12.5°C > 13.5°C: Very low cloud producing a few spots drizzle in the air. Light N wind picking up from ENE. Poor visibility, becoming moderate as cloud lifted somewhat
Sunrise: 04:58 BST
Priorslee Lake: 05:30 – 06:35 // 07:30 – 08:45
(60th visit of the year)
Telford Sailing Club had their Safety Boat on the water at 08:30 – I thought they were only permitted after 09:30. Apparently testing a newly installed engine they were causing a wash all around the lake and could easily have flooded out the as yet-to-hatch Mute Swan nest as well as the Great Crested Grebe and Coot nests. I had a word with one of their members: whether it will have any effect ....
other notes from today:
- Tufted Ducks heard at 07:50 but nothing seen on the water until a pair apparently flushed from the reeds by the Safety Boat at 08:35
- single quite well-grown juvenile Coot in the NW area
- 3 Cormorants appeared in the cloud overhead: one landed; another did a low pass and moved off N; the third disappeared back in to the cloud
- I think there can be no juvenile Great Crested Grebes as yet: after five days I would have expected to have seen them in the water
- two rather late Common Sandpipers again: same birds as seen on Thursday (but not yesterday)?
- the same(?) two Common Terns present throughout
- a party of 14 large gulls circling high over: they all seemed to be Herring Gulls, mostly immatures. A few other large gulls identified
- 7 Barn Swallows flew N at 06:00. After 08:00 two low over the water
- at least 15 House Martins dipping in and out of the cloud base at 05:45. Later a few over the estate and later still over the lake perhaps additional birds
- I am now almost certain that there are only two Garden Warbler territories: the earlier overlapping territories seem to have been resolved
- similarly there seems to be just one Common Whitethroat territory remaining – the lowest number for many years
- at least 30 Starlings around the ‘football field’ with adults and newly-fledged juveniles on top the protective netting between the abandoned cricket strip and the academy. A few more birds noted flying out of the estate
- a male Pied Wagtail on the dam was my first for a while
and
- still nothing on the lamps
- a Yellow-faced Bell (Notocelia cynosbatella) moth flushed from the vegetation
- plenty of Common stretch-spiders (Tetragnatha extensa), mainly in the nettles
- an interestingly-marked spider, perhaps Larinioides cornutus
- still several Alder flies (likely Sialis lutaria) on the sluice entrance
- big hatch of damselflies with >70 newly emerged tenerals and exuvia seen on the sluice entrance
The following plant added to previous sightings this month
- White Clover (Trifolium repens)
- Bush Vetch (Vicia sepium) (tentative ID)
today’s bird totals
birds noted flying over / near the lake:
- 11 Canada Geese (2 parties)
- 2 Cormorants
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 15 Herring Gulls
- 2 Stock Doves
- 3 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Jackdaws
hirundines seen today
- >30 Common Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- >15 House Martins
warblers noted: figure in brackets is singing birds (not all the males seen might have been singing)
- 6 (6) Chiffchaffs
- 12 (12) Blackcaps
- 2 (2) Garden Warblers again
- 1 (1) (Common) Whitethroat again
- 5 (5) Reed Warblers
the counts from the lake area
- 6 + 5 (1) Mute Swans remain
- 5 (5♂) Mallard
- 2 (1) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- no Moorhens
- 17 + 1 (1 brood) Coots
- 2 Common Sandpipers again
- 2 Common Terns remain
the Telford Sailing Club testing their Safety Boat.
The wash here threatening the Mute Swan nest just visible in the reeds at the extreme right
as usual a tail-first landing.
Coots are inveterate nest-builders and cannot resist adding new material.
Two of them closer-up.
A close-up of a rain-spattered Ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare).
On the football field I found my first White Clover (Trifolium repens).
Two days earlier than last year’s record here is a Yellow-faced Bell (Notocelia cynosbatella) moth.
Some parts of the sluice platform were covered in exuvia and emergent damselflies.
A rather better shot of the same putative female Azure Damselfly.
And a rather better shot of one struggling to emerge.
A damaged shell on what seems to be a White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Flash: 06:45 – 07:25
(44th visit of the year)
Two separate single over-flying Rooks were my first at this site this year, taking my year’s site bird total to 62 species
other notes from today
- the long-term Mute Swan Yellow 52F spent most of the time chasing the two first-year birds in the party of 4. Its mate, with a green ring, was around the island. No sign of any new cygnets
- no Mallard ducklings with the only duck seen
- initially 5 Tufted Ducks (3 drakes) on the water: later birds heard and seen in flight and these settled making a total of 9 birds (5 drakes) on the water
- 2 quite well-grown juvenile Coots seen along the E side
- a Great Spotted Woodpecker seen on the island was my first record here since 18 January!
- I noted an insect on the wing over the water and while trying to decide whether it was a moth or perhaps a mayfly sp. a Barn Swallow swooped it up
- House Martins heard, apparently to the W of the area but I could not locate them
- no sight or sound of Thursday’s Reed Warbler
birds noted flying over
- 2 Rooks as highlighted
hirundines etc. seen today
- 2 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow
- House Martins heard only
warblers noted: figures in brackets is singing birds (not all the males seen might have been singing)
- 1 (1) Chiffchaff
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler
- 3 (3) Blackcaps
the counts from the water
- 6 Mute Swans (see notes)
- 23 Canada Geese
- 10 (9♂) + 0 Mallard
- 9 (5♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Moorhens
- 19 + 2 (1 brood) Coots
In the foot-tunnel under Priorslee Avenue I found this Common Crane-fly (Tipula oleracea) at rest.
Noted between the lake and The Flash
- a Moorhen on the lower pool
- a Grey Heron standing on a roof of a house alongside the path
- 2 (2) Blackcaps: 1 at the lower pool; 1 above the upper pool around the school ground
- and a Common Crane-fly (Tipula oleracea) in the tunnel under Priorslee Avenue
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On this day..........
2016Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
2009
Priorslee Lake
Oystercatcher
Common Sandpiper
2 Common Terns
(Ed Wilson)
2007
Priorslee Lake
Common Tern
(Ed Wilson)