9 Oct 17

Priorslee Lake only

11.0°C > 12.5°C: Medium overcast with a few breaks, especially later. Light W wind. Very good visibility

Sunrise: 07:24 BST

Priorslee Lake: 06:40 – 09:50

(114th visit of the year)

A real sense of Autumn today with 2 Fieldfares and 15 parties of Redwings, totalling 180 birds, all passing W. Also more Wood Pigeons than of late with a few tight groups looking more like migrants than local birds

Against this trend was, unusually, a lone Swallow heading SW

Even more unlikely was a large bat sp. seen flying briefly at 07:20. I have seen just one of these previously this year (on 31 May). I logged none last year. Earlier years I noted up to 4 flying around dawn between April and August. Much my latest record – and I have not seen any smaller Pipistrelle-type bats for about two weeks. Positive identification of bats requires a bat detector to record to the unique calls of each species. I have assumed they are Noctules but ....

Other notes from today:
- the additional drake Gadwall not located today
- one adult and one juvenile Great Crested Grebe not located this morning: likely hiding in reeds
- 6 sightings of Jays this morning. Seemed to be ferrying acorns to bury them: perhaps fewer birds involved
- plenty of Jackdaws passing this morning but again just the one Rook
- 4 of the Skylarks were flying NE today, though most were flying W / NW as usual
and
- three moths on the lamps today: a Pink-barred Sallow; a partially wrapped-up Acleris rhombana (Rhomboid Tortrix); and another unidentifiable totally wrapped up moth sp.
- a caddis fly sp.

On with today’s bird totals

Birds noted flying over the lake:
- 35 Canada Geese (2 groups inbound)
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 1 Common Kestrel
- 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Feral Pigeons (2 groups)
- 1 Stock Dove
- 165 Wood Pigeons
- c.750 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook only again
- 9 Skylarks
- 8 Starlings (singles and 2 groups)
- 2 Fieldfares
- 180 Redwings (15 groups)
- 7 Pied Wagtails
- 3 Meadow Pipits
- 3 Greenfinches
- 6 Goldfinches

Hirundines etc. seen today
- 1 Barn Swallow

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

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 3 Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Eurasian Wigeon again
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall again
- 15 > 11 (7♂) Mallard
- 33 (17♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron once more
- 5 + 5 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes again
- 9 Moorhens
- 144 Coots again
- >120 Black-headed Gulls
- 20 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Kingfisher once more

I know I only did this species recently but any excuse with the charismatic Long-tailed Tits.

And again.

And they still keep coming.

This is a Pink-barred Sallow moth on one of the lamps. For some reason I had difficult getting the flash to expose this correctly to see all the detail in the markings. Luckily there is only one sallow sp. that has a dark head and shoulders. I logged this common species here last year on 22 October.

Caught in a web is this Acleris rhombana (Rhomboid Tortrix) moth.

Another moth in a web: not going to get far with the ID on this!

This is a Caddis Fly. There are 189 species on the UK list to choose from. I did hope the bright red forelegs might help, but cannot even ascribe to which family it belongs, mainly because we cannot see the spurs on the legs which are often diagnostic. It flew when I tried to get closer.

As a postscript to the Brown Rollrim (Paxillus involutus) fungus that I photographed along Castle Way on 4 October I had these specimens in my own garden which I examined in detail. It is highly dangerous when eaten raw as it destroys red blood cells. In parts of Eastern Europe they boil, drain, wash and then pickle this species. Modern medicine suggests that even this is a ‘ticking time bomb’ as the toxins gradually build up and eventually reach a threshold which causes a fatal form of anaemia when the body’s own immune system destroys what it sees as rogue red blood cells.

But they are good-looking fungi.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2014
Priorslee lake
Today's Sightings Here

2011
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
1 Raven
13 Redwing first autumn birds
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
1 Wheatear on the airfield - one of the latest dates have seen this species
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
1 Goldeneye
2 Wigeon
1 Redwing
(John Isherwood)

The Flash
1 Wigeon
1 Kingfisher
(John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
27 Robins
4 Pochard
(Ed Wilson)