16 Jun 16

The Flash: 07:00 – 07:15
Location

Sunrise: 04:44 BST once more – the solstice approaches!

13°C – 14°C Low cloud dull again; occasional mainly light rain. Light N wind. Moderate visibility

(64th visit of the year)

Notes
- the Mute Swans and cygnets tucked up inside island: accurate count of cygnets not possible
- the only Moorhen in the area was one on the grass by the upper pool between The Flash and the lake and outside my count area

Birds noted flying over
None

Hirundines etc. seen here today
None
Warblers seen / heard around the water: numbers in brackets are singing birds
- 1 (1) Chiffchaff

The counts from the water
- 2 + ? Mute Swans
- 11 Greylag Geese
- 174 Canada Geese
- 1 all white feral-goose
- 12 (11♂) Mallard
- 6 (5♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Great Crested Grebe still
- no Moorhens
- 14 Coots again

(Ed Wilson)

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Priorslee Lake: 07:20 – 09:30
Location

(99th visit of the year)
The vegetation is sodden making finding any insects very hard. The birds are generally quietening down

Notes
- only the larger of the two Mute Swan cygnets logged this morning. Fishermen who were present earlier than me told me that both cygnets had been present earlier
- small numbers of Swifts, a single Swallow and a party of House Martin put in only fleeting appearances
- the overflight Starlings seemed to be attending nests in the Priorslee estate: normally Starlings do not have a 2nd brood so these are likely to be replacement broods
and
- disappointing moth catch on the lamps – overcast damp weather is reckoned to be best: all I could find was a single Metzneria metzneriella (aka Meadow Neb)
- 2 Silver-ground Carpet macro moths and 2 Common Marble (Celypha lacunana) micro moths flushed from the grass despite the wet conditions
- single Anthophila fabriciana (Common Nettle-tap) resting on, wait for it: nettles
- single Blue-tailed Damselfly seen at rest on another cool overcast morning
- >10 small Common Toads (Bufo bufo) flushed from a narrow track through large grassy area – may have been dozens in the area

Counts of birds flying over the lake (in addition to those on / around lake)
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 2 Wood Pigeons
- 9 Jackdaws
- 26 Rooks
- 3 Starlings

Hirundines etc. seen here today
- 4 Swift
- 1 Barn Swallow yet again
- 5 House Martins

Warblers seen / heard around the lake: numbers in brackets are singing birds
- 7 (7) Chiffchaffs yet again
- 13 (10) Blackcaps
- 6 (5) Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 1 (2) Mute Swans: see notes
- 14 (10♂) + 2 duckling Mallard
- 9 (6♂) Tufted Duck again
- 7 + 2 Great Crested Grebes again
- 3 Moorhens again
- 37 + 5 juveniles (4 broods) Coots

Another micro moth many feet up on one of the lamps. Seems to be Metzneria metzneriella (aka Meadow Neb).

Good to get a shot of this caddis fly Mystacides longicornis ‘in the flesh’: normally they are either dead in a spider’s web or dancing around the vegetation.

Stilt fly seems an apposite name for this small insect. However I am unsure: it has some characteristics of a crane-fly in the very small head; however the body seems more like a midge.

One of the many small Common Toads (Bufo bufo) seen this morning.

 “What’s eating you?”. This dock (Rumex sp.) leaf is obviously on the menu for something.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)