Priorslee Lake: 04:10 – 08:00
The Flash: 08:05 – 08:55
15.0°C > 16.0°C: Cloudy at medium / high level. Some spots of rain after 07:00. Light SE breeze. Good visibility.
Sunrise: 04:51 BST
Priorslee Lake: 04:10 – 08:00
(144th visit of the year)
Spoke too soon. The remaining verges have more or less been mown (on a Saturday!). If it is an attempt to make the place look tidy (wildlife hates tidy) then it has failed. There are several bits missed and the ‘difficult’ bits left. Grass cuttings are all over the paths as well lying on the grass. Perhaps a man with a strimmer will yet destroy the rest of the flowers?
Bird notes from today
- Six House Martins seen over the estate and a pair(?) of these seen inspecting the under-apex of a roof along Teece Drive, presumably as a possible nest site.
- House Sparrows seem to have taken up residence in the Holy Trinity Academy grounds. How will they react to ‘back to school’ tomorrow?
- Family party of Reed Buntings seen with two barely fledged juveniles more or less running along the ground, wings flapping hard without yet achieving lift-off.
Bird totals:
Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 2 Canada Geese (outbound)
- 2 Cormorants
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 11 Feral Pigeons
- 11 Wood Pigeons
- 46 Jackdaws
- 51 Rooks
- 4 Starlings
Hirundines etc. noted:
- >8 Swifts
- 3 Barn Swallows
- 5 House Martins
Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 6 (5) Chiffchaffs
- 19 (18) Blackcaps again
- 5 (4) Garden Warblers
- [no (Common) Whitethroats]
- 1 Sedge Warbler
- 7 (7) Reed Warblers
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 4 Greylag Geese (arrived and departed)
- 11 (10♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes still
- 2 Moorhens
- 22 + 17 (7 broods) Coots
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull (both briefly)
Again nothing on the lamp poles pre-dawn. The LED lights are not attracting anything much – moths or other creatures
Seen later:
- >10 Timothy Tortrix moths (Zelotherses paleana)
- 8 Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata) [my highest-ever day-total]
- 1 Yellow-barred Longhorn moth (Nemophora degeerella)
- 1 female Black Snipe fly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- 1 Garden Snail (Cornu aspersum aka Helix aspersa)
- >8 pipistrelle-type bats
- >2 noctule-type bats
- >3 bats of a third species: larger than pipistrelle with twisting flight between trees
I need a bat detector to sort these out. Anyone got one?
- 1 Grey Squirrel
A flotilla of cygnets with mum following on behind.
This male Reed Bunting had just ushered two barely-fledged juveniles out of harm’s way.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 08:05 – 08:55
(137th visit of the year)
Notes from here:
- Last year’s cygnet IS still here: it took a long while to find so it is clearly hiding much of the time.
- Greylag Geese were coming and going. At least 12 birds involved.
- Tufted Duck still getting hassle from one of the Coots.
and
- 1 Lunar Marbled Brown moth (Drymonia ruficornis) on a lamp pole.
- 1 Terrapin sp. (Yellow-bellied Slider?).
- 2 Grey Squirrels.
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 4 Swifts
- 6 House Martins
Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 2 (1) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (2) Blackcaps
Counts from the water:
- 3 + 4 Mute Swans
- 12 Greylag Geese
- 18 Canada Geese
- 20 (15♂) + 13 (2 broods) Mallard
- 5 (3♂) Tufted Ducks again
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Moorhens only
- 19 + 9 (3 broods) Coots
The Coot rather got its comeuppance when the cob Mute Swan came along with the cygnets.
(Ed Wilson)
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