18 Jun 16

The Flash: 07:00 – 07:20
Location

Sunrise: yet again 04:44 BST – and then the mornings start to get darker!

13°C – 14°C again: Scattered low cloud under high overcast. Light NNW wind. Very good visibility

(66th visit of the year)

Notes
- the Greylag Geese seem to be still mobile with birds seen flying in and out. The Canada Geese seem to be here to moult, though not sure whether they are flightless at the moment
- the extra Tufted Duck perhaps birds from the lake (where there were none this morning)
- no Moorhens here but a bird seen at the lower pond alongside the path between The Flash and the lake
- only 1 of yesterday’s new brood of 3 Coot noted
- family party of Nuthatches along the path below squirrel alley

Birds noted flying over
- 1 Jackdaw(!)

Hirundines etc. seen here today
- 5 Common Swifts
- 3 House Martins

Warblers seen / heard around the water: numbers in brackets are singing birds
- 3 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Blackcap

The counts from the water
- 2 + 6 Mute Swans
- 43 Greylag Geese
- 168 Canada Geese
- 10 (8♂) Mallard
- 8 (6♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- no Moorhens
- 14 +1 (1 brood) Coots

(Ed Wilson)

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

Priorslee Lake: 07:25 – 09:25
Location

(101st visit of the year)

Notes
- the 2 Mallard ducklings flew quite strongly when flushed – not fully fledged but close
- Great Crested Grebes, as usual, confuse. No sign of the juveniles and I do not think I saw their parents but what were the two birds doing building a nest in the SW area? All the other five were in their normal N / NE area
- a new brood of two juvenile Coots this morning. 12 adults were seen congregating on the SW grass and this suggests that for these, at least, the breeding (and fighting) season is over
- a Blackcap, Garden Warbler and Common Whitethroat were singing within a few feet of each other – confusing!
- a Coal Tit singing – my first noted singing here since 28 May. Unlike most tit species Coal Tits sometimes have a second brood and this is likely what has provoked it to sing again
and
- no moths on the lamps
- a single micro moth flushed from the vegetation this morning but has so far eluded identification
- no damselflies seen
- very many Mystacides longicornis (caddis flies) dancing over the waterside as usual
- 2 7-spot Ladybirds noted
- a sawfly and a caddis-fly both apparently new for me: neither fully identified

Counts of birds flying over the lake (in addition to those on / around lake)
- 4 Cormorants (single + 3 together)
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 3 Feral Pigeons (1 group)
- 2 Stock Doves (singles)
- 1 Wood Pigeon only
- 8 Jackdaws
- 65 Rooks

Hirundines etc. seen here today
- 10 Swift
- 1 Barn Swallow
- 2 House Martin

Warblers seen / heard around the lake: numbers in brackets are singing birds
- 6 (6) Chiffchaffs
- 12 (10) Blackcaps again
- 2 (2) Garden Warblers again
- 2 (1) Common Whitethroat
- 6 (3) Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 1 Mute Swans
- 10 (7♂) + 2 duckling Mallard
- 1 Grey Heron
- 7 Great Crested Grebes
- 5 Moorhens
- 39 + 7 juveniles (5 broods) Coots

This small moth is proving troublesome: provisionally ID-ed as Elachista canapennella (aka Little Dwarf), but it also looks a bit like an Argyresthia sp. Will have to pend it unless anyone can help.

It is interesting to see how spiders seem capable of snipping the wings and legs from damselflies and presumably eating just the bodies.

This seems to be a sawfly sp. probably of genus Macrophya. But I cannot find an exact match on the web.

Quite alarming from this viewpoint! A crane-fly.

From another angle: probably Tipula lunata.

A bonus: I took the photo of the Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis) and had not noticed the small weevil. The weevil is likely Apion pomonae which is typically associated with vetches.

Another Common Spotted Orchid (Orchis (Dactylorhiza) fuchsii), showing just how pale the ground-colour is on some of the specimens.

(Ed Wilson)

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

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

2010
Trench Lock Pool 
4 drake Pochard
(Ed Wilson)