10 Jun 19

Priorslee Lake, The Flash, Trench Lock Pool and Trench Middle Pool

Priorslee Lake:  04:05 – 05:30 // 06:25 – 09:15
The Flash:  05:35 – 06:20
Trench Lock Pool:  09:25 – 09:35 // 10:35 – 11:05
Trench Middle Pool:  09:40 – 10:30

7.0°C > 15.0°C:  Clear start with cloud bank to far E. Clouded somewhat ahead of rain after 09:00. Calm / gentle E breeze with light N wind later. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:46 BST

Priorslee Lake:  04:05 – 05:30 // 06:25 – 09:15

(150th visit of the year)

 Bird notes from today
- Four Mute Swans flew straight over at c.08:20, then circled around and came back for a look before being dissuaded by the arched back-feathers of the resident cob.
- Two adult summer-plumaged Black-headed Gulls dropped in at 07:20, had a quick drink and left.
- Distant Green Woodpecker heard. Earlier in the year it seemed this species might nest here again (it nested along the N side in 2018). Perhaps the construction work put it off. My first record here since 08 April

Bird totals:

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 4 Mute Swans
- 13 Canada Geese (outbound)
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 9 Wood Pigeons again
- 53 Jackdaws again
- 69 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- >40 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 4 House Martins

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 6 (6) Chiffchaffs
- 18 (14) Blackcaps again
- 5 (4) Garden Warblers
- 1 (1) (Common) Whitethroats
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler
- 8 (6) Reed Warblers

 Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 6 (1 brood) Mute Swans again
- 9 (7♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron (early only again)
- Little Grebe heard again
- 5 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes again
- 3 Moorhens
- 25 + 27 (9 broods) Coots
- 2 Black-headed Gulls, briefly

Nothing on the lamp poles pre-dawn.

Seen later:
- 6 large bats flying around pre-dawn – all noctule-types?
- 1 Small Skipper butterfly (Thymelicus sylvestris)
- 3 Speckled Wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria)
- >5 Timothy Tortrix moths (Zelotherses paleana)
- 4 Silver-ground Carpet moths (Xanthorhoe montanata)
- Marmalade, Pellucid and bumblebee hoverflies; also Tapered Drone Flies, and Syrphus sp. hoverflies
- Azure, Blue-tailed, and Common Blue Damselflies
- >5 Harlequin Ladybirds again
- 1 Red-and-Black Froghopper
- a few Scorpion Flies
- 1 Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- 1 ‘common’ wasp sp.
- 1 Wall Mason Wasp (Ancistrocerus parietum)
- 1 Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
- 1 sawfly, probably Rhogogaster viridis
- several Red-headed Cardinal Beetles (Pyrochroa serraticornis)
- an all-white crab spider Misumena vatia
also
- first flowers this year of Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum)

The quartet of Mute Swans that circled over the lake once. Difficult to age from this view, though there seems to be some brown in the wing of the right-hand bird suggesting it is a first-year bird.

Latest in my series of ‘yummy’ photos! This Song Thrush has a tasty slug for its breakfast. There seems to be a touch of yellow in the gape suggesting this is a juvenile bird.

“Mum, mum, feed me!” This very juvenile Great Tit calls for attention. 

My second Small Skipper butterfly (Thymelicus sylvestris) of the year. The dark line in the forewing contain specialised scent scales that this male uses to detect the pheromones of females.

‘Just’ a Speckled Wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria) but a great view from this angle. 

This looks for all the world like a male Blue-tailed Damselfly .... but the pterostigma (mark in the wing) is supposed to be two-toned and they does not look it here. The picture is nice and sharp (for a change) and nothing else fits.

Not a bumblebee – the short antenna and the dark mark in the wing indicate a hoverfly. This is a Volucella bombylans of the form plumata with the yellow around the neck.

This is one of the form bombylans with the all-black body. This species is sometimes called the Bumblebee hoverfly though that is misleading as it is not the only species of hoverfly that looks like a bumblebee.

And here one is. This is a Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens), perhaps one of the most distinctive hoverflies.

On the face of it this stout fly with a dark mark in distinctively curved wings ought to be easy to ID. On the face of it ... Note on the right wing the two inner dark marks are in fact the tops of the legs showing through the wing and not marks in the wing itself. The eyes seem rather smaller than usual in insects.

I photographed Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum) yesterday with its two yellow bands and white tail. This one has a buff tail so is the closely related Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris).
 
This seems to be a Wall Mason Wasp (Ancistrocerus parietum). My first so far as I am aware.

I have come to the conclusion this is not a wasp but a sawfly of the genus Rhogogaster and probably P. viridis. This specimen has more black on the ‘neck’ than any of the photos I can find on the web but is a very common sawfly.

In lurid close-up we see a Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria). It even looks rather revolting.

An usual view of a Red-headed Cardinal Beetles (Pyrochroa serraticornis) – indeed any beetle – in that it has yet to close its carapace and we get to see the wings.

This view shows the ‘serraticornis’ of its scientific name very clearly. 

A particularly ‘dense’ form of Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis). 

Not sure what used to live here. Seems it climbed the grass-stem and has since left its cocoon – or whatever.

Here we see the crab spider Misumena vatia. It apparently can change colour through pink or yellow depending upon the flower it is hiding in. Green does not seem to be in its repertoire!

Today I saw my first flowers this year of Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). Insects love the flowers. It is not a native plant being an ornamental escape in the 19th century. The plant must be treated with caution as the leaves and particularly the sap can cause painful and serious burns and rashes.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  05:35 – 06:20

(143rd visit of the year)

Notes from here:
- An extra ‘new’ brood of six Mallard ducklings located. Not ‘brand new’ seemed to be about one week old.
- Garden Warbler heard singing again. A different rather scruffy bird seen, likely a juvenile though not seen well-enough to confirm.
- Even more of the Coot juveniles still being brooded.
and
- 5 Silver-ground Carpet moth (Xanthorhoe montanata) on a lamp pole in squirrel alley

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Wood Pigeon
- 1 Jackdaw

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 5 Swifts
- 2 House Martins

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 2 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (1) Blackcap again
- 2 (1) Garden Warbler

Counts from the water:
- 3 + 4 Mute Swans again
- 13 Greylag Goose
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 125 Canada Geese
- 35 (24♂) + 19 (3 broods) Mallard
- 10 (6♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 5 Moorhens
- 23 + 4 (2 broods) Coots

The ‘new’ brood of Mallard ducklings – there are six if you look carefully.

A species not often seen in the open is Treecreeper. 

I was amazed when it climbed to the top of this ‘topped’ Ash tree and stared about. Note the wide grip on the long-clawed feet and the stiff tail being used as a prop. Unlike the Nuthatch it can only climb upwards. Also note the fine bill used for poking in crevices.

(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:

At or around the lower pool (singing birds):
- 1 Moorhen calling

Around the upper pool.
Nothing of note

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Lock Pool:  09:25 – 09:35 // 10:35 – 11:05

(29th visit of the year)

Notes from here
- One of the two Mute Swans was again sitting throughout.
- The two adult Great Crested Grebes seemed to be ignoring the sole remaining juvenile.
- The gulls were all transient with both Herring Gulls visiting to drink, preen and depart.

Birds noted flying over / near here [other than local Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws]:
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 4 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow again
- 3 House Martins

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 2 (1) Blackcaps

Counts from the water:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 1 Canada Goose only
- 4 (3♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Feral Mallard – where does it go?
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Moorhens
- 14 + 10 (4 broods) Coots
- 2 Herring Gulls

This drake Tufted Duck is already showing signs of moult with the gleaming white flanks of the breeding season becoming sullied with grey. There is not much crest either. First year drakes do seem to acquire the white flanks – I have seen none like this since last Autumn.

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Middle Pool:  09:40 – 10:30

(29th visit of the year)

Notes from here
- Mute Swans once again showing no inclination to nest. I was told that ‘the nest had been destroyed’ but my informant knew no other details
- After a poor start there are now more Canada Goose goslings than those of Greylag Geese. Some of the latter are now well-grown and even have orange-toned bills.
- I think that the immature Mallard that I have recorded here on my last few visits are now ‘too adult’ to separate which is partly why there is an increase in both the species count and, in particular, the number not identified as drakes
- Again only one adult and one juvenile Great Crested Grebe confirmed.

Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 1 Common Buzzard

 Hirundines etc. noted
None

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 1 (1) Blackcap

Counts from the water:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 69 + 13 (4 broods) Greylag Geese
- 85 + 16 (4 broods) Canada Geese
- 27 (20♂) (1 brood) Mallard
- 3 (2♂) Tufted Ducks again
- 1 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebe again
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 18 + 23 (10 broods) Coots

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day..........
2018
Local Area
Today's Sightings Here

 2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

 2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

 2009
Priorslee Lake
12 Swift
1 Lesser Whitethroat
Willow Warbler
(Ed Wilson)

 2006
Priorslee Lake
3 Great Crested Grebes
9 Greylag Geese
5 Tufted Duck
Kestrel
22 Swift
4 Swallows
6 House Martin
5 Reed Warbler
1 Lesser Whitethroat
2 Common Whitethroat
2 Garden Warbler
8 Blackcap
5 Chiffchaffs
2 Jays
10 Greenfinch
6 Reed Bunting
(Ed Wilson)