 1 Willow Warbler: sang once
- 9 Chiffchaffs
- 1 Reed Warbler
- 6 Blackcaps

Also noted:
A few more things noted this morning:

Butterflies:
- 5 *Green-veined White Pieris napi
- 2 unidentified "whites"

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Honey Bee Apis mellifera
- *Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum
- *Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
- *Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
- Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
- *Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
- *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
- *Dead-head Hoverfly Myathropa florea [Common Batman Fly]
- *Wasp Plumehorn Volucella inanis [Lesser Hornet Hoverfly]
- *Pellucid Fly Volucella pellucens [Pied Plumehorn; Great Pied Hoverfly]

Damsel / Dragon-flies:
- *Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]
- Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta

True flies:
- greenbottle Lucilia sp.
- Flesh fly Sarcophaga sp.
- *Tachinid fly Tachina fera
a few other unidentified flies

Bugs:
none

Beetles:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
none

On the West end street lamp poles around dawn:

Moths:
- 1 *Common Masoner Blastobasis adustella [was Dingy Dowd]

Bugs:
- 3 *Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes

Photos of the sunrise from two locations this morning. #1

Even more colourful at #2.

One of the Tufted Duck was clearly a drake.

The other a juvenile or duck (female). The white on the face and the absence of any, even vestigial, "tuft" on the hind-crown might suggest a duck (Grater) Scaup. However on that species the edge of the white on the face would be aligned more vertically and extend above the bill on to the forehead. Also the highest point of the crown would be behind the eye. (There is always the remote possibility of a hybrid but we won't go there unless you have a DNA kit handy!)

A puzzle: this juvenile "humbug" Great Crested Grebe is smaller than any juveniles in the broods I have seen before. There were several adults nearby, none taking any particular interest and there were no other juveniles that seemed to be part of the same brood.

Interesting. The adult Great Crested Grebe with the fish by-passed the three begging juveniles on the right to feed it to the one on the left. Does this mean they keep track of which juveniles have been fed and do not necessarily give food to whomever ever is closest or begs loudest?

Looking distinctly mean is this arriving Grey Heron.

A good view of a Green-veined White butterfly Pieris napi.

A Common Masoner moth Blastobasis adustella on one of the street lamp poles pre-dawn. My first of the year here though I have seen two in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel.

After struggling in the hot days to find any insects I did better this morning and managed some close-ups. Here a Honey Bee Apis mellifera tucks in.

Climbing out of a convolvulus flower is a Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum. It has a very ginger or orange "pile" of hairs on the thorax and a pure white tail.

A very typical Common Carder Bee B. pascuorum with a pale "pile" and white banding in the tail.

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee B. terrestris.

 A male Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax.

Altogether broader in the abdomen is this female Common Dronefly E. tenax

A Dead-head Hoverfly Myathropa florea tries to look camouflaged on the Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris. I suppose I can just about see why it also known as a Common Batman Fly.

A Wasp Plumehorn Volucella inanis. I previously noted that all three obvious body segments are yellow unlike the Hornet Hoverfly V. zonaria (or Hornet Plumehorn) where the uppermost segment is orange. On that species that upper segment is not divided as it is here.

A Pellucid Fly Volucella pellucens.

This seems to be a female Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum but there are some puzzling features. There is a rufous form of females of this species: this one shows some red as well as blue in the eyes; and the abdomen is almost wholly black.

This more typical blue form of the female shows blue around the black areas on the abdomen segments.

What a splendid fly! It is the Tachinid fly Tachina fera.

Worth another look.

Among the debris at the top of a street lamp pole was this, one of three, Red-legged Shieldbugs Pentatoma rufipes on various poles.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

No report: torch failure!

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash: 06:20 – 07:15

(177th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
Surprise this morning was finding *two Little Grebe here. This is a species I have yet to record this year at the Balancing Lake though I noted bird(s) here frequently in January and February.

Other bird notes:
- 13 Mute Swans again.
- one Great Crested Grebe still sitting. I heard a bird calling when I was out of sight of the nest and then later noted *an immature in the middle of the water.
- what were presumably the same three Cormorants seen circling overhead on two occasions.
- two Grey Herons, one flying off.
- no Little Egret.
- a Ring-necked Parakeet was heard again, calling at some distance.

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

Noted on / around the water:
- 10 Canada Geese: four of these flew off together
- no Greylag Geese
- 13 Mute Swans
- 27 (?♂) Mallard
- no Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 46 Coot
- 2 *Little Grebe: as highlighted
- 2 *Great Crested Grebes: see notes
- 21 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: departed
- no Cormorants
- 2 Grey Heron
- no Little Egret

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 House Martins

Warblers noted (no song):
- 3 Chiffchaffs
- 1 Blackcap

Noted around the area:

Moths:
- 1 *White-streak Grass-moth Agriphila latistria [was White-streak Grass-veneer]

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

Bugs:
- 1 *Hawthorn Shieldbug Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale
- 1 *Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes

The two Little Grebes I noted this morning. The fading rufous tones on the neck suggest post-breeding adults. The left bird also shows a hint of the yellow at the base of the bill that is present in the breeding season. There would be at least remnants of face stripes if these were juveniles.

Very distant and hence none too clear. This is the Great Crested Grebe that was not sitting on the nest. It seems to have a facial stripe, albeit brown rather than black, suggesting it is a well-developed first-winter bird from an early brood this year.

Typically at the very top of a street lamp pole was this grass moth. It looks to me as if the white streak extends undivided along the length of the folded wing and hence it is a White-streak Grass-moth Agriphila latistria.

Also at the very top of a street lamp pole was this Hawthorn Shieldbug Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale. It seems to have succumbed as it was trying to break free from its entanglement in the spider's web with wings sticking out from under the elytra.

A Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes seems also to be ensnared in a web.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
Wheatear
(Ed Wilson)