7 Jan 19

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake:  06:40 – 09:30
The Flash:  09:35 – 10:20

8°C:  Scattered below a high overcast at 07:00: by 08:00 generally cloudy at lower level. Moderate WSW wind. Good visibility

Sunrise: 08:20 GMT

Priorslee Lake:  06:40 – 09:30

(7th visit of the year)

Four bird species added to my 2019 log from here
50      Woodcock
51      Sparrowhawk
52      Common Kestrel
53      Rook

Bird notes
- still unable to get close to the Mute Swans: neither has a Darvic ring for sure
- a lone Greylag Goose with a group of 10 Canada Geese flying E. 4 other groups of Canada Geese flying E and a pair arriving at the lake
- two pairs of Gadwalls seen arriving – or were they just positioning from the other end?
- many of yesterday’s Tufted Ducks seem to have moved elsewhere: they were not at The Flash either
- a Woodcock flew W along the N shore at 07:25
- a Common Kestrel was seen far to NE over the Woodhouse Lane area
- 2 Cormorants circled and had a look at the lake but moved off W at 09:00. Perhaps one of these seen on The Flash later with the other possibly the bird that arrived here from the W at 09:25
- a Grey Heron flew SE overhead at 08:30; one arrived – same? – from E 08:40
- one of the Great Crested Grebes seen flying in to the NW area: was this repositioning or had it been roosting elsewhere?
- the first Black-headed Gull arrived at the late time of 08:01. I counted 199 arriving from the W. As soon as they arrived many started to leave again, in all directions. Perhaps some of the 199 were returnees?
- only 2 Reed Buntings left the reeds at the W end: the reeds were waving strongly in the breeze today. At least 4 more birds calling

Bird totals

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake
- 1 Greylag Goose [outbound]
- 33 Canada Geese [5 groups outbound]
- 2 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 10 Wood Pigeons
- c.145 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook
- 1 Goldfinch

Birds recorded leaving roosts around the lake
- [Magpies not counted]
- 5 Redwings
- 2 Reed Buntings only

The counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 2 Canada Geese
- 6 (3♂) Gadwall again
- 6 (4♂) Mallard
- 11 (7♂) Pochard
- 18 (10♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron
- 3 Little Grebes
- 2 Great Crested Grebes still
- 10 Moorhens
- 72 Coots again
- 199 Black-headed Gulls (see notes)

My log of other things, all on lamp poles pre-dawn
- 1 female Northern Winter Moth
- 1 Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
- 1 weevil sp. just possibly Rhynchites sequatus
- 1 Myrid (aka Capsid) bug, possibly Liocoris tripustulatus

Not an easy species to photograph at the best of times and this morning’s dull weather was certainly not the best of times. Wrens are now beginning to stake out territories and sometimes sit and sing for a while from the same perch.

Too small for the camera to focus on in the dark but this critter is unmistakable a weevil. Positive identification unlikely from such a poor shot but worth recording. Any adult weevils should be hibernating underground. The rather rounded body and length of the ‘snout’ (rostrum) just possibly indicates Rhynchites sequatus – a hawthorn feeder: there is plenty of that in the area.

Another oddity. The obvious green-yellow triangle (the cuneus) suggests this is a Myrid (aka Capsid) bug. It could be the nettle-loving species Liocoris tripustulatus.

Doing well with blurred photos this morning. This is a female moth: like most ‘winter’ moths the females cannot fly. The size of the vestigial wing is a good identification clue. This seems to be a Northern Winter Moth. Both (regular) Winter Moth and Scarce Umber have very short wings; Mottled Umber is wingless; and Dotted Border has more extensively spread wings with a clean terminal band.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  09:35 – 10:20

(7th visit of the year)

One bird species added to my 2019 log from here
36      Cormorant

Bird notes from here
- not sure why so few Goosanders: little going on with the bridge re-building and the lone fisherman would normally just have moved the birds to the other end
- the noisy parakeet still around
and
- 1 Mottled Umber moth again

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Feral Pigeons

The counts from the water
- 2 + 1 Mute Swans still
- 9 Canada Geese
- 35 (21♂) Mallard
- 29 (12♂) Tufted Ducks
- 4 (0♂) Goosanders
- 1 Cormorant
- 6 Moorhens
- 19 Coots
- 62 Black-headed Gulls

(Ed Wilson)

Note:

1. Click Here for a Summary of the 2018 Priorslee Lake Report.

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

2017
Local area
Today's Sightings Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
Caspian Gull
2 Yellow-legged Gulls
A drake Scaup
(J Reeves)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Glaucous Gull
(Paul Paclett)

2006
Priorslee Lake
7 Great Crested Grebes.
17 Pochard
45 Tufted Duck
2 Gadwall
1 Pintail
236 Coot
2 Water Rail
1 Great Black-backed Gull
1 Yellow-legged Gull
c.140 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
46 Herring Gulls
15 Siskins
3 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)