21 May 16

Priorslee Lake: 07:15 – 09:25
Location

Sunrise: 05:02 BST
13°C > 15°C Low cloud and light drizzle, drying up with cloud lifting and breaking. Light / moderate S wind. Good visibility once drizzle faded away

(81st visit of the year)

Other notes
- just 2 Mallard ducklings seem to have survived so far
- Tufted Duck back again, but very flights
- two single Grey Herons seen high over – possibly the same bird
- all the Swifts and hirundines were coming and going and many more birds are likely to have been involved
- the Kingfisher seen carrying food again: this time it was flying E; last time I saw it flying W. So where is the nest?
- the Garden Warblers seen this morning was in a 4th location for this species this year
- the Reed Warbler in the S side brambles now seems to have moved to the small reed bed along the S side
- just one juvenile Pied Wagtail on the dam today – for the past week an adult and 3 juveniles have been almost resident
and
- a Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata)

Counts of birds flying over the lake (in addition to those on / around lake)
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 1 Canada Goose
- 1 or 2 Grey Herons
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Feral Pigeons (1 party)
- 2 Stock Doves
- 2 Wood Pigeons
- 36 Jackdaws
- 34 Rooks
- 2 Greenfinches
- 1 Goldfinch

Hirundine etc. approximate maxima
- >25 Common Swifts
- 5 Sand Martins
- 4 Barn Swallows
- 6 House Martins

Warblers seen / heard around the lake: numbers in brackets are singing birds
- 1 (1) Cetti’s Warbler
- 7 (7) Chiffchaffs
- 16 (12) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
- 1 (1) Common Whitethroat
- 7 (7) Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 10 (7♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 4 (2♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Little Grebe heard as usual
- 1 Cormorant
- 5 Great Crested Grebes again
- 4 Moorhens
- 20 + 0 juveniles Coots

The cloudscape over the lake as the weather cleared this morning.

This little fellow is a Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata). I find this here most years around this date.

The area of ground disturbed for building the new Academy was sown with grass seed and most of these verges have been regularly mown. One of the verges remains untouched and some of the more unusual plants at the lake are again flourishing. This is Sun Spurge (Euphorbia helioscopia). Note the whole plant is highly poisonous – just the thing to grow outside the Academy ground.

Once again some of the Hawthorn bushes are laden with flower: this one is alongside Teece Drive but I could have chosen others. Hope there will be enough insects around to convert all the flowers in to haws for the Redwings and Fieldfares in the Autumn.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2012
Priorslee Lake
Grasshopper Warbler
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Redshank
Common Tern
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
Cuckoo
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)