14 Aug 18

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake: 05:05 – 06:35 // 07:45 – 09:20
The Flash: 06:40 – 07:35

15°C > 19°C: Areas of cloud with a few sunny spells. Light WSW wind. Very good visibility

Sunrise: 05:49 BST

Priorslee Lake: 05:05 – 06:35 // 07:45 – 09:20

(95th visit of the year)

Bird notes from today:
- again the geese logged ‘on the lake’ were additional inbound birds that stopped off
- the pair of Great Crested Grebes in the NE area still with one of them showing raised back feathers suggesting new juveniles. Both the adult birds were along the N side today
- unusual was 5 Black-headed Gulls on the ‘football field’ adjacent to the academy until the dogs arrived
- for the 2nd day running a Wood Pigeon seen flying with a stick – almost half a nest for this randy species that would nest all year around if given the chance
- first Grey Wagtail for a while – last noted by me 14 July
- strange that after apparent successful breeding the Reed Buntings have disappeared. But they are always unobtrusive outside the breeding season

 Today’s bird totals

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 43 Greylag Geese [39 (4 groups) outbound; 4 (1 group) inbound]
- 97 Canada Geese [93 (11 groups) outbound; 4 (2 groups) inbound]
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 2 Stock Doves
- 28 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Jackdaws again
- 2 Rooks
- 2 Pied Wagtails
- 1 Greenfinch

Hirundines etc. seen today
- 1 Barn Swallow
- c.35 House Martins

Warblers noted:
- 9 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 1 Willow Warbler again
- 5 Blackcaps again
- 5 Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 3 (1) Mute Swans as ever
- 5 Greylag Geese
- 6 Canada Geese again
- 10 (6?) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 6 + >3? (2? brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 7 + 10 (7? broods) Moorhens again
- 80 (near) adults + 9 dependent juvenile Coots
- 15 Black-headed Gulls

And other notes
insects, at least partly identified
- butterflies seen
- 1 Green-veined White
- 1 female Common Blue
- 2 Speckled Woods
- moths seen on the lamps
- 1 Agriphila tristella (Common Grass-veneer)
- 1 Ruby Tiger caught in a spider web
- moths seen elsewhere
- 1 presumed Dusky Pearl (Udea prunalis)
- damselflies / dragonflies
- a few Common Blue Damselflies
- a few more Blue-tailed Damselflies
- hoverflies
- 1 Dasysyrphus albostriatus
- >1 Melanostoma scalare (Chequered Hoverfly)
- >2 Myathropa florea (Dead-head Hoverfly)
- no other flies etc. identified apart from wasp sp.
- no beetles and bugs noted
- no spiders noted
- no different plants noted

It was very overcast when I arrived at the lake and I was amazed to see this develop.

A fuzzy young Coot against the sunrise.

and the parent as well.

Here is the pair of Great Crested Grebes that seem likely to have small young on the back of the leading bird. I have not noticed – until I looked at the photo – that one of the presumed parents has rather fewer head plumes than the other.
Still cannot be sure what is lurking ...

This juvenile Carrion Crow shows a lot of white in the plumage ....

And when it flies it looks amazing. A dark bird against a dark background in dull light is hard to photograph, but you get the idea. Cannot recall any crow looking this white before. Strangely, Rooks never show white in the plumage and Jackdaws do only rarely.

A juvenile Blackbird. Young birds are very spotty but separation from young Song Thrushes is always possible. With Blackbirds the upper breast area is white marks on a dark background. With a Song Thrush it is black marks on a pale background. Blackbirds are often, as here, rather rufous. Song Thrushes would be pale and may have a pale yellow wash.
This tail-less Wren still manages to be acrobatic.

‘Only’ a Speckled Wood butterfly but good to see.

This one is very tricky: is it a female Common Blue or a Brown Argus? I am not sure I have seen female Common Blues too often and as far as I know I have never seen a Brown Argus. I have read and re-read all the stuff on the web. Sadly I could not get a photo of the underwing pattern which would have clinched the ID. I am forced to conclude that it is a female Common Blue even though there is only the merest hint of blue in the forewing outer edges. And I do so mainly because it was about 6’ away from where I photographed a male on the 6th June. The male would have been from the first brood of the year: this is a second brood specimen.
And here is another view. That body fluff does have a hint of blue ....?

Not much to go on here. I think it is a very worn Dusky Pearl (Udea prunalis) – they are at the end of their flight season and most of the scales forming the pattern will have rubbed off.

A sad end for a beautiful moth – a Ruby Tiger caught in a web too high up the lamp post for me to try and extract it.

This is the hoverfly Dasysyrphus albostriatus – no vernacular name. It is on a flower of Bistort (Polygonum bistorta).

Another ‘upgrade’ photo, this time of a Myathropa florea (Dead-head Hoverfly).

The view from the Wesley Brook bridge: not sure where all the mud came from. The brook was running clear higher up. Council contractors have just repaired the stream-side path near the Priorslee Academy well upstream. This may have dislodged some mud in to the stream.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:40 – 07:35

(78th visit of the year)

Notes from today
- all the juvenile Mallards noted were near-adults: did not locate the latest brood. Adult numbers well down recently – I think they are buried deeper in the island than I can see while they moult
- could not make up my mind about the almost-grown Tufted Duck juveniles. Sometimes I could only see 5 birds with an adult. At least twice I thought an extra two juveniles with a different adult
- 3 Grey Herons. 1 adult and 2 immatures
- just the one adult Great Crested Grebe seen today. Where were the others?
- a Kingfisher flew alongside me as I walked along Derwent Drive. My only previous record here this year was a bird heard on 31 January
and
- at least 5 Grey Squirrels attacking the hazel nuts. Nothing much left for the Jays!

Birds noted flying over or flying near The Flash
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull yet again
- 2 Feral Pigeons
- 2 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Jackdaw

Hirundines etc. seen
- 3 House Martins

Warblers noted
- 1 Chiffchaff again
- 2 Blackcaps

The counts from the water
- 2 + 3 Mute Swans
- 2 Greylag Geese: these arrived
- 15 Canada Geese: 8 of these arrived
- 16 (12?) + 15 (3 broods) Mallard (see notes)
- 13 + 7? (1 brood) Tufted Ducks (see notes)
- 3 Grey Herons
- 1 Great Crested Grebes
- 4 + 3 (3 broods) Moorhens
- 17 + 9 (4 broods) Coots
- 11 (1 juvenile) Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Kingfisher

If the sunrise at the lake caught me off-guard then this dramatic sequence at The Flash almost did as well. With dark clouds out to the West the early light Was streaming under the clouds and providing a superb luminescence almost worthy of a Canaletto [or Giovanni Antonio Canal to give him his real name].
A sheer delight.

I bet Estate Agents would pay for such lighting to enhance their wares!

Well worth getting out of bed for!

And a mixed skein of Greylag and Canada Geese arrives also illuminated by the amazing sunlight.

One of the three Grey Herons today: this a juvenile.

Of interest between the lake and The Flash
- 1 Blackcap calling by the upper pond

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day..........
2014
Local area
Today's Report Here

 2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

 2007
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper 
Wheatear
(Ed Wilson)