8 Aug 18

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake: 05:20 – 06:35 // 07:30 – 09:10
The Flash: 06:45 – 07:25

13°C > 18°C: Broken medium-level cloud, dispersing somewhat. Light SW wind, becoming moderate. Very good visibility

Sunrise: 05:39 BST

Priorslee Lake: 05:20 – 06:35 // 07:30 – 09:10

(90th visit of the year)

Bird notes from today:
- no idea where the 2 juvenile Mallard were hiding yesterday – not with any parent today: too young to have fledged
- the brood of 3 Great Crested Grebes are definitely 2 juveniles with one adult; and the other juvenile with the other adult, usually some distance away. It would be interesting to know what sexes these birds are and whether the attachment was consistent. Only one of the other recently seen adults was noted today
- one of the juvenile Buzzards was sitting on the roof of a house in Teece Drive
- what is presumably the same Lapwing on the SW grass again despite the campers on the grass
- a group of 26 House Martins was seen heading S at 06:30. Seems very early for migrants – often there are late broods well in to September. So I assume these were birds from the estate on a feeding foray and the source of 8 birds seen over the lake after 08:00
- two small parties of Chiffchaffs working through the trees – family groups?

Today’s bird totals

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 39 Greylag Geese [37 (3 groups) outbound; 2 (1 group) inbound]
- 132 Canada Geese [96 (15 groups) outbound; 36 (2 groups) inbound]
- 13 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Feral Pigeons
- 48 Wood Pigeons
- 20 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc. seen today
- 3 Barn Swallows
- >26 House Martins (see notes)

Warblers noted: song now over
- 10 Chiffchaffs
- 5 Blackcaps
- 1 Common Whitethroat
- 5 Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area
- 2 + 3 (1) Mute Swans
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 11 Canada Geese
- 14 (12♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 3 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 7 + 10 (5 broods) Moorhens
- 86 (near) adults + 9 (4 new-ish broods) Coots
- 1 Lapwing
- 6 Black-headed Gulls

And other notes
insects, at least partly identified
- butterflies seen
- 2 Speckled Wood
- moths seen on the lamps
- 1 Agriphila tristella (Common Grass-veneer)
- 1 Blood-vein
- damselflies / dragonflies
- 2 Common Blue Damselflies again
- >10 Blue-tailed Damselflies
- 3 Common Darters
- hoverflies
- another Myathropa florea (or Dead-head Hoverfly)
- 1 Volucella bombylans
- no flies etc. identified
- no beetles and bugs noted
- no adult spiders noted but many spiderlings dispersing on gossamer threads (‘kiting’)
- snails etc
- >5 small White-lipped Snails (Cepaea hortensis)

Worth getting up for ...

The three cygnets are growing fast.

A Common Buzzard sitting atop a roof in Teece Drive. This is an immature – almost certainly from this year. We can age it by the pale tips to the back feathers; the white ‘false-eyes’ on the nape; the rather small yellow cere (at the base of the upper mandible); and, just visible, the vertical streaking on the chest – adults are barred.

This juvenile Chiffchaff was shot directly against the light and a black ball until I edited it. We see the weak supercilium and prominent dark stripe through the eye. Any Willow Warbler would have a much stronger supercilium and at this date look obviously washed yellow.

One of the easier grass moths to ID with its clear horizontal stripe is Agriphila tristella (Common Grass-veneer). Beware though there are similar species with an incomplete and / or bisected stripe.

A rather ‘blown-out’ shot of a Blood-vein moth pre-dawn on one of the lamp-posts here.

My first this year: a Common Darter. This is probably a young male – females rarely show this amount of red. Adult males are very red with just a patch of yellow on the side of the thorax.

There were several specimens flying about and I am not sure whether this is the same individual or not: very much the same age though ...

... as is this.

Still a few Blue-tailed Damselflies about this morning: here a male ...

... and here a female.

... and here a female of the green form infuscans. Males do not show colour forms.

This is the hoverfly Volucella bombylans – a bumble bee mimic. This is of the form plumata with the white ‘tail’. The most common form (bombylans) has an orange-red tail. We can just about make out the plumed antenna on this species.

I know I did this yesterday – it is the hoverfly Myathropa florea. What I did not point out was the yellow hairs on the side of the body, unique to this species. The pattern on the thorax is unusual too resembling a blackened skull and this species is sometimes known as a Dead-head Hoverfly. The larvae are known as rat-tailed maggots and prefer stagnant water or rotting tree-stumps.

Everyone tells me that there are very many wasps around this year. I photographed this one as the facial pattern is the best way to separate the several different species that occur in the UK. This is a Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris).

A little moisture from overnight dew and out come the snails: here a White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis).

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:45 – 07:25

(73rd visit of the year)

Notes from today
- the cob Swan had not gone AWOL – just hiding. It was back today
- one old group of Mallard ducklings seen: plenty of places for the others to hide
- were some of the Tufted Ducks hiding? no apparent juveniles seen but these are almost certainly not yet fledged
- 2 Grey Herons today: the adult just about tolerated the juvenile
- in addition to the fly-over Feral Pigeon one, most unusually, flew in to perch in a tree on the island

Birds noted flying over or flying near The Flash
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Feral Pigeon

Hirundines etc. seen today
None

Warblers noted
None

The counts from the water
- 2 + 3 Mute Swans
- 2 Greylag Geese again
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 9 Canada Geese
- 19 (15♂) + 7 (1 brood) Mallard
- 17 (?♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 Grey Herons
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes again
- 1 + 3 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 17 + 9 (5 broods) Coots
- 36 (2 juveniles) Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull again

Very much magnified, we see at the lower right a Black-headed Gull showing extensive brown on the back and nape indicating a very recently fledged bird – this gingery-brown plumage is soon lost. Note also that all the other birds – all adults – have pretty much lost their ‘black head’ and just have their black ear-muffs that they will retain until they moult again in late February next year.
Nothing of interest between the lake and The Flash

(Ed Wilson)

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

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings here

2011
Priorslee Lake
Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Wheatear
(Ed Wilson)