30 Sep 17

No Sightings in today.

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

2011

Priorslee Flash

This morning an adult Wryneck, popped up on a wall while I was walking along the footpath along the West side of The Flash at c.09:45. I managed a quick record shot and when I looked up from the camera the bird had gone - probably dropped in to the garden the other side. The gardens are higher than the path so looking over the wall is not possible. Hung around for some 10 minutes but nothing appeared. (Ed Wilson)

Wryneck - 2011 (Ed Wilson)

29 Sep 17

Priorslee Lake

13.5°C > 12.0°C: Thin bright area to E: otherwise cloudy with light rain. Heavy rain after 07:40 then clearer 08:15 – 08:50. Moderate SW wind. Good visibility, poor in heaviest rain

Sunrise: 07:07 BST

The Rainfall Radar on the web suggested that I could get to the lake before the rain; and then after an hour or so a break might allow some birds to move before the next pulse of rain. Did not really work like that as the pause in the rain was rather brief and nothing much moved!

Priorslee Lake: 06:20 – 09:05

(105th visit of the year)

Notes from today:
- Gadwall returned (assuming they were not just hiding yesterday)
- the Great Crested Grebes have changed ‘formation’ over the last few days. Hitherto each adult has been attended by two juveniles. Today, the older brood was configured with each adult and a single juvenile with the other two juveniles doing their own thing. The newer brood was configured as 1 + 1 and 1 + 3. It would be interesting to know whether the juveniles are normally with the same parent: and which sex youngsters typically go with which sex parent
- first Cormorants seen here this month and first on the water since 5 April. 2 birds arrived at 08:00 and left to N at 08:20. Possibly the same two birds seen flying high W at 08:40?
- a party of c.45 very distant corvids evaded identification: they were bunched together suggesting Jackdaws but seemed to be flying without ‘urgency’ and thus more like Rooks, though of course flight action depends to some extent on speed and direction of the wind. I did not hear any calls – Jackdaws are usually rather noisy in flight: too far away?
- just 6 Pied Wagtails on the football field at 09:00
and
- a splendid Canary-shouldered Thorn moth on one of the lamps. My first here for several years

On with today’s bird totals

Birds noted flying over the lake:
- 1 Greylag Goose: inbound
- 28 Canada Geese: (2 groups) outbound
- 2 Cormorants
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 23 Wood Pigeons
- 111 Jackdaws
- 184 Rooks
- c.45 unidentified corvid sp. (see notes)
- 5 Pied Wagtails

Hirundines etc. seen today
None

Warblers counts: number in brackets = singing birds
- 2 (2) Chiffchaffs

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 3 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 24 (?♂) >> 7(2♂) Mallard
- 19 (8♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron once more
- 6 + 8 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes again
- 9 (? juveniles) Moorhens
- 132 Coots
- >180 Black-headed Gulls

A splendid Canary-shouldered Thorn moth on one of the street lamps.

This angle shows the splendid pectinate (comb-like) antenna as well as the great colouration. The eight species of thorn moths are almost unique in holding the wings half-open when at rest.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2010
Priorslee Lake
3 Pochard
2 Sparrowhawks
24 Swallows
Peregrine Falcon
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Redwing
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Siskin
105 Greenfinches
Swallow
House Martin
3 Chiffchaffs
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

28 Sep 17

Priorslee Lake and The Flash; then Trench Lock Pool and Middle Pool

11.5°C > 16.5°C: Cloud from overnight rain cleared to very far E: mainly fine start with just a few lifted fog patches as low cloud; puffy clouds later. Light SW breeze. Excellent visibility

Sunrise: 07:05 BST

What a difference a day made! Almost no passage today with just a single Lesser Redpoll – my first of the Autumn – as notable overhead

Also unusual was my latest-ever Reed Warbler at the lake

Priorslee Lake: 06:00 – 09:05

(104th visit of the year)

Other notes from today:
- what was presumably the same interloping cygnet was allowed to stay this morning provided it stayed well away from the residents
- checked the rings on all the resident swans: the adults are 7FAD and 7IVT (new or replacement ring on the pen); the juveniles are 7IVS, 7IVU, 7IVV
- the pair of Gadwall seem to have gone again
- the Green Woodpecker was being noisy again
- I counted 39 Pied Wagtails on the football field at 08:55
and
- no moths on the lamps again

As a postscript: a plant I was unsure about on 20 September was not Saw-wort (Serratula tinctoria). A friend of mine who trained as a biologist tells it is Ploughman's-spikenard (Inula conyzae) – me neither!

On with today’s bird totals

Birds noted flying over the lake:
- 28 Greylag Geese: inbound
- 47 Canada Geese: 21 (5 groups) outbound; 26 (2 groups) inbound
- 2 Sparrowhawks
- 25 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 39 Wood Pigeons
- 212 Jackdaws
- 126 Rooks
- 6 Meadow Pipits
- 6 Pied Wagtails
- 1 Lesser Redpoll

Hirundines etc. seen today
None

Warblers counts: number in brackets = singing birds
- 3 (1) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Reed Warbler

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans again
- 19 (?♂) >> 7(2♂) Mallard
- 16 (5♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 1 Little Grebe
- 6 + 8 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes still
- 10 (4 juveniles) Moorhens
- 128 Coots
- >250 Black-headed Gulls
- 18 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

A touch of mist and golden autumn sun.

A longer view of the morning.

And the sunrise on the vegetation some of which is beginning to turn.

The morning sun provides great lighting on this juvenile Great Crested Grebe.

And here two of the juveniles. one ‘avin a larf?

Exactly what it was really doing was hard to fathom ... until ...

One of the parents arrives with food. Good to see it has brought the greens as well.

A Black-headed Gull with potential food – or so the one in pursuit thinks. Exactly what it is carrying is hard to see (I once saw a House Crow in India carrying a whole popadum – affects the aerodynamics I am sure).

A Long-tailed Tit foraging amongst the hawthorn. It will be catching small insects and spiders and is not interested in the haws.

One of the many Pied Wagtails on the ‘football field’. They seem happy-enough with people, even dogs, wandering around but usually keep their distance. The extent of black on the breast means this is a male.

With an individual as dark as this bird there is never any thought it could be a vagrant White Wagtail from the Continent. When it is not clear-cut a view like this is needed: a White Wagtail would be grey on the uppertail whereas here on a Pied Wagtail the uppertail is even darker than the back.

The haws ready for the arrival of the winter thrushes.

Just a few plants of Meadowsweet / Mead Wort (Filipendula ulmaria) remain.

These are the male catkins of an Alder (Alnus glutinosa) tree. Not quite sure what they are doing at this date: my books say they appear between February and April.

The more conical catkins on the same Alder are the remnants of this Spring’s female flowers which are now turning in to the small dark cones the seeds in which are favoured by Goldfinches and Siskins.

And to correctly ID this plant from 20 September Here

Another new plant for me : this is Ploughman's-spikenard (Inula conyzae) – me neither!

A close-up of the flowers

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:10 – 09:50

(79th visit of the year)

Notes from here
- another Grey Wagtail sighting
- Kingfisher again
and
- I expected the S-facing Ivy near Priorslee Academy school to be buzzing with insects, especially late hoverflies, on a warm sunny morning like today. All I could find were two Garden Spiders (Arameus diadematus)

Birds noted flying over
- 3 Feral Pigeons (1 group) again
- 7 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Hirundines etc. noted
None

Warblers seen or heard here
None

The counts from the water
- 2 + 2 Mute Swans
- 54 Greylag Geese
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 31 Canada Geese
- 1 white feral goose
- 30 (19♂) Mallard
- 44 (16♂) Tufted Ducks again
- 2 + 1 Great Crested Grebes
- 6 (3 juveniles) Moorhens
- 10 Coots once more
- 3 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Kingfisher

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Lock Pool: 10:05 – 10:45 // 11:20 – 11:30

(24th visit of the year)

Notes from here
- the adult Great Crested Grebes seem to have deserted their offspring
- a Kingfisher here as well
and
- several Brown Rats (Rattus norvegicus) around the ramp by the Blue Pig. My first of the year here. The fishermen tell me they are all around the water and at night they have to keep all the bait tight shut and the ‘bivvy’ (bivouac) clean to avoid nocturnal visitations
- 2 Red Admiral butterflies, also my first of the year here
- at least two different species of hawker dragonfly, thought to be Migrant Hawker and Brown Hawker: neither would settle
- a late worker wasp sp. noted
- what seemed to be Field Mushrooms (Agaricus campestris) located
- a gall caused by the Willow Gall Sawfly (Pontania pedunculi) seen

Birds noted flying over here
None apart from the local Jackdaws coming and going

Hirundines etc. noted
None

Warblers counts: number in brackets = singing birds
- 1 (0) Chiffchaff

The counts from the water
- 2 + 8 Mute Swans
- 5 Canada Geese again
- 20 (11) Mallards [also the ‘feral’ bird]
- 6 (2♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 1 juvenile Great Crested Grebes only
- 4 (2 juveniles) Moorhens
- 95 Coots
- 22 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Kingfisher

Plants not checked here today.

One of the cygnets shows the developing white plumage on its wings. We also note that those flight-feathers we can see are now fully-grown.

 It is a good trick if you can do it – balance on a barrel. A grey Heron shows how to do it.

The Black-headed Gulls here were flying around and periodically climbing steeply – as shown here. I assume that they were catching insects but I could not see.

I think Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) have great character. Its is hardly their fault they carry all manner of nasty diseases.

Another view.

This specimen was already broken off when I arrived. I am pretty certain it is a Field Mushroom (Agaricus campestris) and hence eminently edible: but ...

Side view of a whole fruiting body.

And the plan-view.

This gall is caused by the Willow Gall Sawfly (Pontania pedunculi).

(Ed Wilson)

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Middle Pool: 10:50 – 11:15

(20th visit of the year)

Notes
- most of the geese somewhere else today
- two juvenile Great Crested Grebes seen
- another ‘largest-ever’ count of Coots for me here
- 1 Grey Wagtail
and
- what seemed to be Field Mushrooms (Agaricus campestris) located here as well

Birds noted flying over here
- 1 Buzzard

Warblers counts: number in brackets = singing birds
- 1 (0) Chiffchaff again

The counts from the water
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 14 Canada Geese
- 36 (21♂) Mallard [no ‘feral’ birds noted]
- 8 (2♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Cormorants
- 2 + 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 4 (2 juveniles) Moorhens
- 32 (2? juveniles) Coots

Plants not checked here

A fine view of a juvenile Cormorant. It had been fishing in the pool but decided it did not like my presence and flew in to a tree to dry its wings – or whatever they spread their wings out for: some say to help digestion. Note the inner primary on the left wing is missing and there are several missing feathers and another about to fall out on the right wing.

It shuffled about a bit. Despite being an immature it has a significant area of yellow skin around the base of the bill and, of course, those wonderful ice-blue eyes.

A Grey Wagtail. The pale edges to the secondaries and the blush on the breast-side indicate this is a 1st winter bird.

Another view.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2011
Priorslee Lake
2 Sky Larks
3 Meadow Pipits
26 Pied Wagtails
7 Siskins
2 Redpolls
142 Greylag Geese
320 Canada Geese
Common Sandpiper
45 Robins
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Cormorant
A pair of Wigeon
220 Coots
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
(Ed Wilson)

2007
RAF Cosford
Juvenile Gannet flew over RAF Cosford at about 100ft
(Martin R Adlam)

2005
Priorslee Lake
3 Redpoll
Siskin
5 Chiffchaffs
Blackcap
Kingfisher
Buzzard
2 Kestrel
Meadow Pipit
(Ed Wilson).

27 Sep 17

Priorslee Lake

12.0°C > 14.5°C: Another very dull start with some drizzle in the wind. Lifted slowly and a little. Light / moderate SE wind. Poor visibility, becoming moderate.

Sunrise: 07:03 BST

A very busy morning over the lake left no time for any visit to The Flash

Main interest was a huge passage of Barn Swallows that started at 07:35 and lasted just about 2 hours with a dip ‘in the middle’. Over 100 passed at 07:36 and were presumably leaving an en route roost nearby – likely a field of maize somewhere. By the end I had logged 878 Barn Swallows and in with these there was a party of 18 Sand Martins and a party of 32 House Martins. This astonishing total far exceeds anything I have seen before

While the hirundines were heading mainly E (and many apparently following the M54) and before 08:00 there were also 29 Pied Wagtails heading SE and 20 Meadow Pipits heading S (there were more of the latter later). A couple of small thrushes could have been Song Thrushes or early Redwings – too far away to be sure

Priorslee Lake: 06:00 – 10:05

(103rd visit of the year)

Other notes from today:
- the adult Swans were sleeping well apart from their cygnets this morning. The first cygnet I found was sleeping on its own just off the dam and turned out to be an interloper and was chased around once the adults awoke. It eventually left 08:25. It looked little different from the resident cygnets but seemed able to fly quite strongly. The resident cygnets just about managed a lift-off this morning on this morning’s test-flight
- once again a disappearing trick by the Mallard: 21 when I arrived; 17 seen flying off at 06:15; and 4 (2 drakes) later
- two of the juvenile Great Crested Grebes seemed to be having a ‘I can fly further than you’ competition this morning. As they become independent it is getting harder and harder to count these
- there were 40 Pied Wagtails on the football field at 08:10 (this after the 29 over flying birds had gone SE). 13 remained by 09:50
- yet another fly-by Hobby – not too surprising as these sometimes prey on hirundines
- none of the Chiffchaffs was minded to sing today
- another late Blackcap found
- tight group of >50 Goldfinches flying in and around the trees in the NE area. At least 10 more elsewhere including 3 on the grass with the Pied Wagtails
and
- no moths on the lamps again
- a pipistrelle-type bat, again briefly, and apparently going to roost just as the Rooks flew over
- still more fungus: at least three more (unidentified) species
- newly in fruit was Spindle-tree (Euonymus europaea)
- also identified in fruit were Elder (Sambucus nigra) and a whitebeam (Sorbus sp.) likely a planted hybrid
- galls of the Spangle Gall Wasp (Neuroterus quercusbaccarum) were on oak leaves

On with the bird totals

Birds noted flying over the lake:
- 22 Canada Geese inbound
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 1 Hobby
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 1 Stock Dove
- 52 Wood Pigeons
- 65 Jackdaws
- 148 Rooks
- 44 Meadow Pipits
- 2 small thrushes
- 29 Pied Wagtails

Hirundines etc. seen today
- 18 Sand Martins
- 878 Barn Swallows
- 32 House Martins

Warblers counts: number in brackets = singing birds
- 4 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Blackcap

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 21 (?♂) Mallard
- 22 (9♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 6 + 8 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes as usual
- 7 (2 juveniles) Moorhens
- 130 Coots
- >130 Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Kingfisher again

This is the interloper cygnet Mute Swan. Not that much white plumage but flew strongly-enough to get here – and to leave when chased off.

Scattering Black-headed Gulls as it went. I had hoped that photos might reveal any ring number but we see it has no ring on its right leg [a Lesser Black-backed Gull is standing on a buoy in the background].

Still scattering Black-headed Gulls it comes in to land and shows it has no rings on either leg.

Giving up attempts to stay, here it is leaving.

Most definitely a ‘record shot’ of a fast-passing Hobby. The long wings held rather Swift-like and the long tail can be seen.

The fruits of Elder (Sambucus nigra). The very similar Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) has leaves without serrated edges.

Less sure about this: I think they are fruits of a whitebeam (Sorbus sp.) likely a planted hybrid.

A fruit of the Spindle-tree (Euonymus europaea). These are poisonous.

A whole cluster of them.

These galls are on an oak leaf and are of the Spangle Gall Wasp (Neuroterus quercusbaccarum).

The first unidentified fungus from today. Any help much appreciated.

Close-up of the edge.

Another fungus sp.

This fruit of the same fungus is already being eaten by something!

A broken-off specimen showing some of the gill structure – often important for correct ID.

This illustrates the difficulty of identification: as they age the appearance and colour of any species of fungus can change quite dramatically and many have very short periods as fruiting bodies.

A third species of fungus today. All these found at the edge of the ‘football field’.

A ‘fairy ring’ on grass. These rings are caused by the underground mycelia of fungus which depending on the species can deplete or enhance the nutrients under the grass making either a brown or, as here, bright circle. Exactly why some species of fungus grow in circles – and circles that tend to expand over the years – is not well understood.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Teal
3 Wigeon
1 Kingfisher
(John Isherwood)

2011
Priorslee Lake
13 Meadow Pipits
3 Redpoll
Siskin
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Juvenile Common Scoter
3 Little Grebes
Drake Pintail x Mallard
(Ed Wilson/Andy Latham)