9 Nov 19

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake:  06:15 –09:05
The Flash:  09:10 – 09:50

0.0°C > 1.0°C:  Early fog clearing as lowering cloud spread from SW with light rain by 09:45. Calm with light E wind later. Poor visibility, good later.

Sunrise: 07:21 GMT

Priorslee Lake:  06:15 –09:05

(267th visit of the year)

Best sighting today was a Little Egret that flew over W-bound at 07:45.

Other bird notes:
- Four cygnets with their parents left at 07:25 and flew off to the NE. Had not returned by 09:00. Last year the same two adults left with their three cygnets on 03 November.
- The other cygnet was still happily feeding beside the N side reeds.
- Yesterday’s Goldeneye gone.
- A tight group of 14 Goosanders flew over in the mist at 07:35 – at least 2 drakes is as far as I can go! Later a brownhead, apparently a duck, circled the lake as if to land. It disappeared in the fog ‘down the other end’ and I never saw it after the mist cleared.
- A noisy group of >70 Jackdaws was just visible in the mist. Several more groups later when visibility improved.
- Not sure what happened to the Starlings in the roost today. I heard them ‘winding up’ to leave with ‘click and pop’ calls and then a sound of many wings. Nothing appeared and all went quiet for some five minutes before groups started to leave. However they did so from the W end reeds rather than their usual NW roost site. Perhaps the Sparrowhawk flushed them before they were ready to leave and they just ‘hopped across’ initially.
- Seven Reed Buntings left the roost to the E at 07:10. With birds still calling and not much visibility I stayed longer than usual in the area and was rewarded when 11 more flew out at 07:30. Still at least two calling from the area.

Bird totals:

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 14 (♂?) Goosander
- 1 Little Egret
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 5 Black-headed Gulls
- 41 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 241 Wood Pigeons: of these 230 in seven migrant groups
- >140 Jackdaws
- 1 Skylark
- 22 Fieldfares: two groups
- 20 Redwings: three groups
- >8 Pied Wagtails
- 1 Siskin

Birds logged leaving roosts around the lake:
- >150 Starlings again
- 4 Redwings
- 18 Reed Buntings

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans (see notes)
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall only
- 11 (8♂) Mallard
- 7 (6♂) Pochard
- 39 (21♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 (0♂?) Goosander
- 1 Cormorant
- [no Grey Herons]
- [no Little Grebes]
- 9 Great Crested Grebes
- 10 Moorhens
- 129 Coots
- c.50 Black-headed Gulls
- 19 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Herring Gulls: all first winter birds

Lamp poles pre-dawn revealed:
- 1 Red-green Carpet moth (Chloroclysta siterata): same place for fifth day
- 3 November Moth-types (Epirrita sp.)
- 1 Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale): different lamp pole from yesterday
- 1 Common Stretch-spider (Tetragnatha extensa)
- 1 other small unidentified spider

No later sightings.

The view as the fog began to clear on this frosty morning.

And now the fog is mainly gone and just before the cloud spread in there was this brief colour.

Strong competition amongst the drake Mallard for the always less-numerous ducks.

Here taking some time to hone their formation-flying skills.

This extremely bad photo of a brownhead Goosander disappearing in to the fog just about shows that the white of the inner wing only extends part way across. This is therefore a duck rather than an immature drake.

I am still looking hard for Autumn tints. Here are some sycamore leaves. Whether the trees around the lake are true Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) or cultivars is beyond my capability – I’m just pleased I could get as far as sycamore.

Late flowering Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris) on the dam has paid the price of its exposed position and has been frosted. Will likely not be affected by the degree or so of frost this morning.

A bunch of fruit: this from Red-osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea). Probably planted around the lake. The berries do not seem to be too popular with the birds at the moment.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  09:10 – 09:50

(253rd visit of the year)

Notes from here: generally very quiet with rain (snow!) clouds lowering all the while
- Many of yesterday’s Tufted Ducks moved out: not to the lake.
- A large party of 56 Wood Pigeons seemed to ‘starting off’ on migration, apparently climbing away from relatively nearby trees.
- Party of at least 35 Goldfinches.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Feral Pigeons
- 69 Wood Pigeons: 3 migrant groups
- 2 Jackdaws
- 3 Redwings

Counts from the water:
- 3 Mute Swans
- 2 Canada Geese
- 41 (23♂) Mallard
- 12 (2♂) Tufted Duck only
- 1 Grey Heron
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Moorhen again
- 10 Coots
- 39 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, briefly

No insects etc. noted on any of the lamp poles or elsewhere.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
4 Wigeon 
4 Gadwall 
1 Pochard 
60 Tufted Duck 
1 Water Rail 
235 Coots 
7 Song Thrushes 
118 Fieldfare
30 Redwings 
466 Jackdaws
139 Rooks 
c.450 Starlings from roost
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
c.100 Greylag Geese
3 Gadwall
8 Pochard
18 Tufted Ducks
153 Coots
c.500 Black-headed Gulls
c.450 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
10 Herring Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
118 Wood Pigeons
103 Redwings
154 Fieldfares
809 Jackdaws
201 Rooks
7 Siskin
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
1 Pink-footed Goose
c.100 Greylag Geese 
41 Canada Geese 
41 Tufted Duck 
12 Goosander
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
Yellow legged Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
(John Isherwood)

2010
Priorslee Lake
28 Pochard
65 Tufted Duck 
46 Greenfinches
5 Fieldfares
11 Redwings
12 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)

The Flash
2 Goosanders
1 Pochard
45 Tufted Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Great Black-backed Gull
1 Gadwall
1 Shoveler
2 Wigeon
Peregrine Falcon 
(Ed Wilson/John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
23 Pochard
75 Tufted Ducks
950+ Black-headed Gulls
1204+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls
499 Wood Pigeons
11 Meadow Pipits
23 Robins
23 Blackbirds
13 Fieldfares
4 Song Thrushes
18 Redwings
1 Willow Tit
321 Jackdaws
241 Rooks
22 Greenfinches
9 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)