17 Jun 19

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

Priorslee Lake:  04:10 – 05:45 // 06:35 – 06:45 // 08:30 – 09:40
The Flash:  05:50 – 06:30
Trench Lock Pool:  06:50 – 07:00 // 07:40 – 08:20
Trench Middle Pool:  07:05 – 07:35

12.0°C > 15.0°C:  Early clear spells gave way to more cloud with very few breaks. Rain later. Light / moderate S breeze faded away to become light and variable. Good visibility, becoming moderate.

Sunrise: 04:44 BST once more

Highlights today were:
- an unseasonal Oystercatcher over Priorslee Lake
- my first-ever Reed Warbler singing at Trench Lock Pool – a site that has always struck me as suitable for this species (and Reed Bunting come to that)

Note the earlier than usual visit to Trench with split visits to the lake.

Priorslee Lake:  04:10 – 05:45 // 06:35 – 06:45 // 08:30 – 09:40

(155th visit of the year)

Bird notes from today
- some of the early broods of Coots are now leaving the nest area. Ascribing birds to broods is becoming increasingly difficult.
- The Oystercatcher flew around calling at 04:45. Presumably the same bird heard calling in flight at 05:40: I was away from the water at the time and unable to locate it.
- Even more Swifts today. It requires strong nerves to walk across the dam as these birds zip past very close – not only can you hear their wings, but sometimes feel the draught as they hurtle past. You hope their reactions are good – better than mine anyway.

Bird totals:

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 1 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Oystercatcher
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Stock Doves (singles)
- 15 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Collared Doves
- 27 Jackdaws
- 18 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- >50 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow
- 4 House Martins

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 7 (7) Chiffchaffs
- 17 (15) Blackcaps
- 2 (2) Garden Warblers
- 2 (1) (Common) Whitethroats
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler
- 5 (5) Reed Warblers

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 6 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 8 (7♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 5 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Moorhens
- 28 + 27 (? broods) Coots

Nothing on the lamp poles pre-dawn.

Seen later:
- 4 noctule-type bats flying around pre-dawn again
- >5 Timothy Tortrix moths (Zelotherses paleana)
- 2 Silver-ground Carpet moths (Xanthorhoe montanata)
- 1 Syrphus sp. hoverfly
- a few Scorpion Flies (Panorpa communis)
- more Black Snipe flies (Chrysopilus cristatus)
also
- first flowers this year of presumed Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica)

The early risers got to see this ... 

... and this. Otherwise another cloudy day with more rain later.

This is (another) Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata). I pursued it for some while and it then settled on the underside of leaves meaning I had to go through some contortions to get this shot. I pursued it because it seemed rather boldly marked, especially as it is getting towards the end of this species flight period and individuals should look rather faded. It is just a well-marked Silver-ground Carpet.

Rather like number 11 buses in London: you wait ages and two well-marked Silver-ground Carpet moths on the same day!

This is one of those impossible to identify Syrphus hoverflies – impossible unless you can see all of the legs, which you usually cannot even with a photograph. Worth showing as it is a splendid specimen – and sharp too for once.

Not new but a particularly obliging Black Snipe fly (Chrysopilus cristatus). A male – the eyes meet.

And another obliging insect – the overcast weather meant that although few insects were around those that were behaved rather sluggishly. This is a male Scorpion Fly (Panorpa communis) – the ‘sting’ is his genitalia.

This are, I think, Hedge Woundwort flowers (Stachys sylvatica). I remain slightly confused (as I usually am with plants) as the markings on the petals are rather more extensive than illustrated in my flora, though perhaps not quite extensive-enough for Marsh Woundwort (Stachys palustris). What we can see of the leaves here tends to confirm Hedge Woundwort – Marsh Woundwort has more pointed leaves.

Most of the orchids around the lake are Common Spotted Orchid (Orchis fuchsii). In some of the damper areas we have another confusing orchid to try and identify (see the Readers Corner tab on this web site for some pictures of orchids taken at RSPB Conwy last weekend). I think Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa).

Close up and personal with one of the flowers.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  05:50 – 06:30

(148th visit of the year)

Notes from here:
- Once again rather few adult Mallard. Also the older two broods of ducklings missing. Perhaps hiding away while they moult all their wing feathers?
- Seven – gulp – Great Crested Grebes this morning. The recent pair around their nest site with one bird sitting. Another pair displaying at the top end. Two more together in the middle of the water. A lone bird as well, this presumably the bird seen in flight: unclear whether it left or merely repositioned as I could no longer see all the water at that time.
- So where were all the adult Coots this morning? Most brood counts likely incomplete as juveniles remain in hidden nests.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 5 Feral Pigeons
- 2 Wood Pigeons
- 6 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 6 Swifts
- 1 House Martin

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

Counts from the water:
- 3 + 4 Mute Swans again
- 7 Greylag Geese
- 92 Canada Geese
- 15 (10♂) + 3 (1 brood) Mallard
- 9 (5♂) Tufted Ducks
- 7 Great Crested Grebes: gulp
- 2 Moorhens
- 14 + 11 (5 broods) Coots

I was pleased with this perky Wren. Usually they only give photo opportunities when they are setting up territory and shouting to potential rivals.

This one gave a ‘both ends’ view. 

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

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

Nothing of note around the upper pool.

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Lock Pool:  06:50 – 07:00 // 07:40 – 08:20

(30th visit of the year)

Notes from here
- Not certain about the number of cygnets. When I arrived the pen had just got off the nest and the cygnets were briefly visible through the vegetation and between their parents’ legs. She soon collected them up and started brooding them again.
- Two adult Great Crested Grebes were close together and with the surviving juvenile throughout. Another adult went for a fly-about and then landed back.
- I only located two of the last visit’s four broods of Coots. Both contained fewer juveniles. I thought I heard calls from the oldest brood that is usually by the swan’s nest but could see nothing.
- A third-summer Herring Gull stopped literally momentarily.
- The Reed Warbler was singing from along the dam. It is my 54th species at this site in 2019. No other warblers seen or heard.
- A Grey Wagtail present briefly.
and
- 1 Grey Squirrel
- 1 Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) butterfly

Birds noted flying over / near here [other than local Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws]:
- 2 Stock Doves

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 6 Swifts

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 1 (1) Reed Warbler

Counts from the water:
- 2 + 4(?) Mute Swans
- 1 Canada Goose only again
- 12 (11♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Feral Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck again
- 1 Grey Heron
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- [no Moorhens]
- 14 + 3 (2 broods) Coots
- 1 Herring Gull

A ‘grab shot’ of the new cygnets just before they disappeared back under mother to keep warm and dry. Four seems to be the answer: there may have been others already being protected.

The remaining juvenile Great Crested Grebe. The nasty-looking pink patch in front of the eye is starting to disappear – just what is its purpose? We can see part of a leg sticking out the back – on grebes the legs are set so far back that they find extreme difficulty on land.

A male Grey Wagtail already losing the black bib of a breeding condition bird. 

Another potentially confusing orchid. I think this too is a Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa).

The whole plant including the stem and unspotted leaves. 

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Middle Pool:  07:05 – 07:35

(30th visit of the year)

My earlier-than-usual arrival meant that no-one had fed the geese and ducks and they were widely scattered with some always ‘behind the island’. Difficult to count with accuracy as they moved around.

Other notes from here:
- no Tufted Ducks seen: my first blank visit this year
- no warblers singing / calling here
and
- a Figure of Eighty (Tethea ocularis) moth on one of the lamp poles

Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 1 Stock Dove

Hirundines etc. noted:
None

Warblers noted.
None

Counts from the water:
- 2 Mute Swans again
- 35 + 13 (4? broods) Greylag Geese
- 63 + 11 (3 broods) Canada Geese
- 12 (11♂) Mallard
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Moorhens
- 18 + 21 (8? broods) Coots

I wonder why they call this moth Figure of Eighty?! My previous record in Shropshire was one at Priorslee Lake on 5 June 2018.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2006
Priorslee Lake
Just a single cygnet left
(Martin Adlam)