21 Apr 19

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake:  05:15 – 06:40 // 07:30 – 09:00
The Flash:  06:45 – 07:25

8.0°C > 13.0°C:  Fine and sunny. Almost calm. Moderate / good visibility: less haze

Sunrise: 05:59 BST

Priorslee Lake:  05:15 – 06:40 // 07:30 – 09:00

(106th visit of the year)

A question to start: what day of the year would you not expect the Severn-Trent contractors to choose to cut the grass at the lake? Yes: they were out with their mowers cutting all the grass by soon after 07:00 on Easter Sunday!

Species added to my 2019 bird log from here
84      Garden Warbler
More or less annual in the larger bushes along the S side. One day earlier than last year

Other bird notes from today
- each of the four Black-headed Gulls arrived individually and flew low up and down for a while before moving on W. Two adults and two first-year birds
- there seems to be three Jay territories around the lake and in the Ricoh wood area this year
- two House Martins high over the W end suggests that birds are back around the estate area
- the Willow Warbler includes the odd ‘chiff-chaff’ phrase. Instances of Willow Warblers singing completely the wrong song are not unknown but very rare
- slightly fewer Blackcaps – a less unreasonable number?

Bird totals

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 11 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 5 Jackdaws

Hirundines noted
- 1 Barn Swallow
- 2 House Martins

Warblers noted (singing birds)
- 9 (7) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler still
- 21 (14) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
- 3 (2) (Common) Whitethroats
- 3 (3) Reed Warblers again

The counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 5 Greylag Geese (single and two different pairs arrived and departed)
- 6 (5♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 2 Little Grebes seen: other(s) heard
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 5 Moorhens
- 18 Coots
- 4 Black-headed Gulls

On the lamp poles pre-dawn
- 1 Common Plume moth. Same lamp as yesterday, different position
- 1 Common Green Lacewing

Later 
- >6 Orange-tip butterflies
- 1 Speckled Wood butterfly
- 1 Small Tortoiseshell butterfly
- first flowers of Ramsons (Allium ursinum)

The great weather continues. Tried to capture the sunrise from some different angles.

Sun just peeping over the horizon (need to have a word with the council about the poorly placed lamp post).

The Jays are unusually obvious at the moment – I guess busy nesting. Here is one from one of the pairs.

This Jay from a different pair caught by the early morning light ... 

... And looking quizzically at me.

Interesting behaviour from this Long-tailed Tit. It was fly-catching from this barbed-wire fence. Against the light it was hard to tweak the photo to enable the prey – a small green caterpillar – to be seen. Could not have caught this by fly-catching so I guess it is working hard to feed a brood.

Another Chiffchaff. Dark legs, obvious eye ring.

This might cause confusion. It is the same Chiffchaff with a shadow from the branch making it look as if it ought to be a Blackcap. Blackcap is more robust and the basic plumage is grey not brownish. With the light at this angle the supercilium almost disappears.

Still need to work on the Common Whitethroats. Here we see the main feature of a male – the grey head, though not all males are this obvious. All adults show the brown in the wings.

Not unreasonably the camera focused on the twig in the foreground though the Common Whitethroat is reasonably well seen with its obvious white throat and almost ‘staring’ eye-ring.

A Plumed Midge (Chironomus plumosus) with no visible means of support. I assume it is caught up in a web.

My first flower of Ramsons (Allium ursinum) this year. The pervading smell of garlic will soon greet us here as more and more flowers open.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  06:45 – 07:25

(99th visit of the year)

Notes from here:
- two broods of Mallard ducklings again. One, of 8 counted clearly: the other seemed to be also of 8 ducklings, although the birds were tight against the opposite bank and hard to be certain
also
- >3 Orange-tip butterflies
- a spider sp. with possibly a plumed midge in its jaws
- many other plumed midges

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash
- 1 Cormorant
- 2 Feral Pigeons
- 1 Stock Dove
- 5 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Starling
- 1 Linnet

Hirundines noted
None

Warblers noted (singing birds)
- 4 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler: the same
- 4 (3) Blackcaps

The counts from the water:
- 2 + 1 Mute Swans
- 16 Canada Geese
- 19 (16♂) + 16? (2 broods) Mallard
- 13 (8♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 Great Crested Grebes remain
- 5 Moorhens
- 26 Coots

Another “fifteen feet up a lamp pole” special. Seems to be a spider on the left with its jaws holding a Plumed Midge (Chironomus plumosus). It is a vicious world out there.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash

At or around the lower pool (singing birds)
- 1 Moorhen
- 1 Stock Dove calling - unusual
- 1 (1) Chiffchaff
- 1 (1) Blackcap

At or around the upper pool (singing birds)
- 1 Moorhen
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler

This is the Willow Warbler at the upper pool. Note the weak eye-ring and the rather obvious supercilium above the dark eye-line.

Here we see the pale legs and get a hint of the longer wings than would be shown by Chiffchaff. Note too the thin bill.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2016
Local Area
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Out of Area
Today's Sightings Here

2012
The Wrekin 
1 Wood Warbler
(Sandy Hill)

2011
Wrekin
1 Ring Ouzel
(Observer Unknown)

2010
Priorslee Lake
6 Common Sandpiper
6 Swallow
4 Sand Martin
3 Blackcap
6+ Chiffchaff
1 Willow Warbler
2 Stock Dove
2 Greylag Geese
(Mike Cooper)

2008
Priorslee Lake
1 Swallow
(Martin Adlam)

2007
Priorslee Lake
3 Great Crested Grebe
1 Pintail x Mallard
2 Tufted Duck
1 Ruddy Duck
1 Buzzard
2 Common Sandpiper
3 House Martin
2 Swallow
1 Skylark
5 Blackcap
1 Lesser Whitethroat
1 Reed Warbler
5 Chiffchaff
4 Reed Bunting
(Martin Adlam, Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
1 Redstart
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
4 Great Crested Grebes
6 Greylag Geese
5 Tufted Ducks
2 Ruddy Ducks
2 Sand Martins
3 Swallows
1 Sedge Warbler
6 Blackcaps
6 Chiffchaffs
6 Willow Warblers.
2 Sky Larks
28 Robins
29 Blackbirds
5 Greenfinches
2 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)

1 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)