10 Feb 15

Priorslee Lake: 6:19 – 09:15
Map

Telford sunrise: 07:36

3.0°C > 2.5°C Thick and low cloud: very dull. Light NNW wind. Moderate / poor visibility

A very quiet morning with very little moving

(7th visit of the year)

Notes
- 15 of the Canada Geese were unusually flying S soon after dawn: normally the early birds fly E / NE, often well to the N of the lake – as the rest of the birds were doing today. No sign of any Greylag Geese at the moment
- 1 duck Pochard was new in
- the Water Rails were in the N side reeds (heard) and in the NE area (seen): none seen or heard around the Wesley Brook but workmen were in the stream ‘tidying-up’ the reconstructed outflow from the new Academy grounds
- >30 of the Black-headed Gulls unusually arrived from the NE: and at least some of the birds arriving from the W in fact flew straight over and did not stop to bathe
- very few large gulls this morning – and more Herring Gulls than Lesser Black-backs
- the Kingfisher was doing its usual early morning round of the lake: seems not to have needed to move during any of the freezes
- a party of >100 Jackdaws passed unusually far to the W of the lake – beyond earshot and only just visible in the pre-sunrise gloom. Unusually most of another party of c.70 birds paused in the trees near the Teece Drive gate – this was before the workmen started at 07:30
- 4 of the 5 Song Thrushes logged were singing
- a Greenfinch in ‘reeling’ song: my first song of the year from this species
- two Reed Buntings calling at dawn: my first of 2015
and
- with the closure of the footpath along Teece Drive all the street lights along the W end beside the Ricoh factory are again out: so no moths to log at the moment

Counts of birds flying over the lake (therefore in addition to those on / around lake)
- 54 Canada Geese
- 30 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 10 Herring Gulls
- 281 Jackdaws
- 52 Rooks
- 2 Pied Wagtails

Counts of birds leaving roosts around the lake
- 136 Redwings
- >46 Magpies (incomplete count)

The counts from the water
- 2 Mute Swans
- 6 (3♂) Gadwall
- 13 (6♂) Mallard
- 3 (2♂) Pochard
- 32 (16♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Grey Heron
- 9 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Water Rails
- 8 Moorhens
- 138 Coots
- 53 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull

(Ed Wilson)

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Priorslee Flash: 9:19 – 09:59
Map

(6th visit of the year)

Notes
- another duck Pochard but a drake gone
- a Coal Tit in song was my first at this site this year
- a Treecreeper calling from the island was my first in Shropshire this year
- 2 Song Thrushes in song here

Birds counted flying over The Flash
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 13 Herring Gulls

The counts from the water
- 2 Mute Swans
- 12 Canada Geese
- 1 all-white feral goose
- 48 (34♂) Mallard
- 1 feral ducks (white one only)
- 5 (3♂) Shoveler
- 6 (4♂) Pochard
- 28 (18♂) Tufted Ducks
- 7 Moorhens
- 17 Coots
- 81 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Herring Gull

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Lock Pool: 10:07 – 10:54

Map

(4th visit of the year)

Still a little ice here

Notes
- Gadwall new in and my first here this year
- most of Sunday’s Shovelers gone

The counts from the water
- 2 Mute Swans
- 1 Greylag x ? Goose
- 3 Canada Goose
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 3 (2♂) Mallard
- 2 feral Mallard-type ducks
- 2 (1♂) Shoveler
- 45 (16♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Little Grebe
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 11 Moorhens
- 116 Coots
- 76 Black-headed Gulls
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 9 Herring Gulls

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day in 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2014

Priorslee Lake

2014
1st-winter female Velvet Scoter
(Tom Lowe)

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2012
1st winter Glaucous Gull 
1st winter Iceland Gull
Juvenile Iceland Gull
1st winter Yellow-legged Gull
1st winter Great Black-backed Gull
Common Gull
Peregrine
(John Isherwood / Martin Grant / Roger Clay )

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2009
1500+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls
2 Yellow-legged Gulls
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
(Martin Adlam)

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2006
c.1000 Black-headed Gulls
6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
8 Herring Gulls.
(Ed Wilson)