10 Jul 18

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake: 05:50 – 06:25 // 07:15 – 09:45
The Flash: 06:30 – 07:10

15°C > 18°C: Mainly cloudy with a few brighter / sunny intervals later. Light ENE wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:57 BST

Priorslee Lake: 05:50 – 06:25 // 07:15 – 09:45

(81st visit of the year)

Bird notes from today:
- only one of the pairs of Mute Swans and their cygnets seen today – and these disappeared for a while. The long-term residents not located; albeit one of the locals questioned me as to whether two nesting pairs was unusual so perhaps they were hiding after all the hot weather
- all the Mallard seen were drakes even though many, now in eclipse plumage, looked otherwise
- one of the pairs of Great Crested Grebes seen with young. The other long-term pair, although seen together, were not always near their usual nest site. A single bird was asleep in the NE area. No sign of the pair that seemed to be building a nest along the S side
- surprising was three very new broods of Coots. Elsewhere the testosterone seems to have died down and many adults and juveniles were feeding peacefully in large mixed groups making the number of broods difficult to ascertain
- a party of 48 Feral Pigeons flying S was unusual. Likely Racing Pigeons which I usually see practising on Thursdays or racing on Saturdays and then usually flying N or NW
- Green Woodpecker very noisy and seen in flight twice
- warblers mainly very quiet today. Juvenile Reed Warbler(s) heard begging – with an adult in full song in a new site
- Pied Wagtails seen in three locations, one of which included two juveniles
- juvenile Goldfinches for the first time this year

And other notes
- perhaps just caused by the hot and dry weather: almost all the vegetation on the dam-face has died, though all the vegetation along the water’s-edge seems largely unaffected. Another possible explanation is that a Severn-Trent contractor has sprayed the plants to help maintain the integrity of the dam
- I struggled to find just a few damselflies this morning

Today’s bird totals

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 1 Black-headed Gull
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 52 Feral Pigeons (3 groups)
- 20 Wood Pigeons

Hirundines etc. seen today
- 2 Swifts
- 5 House Martins

Warblers noted: figure in brackets is singing birds
- 1 (1) Chiffchaffs
- 8 (0) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warblers
- no (Common) Whitethroats
- 4 (3) Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 3 (1) Mute Swans see notes
- 22 (22♂) Mallard
- 5 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 + 1 Moorhens
- 45 + 27 (13? broods) Coots
- 9 (1 juvenile) Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Interesting insects, at least partly identified
- butterflies seen
- 1 Speckled Wood
- 4 Green-veined Whites
- moths flushed from the vegetation [both new species for the year here]
- 2 Olive Pearl (Udea olivalis)
- >5 Shaded Broad-bar
- damselflies / dragonflies
- >2 Common Blue Damselflies
- >5 Blue-tailed Damselflies
- hoverflies
- >50 Episyrphus balteatus (Marmalade hoverfly)
- >2 Eristalis sp. (drone-fly)
- flies etc. identified
- >5 Black Snipe flies (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- beetles and bugs
- >50 Rhagonycha fulva (Hogweed Bonking-beetle / Common Red Soldier Beetle)
- 1 Oedemera nobilis
- 1 Common Green Capsid (bug) (Lygocoris pabulinus)
- spiders noted
- 1 green spider sp
- 1 Leiobunum rotundum (harvestman)

New species of flowering plants
- Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris)
- Rosebay Willow-herb or Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)

Here is one of the ‘new’ pair of Mute Swans with its three fast-growing cygnets.

All these Mallard are in fact drakes many in full eclipse plumage.

Two rather scruffy drakes.

This was perhaps the hardest to ascribe to being a drake – the plain greenish bill separates from the mostly brown bills of ducks.

And another. The warm tone on the breast is another clue to it being a drake.

Now it has young this Great Crested Grebe no longer allows close-approach. From this blown-up shot we see two juveniles on the water and one on the parent’s back.

The Black-headed Gulls are back. Here is a full adult – apparently.

... but in flight we see that some birds at least have started their post-breeding wing-moult.

... very evident from a spread wing as here.

Less obvious on an angled wing.

A lone juvenile Black-headed Gull was present. When just fledged they can be very ‘ginger’-looking but this soon fades to the browner tones seen here ...

... and here.

This immature Lesser Black-backed Gull is moulting from 2nd summer to 3rd winter plumage and as it does so the moulted upperwing coverts expose feathers not normally visible and gives this unusual white bar across the wing. All moulting large gulls show this but only for a very brief period.

Rather unusual behaviour by this juvenile Pied Wagtail: it seemed to be finding most food by running along the artificial cricket strip in the ‘football field’ and diving in after insects.

A Green-veined White butterfly. Smaller than the Large White and much more common than the Small White with which it can be more-easily confused when in flight.

When at rest the underwing marks separate from all other ‘whites’. Only ‘green’ when freshly emerged the green scales soon wear off leaving dark veins.

The micro-moth Olive Pearl (Udea olivalis).

One of a number of Shaded Broad-bar moths, all of which insisted on burying themselves in vegetation.

A Marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) on hogweed.

From this angle they look large-headed.

A hoverfly of the genus Eristalis and known as drone flies from their habit of hovering in profusion in sunny patches along woodland rides and emitting a droning sound. The two common species are most easily separated by the colour of the hind-leg – not visible here!

One of the very few damselflies I could find this morning - a Common Blue Damselfly.

A capsid bug, likely a Common Green Capsid (Lygocoris pabulinus), on Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium). Note the other very small bug that could almost be taken for one of the seeds.

Doing what is says on the tin: Rhagonycha fulva (Hogweed Bonking-beetles).

Another pair. Also known as Common Red Soldier Beetles these were on many plants this morning. Mating pairs were only seen on hogweed.

A female Oedemera nobilis beetle. Only the males show the swollen hind femur.

A fly sp. of the Muscidae family: there are vary many, hard to separate.

Yet another unknown fly sp.

And another!

A green spider. Previously I have found several Araniella sp. spiders but this seems to be a different shape and I am not sure what it is.

Here we are: first harvestman of the year. Seems to be Leiobunum rotundum.

The pointed leaves give the clue to Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare).

In many places this is the most common willowherb but not here: this is Rosebay Willow-herb or Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium).

THIS is the most common willowherb at the lake – Greater Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum).

A nice sunny clump of Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris formerly Senecio jacobaea). It won’t kill a horse unless the horse eats a field-full – its danger is much over-played and it is an important food-plant for insects.

Rather denser and more round-headed than Common Hogweed this is Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris). Nothing to do with the angelica used in cooking.

The beheading given to the Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) has meant that the stunted regrown plants are well below the typical 15’ and the flower-head can be easily photographed. Like the stunted plant it is somewhat smaller than we would see on a full-sized plant and also rather more sparse.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:30 – 07:10

(64th visit of the year)

Highlight undoubtedly was the party of 9 very small Tufted Ducklings – my first confirmed breeding here for several years. How likely these are to survive is debateable

Also the Swans now have cygnets; there were several new broods of small Mallard ducklings; and a trio of juvenile Great Crested Grebes

Other notes from today
- two of the groups of Mallard ducklings were very new – 8 and 6 respectively. Another group of 6 seems likely to be one of the groups originally with 7 ducklings. A group of 3 seems likely to have been the remnants of the 4th group originally with 7 ducklings first seen on the 21 June
- sexing of the Tufted Ducks is now getting very hard
- most unusual was a juvenile Moorhen seen flying around and around the water at c.20’ – a species I do not often see in flight and perhaps have never in such prolonged flight
- Black-headed Gulls returned here also: no juveniles here

Birds noted flying over or flying near The Flash
- 2 Black-headed Gulls

Hirundines etc. seen today
- 7 Swift
- 4 House Martins

Warblers noted: (singing birds in brackets)
- 2 (1) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (2) Blackcaps

The counts from the water
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 103 Greylag Geese
- 118 Canada Geese
- 20 (16♂) + 23 (4 broods) Mallard
- 10 (4♂?) + 9 (1 brood) Tufted Ducks (see notes)
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 + 2 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 20 + 12 (6 broods) Coots
- 13 Black-headed Gulls

A duck Mallard and her brood of eight.

At extreme range this was the best I could do to show the duck Tufted Duck and her nine ducklings.

While many of the Tufted Ducks are becoming hard to sex as they enter eclipse this rather strangely-hued duck presents no such problem – a drake would never look like this.

These Black-headed Gulls were opportunistically feeding on bait being thrown by one of the fishermen.

We can just about make out one emerging with its prize.

Not entirely sure what this is: I suspect a garden escape of the loosestrife family. It seems too ‘showy’ to be the native Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria).

And in more detail.

Of interest between the lake and The Flash
- Moorhens again heard calling from both pools – much too overgrown to see anything

(Ed Wilson)

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

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2009
Priorslee Lake
12 Swifts
1 Lesser Whitethroat
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
3 Great Crested Grebes
201 Canada Geese
4 Tufted Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
After 29 days the 5 remaining Mute Swan Cygnets are still going strong. Last year, as you may recall, we had 9 but ended up with just 1, after a Mink devastated the family. This year it has been Mink clear and even though we lost 2 within the first two days, these guys I think will do really well.
(Martin Adlam)