13 Aug 16

The Flash: 07:00 – 07:25
Location

Sunrise: 05:48 BST

16°C > 18°C: Low overcast cleared from the W. Moderate W wind dropped away somewhat. Very good visibility

First day back after more than three weeks in the USA. Always takes a few days to work out what is where.

(76th visit of the year)

Notes
- Mute Swans not seen but the geese rather got in the way of a full search
- just 3 Canada Geese when I arrived but two large mixed groups of geese dropped in. Seems the moult has finished and the birds are back to feeding away on fields to the E (>55 additional geese seen en route here when I was at the lake)
- 2 Tufted Duck ducklings still around and now well-grown and independent
- Swifts likely all long-gone

Birds noted flying over
- 7 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Jackdaw

Hirundines etc. seen here today
- 6 House Martins

Warblers seen / heard around the water: numbers in brackets are singing birds, though song unlikely now
- 3 (0) Chiffchaff

The counts from the water
- [Mute Swans not noted]
- 73 Greylag Geese
- 215 Canada Geese
- 1 all white feral goose
- 26 (?♂) Mallard
- 19 (?♂) + 2 (1 brood) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron
- 2 + 1 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 + 2 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 21 + 4 (3 broods) Coots
- 26 Black-headed Gulls (no juveniles)

Here they come: some of the geese arriving just after 07:00

and another wave

Not easy to see but this rather ‘fuzzy-looking’ Tufted Duck is a well-grown duckling: this is only the second year I have recorded breeding by this species here and the first time juveniles have lasted more than a few days.

(Ed Wilson)

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Priorslee Lake: 07:30 – 09:20

Location

(111th visit of the year)

Not fully concentrating today: apart from jet-lag I found the Yacht Club’s mooring platform had been set alight and was smouldering away. So I spent a while tracking down someone who could do something about it.

Notes from today
- the Swan again did not seem concerned about the Canada Geese present throughout
- a not-very-recent brood of 2 well-grown Mallard ducklings were new for me
- in late July there were 4 juvenile Great Crested Grebes from 3 broods: of these just 2 single juveniles were noted today: there was however a new brood of 2 small juveniles
- one late brood of very small Coots: many of the earlier juveniles are now hard / impossible to separate from adults
- almost all the Black-headed Gulls arrived from fields to the E: most only stayed a short while
- 1 Kingfisher seen flying off E over Castle Farm Way carrying food
- 1 very yellow Willow Warbler was likely a migrant juvenile but I only glimpsed it before it was gone
- at least 3 Reed Warblers heard calling: some years they have left by this date, though last year a few stayed in to September
- party of at least 15 Goldfinches included many juveniles, some being fed. It is now >1 month since I saw a few juveniles – so were these late breeders or was it a 2nd brood being fed?
and
- no moths on the lamps today
- a single Pale Straw Pearl (Udea lutealis) moth flushed from the grass
- Green-veined White and Meadow Brown butterflies seen
- a single Episyrphus balteatus (Marmalade hoverfly) was the only other identified insect on a rather quiet and initially dull and breezy morning

Counts of birds flying over the lake (in addition to those on / around lake)
- 4 Greylag Geese
- c.50 Canada Geese
- 24 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Feral Pigeons
- 38 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Rook
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Hirundines etc. seen here today
- 7 Swallows
- 2 House Martins

Warblers seen / heard around the water: numbers in brackets are singing birds, though song unlikely now
- 8 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Willow Warbler
- 2 (0) Blackcaps
- 3 (0) Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 1 Mute Swans
- 6 Canada Geese
- 11 (?♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 4 (2♂) Tufted Ducks
- 7 + 4 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 45 + 5 (4 broods) Coots
- >130 Black-headed Gulls (>7 juveniles)
- 32 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull

This adult Lesser Black-backed Gull is showing moulted / moulting feathers in both the primaries and secondaries. It is also beginning to acquire some of the head-spotting of winter plumage

This bird shows little sign of moult in the primaries or secondaries: however the pale area in the centre of the wing is where the secondary wing-coverts have been shed. An upper side view would have shown a white patch here ...

... as here, though this is a different bird with missing inner primaries.

Not at all clear how this fire started – looks more like vandalism rather than a barbecue that was not extinguished properly.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)