12 Aug 19

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

Priorslee Lake:  04:30 – 06:25 // 07:30 – 09:20
The Flash:  06:30 – 07:25
Trench Lock Pool:  09:30 – 09:35 // 10:20 – 10:55
Trench Middle Pool:  09:40 – 10:15

12.0°C > 15.0°C:  Broken medium-level cloud slowly cleared to be replaced by increasing puffy clouds. Moderate WNW wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:45 BST

Reverting to ‘winter’ schedule, completing two laps of the lake before going to Trench.

Priorslee Lake:  04:30 – 06:25 // 07:30 – 09:20

(197th visit of the year)

Bird notes from today
- I took up a better vantage point to check for outbound geese and noted fewer. Failed again.
- Two Little Grebes seen at the W end early – an adult and an immature. Later two unaged birds seen moving along the NE area – presumed same birds.
- A pair (different sizes) of Sparrowhawks were circling over the area where the presumed begging juvenile was again calling loudly.
- 72 Black-headed Gulls were on the academy sports field at 06:15. I have almost never seen more than the odd few birds on this expanse of grass previously. These presumably included the c.50 seen flying around the Ricoh building earlier. No more than 10 was seen on the lake itself.
- Eight Swifts arrived at 05:45 and were present until 06:00 at least. Not seen thereafter.

Bird totals:

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 1 Greylag Goose (1 outbound)
- 46 Canada Geese (34 (5 groups) outbound; 12 (1 group) inbound)
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 3 Feral Pigeons (2 groups)
- 69 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Collared Doves
- 8 Jackdaws
- 6 Rooks

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 8 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow
- c.12 House Martins

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 13 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Willow Warbler
- 5 (0) Blackcaps
- 3 (0) Common Whitethroats
- 3 (0) Reed Warblers again

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 6 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 4 Canada Geese (briefly)
- 13 (9♂) Mallard
- 1 Grey Heron
- 2 Little Grebes
- 4 + 4 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes again
- 3 + 2 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 65 (near) adult Coots: forgot to look for any small juveniles from the newest brood
- c.75 Black-headed Gulls: 1 juvenile

On the lamp poles pre-dawn:
- 1 Common Plume (Emmelina monodactyla)
- 1 Dun-bar (Cosmia trapezina)
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus
- mayfly sp.

The following logged later:
- Butterflies
        - Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
        - Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
        - Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
        - Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)
        - Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
- Moths (in species order):
- 1 Straw Grass-veneer (Agriphila straminella)
- many other unidentified grass moths
- Damselflies etc:
- Common Blue Damselfly
- Hoverflies (in alphabetic order of scientific name):
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Drone-fly (Eristalis sp.)
- Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
- Syrphus sp.
- Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens)
And other things:
- 1 Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- several wasps (Vespula sp.)
- 4 Grey Squirrels

Possibly my worst photo yet – but I’ll keep trying ...! The camera reveals what I could not see in the binoculars. The bird on the left is clearly an adult Little Grebe with the bright yellow spot at the base of the bill and chestnut neck. The bird on the right is less strikingly marked, though I cannot see any head-stripes to suggest it is a juvenile. Did they breed here?

Two Common Buzzards came overhead, apparently not the local breeding pairs. This bird shows strikingly pale underwing ....

 ... especially the outer primaries

The other rather scruffy bird with paler belly is clearly in wing moult and in flight the wing shape looks unusually pointed. That combined with its pale appearance momentarily suggested Osprey – the head marking is of course quite wrong for that even paler species.

A Common Whitethroat lurking under cover – it thought. 

Turns around to get a better look at me.

As last week I was waiting for the whitethroat to reappear when a Reed Warbler popped out. Another good look at the sloping forehead and the long dark bill.

A little song perhaps? 

Wow! That makes my neck ache! 

Here we are looking all sleek and preened.

The diffuse pale stripe along the ‘top’ of the folded wing of this grass moth indicates it is a Straw Grass-veneer (Agriphila straminella).

With the abundance of both Painted Ladies and Peacock butterflies the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) has seemed in short supply. This, sadly, looks more like an ‘orange admiral’ for reasons I cannot explain. It looked fine in the viewfinder but on playback it was all washed out. I tried several camera settings without making it look any ‘redder’.

When the sun came out this Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) looked quite splendid. I still don’t ‘get’ the ‘dead head’ though.

I need to get this double-checked but I think this is my first-ever Volucella inanis hoverfly. This species was until recently confined to the London area but has recently reached “ line from the Wash to the Severn”. I guess that depends whether you regard ‘the Severn’ as its source on Plynlimon (Pumlumon Fawr) or its exit at the estuary. Whatever it is a good looking hoverfly with a really yellow face.

A rather splendid look at a Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens). The black thorax rules out any of the confusion ‘white-banded’ species, though its larger size is pretty apparent here too on the Common (or Black) Knapweed (Centaurea nigra).

Another view of the pale green form of a female Common Blue Damselfly. I keep trying to turn them in to something more interesting ...

I have noted before my affinity with the rather scruffy appearance of the Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum).

Here sticking its tongue to get the nectar from the flower – one of the pea family, though I am not sure which.

A good view of the harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus with the very long second pair of legs and forked pedipalps.

A different specimen in daylight.

This very small critter on a lamp pole was a surprise – a mayfly in August! Identification to species not easy without being able to see the wing venation properly. I am sure the flash has accentuated the look: on many species the eyes of males are noted as ‘turbinate’ so we are probably looking at a male. Beyond that ...

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  06:30 – 07:25

(190th visit of the year)

A third-hand report of a dog seen in the water a few days ago chasing the then surviving cygnets. Whether this caused their demise or not it illustrates the lack of care provided by the parents. The old cob at the lake would likely have killed the dog had any gone near its offspring.

Notes from here:
- The latest brood of Mallard ducklings reduced to two birds.
- Adult Great Crested Grebes present and correct and juveniles noisily begging again. So where did they go yesterday?
and
- 1 Common Grass-veneer moth (Agriphila tristella)
- 1 Grey Squirrel

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 3 Feral Pigeons
- 5 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Jackdaw

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 10 House Martins

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 1 (0) Chiffchaff
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler

Counts from the water:
- 3 Mute Swans
- no Greylag Geese again
- 10 Canada Geese
- 30 (>13♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 21 (12♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes: back to normal
- 1 Moorhen
- 21 Coots
- 9 Black-headed Gulls: no juveniles

This is a juvenile drake Mallard now acquiring its first adult plumage. The bill is beginning to go a greeny-yellow colour and the long plain primary is now showing. On an adult drake the bill is unmarked greeny-yellow at all times of the year.

This is a duck with a dark bill and the sides brown.

Just two small ducklings remain. They look very small to me and I am not sure that this is the same brood that was seven on 3rd August and just three on 6th August. I would expect them to be larger than this by now.

If only they were all this easy. A duck Tufted Duck nice and close showing the rufous tones on the flanks, the pale around the base of the bill and a hint of white around the tail. Most birds are in eclipse plumage and unless you get this close separation of the sexes is hard.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- 1 Blackcap calling at the lower pool
and on various lamp poles
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer moth (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- 2 Common Grass-veneer moths (Agriphila tristella)
- 2 other grass-moths (not identified)
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Lock Pool:  09:30 – 09:35 // 10:20 – 10:55

(37th visit of the year)

Kingfisher was new for me here this year and is bird species #57 on this list. The same bird as seen at Middle Pool?

Other notes from here:
- The Mute Swans no longer have any cygnets either. They also did not seem to be caring parents.
- The long-term lone juvenile Great Crested Grebe not seen – old-enough to have flown off. A pair confirmed as feeding three small juveniles. Also a ‘spare’ adult.
- Very low number of Coots again. Many fewer nests this year and poor success rate. Even so seems some birds have left to moult elsewhere?
also
- 1 Cinnabar  moth caterpillar (Tyria jacobaeae).
- several drone-flies (Eristalis sp.)
- a Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
- several Syrphus hoverfly sp.
- my first-ever wild Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferens) – no you can’t from temperate-grown plants!
- a cluster of toadstools, probably Glistening Inkcap (Coprinellus micaceus)

Birds noted flying over / near here [other than local Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws]:
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Common Buzzard

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 6 House Martins (at least 1 juvenile)

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 1 (0) Chiffchaff

Counts from the water:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 27 Canada Geese
- 6 (5♂) Mallard
- 3 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Moorhen still
- 16 Coots
- 19 Black-headed Gulls: 2 of these juveniles
- 1 Kingfisher

A pair of Great Crested Grebes were feeding their three juveniles. ‘Race you to the fish’.

My first-ever wild Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferens) – no you can’t from temperate-grown plants! Anyway the Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) has got there first.

A cluster of fungus. I am fairly sure these are Glistening Inkcap (Coprinellus micaceus), here beginning to deliquesce.

The area had several clusters. These are ‘newer’ with some just emerging from the ground and yet to ‘open’.

The underside. 

(Ed Wilson)

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Trench Middle Pool:  09:40 – 10:15

(37th visit of the year)

Work on the N-side embankment continues though the ‘feeding station’ near the car park was open for a while after I arrived. The disturbance from these works did not seem to affect the birds. Lack of feeding would be more likely to impact the numbers. It did limit my access and probably reduced the number of Moorhens logged

Other notes from here:
- No sign of the Greylag gosling seen two weeks ago. I doubt whether it could have fledged by now.
- The second adult Great Crested Grebe not seen

Birds noted flying over / near here.
None

Hirundines etc. noted.
None

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 1 (0) Chiffchaff

Counts from the water:
- 2 Mute Swans as ever
- 4 Greylag Geese
- 51 Canada Geese
- 17 (12♂) Mallard
- 14 (10♂) Tufted Duck – same as two weeks ago
- 1 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 32 adult and juvenile Coots
- 41 Black-headed Gulls: 2 of these juveniles
- 1 Kingfisher

A bachelor party of Tufted Ducks in rather scruffy and faded eclipse plumage.

The only adult Great Crested Grebe noted had one of the trio of off-spring in tow. Two Tufted Ducks in the foreground, the browner duck on the left and the white-flanked darker-headed drake on the right.

The other two juvenile Great Crested Grebes. I think the Canada Goose was just watching rather than helping – geese are essentially vegetarian and do not catch fish as matter of course.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2014
Local area
Today's Report Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
2 Common Sandpipers
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
Ruddy Duck
1 Common Sandpiper
>50 Linnets
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Little Egret
(Ed Wilson)