10 Aug 15

Priorslee Lake: 04:59 – 06:30 // 07:25 – 08:50

Location

Telford sunrise: 05:42

16.0°C > 19.0°C. Mostly cloudy with occasional breaks; some very light drizzle. Light / moderate SW wind. Good visibility

After looking at the Belvide blog I am now happy that the ‘large Black-headed Gull’ seen yesterday was in fact a Black-headed x Mediterranean Gull hybrid. At Belvide Steve Nuttall managed to get photos of the bird in flight and this enabled several different Mediterranean Gull characteristics to be noted.

(**** 100th visit of the year ****)

Other notes
- 40 Canada Geese seemed to have roosted here and were on the SW grass, even forcing the resident Mute Swans (and the Mallard) to sleep elsewhere. These birds left more than 10 minutes after the last of the geese flying over
- Mallard duckling seen again
- a pair of Tufted Ducks had appeared after I returned from The Flash
- Little Grebes seem to have gone
- today’s episode in the Great Crested Grebe saga. There were certainly 5 pairs of birds present this morning, four of which had juveniles with 4, 3, 2 and probably just 1 in the broods
- I again specifically counted the Wood Pigeons flying E: today 121. Just 20 were noted flying ‘back’ W later. Today I spent less time watching for these so numbers are probably under-recorded and I will not report further unless the situation changes
- 3 Swifts passed at 05:55. Another flew through at 07:50. Then 6 were with House Martins over the N side trees from 08:10 onwards
- House Martins appeared and disappeared overhead: as they feed flying ‘into wind’ it is often hard to know whether birds are moving through or just local birds feeding
- Willow Warbler heard in song: song heard later was possibly the same bird having moved around the lake
- fewer Reed Warblers again with several of them using the shrubbery behind the reeds to look for food
and
- dragonflies etc. noted: Common Blue Damselfly
- butterflies noted: Small Skipper and Meadow Brown
- three moth species on the lamps: Common Footman, Riband Wave and Common Wainscot – the first and last were new for me this year
- Shaded Broad-bar moth and many unidentified grass moths flushed

Counts of birds flying over the lake (in addition to those on / around lake)
- 7 (3 groups) Greylag Geese
- 242 Canada Geese (17 groups)
- 9 large gulls
- 15 (3 sightings) Feral Pigeon
- c.140 Wood Pigeons – last report
- 363 Jackdaws
- 249 Rooks
- 1 Starling

Count of hirundines etc
- 10 Swifts
- 3 Barn Swallows
- 22 House Martins

The counts from the lake area
- 2 Mute Swans
- 22 + 1 (?♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron
- 10 + 10? (4 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 7 + 13 (6 broods) Moorhens
- 87 + 16 (7 broods) Coots again
- 137 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Not at a very helpful angle but this is a Common Footman moth – grey wings with a narrow yellowish border. My first this year.

This cream moth with a few black dots is a Common Wainscot. Also new for me this year.

And this is another Common Wainscot: rather worn and showing a few dark streaks.

Lurking in the vegetation is a rather faded Shaded Broad-bar, very different from the mauve-tinged fresh specimens seen in early July.

(Ed Wilson)

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Priorslee Flash: 06:40 – 07:15

Location

(73rd visit of the year)

Notes
- 2 Grey Herons together on the W side of the island was unusual
- the latest (last?) Coot family has 3 juveniles – only ever noted 1 or 2 previously
- Willow Warbler heard in song here as well
and
- a dead Pygmy Shrew was noted on a path nearby: this path seems to produce an amazing number of dead small mammals given that I rarely see any elsewhere: why? – I wonder

Birds noted flying over
None

Hirundines etc
- 14 House Martin

The counts from the water
- 2 + 3 Mute Swans
- 27 Canada Geese
- 1 Lesser Canada Goose ssp.
- 1 all-white feral goose
- 33 (23♂) Mallard
- 12 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 all-white feral duck
- 2 Grey Herons
- 3 + 2? Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Moorhens
- 21 + 3 (1 brood) Coots
- 6 Black-headed Gulls

This is a Pygmy Shrew: even though the actual size cannot be judged the fact that the tail is both hairy and >50% of the body length separates this from the Common Shrew and I did not need to check that it had red tips to its teeth!

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day in 2005, 2007, 2009 and  2012

2012

Priorslee Lake
6 Little Egrets

(Ed Wilson)

2009

Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher

(Ed Wilson)

2007

Priorslee Lake
1 Little Egret

(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
Location
Redstart
(John Isherwood)

2005

Priorslee Lake
5 Arctic Terns

(Ed Wilson)