7 Oct 17

Priorslee Lake only

13.0°C > 15.0°C: Early very low cloud and light drizzle gave way to mainly clear skies for a while before more cloud started to build. Moderate WSW. Very good visibility

Sunrise: 07:20 BST

Nothing to highlight today

Priorslee Lake: 06:25 – 09:45

(112th visit of the year)

Notes from today:
- all geese in a single large group inbound
- an additional drake Gadwall today
- all 6 adult Great Crested Grebes located today: also the 6 remaining juveniles; two from the oldest brood seem to have left
- one of the Buzzards flushed many gulls from a field to the NE: at least 28 Lesser Black-backed Gulls headed off W to the far N; all (most?) of the Black-headed Gulls returned to the lake
- the Kestrel over the old Celestica site to the N and flushing Wood Pigeons. Did not see it chase any
- very low cloud and drizzle whilst the Jackdaws and Rooks were passing which probably accounts for lower totals
and
- just a spider sp. found on the lamps today
- on the vegetation and along with a number of unidentified flies was a rather late worker wasp sp.
- the overnight rain had brought out a few snails – I tentatively identified a Brown-lipped Snail (Cepaea nemoralis) and a Shiny Glass Snail (Zonitoides nitidus)

On with today’s bird totals

Birds noted flying over the lake:
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 72 Canada Geese
- 1 (1♂) Mallard
- 2 Sparrowhawks again
- 2 Common Buzzards again
- 1 Common Kestrel
- 34 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Stock Dove
- 64 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Collared Doves (single and pair)
- c.550 Jackdaws
- 21 Rooks
- 3 Skylarks
- 1 Starling
- 4 Pied Wagtails
- 2 Greenfinches
- 2 Goldfinches
- 3 Linnets
- 1 Lesser Redpoll again

Hirundines etc. seen today
None

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

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 3 Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Eurasian Wigeon once more
- 3 (2♂) Gadwall
- 14 (7♂) Mallard
- 38 (17♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron
- 6 + 6 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Water Rail heard again
- 6 Moorhens again
- 129 Coots
- c.180 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Kingfisher

Cloud only cleared after sun-up so the detail on the Harvest Moon is not as great as it could be.

It does look rather like a flying barn door and you can understand why many small birds take flight at an over-flying Grey Heron.

A Sparrowhawk: the rather fine barring across the chest tells us it is an adult female. On a male the sides of the breast are rufous-toned: and on a juvenile the breast is more coarsely barred with notches on the bars giving the throat, at least, a rather streaked effect. A male Goshawk is only slightly larger than this female Sparrowhawk. We can rule that out here as the body would not get thinner at the ‘hips’. Goshawks are in any case rarely seen outside their woodland habitat.

First-winter Black-headed Gull claiming the buoy as its own. There seems to be much dispute as to who should stand on buoys. Perhaps a bit like children wanting to stand and walk along tops of walls?

Two first-winter and one adult winter Black-headed Gulls. The leading bird has picked up something the others want because it might be (but probably isn’t) edible.

It is of course quite possible to walk on water: an adult winter Black-headed Gulls shows how.

Today’s spider on one of the lamps. Identification is hard for two reasons: the angle of view and the distance makes many of the details hard to see: and there are many confusingly similar species! It seems to most-closely resemble the Lace-weaver Spider (Amaurobius similis) but I am far from confident.

This seems to be a Brown-lipped Snail (Cepaea nemoralis). To quote from Naturespot “Also known as the Banded Snail, this is the most colourful and variable snail in the UK. The shell may vary in colour, and in the presence of banded patterning. They can be yellow, pink or brown and can have up to five horizontal bands across their shells or none at all. It nearly always has the dark rim at the lip of the shell opening.”More here on this snail.

Another species of this difficult group. I think a Shiny Glass Snail (Zonitoides nitidus) due to the dull orange mark and the wrinkles on the shell. An unpleasant snail that is a carnivore and even a cannibal.

(Ed Wilson)

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

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

2014
Wellington
Fieldfare
(Jenny Hood)

2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Shoveler
Chiffchaff
Grey Wagtail
Reed Bunting
Siskin.
(John Isherwood)

2009
Priorslee Lake
50 Mute Swan
(Mike Cooper)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Swallow circling with swirling Starlings
(Ed Wilson)