26 Jan 18

Priorslee Lake: then Trench Lock Pool and Trench Middle Pool

3.5°C > 5.0°C: Started with low overcast and very dull: began to break after 09:00 and by 10:30 a nice sunny and more or less cloudless morning. Light NW wind. Moderate visibility and hazy start: good later

Sunrise: 08:02 GMT

Remains generally very quiet with not a lot happening

Priorslee Lake: 06:45 – 09:55

(8th visit of the year)

Notes from today:
- Coot numbers significantly lower today
- after I counted 135 Black-headed Gulls arriving from the W another group of 42 birds flew straight through to the SE. Almost all the gulls eventually left that way
- no idea where all the Wood Pigeons were today: just 5 overhead; only 3 seen in the trees
- after my comment about a Magpie refurbishing its nest yesterday this morning I noted a bird calling from a nest long before the main roost started to disperse
- largest count of Jackdaws this year. Today in 5 groups, albeit almost contiguous
- Song Thrushes singing in five locations this morning
- failed to log a single Dunnock today: recently as many as 9 logged with two different birds heard singing. Why none today?
- a Reed Bunting flew away from the W end reeds at 09:40 – that hardly counts as ‘roost dispersal’!
and
- yet again nothing on any of the lamps

No additional species for my year total at this site: still 52

Today’s bird totals

Birds noted flying over / near the lake:
- 7 Greylag Geese outbound
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 42 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Feral Pigeons
- 5 Wood Pigeons only
- 3 Collared Doves
- >360 Jackdaws
- 1 Pied Wagtail
- 1 Greenfinch

Birds noted leaving roosts around the lake:
- [Magpies not counted]
- 4 Redwings

The counts from the lake area
- 8 + 3 Mute Swans
- 11 Canada Geese
- 12 (7♂) Gadwall
- 15 (8♂) Mallard
- 4 (4♂) Pochard
- 53 (28♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 Cormorants
- 1 Little Grebe
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 10 Moorhens
- 132 Coots
- c.135 Black-headed Gulls

A rather distant Redwing. We can see all the feature – the pale ‘eye-brow’ and the rusty flanks, As I have noted before there is a cinnamon patch on the side of the neck / shoulder which is not well-shown in most bird-guides.

Found this today. Looks like a large breastbone. Whether from a wild bird or someone’s discarded Christmas Turkey is hard to say!

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Lock Pool: 10:05 – 10:30 // 11:15 – 11:25

(4th visit of the year)

Notes from here
- when I arrived the resident cob Mute Swan was chasing a visiting pair of adults. Shortly afterwards another adult arrived and he transferred his attention to that. By the time I returned from Middle Pool there were 5 visiting adults and yet another arrived soon after
- 97 of the 99 Canada Geese flew in: a Greylag Goose with them
- Coot numbers seem to be reducing here as well as at Priorslee Lake
- Song Thrush singing here

Birds noted flying over here [apart from the local Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws coming and going]
- 27 Canada Geese (en route to Middle Pool)
- 1 Buzzard
- 10 Starlings

New bird species for me here this year were: Common Buzzard, Starling and Song Thrush

The counts from the water
- 6 + 6 Mute Swans
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 99 Canada Geese
- 5 (3♂) Mallards
- 1 (1♂) ‘feral’ Mallard
- 2 (2♂) Pochard
- 51 (27♂) Tufted Ducks
- 9 (4♂) Goosanders
- 2 Cormorants
- 5 Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Moorhens
- 92 Coots
- 16 Black-headed Gulls only.

A distant Common Buzzard. It was in good light and I am quite please that it enlarges quite well.

It did come a little closer.

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Middle Pool: 10:35 – 11:10

(4th visit of the year)

Notes from here
- Song Thrush in song here as well
and
- at least one different species of fungus sp. found and photographed

Birds noted flying over here
- 1 Buzzard
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Jackdaws

New bird species for me here this year were: Common Buzzard, Jackdaw and Song Thrush

The counts from the water
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 38 Canada Geese
- 21 (16♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) ‘feral’ Mallard
- 20 (12♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 (0♂) Goosander
- 2 Great Crested Grebes again
- 15 Moorhens again
- 43 Coots again
- 38 Black-headed Gulls

At this time of year much of the wooded area around the water stays out of the sun light and is hence very damp. Probably why I am finding fungus even at this time of year.

Side-elevation of the same group.

Another in the group was much smaller (newer?) and I knocked it when doing some ‘gardening’ for the previous shot.

Here is the underside.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2014
Priorslee Lake
Velvet Scoter
2 Scaup
(Martin and Ian Grant)

2013
Priorslee Lake
39 Wigeon
8 Gadwall 
24 Pochard 
74 Tufted Ducks 
1 Greater Scaup 
173 Coots
169 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
18 Herring Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Iceland Gull
(Observer Unknown)