19 Aug 18

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake: 05:30 – 06:30 // 07:25 – 08:50
The Flash: 06:35 – 07:20

17°C > 19°C: Low overcast with occasional very light drizzle. Moderate / Fresh SW wind. Very good visibility except in drizzle

Sunrise: 05:57 BST

Priorslee Lake: 05:30 – 06:30 // 07:25 – 08:50

(97th visit of the year)

Best bird today was the Hobby that flew N parallel with Castle Farm Way, scattering Wood Pigeons, at 07:50. My second record here this year

Other bird notes from today:
- most of the outbound geese were too far away to identify: calls indicated both Canada and Greylag Geese involved, with many mixed species groups
- still no sighting of additional juvenile Great Crested Grebes though an adult is still holding its back feathers as if to protect juveniles
- 3 Common Buzzards in the air together even though there could have been no thermals. Assume this was the family party from the Ricoh copse area on a training flight
- c.40 House Martins high over Teece Drive at 06:30. None seen later

Today’s bird totals

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 29 Greylag Geese [21 (2 groups) outbound; 8 (2 groups) inbound]
- >95 geese sp. outbound
- 1 Hobby
- 7 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Stock Dove
- 51 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Jackdaws
- 2 Chaffinches

Hirundines etc. seen today
- c.40 House Martins

Warblers noted:
- 6 Chiffchaffs
- 5 Blackcaps
- 2 Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 3 (1) Mute Swans as usual
- 15 (?♂) + 4 (2 broods) Mallard
- 6 + >3? (2? broods) Great Crested Grebes yet again
- 7 + 7 (5? broods) Moorhens
- 95 (near) adult + 9 dependent juvenile Coots
- 10 Black-headed Gulls

And other notes
insects etc., at least partly identified
- no butterflies
- moths on the lamps
- 1 Agriphila tristella (Common Grass-veneer)
- no moths elsewhere
- no damselflies / dragonflies
- hoverflies
- 1 Episyrphus balteatus (Marmalade hoverfly)
- no flies etc. identified
- beetles or bugs noted
- 1 Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes) on the lamps
- no spiders noted
no different plants noted

This is a bit of a puzzle: I assumed it was a duck Mallard flanked by two almost-grown juveniles – hence their rather paler brown plumage. But the bills of these two birds suggests drakes – the pale yellow-green tone. The bird on the left is still growing its primaries but that could be the normal annual moult. The tone of these two birds is rather odd.

A very co-operative adult Great Crested Grebe.

And a slightly different angle. Not sure what it was doing – or rather not doing.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:35 – 07:20

(80th visit of the year)

Notes from today
- the newest brood of Mallard ducklings down to just 3 birds. Two groups of well-grown birds with 4 and 8 juveniles respectively. 8 together is a bit strange as I have not previously noted any single groups of >7 ducklings of any size
- no Tufted Duck juveniles identified again
- party of 20 Feral Pigeons flew SE – Racing Pigeons? Another single flew N
- at least 1 Stock Dove flew in to trees at the N end of the water
and
- 2 Grey Squirrels

Birds noted flying over or near to The Flash
- 21 Feral Pigeons
- 4 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc. seen
- House Martins heard only

Warblers noted
- 2 Chiffchaffs

The counts from the water
- 2 + 3 Mute Swans
- 3 Greylag Geese
- 5 Canada Geese
- 21 (13♂) + 15 (3 broods) Mallard (see notes)
- 14 Tufted Ducks
- 2 Grey Herons
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes as usual
- 5 + 2 (2 broods) Moorhen
- 16 + 5 (3 broods) Coots
- 32 (3 juveniles) Black-headed Gulls

A very juvenile Black-headed Gull still with much brown in the feathers and especially the nape.

Here are two juvenile Black-headed Gulls: the back bird is typical of this date and just about in first-winter plumage. The bird in the foreground another more recently fledged bird.

This, in contrast, is a near-adult winter Black-headed Gull with red (rather than orange) legs and bill. The bill is only black-tipped in winter. It is still in wing moult otherwise it would be in full adult winter plumage.

Of interest between the lake and The Flash
- 2 Chiffchaffs calling between the two pools

(Ed Wilson)

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

2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here

2011
Priorslee Lake
4 Common Sandpiper
Female Ruddy Duck
(John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
A male Cockatiel
1 drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)