16 Jan 16

Priorslee Lake: 07:01 – 09:43
Location

Telford sunrise: 08:13

-1.5°C > 1.5°C.  Fine: started clear but increasing high and then medium level cloud; light N wind; very good visibility; c.10% ice at the edges of lakes.

(5th visit of the year)

Best records today were

- a drake Teal

- 2 Lapwings over with gulls for a while

Other species new for my site year list were Willow Tit and Grey Wagtail

Other notes

- yesterday’s Goldeneye gone

- a 2nd Little Grebe noted

- now at least 25 Great Crested Grebes must be close to my record count

- several parties of Wood Pigeons seen over fields to the E: Today I heard bird-scarers from here for the first time this winter which was what presumably put these birds up

- rather more gulls this morning: is that all it took – one sharp frost?

- all the 86 Starlings seen leaving roosts did so from the ‘other’ E end

- checked out the traditional Redwing roost this morning and was rewarded with 17 – my highest count of the winter. As a result I was not in position to get accurate roost counts of Magpies or Reed Buntings or see any outbound geese

Counts of birds flying over the lake (in addition to those on / around lake)

- 2 Lapwings

- 35 Black-headed Gulls

- 79 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

- c,250 Wood Pigeons (4 groups)

- >560 Jackdaws

- 23 Rooks

- 8 Starlings (1 party)

- 4 Greenfinches

- c.10 Siskin

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake

- 39 Magpies (see notes)

- 86 Starlings (4 groups)

- 17 Redwings

- 3 Reed Buntings (see notes)

The counts from the lake area

- 2 Mute Swans

- 6 (3♂) Gadwall

- 1 (1♂) Teal

- 16 (8♂) Mallard

- 15 (14♂) Pochard

- 49 (23♂) Tufted Ducks

- 1 Grey Heron

- 2 Little Grebes

- 25 Great Crested Grebes

- 22 Moorhens

- 122 Coots

- 83 Black-headed Gulls

- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull

Pink streaks in the western sky at dawn from a frosty lake

And here is the real dawn sky

The only shot of the drake Teal that I managed with its head out of the water

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On this day in 2006, 2010, 2013 and 2014

2014

Priorslee Lake
4 Great Black-backed Gulls

(Gary Crowder/Ed Wilson)

2013

Priorslee Lake
Drake Scaup
1 adult Yellow legged Gull
6 Great Black-backed Gulls
1 Goldeneye
(Ed Wilson/ Jim Almond / John Isherwood)

2010

Priorslee Lake
Bittern

2006

Priorslee Lake
2 Great Black-backed Gull
1 Yellow-legged Gull
(Ed Wilson)