14 May 16

Priorslee Lake: 07:15 – 09:25
Location

Sunrise: 05:12 BST
6°C > 9°C Cloudy start, brightened later. Light / moderate NNE wind. Very good visibility. Feeling much fresher than of late

(76th visit of the year)

Very quiet on the water with most things in lower numbers

Notes
- one of the fishermen reported a dead baby Coot floating on the water: I searched all the likely spots today but failed to find any new broods
- lots of Swifts and hirundines throughout with birds sometimes low over the water and at other times high overhead. Exactly how many birds and of which species was hard to judge. Numbers reported are ‘conservative’
- the same fisherman reported a visual sighting of Kingfisher which confirms my thoughts after I heard what sounded like one calling in flight. Still raised the question of where it might be nesting
- the Green Woodpecker was flying the ‘other way’ high over the lake today – from SE to NW
- a Pied Wagtail is collecting food from the dam and taking it only a short distance S over the M54
and
- a Streamer moth on one of the street lamps

Counts of birds flying over the lake (in addition to those on / around lake)
- 6 (5♂) Mallard
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 5 Herring Gulls
- 7 Feral Pigeons (1 party)
- 4 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Green Woodpecker
- 2 Jackdaws
- 4 Rooks
- 1 Starling

Hirundine etc. approximate maxima
- >20 Common Swift
- >20 Sand Martins
- >5 Barn Swallows
- >20 House Martins

Warblers seen / heard around the lake: numbers in brackets are singing birds
- 1 (1) Cetti’s Warbler
- 9 (8) Chiffchaffs again
- 16 (14) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
- 2 (1) Common Whitethroat
- 5 (6) Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 5 (3♂) +5 (1 brood) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Little Grebe heard
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Moorhens
- 19 Coots
     

A Swallow, a male judging by the length of the tail streamers, resting on top of one of the masts in the Sailing Club compound.

A closer-up view that misses the tail and the streamers but shows the red throat.

The best from my attempts to photograph the Swifts over lake: at least we can see the pale throat and the dark eye-socket.

The duck Mallard with the 5 surviving ducklings.

This attractively-patterned moth is called Streamer.

This is Red Campion (Silene dioica or Melandrium rubrum – it gets real confusing when even scientific names vary!). These flowers can be seen pretty much any time of year – with no hard frosts last winter I saw a few stragglers in to February. These are fresh specimens.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day in ...........

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
Hobby
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
Black-tailed Godwit
3 Whimbrel
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Common Tern
5 Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson)