Priorslee Lake: 04:10 – 05:55 // 06:50 – 08:40
The Flash: 06:00 – 06:45
12.0°C > 17.0°C: Variable cloud with a few good breaks. Light / moderate SSW wind. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 04:53 BST.
Priorslee Lake: 04:10 – 05:55 // 06:50 – 08:40
(141st visit of the year)
Species added to my 2019 bird log from here
92 Common Tern
A bird dropped in at 07:50, did two circuits of the water, made a half-hearted attempt at diving for a fish and then left.
Other bird notes from today
- Need to go back to skool to do more ‘sums’. The Mute Swans have seven cygnets!
- At 04:20 there were two noisy adult Great Crested Grebes along the S side. The bird from the NW area was swimming after them. The pair with the two youngsters was nowhere to be seen – probably still in the N-side reeds. I assumed these were ‘extra’ birds. I did not see them again on the water. At 07:35 a pair of Great Crested Grebes flew W overhead – same?
- At 05:40 a distant skein of c.25 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew NW. These days any skein that size is unusual, doubly so at the end of May when there have been no recent gales. Two singles over later
Bird totals:
Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 3 Canada Geese (outbound)
- 1 Cormorant
- 2 Great Crested Grebes (see notes)
- >25 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (see notes)
- 4 Wood Pigeons only again
- 60 Jackdaws
- 19 Rooks
Hirundines etc. noted:
- >25 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow
- 6 House Martins
Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 6 (5) Chiffchaffs
- 18 (17) Blackcaps
- 5 (4) Garden Warblers
- 3 (1) (Common) Whitethroats
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler again
- 7 (7) Reed Warblers
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 11 (10♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 2 (1) Tufted Ducks
- 5 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes (see notes)
- 2 Moorhens
- 22 + 17 (5 broods) Coots
- 1 Common Tern
nothing on the lamp poles pre-dawn.
Seen later
NB: From now on I will generally only report insects when they are new for the year; or there are particularly unusual number or behaviour. However ALL moth sightings will be logged.
- 2 Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata).
- At least 2 Common Nettle-tap micro-moths (Anthophila fabriciana).
- Numerous freshly emerged and unidentified damselflies on the exit sluice platform.
- 1 female Red-eyed Damselfly found at rest.
- 1 probable Common Orange Legionnaire fly (Beris vallata).
- 1 male Scorpion Fly (Panorpa communis).
- an unidentified fly with green shoulders and a striped body.
- I confirmed the presence of the caddis flies Mystacides longicornis. They are rather similar to several species of micro moths also with long antenna.
- Many slugs and snails including a Glossy Glass Snail (Oxychilus navarricus).
- >2 pipistrelle-type bats.
- >6 noctule-type bats. My largest number for many years. These were mixed up with the early Swift arrivals at 04:35.
- 1 Grey Squirrel again.
Some early colour to the sunrise at 04:40.
But for the most part just an ‘interesting sky’.
A record shot of the two Great Crested Grebes flying over.
Another record shot only of this morning’s Common Tern as it departed.
An interestingly striped fly with green shoulders.
Another view of a different specimen.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 06:00 – 06:45
(134th visit of the year)
Notes from here:
- Tufted Duck again difficult to count with some birds on and off the island; and others flying about. The pair seen flying over did not seem to originate from here. Were they the pair seen later on the lower pool (q.v.)?
- No idea why fewer Coots logged. Only one juvenile from the original brood seen, though there are many places for them to hide near their nest site.
- The Willow Warbler has stopped singing here now, four days after the one stopped singing at the lake. Yesterday this one was much more mobile than usual. Perhaps he has a family to feed? I did not hear any calls.
and
- Several shield-bugs on lamp poles, likely all Common Green Shieldbugs (Palomena prasina).
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Cormorant
- 3 Wood Pigeons
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 Swifts
Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 3 (3) Chiffchaffs
- 4 (4) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
Counts from the water:
- 3 + 4 Mute Swans as usual
- 29 Canada Geese
- 22 (14♂) + 13 (2 broods) Mallard
- 8 (4♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 5 Moorhens
- 19 + 4 (2 broods) Coots
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
At or around the lower pool (singing birds):
The Tufted Duck were a surprise
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Moorhen heard
At or around the upper pool (singing birds):
- 1 (1) Blackcap
(Ed Wilson)
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