Priorslee Lake: 06:30 –08:15
0.0°C: Started clear and frosty with mist over water. Later very foggy. Light wind. Mainly poor / very poor visibility.
Sunrise: 08:02 GMT
Priorslee Lake: 06:30 –08:15
(276th visit of the year)
After yesterday’s failure to get to grips with the roosting gulls because I was looking in to the morning sun I decided to start at the E end. When I arrived visibility was good but a pall of fog over the lake was hiding everything on the water.
I walked to the W end to check the lamp-poles. At 06:45 the mist suddenly lifted to low cloud and gave me a view of some things on the water, albeit it was still very dark.
Having checked as much as I could see I then went back to the E end. By the time I got there (c.07:00) the low cloud had descended everywhere and virtually nothing could be seen.
With no improvement by 08:15 I gave up.
Some bird notes:
- Four Mute Swan cygnets were with the adults by the dam. Impossible to say whether the lone cygnet was still present elsewhere.
- Six Canada Geese seen early. No idea whether they stayed or departed.
- c.80 of the Black-headed Gulls probably roosted. c.70 more arrived just before the fog closed in.
- A large party of Jackdaws was heard more or less directly overhead at 07:30 but nothing was seen.
- The traditional Redwing roost in the NE bushes produced just six birds: another elsewhere.
Bird totals in the very poor conditions:
Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- Jackdaws heard only
- 2 Pied Wagtails
Birds logged leaving roosts around the lake:
- 7 Redwings
The Magpies were inadvertently flushed from the roost under cover of darkness.
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 6 Canada Geese again
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 7 (?♂) Mallard
- 1 Grey Heron
- 2+ Moorhens
- Coots seen
- >150 Black-headed Gulls (see notes)
- >250 large gulls: roosted and not specifically identified
Lamp poles pre-dawn revealed:
- 1 rather frosted-looking Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
A rather frosted-looking Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
(Ed Wilson)
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On this day..........
2018Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
2017
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
2016
Local Area
Today's Sightings Here
2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's sightings Here
2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's sightings Here
2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Gadwall
9 Pochard
20 Tufted Ducks
1 (1) Goosander
155 Coots
28 Herring Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
14 Redwings
2 Fieldfares
c.368 Jackdaws
97 Rooks
(Ed Wilson)
009
Priorslee Lake
3 Cormorant
33 Mute Swans
Water Rail
13 Pochard
85 Tufted Ducks
274 Coots
1000 Black-headed Gulls
2000 Lesser Black-backs
3 Yellow-legged Gulls
1 Great Black-backed
5 Redwings
2 Willow Tit
c.325 Jackdaws
20 Siskins
4 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson/John Isherwood)
2006
Priorslee Lake
3 Cormorants
15 Pochard
45 Tufted Ducks
1 eclipse drake Ruddy Duck
2 Sparrowhawks
2 Buzzards
1 Kestrel
>700 Black-headed Gulls
324 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
8 Herring Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
649 Wood Pigeons
25 Robins
22 Blackbirds
16 Fieldfares
4 Song Thrushes
6 Redwings
322 Jackdaws
224 Rooks
2 Siskins
5 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)
2005
Priorslee Lake
140 Golden Plover
8 Cormorants
900 Black-headed Gulls
c.250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
13 Pochard
43 Tufted Duck
2 Little Grebes
225 Coot
371 Jackdaws
313 Rooks
6 Redwings
32 Fieldfares.
8 Reed Buntings
19 Robins
30 Blackbirds
16 Greenfinches
(Ed Wilson)