19 Apr 19

Priorslee Lake [with Woodhouse Lane] and The Flash

Priorslee Lake:  05:15 – 09:25
[Woodhouse Lane:  07:45 – 08:40]
The Flash:  09:30 – 10:25

7.0°C > 13.0°C:  Mainly clear: rather hazy. Light mainly E breeze. Moderate visibility

Sunrise: 06:03 BST

Priorslee Lake:  05:15 – 09:25

(104th visit of the year)

Species added to my 2019 bird log from here
82      Reed Warbler
Two birds singing from reed beds, one of them also seen in flight. These have perhaps arrived a few days earlier than in many years
83      (Common) Whitethroat
After finding one in Woodhouse Lane (see below) a bird was scolding and sub-singing beside the W end footpath later. Also perhaps arriving a few days earlier than many years

Other bird notes from today
- five first-year Mute Swans arrived together. Three left as the resident cob headed toward them; one followed immediately; the fifth needed more persuasion
- the Greylag Goose arrived and was untroubled by the swans
- the two Canada Geese seemed to leave of their own volition
- single Little Grebe seen in NE area. Another calling from NW reeds
- a single Fieldfare flying N was unusual at this date
- another plethora of Blackcaps (too many too close for accurate count?)

Bird totals

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake
- 2 Cormorants
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 1 Black-headed Gull
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 3 Stock Doves
- 40 Wood Pigeons exactly
- 6 Jackdaws
- 4 Rooks
- 1 Fieldfare
- 1 Linnet

Hirundines noted
None

Warblers noted (singing birds)
- 8 (6) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler
- 26 (17) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) (Common) Whitethroat
- 2 (2) Reed Warblers

The counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans (see notes)
- 1 Greylag Goose (arrived)
- 2 Canada Geese (departed)
- 11 (9♂) Mallard
- 10 (6♂) Tufted Ducks
- 3 Grey Herons
- 1+ heard Little Grebe
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 8 Moorhens
- 20 Coots
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull

Nothing on the lamp poles pre-dawn

Later
- 1 Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) butterfly
- >2 Syrphus ribesii or S. vitripennis hoverflies – indistinguishable males again
- >2 Melanostoma scalare (Chequered Hoverflies)
and
- >5 Plumed Midges (Chironomus plumosus) resting on my car when I came to leave

A hazy but colourful sunrise.

With a touch of mist rising from the water.

Five first-year Mute Swans visited. Three understood the ‘not welcome’ message very quickly.

“We had better leave then ...” 

Another one leaves.

The fifth eventually departs.

The best I could do today. The only Orange-tip butterfly that stopped in view and then the other side of a bramble patch.

I think this hoverfly is Syrphus vitripennis. The eyes do not meet so it is a female and we can look at the colour of the top part of the hind femur. It does not seem to be yellow so it is this species ....

The hoverfly Eristalis tenax (Common Drone-fly). A dark specimen similar to the one seen here yesterday.

Not much chance of looking through the reflective wings to see the body marks of this hoverfly. Almost certainly Melanostoma scalare (Chequered Hoverfly), by far the most common of this group.

An alarmingly hairy and alarmingly coloured fly. I cannot find anything to match: I do wonder whether it is a Gymnocheta viridis, normally a metallic green colour. Perhaps it is reflecting the light to look orange.

(Ed Wilson)

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Notes from Woodhouse Lane (07:45 – 08:40)

(10th visit of the year)

Notable here were
- a male Wheatear
in the field at the highest point of the hill there is a huge rock that is too big to move and every year stands proud of the crop in the field. This year the field is awash with oil-seed rape. Nevertheless the rock is still poking out the top and on top of that was the Wheatear. I have seen this species use this vantage point in previous years, usually when the crop had been shorter
- a (Common) Whitethroat
one bird singing and then seen in the hedge alongside the lane

Other notes
- a Stock Dove in the trees
- a Raven over
- although I saw eight different Yellowhammers (six males) none of them was singing
also
- 1 Peacock (Aglais io) butterfly
- 2 Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) butterflies

Some totals (singing birds)
- 2 (2) Pheasant
- 3 (2) Sky Larks
- 1 (1) Goldcrest again
- 3 (2) Chiffchaffs again
- 1 (1) Blackcap again
- 1 (1) (Common) Whitethroat
- 1 (1) Song Thrush
- 3 (3) Chaffinches
- 2 (1) Goldfinches
- 1 (0) Linnet
- 8 (0) Yellowhammers

Trust me: this is a male Wheatear.

From this angle at full power on the camera and maximum editing zoom we can see it is.

Hedge Garlic or Jack-by-the-Hedge (Alliaria petiolata) is now in flower.

Red Campion (Silene dioica or Melandrium rubrum): my first this year. Also known as Red Catchfly. It is confusing when even the scientific names are not consistent.

And in close-up.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  09:30 – 10:25

(97th visit of the year)

Species added to my 2019 bird log from here
65      Teal
a pair beside the island. A most unexpected date for this species which has largely left the country for its breeding grounds by now
[the Barn Swallow yesterday should have been #64]

Other notes from here:
- 4 of the bumper total of Canada Geese departed
- no Gadwall today
- two broods of Mallard ducklings located: 7 and 9 ducklings involved
- fewer Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers may have been in part due to the later time
also
- 6 Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) butterflies
- 2 Peacock (Aglais io) butterflies
- 1 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)
- 1 Melanostoma scalare (Chequered Hoverfly)

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash
- 1 Sparrowhawk (same bird twice?)
- 1 Herring Gull

Hirundines noted
None

Warblers noted (singing birds)
- 2 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler
- 5 (4) Blackcaps

The counts from the water:
- 2 + 1 Mute Swans
- 38 Canada Geese
- 2 (1♂) Teal
- 22 (17♂) + 16 (2 broods) Mallard
- 17 (9♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 7 Moorhens
- 24 Coots again

Totally unexpected at this date – a pair of Teal. My first at The Flash this year.

The duck Mallard with her brood of nine.

This Nuthatch was alternately proclaiming his territory – as here – and ... 

...Preening here .... 

... And here .... 

... And looking as if it needs a good shake to settle the feathers.

This is a more typical example of the hoverfly Eristalis tenax (Common Drone-fly).

A Peacock butterfly. The mark at the rear of the left wing looks as if it is reflecting the surrounding vegetation. A useful trick.

Same specimen, slightly different angle and same ‘reflection’

Difficult to work out what was going on here but it was 15’ up a lamp-post and getting a clear view was hard. I think the well-marked spider on the right has captured prey. The prey looks rather like a Plumed Midge (Chironomus plumosus).

(Ed Wilson)

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

2017
Priorslee lake
Today's Sightings Here

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Kittiwake
1 Sedge Warbler
3 Little Ringed Plover
4 Common Sandpiper
2 Blackcap
Sand Martin
Swallow
(John Isherwood)

East Priorslee
2 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
1 Whinchat
7 Redstart
57 Wheatear
Fieldfare
Meadow Pipit
Siskin
Lesser Whitethroat
(Mick Wall, John Isherwood)

Redhill Lane
10+ Wheatear
4 Yellowhammer
(Mick Wall)

2012
The Wrekin
2 Ring Ouzel
(Observer Unknown)

2011
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill
1 Grasshopper Warbler
26 Wheatear
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
1 Swift
2 House Martin
2 Swallow
150 Sand Martin
7 Blackcap singing
1 Common Sandpiper
(Martin and Ian Grant)

2007
Priorslee Lake
1 Pintail x Mallard
1 Kestrel
Tawny Owl 
1 Common Sandpiper
20 Swallow
20 Sand Martins
2 Blackcap
1 Garden Warbler
3 Chiffchaff
4 Reed Bunting 
(Martin Grant, Martin Adlam, Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
2 Wheatear
(Martin Grant)

The Flash
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
6 Great Crested Grebes
3 Ruddy Duck
1 Common Sandpiper
1 Buzzard
1 Kestrel
12 Sand Martins
8 Swallows
4 House Martins.
2 Stock Doves
1 Sky Lark
30 Wrens
18 Robins
26 Blackbirds
6 Blackcaps
11 Chiffchaffs
12 Willow Warblers
1 Willow Tit
5 Greenfinches
3 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)