1 Aug 19

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake:  04:15 – 06:05 // 07:00 – 09:10
The Flash:  06:10 – 06:55

15.0°C > 17.0°C:  Low overcast: dull. Light NW wind. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:27 BST

Priorslee Lake:  04:15 – 06:05 // 07:00 – 09:10

(188th visit of the year)

Bird notes from today
- One of the Grey Herons flew off at 04:55.
- All six adult Great Crested Grebes seen. The newest juvenile not noted.
- A Hobby flew E at 06:00.
- 28 Black-headed Gulls on the football field at 06:00.
- No corvids passing early (or later come to that).
- A family group of five Barn Swallows in the SE corner. Juveniles being fed ‘on the wing’.
- Pied Wagtail count on the football field at 09:10 reached 32 birds.
- big mixed party of tits and warblers in W / NW area: included at least 5 Chiffchaffs and 1 Willow Warbler – probably more.

Bird totals:

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 6 Greylag Geese (2 outbound; 4 inbound)
- 27 Canada Geese (1 loose group outbound)
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Hobby
- 4 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Stock Doves
- 111 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Collared Doves
- no Jackdaws again
- no Rooks either

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 8 Barn Swallows
- House Martin heard only

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 11 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Willow Warbler
- 3 (0) Blackcaps
- 3 (0) Common Whitethroats
- 1 (0) Sedge Warbler
- 7 (0) Reed Warblers

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 6 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 1 Greylag Goose (throughout)
- 2 Canada Geese (throughout)
- 9 (7♂) Mallard
- 3 Cormorants
- 2 Grey Herons
- 6 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 4 Moorhens (all juveniles from 3 broods)
- 42 adult and juvenile Coots: also only 1 small juveniles from the newest brood
- 34 Black-headed Gulls

On the lamp poles pre-dawn:
- 1 Bulrush Cosmet moth (Limnaecia phragmitella)
- 1 Common Roller moth (Ancylis badiana)
- 2 Single-dotted Wave moths (Idaea dimidiata)
- 1 Common Footman moth (Eilema lurideola)
- 1 Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperia carnea)
- 1 wasp sp.
- 1 Cucumber Green Orb Spider (Araniella cucurbitina)

The following logged later:
- Butterflies
- 1 Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) again
- Moths (in species order):
- 3 Garden Grass-veneers (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- 1 Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- 2 Olive Pearls (Udea olivalis)
+ very many unidentified grass moths
- No damselflies etc: too dull
- Hoverflies:
- Marmalade hoverflies (Episyrphus balteatus) only
And other things:
- 1 Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)
- 1 probable Empis opaca dagger fly
- several Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
- several White-tailed Bumblebees (Bombus lucorum)
- 1 Common Red Soldier Beetle / Hogweed Bonking-beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
- 1 different Cucumber Green Orb Spider (Araniella cucurbitina)
- 1 tiny spider, likely a female Dictyna uncinata
- 1 female Leiobunum rotundum harvestman
- 1 Grey Squirrel yet again

Wanton destruction. On the edge of the football field and since yesterday one sapling beheaded and another broken over. What can you say?

A slightly better photo of a Bulrush Cosmet moth (Limnaecia phragmitella). Note the eye-shine from the flash photo.

A pretty rubbish photo of a micro moth tucked around and high up a lamp pole. At least it had the decency to be distinctively marked. It is a Common Roller moth (Ancylis badiana).

This grass moth is a Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella).

Yesterday’s Pale Straw Pearl moth (Udea lutealis) would not show its markings well. One of those I logged today was better behaved.

A much better photo of a Common Footman moth (Manulea lurideola).

This bee caught my eye. Not only did it seem very ‘bright’ on a dull morning but why has it got a white ‘collar’?

And here tucking in to a thistle it shows no obvious pollen basket. The long antennae confirm it is a bee rather than a hoverfly. It is in fact ‘just’ a Honey Bee (Apis mellifera).

Here a different specimen. In this shot we can even see the eyes are hairy – as they should be.

This is almost certainly a Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius) – described as a “spectacularly variable species” so what chance have I got?. The larvae were inside and protected by the cuckoo-spit seen earlier.

I think this spider is a Cucumber Green Orb Spider (Araniella cucurbitina) or one of the allies. Having to use flash pre-dawn has lost much of the green colour. Must find a way of controlling the flash to try and avoid this.

This I think is another female specimen of Cucumber Green Orb Spider.

This is a really tiny spider – look at the hairs on the leaf it is wading through. It is likely a female Dictyna sp., probably D. uncinata though there are – surprise, surprise – confusion species. Males are plain. 3mm it says in the literature. I’ll go with that.

A harvestman. The legs just about fit in the frame! It is a female Leiobunum rotundum.

The body enlarged to show the markings more clearly. Only the female has these marks, the male is very plain.

This is an Empis ‘dagger fly’. It seems to me to match photos of Empis opaca. That species is supposed to fly only in April / May time. The species likely to be seen in August (E. tessellata) has black thighs – this clearly does not, neither does it show the brown wings of that species. One reason I took this photo was that I had not seen any dagger flies for many weeks. Tis a mystery.

I am not sure whether anybody was home but if it was my house I would be quite proud of the decoration. A White-lipped Snail’s (Cepaea hortensis) shell.
(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash:  06:10 – 06:55

(181st visit of the year)

Notes from here:
- No cygnets located.
- Yesterday’s small ducklings not found.
- Yet another Autumn Common Sandpiper record here. A bumper year for this species.
- A Pied Wagtail fly-over. Have been scarce here this year.
and, moths on lamp poles
- 1 very worn and unidentifiable ‘grey’
- 1 Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata): same pole, different position to yesterday

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 13 Feral / Racing Pigeons
- 2 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Jackdaw
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Hirundines etc. noted.
None

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 4 (1) Chiffchaffs

Counts from the water:
- 3 Mute Swans
- 18 Greylag Geese
- 27 Canada Geese
- 33 (>16♂) Mallard
- 17 (10♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes again
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 16 + 6 (3? broods) Coots
- 1 Common Sandpiper
- 10 Black-headed Gulls: no juveniles

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Between the lake and The Flash:

- Moorhen(s) heard at upper pool
- 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers near upper pool
- 1 Chiffchaff calling at the lower pool

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

2011
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Tern
(John Isherwood)