23 Jul 19

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake:  04:10 – 05:50 // 06:50 – 08:20
The Flash:  05:55 – 06:45

15.0°C > 20.0°C:  Clear start; some mist later and then low cloud from E after 08:15. Very light / no wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:14 BST

Priorslee Lake:  04:10 – 05:50 // 06:50 – 08:20

(182nd visit of the year)

Highlight today was a Hobby that flew fast E at 07:25. Not new for the year but always noteworthy.

Most unusual was a group of 61 large gulls seen heading towards me from the far NE at 04:45. These fanned out with birds passing to the N and, mainly, to the S of lake with a few heading off directly S. Too dark to specifically identify though two Lesser Black-backed Gulls dropped in to the lake briefly a few minutes later.

Other bird notes from today
- Only three adult Great Crested Grebes located. All three juveniles present.
- Not sure why so few Coots. There are people camping on the SW grass which may have dissuaded them from gathering at the W end. But they should have been somewhere and the juveniles would not yet be able to fly off.
- I hope I ascribed the Jackdaws and Rooks correctly. Normally differentiating these species in flight at distance is not too hard – the Rooks always seem ‘stately’ whereas the Jackdaws always seem to be in a hurry. At the moment many Rooks are in wing moult with missing / regrowing feathers and are needing to flap more urgently.

Bird totals:

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 9 Greylag Geese (3 groups outbound)
- 8 Canada Geese (2 groups inbound)
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 9 Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull
- 61 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Stock Dove
- 55 Wood Pigeons
- 73 Jackdaws
- 112 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 6 Swifts again
- 4 Barn Swallows again
- 6 House Martins

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 10 (3) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (0) Blackcaps again
- 1 (0) (Common) Whitethroat again
- 5 (1) Reed Warblers

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 6 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 1 Greylag Goose (departed)
- 10 Canada Geese (departed)
- 8 (7♂) Mallard
- 1 Cormorant
- 3 Grey Herons
- 3 + 3 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 1 + 2 (2 broods) Moorhen
- 39 adult and juvenile Coots only: + 2 more juveniles in very new brood
- 21 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls briefly

On the lamp poles pre-dawn:
- 1 Common Grey moth (Scoparia ambigualis)
- 3 Little Grey moths (Eudonia lacustrata)
- 1 Dingy Footman moth (Eilema griseola): presumably the same as yesterday, though it flew off on both days
- 2 wasps (Vespa sp.)

The following logged later:
- 1 noctule-type bat
I left as it was clouding up and before most insects were active
- Butterflies (in species order) (numbers not recorded):
- Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)
- Moths (in species order):
- 1 Shaded Broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata) again
- Damselflies etc. (alphabetic order of vernacular name):
- Blue-tailed Damselflies
- Common Blue Damselflies
- The usual hoverflies with no species of note
And other things:
- 1 Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) of the form conspicua
- a few Hogweed Bonking beetles (Rhagonycha fulva)
- a few wasps (Vespa sp.)

50 years ago (plus the odd cloudy day) ... man landed on this. What an achievement with the technology of the day.

It really was the most gorgeous red morning sky even though there were no obvious clouds – there was the thinnest of high cloud to give it this hue. Some of the geese can be seen on the water. These all soon flew off.

A juvenile Reed Warbler – we can see the gape line on this bird. Note the bill colour – on an adult it is grey, even blue-grey.

I don’t think this is the same individual – they were jumping about a bit whenever adults arrived with food. Note the rather ‘fuzzy’ head.

Patience rewarded. I managed to get some decent shots of a male Linnet in his breeding plumage with red chest and crown patches. Note the pale undertail feather and the V-notch in the tail at rest.

Here he is again. We can just see the white shafts in the wing which give a pale area when seen in flight.

And here is the rather conservatively-marked female.

I only spotted these two extra ‘grey’ moths on second glance. And now the photo shows there is a third trying to get out the top! The upper and lower look most like Little Grey moths (Eudonia lacustrata) ...

Here I have enlarged the lower two which show significant difference in shape as well as markings. It is longer and narrower-looking and I think is a Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis).

This is a Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) of the form conspicua which has been seen much less often.

The light shining through the flower of this Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) caught my eye. 

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  05:55 – 06:45

(175th visit of the year)

Notes from here:
- The three cygnets were with their parents at least to start with.
- The Greylag x Canada Goose looks to be a different bird to that seen during much of June
and
- 2 Grey Squirrels

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 8 Feral Pigeons
- 5 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Starlings

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 6 Swift in the distance
- 2 House Martins again

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 2 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (0) Blackcaps

Counts from the water:
- 3 + 3 Mute Swans
- 38 Greylag Geese
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 66 Canada Geese
- 21 (11♂) Mallard
- 22 (15♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes as usual
- 3 Moorhens
- 19 + 4 (1 brood) Coots
- 11 Black-headed Gulls: no juveniles

This goose stayed on the island and was rather far away for a decent shot. The bill is mainly Greylag; the chin-strap Canada Goose. Not at all sure about the blotched chest and particularly the white belly. That does not fit either species.

Nothing special just a Collared Dove in good light worth a photo. 

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- nothing of note

(Ed Wilson)

Note

On Readers Corner a few images from Venus Pool - 18 Jul 19 Here.

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

2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here

2012
Priorslee Lake
7 Skylarks
(John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Common Tern
(Ed Wilson)