6 May 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

7.0°C > 8.0°C: Cloudy apart from a sliver of clear skies to the north-east that was making only slow progress. Light north-easterly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:28 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:20 – 06:30 // 07:25 – 09:25

(108th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- *the seven Greylag Geese goslings still doing well.
- *just two well-grown Mallard ducklings seen.
- all the gulls seen today were fly-overs.
- a few changes in the warblers:
just the two Sedge Warblers along the South side noted
again seven singing Reed Warblers with one bird still singing from the scrubby area between the South side path and the M54.
a Garden Warbler was singing only briefly near its traditional nesting area in the tallest bushes alongside the M54.
three singing Common Whitethroats noted: at the usual nest site; one halfway along the South side; the third at the West end alongside the footpath.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 5 Canada Geese: tow pairs and a single flew West
- 2 Greylag Geese: a pair flew South
- 1 Herring Gull
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Stock Doves: together again
- 2 Wood Pigeons only
- 1 Jackdaw

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese arrived and departed
- *4 + 7 (1 brood) Greylag Geese; the resident family was periodically joined by one (or more?) pairs
- 2 Mute Swans
- 10 (8♂) + *2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 9 (6♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 18 Coots only
- 6 Great Crested Grebes
- *1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
Minimum numbers as birds swirled around
- *8 Swifts
- 15 Sand Martins
- *8 Barn Swallows
- 2 House Martins

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 15 (14) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (2) Sedge Warblers: see notes
- 7 (7) Reed Warblers
- 19 (17) Blackcaps
- 3 (3) Common Whitethroat: see notes
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler: see notes

On the West end street lamp poles post-dawn:
It remains very disappointing:

Flies:
- *1 Muscid (House Fly) perhaps Phaonia subventa.

Noted around the area later:
Very little in the overcast conditions with temperatures below the magic 10°C

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 "black ant"

Other flies:
- *probable Common Orange Legionnaire Beris vallata
- *Fever-fly Dilophus febrilis
- Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria
- other unidentified flies

It was overcast when I arrived and I was taken by surprise that a sliver of clear sky to the East was producing a colourful sunrise.

I was slightly late scampering(?) in to the best position for a reflection in the water.

All say "ah!". The seven Greylag Goose goslings were happy with their parents on the dam top with myself and several fishermen in close attendance.

Another pair of Greylag Geese seemed to want to join the family but were unhappy about our presence.

One put its undercarriage down on the next pass.

The pair still thinking about it.

Undercarriage up and away.

Two well-grown Mallard ducklings with a few adult feathers beginning to show.

My friend the Grey Heron hiding in the new-growth reeds again. A Reed Warbler was singing from about a foot behind the heron.

About the best of a poor bunch of photos of a Swift. A good job I am using a digital camera. Had I still been using film I would be bankrupt will all the discarded photos of empty frames and blurred images.

Ditto Barn Swallow.

A "black ant" I found walking along the hand-rail of the boxing ring on the dam.

This fly is probably a Common Orange Legionnaire Beris vallata. There are several similar species: this is the most likely on date and location.

Not an insect I have recorded previously: I think a Fever-fly Dilophus febrilis.

The only creature on any of the street lamp poles around dawn was this unidentified fly, probably from the Muscid (House Fly) family. The wing shape suggests a Phaonia species and the orange abdomen suggests P. subventa. However that species has bold stripes on the thorax.

Not new for the year. I took this photo of Cowslips Primula veris in their usual location. However genuine wild Cowslips have the flowers in a "nodding one-sided cluster" and I do wonder whether these are a (cross with a) garden-escape cultivar.

(Ed Wilson)

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Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Flies:
- 4 midges of at least two species
Nothing else!

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:35 – 07:20

(105th visit of the year)

New bird species
- *a drake Gadwall was noted partly buried in the vegetation at the top end. Strangely this is my first of this species in the area this year of what was becoming an increasingly frequent and sometimes long-staying "Winter" visitor.
- a Garden Warbler was singing quietly, also at the top end. This species held territory for many weeks a few years ago. I mostly record it as a one-day bird and then not every year.
This year's species total for me moves on to #67.

Other bird notes:
- two pairs of Greylag Geese took to the air in quick succession. I think one of these was the pair that arrived a few minutes later.
- five visiting Mute Swans seemed to have overwhelmed the resident cob. As a result none was seen flying and I was unable to checked whether any of them was ringed.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Herring Gulls: second year birds together
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult

Noted on / around the water:
- 14 Canada Geese
- 4 Greylag Geese: see notes
- 7 Mute Swans: (assuming the resident pen hidden on the nest): see notes
- 17 (14♂) Mallard
- *1 (1♂) Gadwall
- no Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 17 Coots only
- 2 Great Crested Grebes

Hirundines etc. noted:

None

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 6 (6) Chiffchaffs: why so variable?
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
- 5 (4) Blackcaps

Notes around the area:

Flies:
- *St Mark's Fly or Hawthorn Fly Bibio marci
- *Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria
- *2 unidentified midges

Other things:
- Common European Earwig Forficula dentata

Flowers:
- *Welsh Poppy Papaver cambricum

Across the width of the water I espied a drake Gadwall. The white speculum caught my eye. It is just possible to make out the chestnut tone of the feathers on the back and some spotting on the grey breast.

Both my apps suggest this hairy fly is a St Mark's Fly or Hawthorn Fly Bibio marci and they may well be correct. I just don't recall them being as large as this one.

A female and hence not very yellow Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria trying to stay camouflaged on a lichen-covered street lamp pole.

There were several of these unidentified midges on the street lamp poles.

A Welsh Poppy Papaver cambricum.

(Ed Wilson)

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2012
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
10 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2008
Nedge Hill
5 Wheatear
Yellow Wagtail
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Hobby
1 Common Sandpiper
1 Cuckoo
2 Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson / Martin Adlam)

Nedge Hill
1 Ring Ouzel
4 Wheatear
(Arthur Harper)

5 May 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

8.0°C > 12.0°C: Clear early. Cloud bubbled up after c.09:00 and mostly cloudy by 09:45. Moderate north-westerly breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:30 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:15 – 06:25 // 07:30 – 09:55

(107th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- the seven Greylag Geese goslings remain.
- a group of seven Mallard ducklings seen. These were not very new but certainly hatched since I last noted any here.
- seven drakes were still chasing one female Tufted Duck. No others seen today.
- the Great Crested Grebes were all out on the water today: it was the Coots that were hiding.
- one Common Sandpiper noted.
- no gulls seen today.
- a few changes in the warblers:
now two Sedge Warblers along the South side. One songster still beside of the path just inside the Castle Farm Way gate.
seven singing Reed Warblers one of which was singing from the scrubby area between the South side path and the M54: a strange location.
a Garden Warbler was singing from its traditional nesting area in the tallest bushes alongside the M54.
*two Common Whitethroats neither around the usual nest site. One was halfway along the South side, the other at the West end alongside the footpath.
- *in addition to five Starlings passing over the football field on food collection duty I noted five doing the same on the grass alongside the upper pool between the lake and The Flash. I cannot recall seeing any there previously.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 12 Wood Pigeons
That's all!

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese throughout
- 2 + 7 (1 brood) Greylag Geese throughout
- 2 Mute Swans
- *9 (8♂) + 7 (1 brood) Mallard
- 9 (8♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Moorhen only
- 19 Coots only
- 6 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Common Sandpiper
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 6 Swifts
- 8 Barn Swallows

Warblers noted (the number in brackets refers to birds singing):
- 14 (13) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (3) Sedge Warbler again: see notes
- 8 (7) Reed Warblers: see notes
- 20 (17) Blackcaps
- *2 (2) Common Whitethroat: see notes
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler: see notes

On the West end street lamp poles post-dawn:
Disappointing again:

Flies:
- *1 probably long-legged fly Scellus notatus

Noted around the area later:

Butterflies:
- 4 Orange-tip Anthocharis cardamines: all males
- 1 Green-veined White Pieris napi
- 2 Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria

Caterpillar:
- *unidentified caterpillar – butterfly? moth? sawfly?

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *Orange-tailed Mining Bee Andrena haemorrhoa aka Early Mining Bee
- *Red Mason Bee Osmia bicornis
- *sawfly Aglaostigma fulvipes

Hoverflies:
- *Buttercup Cheilosia Cheilosia albitarsus
- Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax
- *Common Spotted Field Syrph Eupeodes luniger [Lunuled Aphideater]
- Chequered Hoverfly Melanostoma scalare [Long-winged Duskyface]
- *probable Tuberculate Stripe-back Parhelophilus frutetorum
- *Humming Syrphus Syrphus ribesii [Common Flower Fly]
- Syrphus sp.

Dragon- / damsel-flies:
- *Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum [Common Bluet]: my earliest date for this species – one day earlier than 2025 which was my earliest.
- *Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula

Other flies:
- *dagger fly Empis tessellata
- Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria
- *Tachinid fly Tachina fera
- *cranefly Tipula sp.
- other unidentified flies

Bugs:
- *Red-and-Black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata

Alder Flies and allies:
- Alder Fly Sialis lutaria

Beetles:
- *Soldier beetle Cantharis nigricans: my earliest date for this species
- 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
- *unidentified leaf beetle

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

New flowers for the year
- *Yellow Flag Iris pseudacorus
- *Prickly Sow-thistle Sonchus asper
- *Bush Vetch Vicia sepium

A clear start to the day.

Mrs. Mallard with her seven ducklings.

A local Common Buzzard cruises over Teece Drive.

Not one but two poor photos of male Common Whitethroats. This one (just about recognisable) was along the South side and taking Poplar "fluff" - the dispersing seeds – probably as nest lining.

And the other one diving for cover beside the West end footpath.

One of the five Starlings collecting from the grass alongside the upper pool toward The Flash. They all seemed able to find easily the grubs they were collecting.

An unidentified caterpillar with its life hanging by a thread.

This I believe to be a female Orange-tailed Mining Bee Andrena haemorrhoa aka Early Mining Bee. The "orange-tail" gas mostly worn away as has much of the rufous hair that once covered all the thorax. I have no idea why the hind legs are so "powdery" Perhaps pollen? The photos on Steven Falk's Flickr pages do show some individuals with some fluffy rear legs but nowhere near so extensive as this one.

A head-on view of the same bee.

I have recorded more Red Mason Bees Osmia bicornis this year than previously.

This seems to be the sawfly Aglaostigma fulvipes. A new species for me.

And again, here showing more clearly the red band across the abdomen.

Obsidentify is 100% sure this a Buttercup Cheilosia Cheilosia albitarsus. The Cheilosia group is "difficult". Checking with Steven Falk's Flickr pages I am happy with this identification.

A Common Spotted Field Syrph Eupeodes luniger. The Obsidentify name of Lunuled Aphideater refers to the shape of the yellow marks and the preferred food of the larvae.

Another hoverfly from a difficult group. On date and location it is probably a Tuberculate Stripe-back Parhelophilus frutetorum. This group is unusual in that on the males (this is one) the eyes do not meet.

 A female showing the rear leg clearly and confirming she is a Humming Syrphus Syrphus ribesii.

A male Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum. This is my earliest date for this species – one day earlier than 2025 which had been my earliest. Many species of damselfly acquire their colour over several days after their emergence.

It has been a good year for Large Red Damselflies Pyrrhosoma nymphula.

Perhaps my best-ever photo of the dagger fly Empis tessellata.

The only creature I found on the West end street lamp poles around dawn was this probable long-legged fly Scellus notatus.

I am sure its mummy loves it! A Tachinid fly Tachina fera [of course in reality its mother is long-since dead after laying one of dozens of eggs that became a larva before it emerged as this fly]

Close up and personal with a cranefly Tipula sp. I cannot find any species illustrated on the internet with a red area around the base of the legs.

Splendid: a Red-and-Black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata

The soldier beetle Cantharis nigricans: my earliest date for this species.

Very odd: I suppose it is one of the many leaf beetles. It looks all scrunched up.

It is that time of the year when Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp. can be seen among the vegetation hanging in their webs.

There has been a good crop of Dandelions Taraxacum sp.!

All the Yellow Flag Iris pseudacorus were along the base of the dam. I am sure I can do better in a few days when some closer flowers emerge.

I can confirm that Prickly Sow-thistle Sonchus asper of prickly.

Usual caveat: I am not a botanist but I think this is Bush Vetch Vicia sepium.

(Ed Wilson)

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Noted in the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Flies:
- 10 midges of several species
- *1 unidentified cranefly

Arthropods:
- 1 Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber

This looks an "easy" cranefly to ID. I am sure it is a Tipula species. The features tend toward one of the Autumn-flying species so I am confused.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:30 – 07:25

(104th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- a single unringed visiting Mute Swan chased away.
- only the Great Crested Grebe on the nest platform seen
- a Long-tailed Tit party along the East side included juveniles.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 19 Canada Geese
- 9 Greylag Geese: of these a trio departed
- *3 Mute Swans: see notes (the pen assumed to be present on the nest)
- 19 (17♂) Mallard
- 3 (3♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens only
- 18 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebes

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 House Martin

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

Notes around the area:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- *1 unidentified braconid wasp

The visiting Mute Swan.

The resident cob making it quite clear visitors are not welcome.

The only insect I noted here was this unidentified braconid wasp. There are almost 1500 species of this part of the ichneumon group in the UK. Identification is a challenge!

(Ed Wilson)

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2012
Wrekin
Several Pied Flycatchers
2 male Common Redstarts
2 Wood Warbler
3 male Tree Pipits
(Glenn Bishton)

2011
Priorslee Lake
2 Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
1 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2007
Nedge Hill
2 Wheatears
(John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)