13 Aug 19

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake:  04:30 – 06:30 // 07:20 – 09:40
The Flash:  06:35 – 07:15

10.0°C > 15.0°C:  Distant clouds from overnight showers; otherwise sunny until after 09:00 when puffy clouds built up. Light and variable wind, became light NW wind. Very good visibility

Sunrise: 05:47 BST

Priorslee Lake:  04:30 – 06:30 // 07:20 – 09:40

(198th visit of the year)

Bird notes from today
- Three Little Grebes seen at the W end early. Seen distantly seemed to be all juveniles chasing about.
- There were 22 Black-headed Gulls back on the ‘football’ field this morning. No more than 12 at the lake. A party of 16 flew W.
- An adult Herring Gull did a ‘gas and go’ at 05:30.
- No Swifts located.
- House Martins seen feeding juveniles ‘on the wing’.
- Reed Warblers in the NW area still feeding young – probably unfledged birds as they did not seem to be moving around much.
- In cooler conditions neither of the Song Thrushes was tempted to sing.
- 17 Pied Wagtails on the ‘football ‘ field 09:30 another good count.

Bird totals:

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 9 Greylag Geese (8 (1 group) outbound; 1 bird inbound)
- 33 Canada Geese (23 (3 groups) outbound; 10 (1 group) inbound)
- 16 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Feral / Racing Pigeons (2 groups)
- 4 Stock Doves
- 64 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Jackdaw
- no Rooks
- 11 Starlings

Hirundines etc. noted:
- no Swifts
- 9 Barn Swallow
- 8 House Martins

Warblers noted (singing birds):
- 14 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Willow Warbler again
- 3 (0) Blackcaps
- 1 (0) Common Whitethroat
- 5 (0) Reed Warblers

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 6 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 6 (4♂) Mallard
- 2 Grey Herons
- 3 Little Grebes
- 4 + 4 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 1 + 2 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 51 Coots: also only one of the two small juveniles from the newest brood
- 1 Common Tern
- 22 Black-headed Gulls: 2 juveniles
- 1 Herring Gull briefly

On the lamp poles pre-dawn:
- 1 Dark-triangle Button moth (Acleris laterana).
- 3 Common Grass-veneer moths (Agriphila tristella)
- 1 harvestman Dicranopalpus ramosus

The following logged later:
- Butterflies
        - Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
        - Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)
        - Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
- Moths (in species order):
- several unidentified grass moths
- Damselflies etc:
- Blue-tailed Damselfly
- Common Blue Damselfly
- Hoverflies (in alphabetic order of scientific name):
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Drone-fly (Eristalis sp.)
- The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)
- Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens)
- Volucella zonaria (a hornet mimic)
And other things:
- 1 White-tailed Bumble Bee (Bombus lucorum)
- several Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
- several wasps (Vespula sp.)
- 2 Grey Squirrels
- 2 pipistrelle-type bat sp. – surprising in the decidedly cool conditions.

Managed a number of shots of the flying Common Tern today. The black tip on the orange bill is just about visible here.

No mistaking the black tip to the bill here. Perhaps due to wear over the summer but the black ‘wedge’ of the outer primaries is rather indistinct here and the most prominent feature is the white feather shafts.

Even more so here. 

Perhaps the remnant black-wedge is more obvious here? Note just how long and thin the wings are compared with gulls.

A juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull. On this species the bill usually stays all-black until late Spring. A juvenile Herring Gull can show a pale base to the bill even by this date. Note there is no real ‘pale window’ showing on the inner primaries – they are slightly paler but not significantly so.

The top side view of the same bird confirms its identity with two rows of dark-centered feathers along the whole trailing edge of the wing.

This is a different bird and a warning of how careful you have to be evaluating the light conditions. It certainly looks quite pale in this harsh light. Still ‘not pale enough’! Why has it only got one leg (showing)?

This moth is most likely a Dark-triangle Button (Acleris laterana). There is a very similar species, the Strawberry Tortrix (A. comariana), from which it can only positively be separated by examination of the genitalia. But early August and it is most likely A. laterana.

Two for the price of one. Both of these moths are Common Grass-veneers (Agriphila tristella) with the pale streak ending in ‘spreading fingers’. The difference in colour is the related to the distance from the flash on the camera and not to the colour of the moths.

A Speckled Wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria). These are often to be seen in duos or small groups twirling around staking out territories. This one looks to have taken part in a few battles.

This was another ‘orange admiral’ but I have tweaked it a bit with Photoshop to make it slightly redder. After yesterday’s effort I read the camera manual to try and find why the colour is all wrong. Since it is even wrong on ‘AUTO’ it cannot be anything I have done. Naughty Mr. Canon.

Do I need to identify this as a White-tailed Bumble Bee (Bombus lucorum)? Enjoying the Knapweed – as many things are at the moment.

Like this Honey Bee (Apis mellifera).

Today’s wasp – and it looks more like a ‘normal’ wasp, ‘yellow with black marks’ rather than several noted over the weekend which seemed to be ‘black with yellow marks’ I have subsequently read that male (as opposed to worker) wasps are more extensively black. So this is a worker tucking in to a blackberry. Would need to see the face to identify the species. Not how hairy it is – not sure I knew that.

An exciting(?) and instructive find. I thought it was going to be my first-ever Hornet (Vespa crabro) in Shropshire. However it has very small antennae and cannot be a hornet. Although not sitting too helpfully we can see it has no ‘wasp waist’. It is another new species of hoverfly for me. It is a Volucella zonaria which is noted as a ‘Hornet mimic’ – I feel better even if I was fooled! It is the big and orange brother of Volucella inanis that I recorded for the first time yesterday.

This is the hoverfly The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus) with the longitudinally-striped thorax. There are – guess what? – a number of similar species. The extent of yellow on the legs excludes those here.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  06:35 – 07:15

(189th visit of the year)

Notes from here:
- Highest count of Mallard for some while. These birds are becomingly increasingly easy to sex as they moult in to breeding plumage ready to pair up ahead of next year. Nothing like being prepared.
- Rather fewer Tufted Ducks. Do these go and hide inside the island?
and
- 3 Common Grass-veneer moths (Agriphila tristella)
- 2 Grey Squirrels

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 6 Feral Pigeon
- 20 Wood Pigeons

Hirundines etc. noted.
None

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

Counts from the water:
- 3 Mute Swans
- no Greylag Geese
- 16 Canada Geese
- 46 (24♂) Mallard
- 13 (7♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes again
- 1 + 2 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 21 adult and well-grown juvenile Coots
- 2 Black-headed Gulls: both juveniles

The juvenile Great Crested Grebes are as big as the adults now. Is not stopping them begging to be fed ....

... and succeeding! This is the other pair. 

I think you are supposed to swallow it head first or you might choke on the bones. 

On the roof of the Priorslee Avenue tunnel I found this moth. I thought it was a pug sp. as it looked quite dark. Checking the marks it has to be a Single-dotted Wave moth (Idaea dimidiata). I guess its location against the whitewashed roof made it look so dark. Been my best-ever year for this moth species.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- juvenile Moorhen on grass by the upper pool
and
- 1 Single-dotted Wave moth (Idaea dimidiata) on roof of Priorslee Avenue tunnel.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)