7 Mar 18

Priorslee Lake: then Trench Lock Pool and Trench Middle Pool

-0.5°C > 6.5°C : Mainly clear with a few cloudy areas and then a few puffy clouds later. Frost soon cleared. Calm / light SW wind, increasing somewhat. Moderate visibility to start and rather misty

Sunrise: 06:44 GMT

Priorslee Lake: 05:45 – 09:00

(26th visit of the year)

Surprised to find the lake almost iced-over despite the temperature only being just below freezing. Thin ice but enough to congregate most of the birds in two small open areas

Other notes from today:
- 2 of the adult Mute Swans flew off – but they did so yesterday and at least one of them had returned (or a new bird arrived)
- rather more Black-headed Gulls arrived from the W: most stayed very briefly as they were unable to bathe. Another 9 birds flew S to the far E and came nowhere near the lake
- of the 132 Wood Pigeons logged flying over 75 were at ‘migration height’ with one party comprising 41 birds – the largest Spring ‘group’ I can recall. Another c.100 birds were in the fields / trees to the NE
- 3 Reed Buntings seen leaving the roost at the W end. Four males and a female seen / heard later with two of the males still disputing the W end bushes
and
- 3 Dotted Border moths on three separate lamps this morning

Today’s bird totals

Birds noted flying over / near the lake:
- 2 Greylag Geese (1 party outbound)
- 21 Canada Geese (6 parties outbound)
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 9 Black-headed Gulls
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 132 Wood Pigeons (see notes)
- 240 Jackdaws
- 3 Rooks
- 2 Starlings

Birds noted leaving roosts around the lake:
- [Magpies not counted]
- 2 Redwings
- 2 Starlings
- 3 Reed Buntings

The counts from the lake area
- 11 + 5 Mute Swans
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 16 Canada Geese
- 5 (3♂) Gadwall
- 3 (2♂) Mallard
- 33 (23♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 5 Moorhens
- 89 Coots
- 171 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull

Today’s moon-shot.

And the sunrise ...

... and a bit later.

Mute Swans swimming through mushy ice while Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe and Coots use one of the two patches of open water.

A less than elegant touch-down on the thin ice – but I doubt I could do better.

Certainly a way to make a splash!

A fine study of a Common Buzzard overhead.

A Moorhen gets to grips – literally – with the ice. Handy having sharp toes.

This adult Black-headed Gull shows little sign of acquiring summer plumage. However within two weeks most of these birds will have left for their breeding ground on inland lakes to the N and E.

The upperwing pattern, without any hint of brown, confirms the bird as an adult.

A sadly rather uncommon sighting these days – an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. Balancing on one leg too! When the Granville tip was operational over 1000 of these gulls was a regular winter sight.

A Dunnock in full song to the left.

And singing to the right.

Awful lighting on the male Siskin at the Alder cones.

Almost as bad on this female – no black ‘cap’ but in breeding plumage now brighter yellow than during the winter.

Siskins love, even prefer, feeding upside down.

moth #1: Dotted Border #1 with a chunk out of its wing.

moth #2: Dotted Border #2.

moth #3: Dotted Border #3 (not at its best – struggled to get an angle for this shot).

So it is (nearly) Spring: pussy-willow about to open.

(Ed Wilson)

Late afternoon

A Little Grebe on the lake this afternoon.

(Mark Williams)

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Trench Lock Pool: 09:10 – 09:35 // 10:15 – 10:25

(10th visit of the year)

c.50% thin ice

Notes from here
- all the gulls logged were present when I arrived but left before 09:30

Birds noted flying over here [apart from the local Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws coming and going]
- 8 Canada Geese (en route to Middle Pool)
- 3 (2♂) Goosander
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 1 Collared Dove
- 3 Starlings

The Sparrowhawk was a new bird species for my 2018 list for here – my 45th

The counts from the water
- 3 + 6 Mute Swans
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 16 Canada Geese
- 7 (5♂) Mallards
- 1 (1♂) ‘feral’ Mallard still
- 3 (3♂) Pochard
- 33 (18♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Cormorant
- 2 Little Grebes
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 5 Moorhens
- 46 Coots only
- 11 Black-headed Gulls only
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls

A pair of Tufted Duck on the edge of the ice with the duck hauled out asleep and the drake keeping guard.

These two adult breeding-plumaged Lesser Black-backed Gulls lifted their wings and took off just as I pressed the shutter! Nevertheless we see how ‘clean’ their heads are having lost all the winter streaking. The dark shadow on the trailing edge of the underwing separates this species from both Herring Gull and Yellow-legged Gull (which, like Lesser Black-backs has yellow legs).

And here are two adult breeding-plumaged Herring Gulls with paler backs (mantles). In the back-ground two first-winter Black-headed Gulls moulting in to first-summer plumage. These black-heads will get a variable amount of black on the head – some completely so – but will retain some brown feathers in their wings.

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Middle Pool: 09:40 – 10:10

(10th visit of the year)

<10% ice

Notes from here
- neither of the 2 Greylag x Canada Geese were the bird seen not infrequently at The Flash and Priorslee Lake. New for me here this year but not a true species so not added to my species count
- the ‘other’ Great Crested Grebe hidden away on a nest already?

Birds noted flying over here
None

The counts from the water
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans remain
- 16 Greylag Geese
- 2 Greylag x Canada Geese
- 34 Canada Geese
- 21 (15♂) Mallard
- [no obvious ‘feral’ Mallard noted]
- 12 (9♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 (1♂) Goosander
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 10 Moorhens
- 46 Coots
- 126 Black-headed Gulls

Here is one of the two Greylag x Canada Geese hybrids.

And here is the other. Both show more extensive white on the face than the hybrid sometimes seen at The Flash.

The resident cob Mute Swan really did not like these hybrids and chased them about.

A Grey Heron balances on a tree. It is often surprising to see a heron ‘up a tree’ but heronries are in trees and many species, especially the closely-related egrets, roost communally in trees, sometimes in 1000s.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2017
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2014
Priorslee Lake
1 Yellow-legged gull
(Gary Crowder)

Horsehay Pool
1 Iceland Gull
(Ian Grant)

2011
Priorslee Lake
4 Wigeon
2 Gadwall
5 Teal
8 Goosander
15 Pochard
40 Tufted Ducks
7 Great Crested Grebes
1 Cormorant
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
8 Great Crested Grebes
1 Cormorant
6 Gadwall
26 Pochard
5 Goosanders
62 Tufted Duck
1 Water Rail
76 Coots
62 Magpies
2 Yellowhammers
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
3 Cormorant
2 Grey Heron
16 Tufted Duck
1 Ruddy Duck
1 Woodcock
425 Wood Pigeon
2 Grey Wagtail
37 Robin
26 Blackbird
7 Song Thrush
6 Redwing
47 Magpie
146 Jackdaw
10 Greenfinch
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Little Grebe
6 Great Crested Grebes
2 Herons
4 Pochard
52 Tufted Ducks
1 Ruddy Duck
106 Coots
1 Water Rail
1 Curlew 
23 Blackbirds
11 Greenfinches
2 Siskins
3 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)