5 Jun 18

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake: 07:35 – 09:15
The Flash: 07:10 – 07:30 // 09:20 – 09:35

c.11.0°C > c.12.0°C: Another day with low overcast. Some light drizzle to start. Light / moderate NE / E wind. Moderate visibility, becoming good.

Sunrise: 04:48 BST

Priorslee Lake: 07:35 – 09:15

(69th visit of the year)

I spoke with the contractors cutting the weed in the lake and they confirmed they had been hired all week. The guy I spoke to thought that was not adequate to cut all that needed to be removed. He confirmed that it was mainly invasive Canadian Pondweed (Elodea canadensis)

A new bird species for my site year list but don’t get excited: House Sparrow! Every year birds from the local estate and appear in my recording area which starts at the pedestrian crossing in Teece Drive. The site total now stands at 88 this year

Notes from today:
- a pair of Tufted Duck seen apparently leaving the lake, although I had not seen them on the water
- 7 Great Crested Grebes today. Taking advantage of the cut weed
- a / the Common Tern again. Could it be breeding close-by? Bayliss Pools near the M-way services a candidate. Hard to get to without a key, but as I recall there are a few islands
- in addition to the two pairs of Carrion Crows that are nesting around the lake a (family?) party of 4 birds was seen flying to the W
- noticeably less song this morning: the passage of the season or the cooler weather?
and
- the same Figure of Eighty moth on the same lamp, though it had moved slightly
- the following moths flushed from the vegetation
- 1 Blood-vein
- 1 Silver-ground Carpet
- a single damselfly
- Red-eyed Damselfly (perhaps moribund)
- the following hoverfly only
- Episyrphus balteatus (Marmalade hoverfly)
with
- the usual Common stretch-spiders (Tetragnatha extensa)
- a Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata)

New species of flowering plants noted today
None

Today’s bird totals

Birds noted flying over / near the lake:
- 2 Wood Pigeons only
- 2 Jackdaws
- 4 Carrion Crows

Hirundines seen today
- 12 Common Swifts
- 3 Barn Swallows
- 4 House Martins

Warblers noted: figure in brackets is singing birds (not all the males seen might have been singing)
- 7 (6) Chiffchaffs
- 5 (5) Blackcaps again
- 2 (2) Garden Warblers again
- 1 (1) (Common) Whitethroats
- 5 (5) Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area
- 4 + 8 (2) Mute Swans
- 8 (8♂) Mallard again
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Ducks
- 7 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Moorhens
- 22 + 4 (3 broods) Coots
- 1 Common Tern

This drake Mallard quickly losing its breeding plumage.

Another long-range blurred Buzzard photo included here to show that Buzzards do, occasionally, hover. Not really confusable with a Kestrel as the speed of the wing beats is very slow by comparison (in Europe there is also the closely-related Rough-legged Buzzard that hovers much more frequently).

Quick to utilise the cut weed this pair of Great Crested Grebes displaying. We can even see that it is in fact Canadian Pondweed (Elodea canadensis). Assuming it is the male that is presenting the weed ...

He seems to find something funny.

Oops: did I embarrass myself?

When Great Crested Grebes lie along the water like this there is usually some territorial dispute going on.

Do Coots ever stop fighting?

One of very few insects around this rather chilly and overcast morning. This is the Snipe fly (Rhagio scolopaceus).

The only damselfly I saw this morning. Where do they all hide when it is cold and / or breezy? This is obviously a Red-eyed Damselfly. Could it be the similar Small Red-eyed Damselfly? No: because that has a stronghold in East Anglia and were that species to occur in this area we could identify it by the mark it has on segment 10 (our specimen shows a plain segment 10 – the end of the ‘tail’). We would also see some blue along the sides of segments 7 and 8.
(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 07:10 – 07:30 // 09:20 – 09:35

(52nd visit of the year)

Notes from today
- a sudden influx of drake Tufted Ducks and some of the ducks missing. What is going on?
- just 4 broods of Coots this morning and with numbers in the broods reduced. Perhaps because of the chillier weather they were back in nests being brooded?
- a tight swirling group of Swifts and House Martins was difficult to count: best effort!
also
- the same Small Phoenix moth on a lamp, slightly repositioned

 Birds noted flying over
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull

Hirundines etc. seen today
- c.18 Swifts
- c.10 House Martins

Warblers noted: figures in brackets is singing birds (not all the males seen might have been singing)
- 1 (0) Chiffchaff
- 3 (2) Blackcaps

The counts from the water
- 1 Mute Swan
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 2 Greylag x Canada Geese
- 57 Canada Geese
- 13 (10♂) + 7 (1 brood) Mallard
- 7 (6♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- no Moorhens still
- 20 + 7 (4 broods) Coots

The two Greylag x Canada Geese here today.

The duck Mallard with two of her seven ducklings, growing fast.

 Noted between the lake and The Flash
- an adult Moorhen seen and juvenile(s) heard in the upper pool
- 1 Blackcap singing at the upper pool
- a pair of Bullfinches here: no sign of any juveniles

(Ed Wilson)

Note: Click here for a few images from the weekend

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On this day..........
2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

 2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

 2012
Holmer Lake
Black Swan
(Marilyn Morton)

 2009
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

 2006
Priorslee Lake
Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)