14 Jul 18

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake: 05:30 – 06:45 // 07:40 – 09:50
The Flash: 06:50 – 07:35

15°C > 20°C: Thin low cloud with few breaks cleared after 07:30. Light and variable mainly S / SW wind. Good visibility but rather hazy.

Sunrise: 05:02 BST

Priorslee Lake: 05:30 – 06:45 // 07:40 – 09:50

(85th visit of the year)

After Wednesday’s encounter with a dead Mole I encountered what seemed to be a, just about, live Mole this morning. Lying apparently uninjured along the S side grassy path I picked it up to take it to a better location to photograph it. I was surprised to find it quite warm and could feel what seemed to be a very weak pulse. That said, the animal seemed very bony – perhaps it had been unable to find food in the very hard and dry ground. After photographing it I put it back in long grass in a sheltered area near water where the ground was possibly softer

Bird notes from today:
- yesterday’s Mute Swan visitors gone: the remaining set of resident birds seem to have taken over the area used by the usurped long-term resident pair
- party of 12 Greylag Geese came in from the E at c.09:00
- the older group of Mallard duckling was back as a brood of 3 today, though these were not near any adults so perhaps the 4th and the parent were lurking somewhere
- first returning Common Sandpiper: only early on
- a single Swift shot over early on
- some of the House Martins were juveniles begging on the wing: a second brood
- no fewer than 16 Magpies were on the football field when I arrived
- my first ‘spotty juvenile’ Robin of the year: in general there seems to be very few juvenile small birds about

Today’s bird totals

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 4 Black-headed Gulls
- 21 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc. seen today
- 1 Common Swift
- 1 Barn Swallow
- 8 House Martins

Warblers noted: figure in brackets is singing birds
- 4 (3) Chiffchaffs
- 11 (7) Blackcaps
- no Garden Warblers
- 2 (1) (Common) Whitethroats yet again
- 7 (4) Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 3 (1) Mute Swans
- 12 Greylag Geese
- 21 (19♂) + 10 (2 broods) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Little Grebe once more
- 7 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes again
- 3 Moorhens
- 46 + 31 (? broods) Coots
- 1 Common Sandpiper
- 13 Black-headed Gulls

And interesting insects, at least partly identified
- butterflies seen
- 2 Small Skippers
- 1 Large White
- 1 Small White
- >25 Green-veined Whites
- 7 Peacocks
- 2 Gatekeepers
- 2 Meadow Browns
- 4 Ringlets
- moths on the lamps
- 1 Single-dotted Wave
- moths flushed from the vegetation
- >25 Agriphila straminella (Straw Grass-veneer) [grass moths]
- >10 Pale Straw Pearl (Udea lutealis)
- 1 Silver-Y
- damselflies / dragonflies
- many Common Blue damselflies
- a few Azure Damselflies
- many Blue-tailed Damselflies
- 2 Emperor Dragonflies
- 1 Southern Hawker
- hoverflies
- >50 Episyrphus balteatus (Marmalade Hoverfly)
- >10 Eristalis sp. (Drone fly)
- 1 Cheilosia illustrata
- >5 Volucella pellucens (Pellucid Fly)
- >1 Volucella bombylans
- no flies etc. specifically identified today
- several bee sps. not identified
- beetles and bugs
- >20 Rhagonycha fulva (Hogweed Bonking-beetle / Common Red Soldier Beetle)
- spiders noted
2 Leiobunum rotundum harvestmen on the lamps
1 unidentified spider on the lamps

New species of flowering plants.
None

A rather hazy sunrise: the horizontal line across the lower part of the sun is likely a ‘dead’ vapour / con-trail of an early arriving flight from the US in to Europe.

You can well understand why birds get nervous when the looming shape of a Grey Heron appears overhead. I was quite pleased with this shot as it was taken one handed while I successfully avoided spilling a cup of coffee in the other hand.

Whilst one of the pairs of Great Crested Grebes is busy with its three juveniles this pair is still displaying. They are very close to the nesting pair – where they could build a nest is unclear.

More display later when the light was somewhat better.

After displaying both spent much time preening and then one of them did some ‘wing raising’ like this. I don’t think it was display – just getting the feathers back in place?

Though how waving your foot around helps I am unsure.

A Small Skipper butterfly.

A Large White butterfly. The relatively plain underwing means in cannot be a Green-veined White. While we cannot get any scale to separate this from Small White on size alone we can see the dark colouration on the edge of the forewing extends a way down the trailing edge – it only goes a short way down on a Small White ....

Like this! A Small White.

The easiest way to separate Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper is to look at the black circle on the upper wing. If it has one white spot, as here, it is a Meadow Brown. A Gatekeeper invariably shows two. The Gatekeeper can be recognised as smaller once you ‘get your eye in’. The underwing pattern in stronger if you can see it

But then again .... this Meadow Brown shows just the hint of a second white spot – it clearly has not read the books and does not know this is wrong!

Not my best-ever photo of a Gatekeeper but it makes the point: two very obvious white spots in the black circle; and a much stronger underwing pattern. These spots are visible from above as well.

I had some trouble with the Peacock butterflies this morning. There were at least 7 – a very good number – but they would stay ‘up sun’ of me making photos hard. I thought this would be the best but then ...

One did the decent thing and posed.

This is a Single-dotted Wave moth. Its emergence seems very consistent – my first dates for 2016 and 2017 were 16th and 15th July respectively. Is climate change making it a day earlier every year? I doubt its that simple.

Get it right Edwin: a Pale Straw Pearl (Udea lutealis)!

A Silver-Y moth. This very common migrant moth can often be seen hovering in grassy areas looking for nectar. When disturbed it dives for cover – as here.

This hoverfly, Cheilosia illustrata, looks quite benign here but ...

... quite alarming in close-up!

Still close but not so close.

This looks like a bumble bee but is in fact a Volucella bombylans hoverfly.

Long antenna means this IS a bee sp. on Ragwort.

Like yesterday a green-toned damselfly. I assume these are tenerals from a recent hatch yet to acquire adult colouration.

Here is the head and thorax in close-up.

The harvestman Leiobunum rotundum on one of the lamps.

A small amount of rain was enough to brings out the snails – here a White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis) – but I saw no slugs.

Here is the poor Mole. As noted this was still warm and perhaps just about alive.

The mouth and digging parts.

And the whole underside.

And another view of the top side.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:50 – 07:35

(68th visit of the year)

Notes from today
- seemed to be only 8 Tufted Ducklings: hard to be certain
- Great Crested Grebe juveniles present and correct again today
also
- a presumed Riband Wave moth found on one of the lamps around the water

Birds noted flying over or flying near The Flash
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 4 Feral Pigeons
- 3 Wood Pigeons

Hirundines etc. seen today
- 2 House Martins

Warblers noted: (singing birds in brackets)
- 1 (0) Chiffchaff again
- 1 (1) Blackcap

The counts from the water
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 75 Greylag Geese
- 104 Canada Geese
- 26 (18♂) + 14 (3 broods) Mallard
- 20 (?♂) + 8? (1 brood) Tufted Ducks
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 + 3 (3 broods) Moorhens
- 20 + 17 (7? broods) Coots
- 12 (no juveniles) Black-headed Gulls

A semi-submerged wooded structure is being exploited by juvenile Coots and a couple of Canada Geese as a way of keeping your feet cool without getting wet.

This has to a rather unusually coloured specimen of Riband Wave and of the form that has no ‘band’ of solid colour between bands 2 and 3 across the forewing. This species is common-enough in the area and more specimens lack the band than have it amongst the local population. I have never seen one as brown as this one.

Actually on the roof of the tunnel under Priorslee avenue but I’ll include it alongside the other moth. It is a female Ghost Moth – the males are slightly smaller and white with unmarked wings.

Of interest between the lake and The Flash
- Moorhens heard at the lower pool only
- 1 Blackcap singing by the foot tunnel entrance
- a female Ghost Moth on the roof of the tunnel

(Ed Wilson)

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

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's report Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here

2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's report Here

2012
Priorslee Lake
Common Tern
Possible Otter
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
A female Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
A drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Common/Arctic Tern
(Martin Adlam)