Priorslee Lake: 06:50 – 09:20
The Flash: 09:25 – 10:15
9°C: Sometimes cloudy, sometimes clear, tending to more cloud later. Moderate / fresh W wind. Very good visibility
Sunrise: 08:16 GMT
Priorslee Lake: 06:50 – 09:20
(13th visit of the year)
Not sure what to say about the work done at the W end of the lake. I spoke to one of the Sailing Club members who told me the work was ‘tidying up’ to provide a clear view of the whole lake from their HQ: and to allow access by their yachts without fouling the overhanging trees. It looks a bit of a mess at the moment and to me a result of ‘boys with toys’ and a rather wide interpretation of the term ‘tidying up’. That said it is absolutely the best time of year to undertake all essential maintenance. It will not please the Reed Buntings who have pretty much lots their roosting site
Talking of roosting sites: at The Flash a total of 102 Magpies was recorded on Thursday going to roost. I knew there was a roost there as well as at the lake but 102 seemed rather more than I recall. Were some of these displaced from the lake by the construction work? I think the answer is probably yes. Only 40 birds, exactly, were logged coming out of the roost in the NE part of the lake. In previous years I have recorded upwards of 80, though numbers do increase throughout the winter. And I recorded 62 here on 2nd January, while the construction site was still quiet during an extended Christmas / New Year break. It was a rather breezy today and that might have affected things so I will repeat the count in more suitable weather
Other bird notes
- drake Shoveler was a new arrival
- two Great Crested Grebes were having a real fight crashing through the water with beaks locked and apparently trying to drown each other. Certainly not ‘display’ and something I have not seen before
- Coots not counted: the wind on the dam was making my eyes water too much
- fewer Jackdaws almost certainly because I was concentrating on the Magpie roost
Bird totals
Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Stock Dove again
- 2 Wood Pigeons again
- >>370 Jackdaws (see notes)
Birds recorded leaving roosts around the lake
- 40, exactly, Magpies (see notes)
The counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 6 (3♂) Gadwall again
- 13 (9♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Shoveler
- 5 (3♂) Pochard
- 23 (8♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 9 Moorhens
- [Coots not counted]
- c.180 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
My log of other things, on lamp poles
- 1 Winter Moth
- 1 Early Moth
- 1 stretch spider, Tetragnatha sp.
- 1 possible Mouse Spider (Scotophaeus blackwalli)
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:15
(12th visit of the year)
Two new bird species for my 2019 log from here
38 Gadwall
39 Redwing
Notes from here
- the Gadwall were, Mallard apart, my first dabbling ducks here for at least a year. My last Gadwall record was on 25 March 2017
- yesterday there was a report that the Ring-necked Parakeet had fishing line wrapped around its leg. One distant call might have been this bird: almost equally likely a Coot making a strange noise. So no information on the fishing line
- the ‘now it is here, now it is not’ Great Crested Grebe was gone again
- 6 Redwings at the S end of squirrel alley was a good find
and
- 1 Grey Squirrel
- a cluster of small delicate fungi, perhaps Glistening Inkcap (Coprinellus micaceus)
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash
- 2 (pair) Sparrowhawks
- 2 Wood Pigeons
The counts from the water
- 2 + 1 Mute Swans
- 11 Canada Geese
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 44 (28♂) Mallard
- 33 (17♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 Grey Heron s
- 6 Moorhens
- 20 Coots
- 48 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
After some ‘gardening’ to remove leaves and twigs here is the clump of fungi I found.
And here we see the gills, even more grooved than the upper surface.
(Ed Wilson)
Note:
1. Click Here for a Summary of the 2018 Priorslee Lake Report.
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On this day..........
2016Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
2014
Priorslee Lake
1 drake Scaup
2 female Scaup
(Paul King)
2013
Priorslee Lake
103 Coot
147 Black-headed Gulls
25 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
63 Tufted Duck
1 drake Scaup
2 Great Crested Grebe
17 Pochard
(Tony Beckett)
Priorslee Flash
4 Goosander
38 Tufted Duck
(Tony Beckett)
Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site
1 Caspian Gull
(Observer Unknown)
2012
Priorslee Lake
Water Rail
5 Great Crested Grebe
20 Pochard
17 Tufted Duck
c.200 Black-headed Gulls
92 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
6 Herring Gulls
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
24 Redwings
(Ed Wilson, John Isherwood)
Priorslee Flash
66 Tufted Duck
236 Black-headed Gulls
36 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
3 Herring Gulls
(Ed Wilson)
East of Priorslee
Willow Tit
Skylark
Brown Hare
(John Isherwood)
Holmer Lake
69 Goosander
(John Isherwood)
2010
Priorslee Lake
Bittern
8 Swans
4 Gadwall
23 Pochard
55 Tufted Ducks
256 Coots
c.800 Black-headed Gulls
c.500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
1 Yellow-legged Gull
c.40 Herring Gulls
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
Willow Tit
2 Siskins
(Ed Wilson and unknown observer)
2007
Priorslee Lake
38 Pochard
53 Tufted Ducks
15 Goosanders
2 Buzzards
>1000 Black-headed Gulls
>215 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
22 Herring Gulls
32 Robins
15 Blackbirds
179 Fieldfares
104 Redwings
274 Jackdaws
266 Rooks
218 Starlings
5 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
9 Great Crested Grebes
13 Cormorants
10 Pochard
24 Tufted Duck
207 Coots
2 Lapwings
c.850 Black-headed Gulls
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
96 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
61 Herring Gulls
1 Yellow-legged Gull
309 Jackdaws
493 Rooks
12 Pied Wagtails
10 Fieldfare
15 Robins
12 Blackbirds
1 Willow Tit
2 Siskins
1 Redpoll
11 Greenfinches
3 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)