Location
Telford sunrise: 06:36
10.0°C > 15.0°C clear with a few thin wisps of cloud and rather hazy. Light SE breeze; moderate, even fresh, at times later. Moderate visibility becoming good
More signs of autumn with 3 Shovelers and 3 immature / female Teal at the lake and a Wigeon over. Also 5 Siskins over the lake; and the first Redpoll of the autumn over The Flash
(113th visit of the year)
Other notes
- the geese were all headed N (rather than NE or E) and were too far away to specifically ID and to count accurately. At least 300. Just 2 Canada Geese veered off and paused at the lake
- just 3 Teal this morning, but today with 3 Shoveler. The Shoveler seemed not to be the same as those seen Wednesday as none had the pale crescent mark on the face. Even using a telescope I was unable to sex / age these birds as they stayed as far away from the edges as possible
- no hirundines until 08:20: all birds seemed to just pause and then move on S / SE and were likely migrants
- I managed to locate two different flight lines of Pied Wagtails leaving a roost this morning and amassed a creditable total of 30 birds. Back-projection of the flight lines suggests they may have all started at the far side (from me) of the Ricoh grounds / factory
- 9 Chiffchaffs (2 in song) and 3 Blackcaps again were the warblers located here today
- 4 Siskins together over c.07:00: a single heard at c.09:00
and
- 2 Pipistrelle-type bats
- no dragonflies or butterflies
- as befits the ‘National Moth Night’ when we are all counting and submitting records of moths there were none on the lamps or in the Priorslee Avenue foot tunnel! I did however flush a single Pleuroptya ruralis (or Mother of Pearl) which then went and hid in a clump of its food-plant: nettles
Counts of birds flying over the lake (in addition to those on / around lake)
- >300 geese (>18 groups)
- 1 Wigeon
- 11 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Feral Pigeons
- 208 Jackdaws again!
- 202 Rooks
- 1 Starling
- 30(!) Pied Wagtails
- 5 Siskins
Count of hirundines etc
- 3 Barn Swallows
- 25 House Martins
The counts from the lake area
- 2 Mute Swans
- 2 Canada Geese
- 3 (?♂) Common Teal
- 28 (14+♂) Mallard
- 3 (?♂) Shoveler
- 7 (1♂) Tufted Ducks
- 3 Grey Herons
- 3 Little Grebes
- 6 + 8 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 11 + 13 Moorhens
- 185 Coots
- 61 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls again
Rather hazy start to the morning again.
(Ed Wilson)
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Notes
- a correction / clarification of the Mute Swan situation after discussion with the locals and information from the ‘keeper of the Swan ringing records’ Martin Grant. The resident pair and parents of the cygnets were cob yellow 52F and pen blue 7HJJ. Early this week another two birds arrived. For the first day they all spent their time chasing each other, leaving the cygnets audibly distressed. Exactly which sex all these birds were and who was chasing whom is largely conjecture as they never came close enough to allow the rings to be read. By Tuesday what were probably two pens seemed to have reached some accommodation and were together, with the cygnets, on the island: while the other two (cobs?) continued a less energetic chase. By Wednesday one of the birds had gone – not sure which. Then as from yesterday (Thursday) the resident pen 7HJJ and a new cob Blue 7IDV seem resident. This new bird was ringed as an adult in July 2009 in the West Midlands but in the last two years has frequented Holmer Lake, just down the A442. With mum still being around then the cygnets stand more of a chance of being taught to fly, but today the two adults were having little to do with each other and the cygnets were doing their own thing again
- the House Martins flew through in two groups and seemed not to be birds from the estate area
- 5 Chiffchaffs (1 in song again) and 2 Blackcaps (also 1 in sub-song) were the warblers logged here. It is rather unusual for Blackcaps (and other Sylvia warblers – Whitethroat, Garden Warbler etc.) to sing in autumn though (male) Phylloscopus warblers (Chiffchaff, Willow Warblers etc.) will often do so until the end of October
Birds noted flying over
- 1 Redpoll as highlighted
Hirundines etc
- 12 House Martins
The counts from the water
- 2 + 3 Mute Swans
- 2 Canada Geese
- 1 all-white feral goose
- 28 (18♂) Mallard
- 30 (12♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 all-white feral duck
- 2 Grey Herons again
- 2 + 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Moorhen
- 17 Coots
- 5 Black-headed Gulls
(Ed Wilson)
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On this day in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2014
2 Snipe
Wheatear
3 Raven
Wheatear
3 Raven
(John Isherwood/Ed Wilson)
2010
Priorslee Lake
Priorslee Lake
1 Hobby
1 Sedge Warbler
3 Swift
2 Teal
1 Meadow Pipit
1 Sedge Warbler
3 Swift
2 Teal
1 Meadow Pipit
(John Isherwood)
2008
Priorslee Lake
Priorslee Lake
Black Tern
Kingfisher
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)
2007
Priorslee Lake
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)