20 Sep 19

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake:  05:40 –09:00
The Flash:  09:05 – 09:50

9.0°C > 14.0°C:  Fine and clear. Slight mist over lake and fields early. Calm start with light SE breeze later. Generally very good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:51 BST

Priorslee Lake:  05:40 – 09:00

(227th visit of the year)

Bird notes from today:
The 06:55 ‘football’ field count gave me just 48 Black-headed Gulls, 14 Wood Pigeons, five Magpies, the usual single Carrion Crow and 40 Pied Wagtails.

Other notes:
- The Party of Canada Geese was flying N to the far NE – neither obviously outbound or inbound.
- Two Tufted Ducks flew from the W at 06:20, one apparently carrying on; the other landing and presumed part of the group of six seen later.
- The early arriving large gulls all came from the N. Many were flying far to the E. Most of the closer birds stopped off briefly. I logged 89 on the lake and 191 flying non-stop. Numbers probably not 100% correct as many were mixed in with Rooks and Jackdaws leaving their roost and because I am a man I have trouble keeping four counts concurrently. Almost all the gulls had left by 06:40.
- By 07:30 there were at least 250 large gulls on the water and >200 Black-headed Gulls. A later check found a higher proportion of second-winter / adult birds than recently – 77 (near) adults and 85 first-winter birds. Amongst them were at least three Herring Gulls – a single adult and at least two first-winter birds. The gulls seemed to be coming and going all the while and likely many more individuals were involved.
- One or more House Martins heard overhead at 06:35, 06:45 and 07:05 but nothing seen.
- House Sparrows ‘invaded’ my recording area for the first time in several months with at least two birds around the yacht compound.

Bird totals:

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 12 Canada Geese
- 1 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one of these first-winter birds
- 191 unidentified large gulls: too dark to ID (see notes)
- 1 Stock Dove
- 43 Wood Pigeons
- 34 Jackdaws
- 141 Rooks
- 2 Skylarks
- 1 Starling
- 3 Meadow Pipits

Hirundines etc. noted:
- 1+ House Martins

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

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 6 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 2 (2♂) Mallard only
- 6 (1♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Grey Heron
- 2 Little Grebes (ages?)
- 7 adult + 2 immature + 9 juvenile (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 + 3 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 122 Coots
- >200 Black-headed Gulls
- >250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: >150 of these first-winter birds (see notes)
- >3 Herring Gulls: >2 of these first-winter birds (see notes)
- 89 unidentified large gulls: too dark to ID (see notes)
- 1 Kingfisher again

On the lamp poles pre-dawn. A good haul of moths.
- 1 Narrow-winged Grey moth (Eudonia angustea): a new species for me and #72 here this year.
- 1 Sallow moth (Cirrhia icteritia (was Xanthia icteritia)) : exactly the same place as yesterday though gone later.
- 1 unidentified spider.

Very few later sightings:
- 2 Grey Squirrels.
- 1 or 2 presumed Daubenton’s Bats over the water well before dawn.

Am rather disappointed with this shot of the moon. In real life there was enough ‘earth shine’ to see the whole disc. Not bright-enough for the camera to pick up obviously.

Yet another misty sunrise.

Colour quickly fading.

In this view it is just possible to make out some of the early-arriving large gulls still on the water.

As the sun rose the colour returned with the sky streaked with the remains of contrails.

Not quite as effective as I hoped: the sun shining through the bush and making streaks in the low-level mist on the ‘football’ field.

A big brutish-looking adult Lesser Black-backed Gull with plenty of winter-plumage head streaks. Wings in moult with several near-outer primaries to finish growing. I am still not sure the legs are yellow as they are supposed to be. Adult Greater Black-backed Gulls have pink legs and look very ‘brutish’ but it cannot be one of those because adult Greaters never show any dark marks in the head. Note too that the feet are sticking out rather more than usual because the tail is also being re-grown.

The lighting none too helpful here. The gull at the back middle is an adult Herring Gull. Just possible to see it is a larger bird than any of the six adult and one first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Herring Gulls average larger than Lesser Black-backed Gulls, males average larger than females. There is considerable variation so that a large male Lesser Black-backed Gull can be bigger than a small female Herring Gull.

You have to be quicker than I was if you want a better photo of a speeding Kingfisher (and its reflection).

One of those pesky ‘grey’ moths. Luckily there is only one species in the group flying at this date so a quick check confirms this as my first-ever Narrow-winged Grey (Eudonia angustea).

“Come in #1 your time is up”. Today’s spider was too dew-covered to make anything of the pattern for even a provisional ID.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  09:05 – 09:50

(216th visit of the year)

Notes from here:
- Another day when some of the Mallard and Coots go ‘missing’!
- More Tufted Ducks today. In their current eclipse plumage sexing each of these birds is on the ‘too hard’ (‘too boring’?) list.
- Most of the Black-headed Gulls arrived in a big group – the lone Lesser Black-backed Gull with them carried on.
- Several Jays were flying to and fro, transporting nuts to wherever they bury them. Have been doing this for some days now.
also
NB: The ivy bank near the Priorslee Academy is still not in flower – it is in my Newport garden. So the few insects that are about are using the remnant buddleia for nectar.
- 1 Red Admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta)
- 1 Volucella zonaria hoverfly
- 1 wasp sp.
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus harvestman again on the usual lamp pole.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: first-winter bird
- 11 Feral Pigeons (2 groups)
- 2 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc. noted again.
None

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

Counts from the water:
- 3 Mute Swans
- >14 Greylag Geese
- no Greylag x Canada Geese
- >97 Canada Geese
- 20 (11♂) Mallard only
- 46 (?♂) Tufted Ducks
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Moorhens
- 14 Coots only
- 37 Black-headed Gulls: at least nine of these a first-winter bird

(Ed Wilson)

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

2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2017
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2011
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Scaup
(Richard Vernon)

The Flash
Scaup
(Stuart Edmunds)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Tawny Owl
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)