18 Sep 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 14.0°C: Clear to the East with high cloud soon spreading from the West, tending to fade away somewhat later. Moderate south-westerly breeze fell away almost calm. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:48 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:45 – 09:20

(212th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- *"our" single Mute Swan was driven off by a pair of new arrivals.
- a (Common) Teal was seen circling over at c.06:50 and then leaving to the West. I assume it was on the water before that.
- still nine Tufted Duck.
- over 150 Black-headed Gulls were present by 06:35. Today as many departed to the East as headed for the football field where I counted 94 c.07:00.
- another small arrival of Lesser Black-backed Gulls early: 26 noted. After 08:00 I counted 116 arriving from the East mostly in two large groups. Nine Herring Gulls were among them. Strangely not a single gull was seen flying over.
- Cormorants were coming and going and then apparently returning. I think five individuals involved.
- three Barn Swallows flew high West at 07:20. Then after 07:50 there were eventually as many as 15 over the water. There could have been more individuals involved as numbers varied and some might have moved on and been replaced.
- I counted eight House Martins flying higher over the water than most of the swallows.
- just 15 Chiffchaffs with only two tempted to sing.
- a single calling Blackcap heard.
- probably more Rooks than I have logged. Passage was prolonged today with birds passing from 06:35 until after 08:20. Any that passed while I was around the football field would not have been recorded.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 18 Feral Pigeons: two groups flew high East
- 1 Stock Dove
- 25 Wood Pigeons
- 260 Jackdaws
- 99 Rooks: see notes

Counts from the lake area:
- 3 *Mute Swan: a pair arrived; a single departed: see notes
- 15 (♂?) Mallard
- 9 (2?♂) Tufted Duck again
- 7 Moorhens
- 51 Coot
- 16 Great Crested Grebes again
- >150 Black-headed Gulls
- 7 Herring Gulls
- 145 *Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 5? *Cormorants: see notes
- 1 Grey Heron

Hirundines etc. noted:
- >18 Barn Swallows
- >8 House Martins

Warblers noted:
- 17 Chiffchaffs: of these two in song
- 1 Blackcap: no song

Also noted:
Very little.

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris: the nest was active and others were on the Ivy

Fungus:
- *Twiglet species Tubaria sp.

On the West end street lamp poles before dawn:

Moths:
none

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

True flies:
- 2 female plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- 1 *wood gnat, perhaps Sylvicola fenestralis

Beetles:
- 1 *Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *Common House Spider Eratigena atrica
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius [Bridge Orbweaver]

Another sunrise worth getting out of bed for.

High cloud spreading from the West ahead of rain. Mallard, Tufted Duck and Coot dot the water.

The rising sun lights up a dead contrail that has been blown out of shape by wind in the upper atmosphere.

A pair of newly-arrived Mute Swans soon get to work chasing off "our" erstwhile resident pen. Seven Lesser Black-backed Gulls of various ages in the foreground.

Here she – 7JUE – goes. After circling she flew off East. A few minutes later probably the same bird flew West – East.

A hopeful winter-plumaged Black-headed Gull. I am not sure what it would do with the fish if it managed to persuade the Cormorant to drop it.

The Cormorant trying to get the fish the right way around to...

...go down head-first.

This is a wood gnat and probably Sylvicola fenestralis which seems to be the only species in the genus with black spots on the wing tips as well as elsewhere in the wings.

A confused Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni. That is a street lamp pole not an alder leaf.

A Common House Spider Eratigena atrica. One of two species from different genera that share the same colloquial name. This sighting was another instance of something appearing on the street lamp poles on "my way back" from checking them in one direction. I wonder what my log would be if I were to walk up and down all night?

Obsidentify suggests these fungus are one of the Twiglet species Tubaria sp. I have no better ideas.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

A very poor showing.

Moths:
none

True flies:
- 17 midges
- 1 unidentified cranefly
- no moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
none

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

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:45

(209th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- just a single immature/female Tufted Duck.
- at least 28 brownhead Goosander. They were split in to four groups, with some often hiding under overhanging vegetation.
- at least three full adult, one immature and four dependent juvenile Great Crested Grebes today. As I arrived two birds were paling U-boats with only one showing long-enough to age it – an adult. Was the other bird recorded later or was it an additional bird?
- a *Little Egret was present again.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 59 Canada Geese: of there two arrived and 10 departed
- 6 Mute Swans remain
- 37 (22?♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Tufted Duck
- 28 (0♂) *Goosander
- 6 *Moorhens
- 28 Coot
- 4+ 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe: see notes
- 19 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants
- 3 Grey Herons
- 1 *Little Egret

Warblers noted:

None

Noted around the area:
Cloudy so many fewer insects than yesterday

Butterflies:
none

Moths:
- 1 ! *Box-tree Moth Cydalima perspectalis

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 3 Honey Bees Apis mellifera
- 4 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
- 1 *White-clubbed Glasswing Scaeva pyrastri [White-bowed Smoothwing; Pied Hoverfly]

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 harvestman from the species pair Dicranopalpus ramosus / D. caudatus

"So I said to him...". Gossiping Goosanders.

Moorhen plumage is subtle when seen well with greys and browns as well as the black that predominates.

Compare with a juvenile.

Zoomed in we see the bill is just beginning to show a hint of the red shield it will acquire over the next few months.

Oops. I accidentally flushed the Little Egret.

Here, justifiably, complaining.

A Box-tree Moth Cydalima perspectalis. Only my second in Shropshire and moth species #51 for me at The Flash this year. This species is native to SE Asia and was probably accidentally imported by the horticultural trade. It quickly spread across the country. The caterpillars wreak havoc with Box Buxus trees and shrubs in the UK where there are no natural predators.

Not my best but the hoverfly was a long way up a street lamp pole in squirrel alley. It is what Steven Falk names White-clubbed Glasswing Scaeva pyrastri; what Obsidentify calls White-bowed Smoothwing and everyone used to call Pied Hoverfly.

(Ed Wilson)

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2007
Priorslee Lake
Common Gull
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

17 Sep 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

13.0°C > 16.0°C: Rain ceasing as I arrived. Then cloudy until more rain at c.07:00. After 08:45 brightening up with clear skies ahead of puffy clouds forming. Moderate south-westerly breeze. Very good visibility except during rain.

Sunrise: 06:46 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:45 – 09:20

(211th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- back to a single Mute Swan.
- probably more Mallard than my count suggests: there was much flying about earlier.
- now nine Tufted Duck.
- gulls were all different today (why?). I noted just two Black-headed Gulls by 06:30 and c.90 by 06:45. This was the approximate number that flushed off the football field c.07:00 with 44 of them settling back before they were spooked again. There seemed to be no dog (walkers) to cause them any concern today.
- just 22 Lesser Black-backed Gulls arrived early with about the same number flying directly over. After 08:00 I counted 109 arriving from the East to wash and drink before moving on. Four Herring Gulls were among them.
- two Cormorants made visited together but did not stay. A trio flew over.
- at least ten Barn Swallows were hunting in the lee of trees c.08:30 and were presumably different birds from the trio that flew South at 07:55.
- just 15 Chiffchaffs with six heard singing.
- two Blackcaps were singing with another calling only.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 27 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants: together
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 22 Wood Pigeons
- 194 Jackdaws
- 81 Rooks

Counts from the lake area:
- 1 *Mute Swan
- 10 (5?♂) Mallard only
- 9 (2?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 55 Coot
- 16 Great Crested Grebes
- c.90 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 *Herring Gulls
- 131 *Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Cormorants: arrived and departed
- 2 Grey Herons: one arrived; both departed?

Hirundines etc. noted:
- >13 *Barn Swallows

Warblers noted:
- 15 Chiffchaffs: of these six in song
- 3 Blackcap: of these two in song

Also noted:
Almost nothing with the sun only just emerging on wet vegetation:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris
- *European Hornet Vespa crabro

Hoverflies:
- Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax

Other true flies:
- 1 Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
two other unidentified species of flies noted.

On the West end street lamp poles before dawn:

Moths:
none

Bees, wasps etc.:
none

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

True flies:
- 1 female plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- 1 *male Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii
- 1 *cranefly with long banded antennae

Springtails:
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type

Bugs:
- 1 *Common Froghopper Philaenus spumarius

Arthropods:
none

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *spider possibly from the Steatoda genus.

The Mute Swan would not come completely out of the water so I had to get close-enough to read the ring through the water. Martin Grant has confirmed the details of this bird: it is a female (pen) born here in 2020 and she has been paired with an unringed male (cob) for the last two years after they usurped the surviving pen from her parents' pairing. No cygnets have been seen either year. Where the cob has gone who knows. It seems unusual that a pen on her own would see off invaders as she did on Tuesday.

Right of centre is a more-or-less adult Herring Gull. The others are all immature / first-winter gulls that can be a nightmare to identify. Easier when they are flying and the upper-wing and tail patterns are visible. Look at the two closest and then note the set of feathers in front of the pointed tail. On the near bird there is almost no white edging whereas the other bird shows clear white tips. I think that makes the nearer bird a Lesser Black-backed Gull and the other a Herring Gull. But... I would not like to postulate on the others.

 It is the upper-wing that I needed to see but the bird just right of centre is surely a Herring Gull.

One of about ten Barn Swallows hunting over the water. This one, apparently a juvenile still with a gape line, perched on top of a very tall tree. If it was waiting to be fed it was unsuccessful.

A shady area of Ivy had many Common Wasps Vespula vulgaris feeding. Among them I noted this European Hornet Vespa crabro. I retreated!

A Common Green Lacewing Chrysoperia carnea. This species over-winters as an adult and does so having changed the body colour to brown to match the leaf litter in which it hides.

This looks to be a cranefly with exceptionally long and banded antennae. I cannot find anything that matches this.

Male Spotted-winged Drosophila Drosophila suzukii may be small flies (3mm to 4 mm) but their distinctive black wing-tips make them easy to ID. Females with plain wings are harder.

A Common Froghopper Philaenus spumarius also known as a spittlebug. This species is the culprit behind cuckoo-spit in May – it is the way the larvae protect themselves.

What I believe to be a male Laceweb spider Amaurobius sp.

Both Obsidentify and Google Lens suggested this spider is from the Steatoda genus. They differed as to which species. Checking both against NatureSpot's gallery then nothing seemed an obvious match. I know that with many species of spider shape is more important than abdomen markings but...

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
none

True flies:
- 13 midges
- 1 *unidentified fly, probably from the Muscid family
- 1 *unidentified cranefly
- no moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]

Arthropods:
- 3 Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber again

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *probable Laceweb spider Amaurobius sp.
- 1 Stout Sac Spider Clubiona sp.
- 1 Long-jawed Orb-web Spider Tetragnatha sp.
- 7 Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata [Silver-sided Sector Spider]

This fly looks to have a brown tinge to its wings and I thought it might be possible to identify it. But no: it is nevertheless probably a member of the large Muscid family [the green is some of the idiotic childish scribbling on the wall].

Much like a female plumed midge Chironomus plumosus but the thorax has a different pattern. NatureSpot notes "[this] is a large and difficult family, with only a small proportion identifiable from photographs".

The more spiders I see the more confused I get. This may, or may not, be another Laceweb spider Amaurobius sp.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:45

(208th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- I have some (third-hand at least) information about the apparent juvenile Mallards. They were brought here "in a bag by a lady" a few days ago. I have no information on where from or why.
- yesterday's two Tufted Duck (likely a pair) were supplemented by a trio of immatures/ducks today.
- 21 brownhead Goosander confirmed.
- just two full adult Great Crested Grebes and the four dependent juveniles. One of the juveniles looked to be begging for food from a passing Goosander!
- a *Little Egret was present until the two Grey Herons had a dispute just where it was perched. It departed!

Bird(s) noted flying over here:

None

Noted on / around the water:
- 80 Canada Geese: of there 14 arrived (and 54 earlier according to one of the fishermen)
- 6 Mute Swans again
- 36 (19?♂) Mallard
- 5 (1?♂) Tufted Duck
- 21 (0♂) Goosander
- 7 Moorhens again
- 19 Coot
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe
- 23 *Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons
- 1 *Little Egret

Warblers noted:
- 2 Chiffchaffs: no song

Noted around the area:
Amazing what a bit of sun can do even before the Ivy is in flower.

Butterflies:
- 1 Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
- 1 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Moths:
- 1 Chevron Grass Moth Agriphila geniculea [was Elbow-stripe Grass-veneer]

Bees, wasps etc.:
- 8 Honey Bees Apis mellifera
- 1 *Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
- 6 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

Hoverflies:
- 1 Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
- 1 *Humming Syrphus Syrphus ribesii [Common Flower Fly]
- 1 *Orange-belted Leaf Licker Xylota segnis [Orange-belted Leafwalker]

Damselflies:
- 1 $* Willow Emerald Damselfly Chalcolestes viridis [Western Willow Spreadwing]

Other true flies:
- 1 Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
several other unidentified species of flies noted.

Bugs:
- 1 *Dock Bug Coreus marginatus

Beetles:
- 1 7 Spot Ladybird Coccinella 7-punctata
- 1 *Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis var. spectabilis

One of the fishermen alerted me to this first-winter Black-headed Gull repeatedly diving in to a sheltered area of calm water and...

...emerging with a small fish, here held by the tail...

 ...and, magically, here held by the body.

Terrible lighting: full sun on a white bird standing against a dark background. The yellow feet is enough to confirm this is a Little Egret.

Long-tailed Tits are always worth a photo.

This bumblebee was not very cooperative but did show the key feature of a Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius.

A Syrphus hoverfly and a female so of course the hind leg is not visible to enable identification to the species-level...

...but is here, showing extensive yellow on the hind leg and identifying it as Humming Syrphus Syrphus ribesii or if you prefer Common Flower Fly.

Not an ichneumon because it does not have long antennae. It is the hoverfly Orange-belted Leaf Licker Xylota segnis also known as Orange-belted Leafwalker. This is my first record from The Flash though I see this species every year at the Balancing Lake.

My find of the day. This seems to be a Willow Emerald Damselfly Chalcolestes viridis which Obsidentify calls Western Willow Spreadwing no doubt because all emerald damselflies rest with their wings half-open. This is my first sighting of any emerald damselfly and not something that I expected to find on a street lamp pole at the bottom of squirrel alley. I worry slightly that the abdomen looks too robust for this species. Reference to Jim Almond's excellent web site here suggests that only Downy Emerald Cordulia aenea occurs in Shropshire and females of that species do have a broader abdomen. Yet my photo shows no "down" and that species is not noted to be on the wing after late July. I read that Willow Emerald Damselfly was first recorded and the UK at Felixstowe in 2007 and has spread rapidly throughout the country. Jim's web site is dated 2012 so it is quite likely the species was not in Shropshire at that time but is now.

The sun was in an awkward position. Here is another view. Sadly it did not stay any longer.

On much safer grounds with this Dock Bug Coreus marginatus!

A Harlequin Ladybird Harmonia axyridis of the form spectabilis with two red spots on each elytra, the front one with black intruding in to the red.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Ravens
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
2 Wheatear
6 Raven
(John Isherwood)

2008
Priorslee Lake
1 Snipe
3 Common Sandpipers
149 Greenfinch roost
89 Pied Wagtails
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Pintail
(Ed Wilson)

16 Sep 26

Priorslee Balancing Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 15.0°C: Broken cloud with some sunny spells. Shower c.08:00. Moderate westerly breeze. Very good visibility except during shower.

Sunrise: 06:44 BST

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

Priorslee Balancing Lake: 05:45 – 09:25

(210th visit of the year)

I am not sure what work Severn Trent undertook yesterday but neither of the bridges has been touched and the equipment has gone.

Bird notes:
- back to a single Mute Swan.
- now eight Tufted Duck.
- c.300 Black-headed Gulls were present by 06:30. Many set off toward the football field but none was there at 06:55. Probably spooked by the more than usual number of free-running dogs.
- I have only a very approximate idea of the number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls that visited early. Birds were heard calling as they arrived by 05:50. At least 100 were on the water by 06:20 with several large groups still arriving from the West. They were continually put to flight by the two Grey Herons flying around. A very small proportion of them seemed to be flying over though it is possible they circled back around. A conservative estimate is c.400.
- a few large gulls visited later with just one of them a Herring Gull.
- two *Cormorants made separate visits.
- a lone Swift was over Castle Farm Way c.08:15
- a party of five Barn Swallows flew high South at 07:20. Then during the shower c.08:00 at least a dozen birds arrived from the East to feed over the water.
- a bumper count of 23 Chiffchaffs with seven heard singing.
- a single Blackcap was singing, this from a different location to any other recent songsters.
- a Song Thrush was heard calling at 06:00. It just about a month since I last saw or heard one here. Despite double-figures of singing birds during the breeding season they remain surprisingly elusive at other times. There will probably be more visible when the hawthorn berries are declared edible.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 2 Canada Geese flew East together
- 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 26 Wood Pigeons
- 170 Jackdaws
- 64 Rooks
- 2 Pied Wagtails

Counts from the lake area:
- 1 Mute Swan
- 13 (?♂) *Mallard only
- 8 (2?♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 51 *Coot
- 18 Great Crested Grebes again
- c.300 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull
- >400 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 *Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1 *Swift
- >17 Barn Swallows

Warblers noted:
- 23 *Chiffchaffs: of these seven in song
- 1 Blackcap singing

Also noted:
Almost nothing with wet vegetation:

Bees, wasps etc.:
- Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

On the West end street lamp poles before dawn:

Moths:
- 1 *! Rhomboid Tortrix Acleris rhombana

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

True flies:
- 2 female plumed midge Chironomus plumosus
- 1 *Meiosimyza rorida in the family Lauxaniidae
- 1 *wood gnat, perhaps Sylvicola fenestralis [or window gnat]

Springtails:
- 1 springtail Orchesella cincta
- 1 springtail Pogonognathellus longicornis-type

Arthropods:
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede Tachypodoiulus niger

Spiders, harvestmen etc.:
- 1 *Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius [Bridge Orbweaver]
- 1 *Neriene sp. probably N. montana

One of my apps said 0% chance of rain during my time at the lake. Wrong! I remarked to several folk that the colours on the outer bow of double rainbows has the colour sequence reversed. Most of them did not know that.

A Cormorant displays its wings. (Bits of) four drake and two duck Mallard are visible as well as an out-of-focus Coot.

 I did not expect to see a Swift this late in the year.

Many Chiffchaffs around again today and for a change a few were showing well enough for photographs. Here is one of six in the same area just opening its wings...

...to fly away.

A more cooperative individual. This angle accentuates the thin bill.

And another, the best of the bunch?

Later the sun came out and a different set of Chiffchaffs were showing.

Another.

A Long-tailed Tit inspecting a twig for small edible creatures.

Another looking pensive.

A new moth species for my year list. This is a Rhomboid Tortrix Acleris rhombana and an unusually rufous yet plainly-marked specimen. This species normally shows a network of lines on the wings and these are barely evident, mainly toward the front of the left wing. Moth species #69 for me here this year.

An ichneumon wasp and a male is about all I tell you here.

A small orange fly with no distinguishing marks is almost certain to be Meiosimyza rorida.

This is a wood gnat, perhaps Sylvicola fenestralis sometimes called window gnat. This genus is difficult to separate visually though the presence of dark spots at the wing tips is strongly indicative of this species.

Hanging by a thread! A Bridge Orb-web Spider Larinioides sclopetarius

Another spider on the street lamp poles was this Neriene species probably N. montana.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Moths:
none

True flies:
- 9 midges
- 1 moth fly Psychodidae sp. [Drain Fly or Owl Fly]
- 1 unidentified cranefly

Arthropods:
- 3 Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber

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

Not much of interest in the tunnel this morning so here is one of the ten Missing Sector Orb-web Spider Zygiella x-notata.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:30 – 10:45

(207th visit of the year)

Highlight
*Highlight here was the brief sighting of a Hummingbird Hawk-moth Macroglossum stellatarum during a short sunny period. Amazingly this is the same date as my only sighting of this species here (or anywhere else) last year.

Bird notes:
- five of the six Mute Swans made short flights along the water.
- another bumper number of *Mallard including apparent juveniles
- two Tufted Duck again.
- 25 brownhead Goosander confirmed. Harder to count today as they were in several diving groups.
- again three full adult Great Crested Grebes and the four dependent juveniles.

Bird(s) noted flying over here:
- 1 Jackdaw

Noted on / around the water:
- 26 Canada Geese
- 6 Mute Swans
- 45 (?♂) *Mallard
- 2 (1?♂) Tufted Duck
- 25 (0♂) Goosander
- 7 Moorhens
- 18 Coot
- 3 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe: again
- 21 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants: of these two departed separately
- 2 Grey Herons

Warblers noted:
- 3 Chiffchaff: no song

Noted around the area:

Butterflies:
none

Moths:
- 1 *! Hummingbird Hawk-moth Macroglossum stellatarum

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

Hoverflies:
- 1 *Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax

Other true flies:
- 1 ! *Muscid fly Graphomya maculata
- 1 Flesh fly Sarcophaga sp.
several other unidentified species of flies noted.

Fungus:
- *a Boletes likely from the genus Xerocomellus.

Very strange. These seven all look to be immature Mallard yet to grow their full set of flight feathers. So where have they come from? It is ages since I last saw any immatures. Another oddity is that looking at their bills they are all drakes.

One in close-up.

Highlight of the day: the Hummingbird Hawk-moth Macroglossum stellatarum. I count myself very lucky to have seen this as there were no flowers in the area and the moth was just flitting about briefly before zooming off.

Another view. It is moth species #50 for me here this year.

A pensive but friendly Robin.

A Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum probably from a second generation at this date. It is certainly several weeks since I last saw one. Note the ginger "pile" on the thorax often, as here, with a tendency to have a bald middle. The tail of this species is pure white.

A Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum feeding on a Fuchsia flower. On this species the thorax pile is browner and the white at the rear is banded.

A Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax during a brief sunny period.

A more or less a random shot of a "fly" revealed this muscid fly Graphomya maculata identified by the distinctive pattern on the thorax.

Another fungus. As usual it look not quite like any of the suggestions from the apps. It is certainly a Boletes and likely from the genus Xerocomellus.

This view of an adjacent fruiting body tends to confuse and not help.

An oddity. A bird's nest, species unknown, that has fallen (been pushed by a Grey Squirrel?) out of a tree. I marvel at the intricacy. I could not make this with my two hands and ten fingers. How birds can do it with just a bill and two feet is a wonder.

(Ed Wilson)

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2013
Priorslee Lake
Ringed Plover
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Nuthatch
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)