Priorslee Lake: 04:10 – 05:40 // 06:35 – 06:40 // 08:25 – 10:05
The Flash: 05:45 – 06:30
Trench Lock Pool: 06:50 – 07:00 // 07:45 – 08:15
Trench Middle Pool: 07:05 – 07:40
13.0°C > 17.0°C: Clear start; then cloudy for a while; sun after 09:00 did not last.
Sunrise: 04:49 BST. Brisk feeling light / moderate WSW wind. Very good visibility
Another earlier than usual visit to Trench with split visits to the lake.
Priorslee Lake: 04:10 – 05:40 // 06:35 – 06:40 // 08:25 – 10:05
(164th visit of the year)
Bird notes from today
- Little Grebe(s) heard calling from MW area again: still cannot see these birds
- Both pairs of Great Crested Grebes, each with their two juveniles, present. A third pair in the SW area together. No sign of either bird that seemed to be interested in nesting along the N side.
- On a rather chill-feeling morning the first Swifts arrived at 04:24 with numbers quickly building and at least 50 birds by 05:10.
Bird totals:
Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 3 Stock Doves
- 11 Wood Pigeons
- 48 Jackdaws
- 77 Rooks
Hirundines etc. noted:
- >50 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow
- 6 House Martins
Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 6 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 13 (10) Blackcaps
- no Garden Warblers again
- 2 (1) (Common) Whitethroats
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler
- 6 (5) Reed Warblers again
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 6 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 17 (16♂) Mallard
- 1 Grey Heron
- Little Grebe heard
- 6 + 4 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 + 3 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 23 + 31 (? broods) Coots
Nothing on the lamp poles pre-dawn.
Seen later:
- 1 noctule-type bat
In the brief sunny spell the following insects logged
- Butterflies (in species order):
- 6 Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)
- 13 Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- 1 Comma (Polygonia c-album): my 11th butterfly species here this year
There is a dearth of ‘white’ butterflies so far this year
- Moths (in species order):
- 3 Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnets (Zygaena lonicerae): 33rd moth species here this year
- 1 Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)
- 2 Garden Grass-veneers (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- Damselflies etc. (alphabetic order of vernacular name):
- Azure Damselfly
- Blue-tailed Damselfly
- Common Blue Damselfly
also
- 1 unidentified dragonfly sp. in flight
- Hoverflies (alphabetic order of scientific name):
- 1 Chrysotoxum verralli
- >10 Marmalade hoverflies (Episyrphus balteatus)
- >2 Common Drone-flies (Eristalis tenax)
- >5 Syrphus sp. hoverflies
- 1 Bumblebee Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans)
- 2 Pellucid Flies (Volucella pellucens)
And other things:
- 1 Tiger Cranefly (Nephrotoma flavescens)
- at least three 7 Spot Ladybirds (Coccinella 7-punctata)
- 1 larva and 1 pupa of Harlequin Ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis)
- 1 soldier beetle, probably Cantharis lateralis
- 1 Spotted Longhorn beetle (Rutpela maculata formerly Strangalia maculata)
- many Black Snipe flies (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- 1 Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata)
I am fairly certain this is the soldier beetle Cantharis lateralis (no vernacular name at species level).
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 05:45 – 06:30
(157th visit of the year)
Notes from here:
- Yet another late brood of seven Mallard ducklings. Also seen recent broods now consisting of two and three ducklings respectively. All the previous ducklings are no longer reliably separable from adults.
- The pair of Great Crested Grebes have at least three juveniles. Until they allow them all on the water it is not possible to be 100% certain how many.
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash.
None
Hirundines etc. noted.
None
Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 3 (3) Chiffchaffs
- 4 (4) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler again
Counts from the water:
- 3 + 4 Mute Swans still
- 50 Greylag Geese exactly
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose as usual
- 141 Canada Geese
- 29 (14♂) + 12 (3 broods) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron once again
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 5 Moorhens
- 19 + 12 (4 broods) Coots
Then, as in the last few days, a juvenile head popped out to look at the real world ....
... but here we can see there are two heads on the adult’s back. And ....
The very latest brood of seven Mallard ducklings – new for me today.
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
- Single adult Moorhens seen alongside both pools
- 1 (1) Blackcap at the lower pool
(Ed Wilson)
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Trench Lock Pool: 06:50 – 07:00 // 07:45 – 08:15
(32nd visit of the year)
Notes from here:
- An ‘extra’ Canada Goose gosling compared with last week and today they all looked likely to have come from the same brood with no obvious smaller bird. Odd.
- A single adult Great Crested Grebe was still taking no notice of the surviving juvenile. The juvenile nevertheless seems to be growing normally and was flapping its stubby wings at times. Another two Great Crested Grebes noted with one of them sitting on a nest and the other on guard.
- At least one of the juvenile Coots was from a brood not seen last week. Apparently only two juveniles survive from the earliest three broods – it seems improbable they are no longer recognisable as juveniles or, even more unlikely, have flown off.
Birds noted flying over / near here [other than local Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws].
None
Hirundines etc. noted:
- 2 Swifts
Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 1 (1) Blackcap
Counts from the water:
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 5 + 8 (1? broods) Canada Geese
- 17 (16♂) Mallard
- 1 (1) Feral Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Moorhens
- 19 + 3 (2 broods) Coots
- 2 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, briefly
- 1 Herring Gull, briefly
Here are the Mute Swans with their four cygnets.
(Ed Wilson)
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Trench Middle Pool: 07:05 – 07:40
(32nd visit of the year)
A Kingfisher heard and then seen in flight was my 49th bird species for my 2019 list here.
Other notes from here:
- Goose counts ‘best efforts’ as all the geese ran around in big groups at my feet hoping to get fed.
- The all-white goose present amongst Greylags again.
- Again only one adult Great Crested Grebe seen.
- A Grey Wagtail here once more.
Birds noted flying over / near here.
None
Hirundines etc. noted.
None
Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 1 (0) Blackcap
Counts from the water:
- 2 Mute Swans again
- 124 + 17 (4? broods) Greylag Geese
- 1 all-white ‘Greylag’-type goose
- 105 + 10 (3? broods) Canada Geese
- 25 (22♂) Mallard
- 1 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes again
- 5 + 3 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 19 + 16 (? broods) Coots
- 1 Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)
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