10 Jan 20

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Priorslee Lake:  07:00 – 09:40
The Flash:  09:45 – 10:20

4.0°C > 5.0°C:  Mostly cloudy with a few sunny spells: light rain shower c.07:00.  Light W wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 08:18 GMT

Priorslee Lake:  07:00 – 09:40

(10th visit of the year)

Water entering the lake is still very discoloured though the effect on the lake itself was not so apparent

Now three small wooden marker posts beside the path along the N side.

Other bird notes:
- Three of the cygnets flew the length of the lake together. The fourth did not seem interested. When I last saw the whole family fly one of the cygnets seemed to struggle and did not really get airborne. Strange, as they were all flying strongly at the end of October.
- The Grey Heron, unusually, arrived from the W.
- Four Little Grebes seen together in the NE area. Later a single bird in the NW area, assumed to be one of those seen earlier.
- Once again a group of Wood Pigeons – 43 today – came off the fields to the E of Castle Farm Way
- An apparent smaller passage of corvids. Several groups of Jackdaws passed to the W – a less-used flight line. Most of the others were in groups high overhead where my counts are (even) less reliable.
- A Mistle Thrush heard in song at the W end and then seen singing in flight as it flew E. There are not too many birds that sing in flight – Sky Lark is an obvious example: Greenfinch also comes to mind.

Bird totals:

Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 2 (1♂) Mallard
- 5 Black-headed Gulls
- 43 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull
- 30 Wood Pigeons
- >750 Jackdaws
- >30 Rooks

Birds logged leaving roosts around the lake:
- 33 Magpies
- 2 Redwings only

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 4 (3♂) Gadwall
- 7 (4♂) Mallard again
- 1 (1♂) Pochard only
- 31 (16♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron
- 4+ Little Grebes
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 13 Moorhens
- 75 Coots
- 1 Kingfisher

Gulls:
Early arrival:
c.600 Black-headed Gulls were already swirling around over the water by 07:15. They remained very restless and unwilling to settle for any length of time and began to leave c.07:40.
No large gulls arrived before 08:00.
- c.600 Black-headed Gulls

Later arrivals:
At c.08:10 a passage of large gulls with some over flying and rather more stopping off, briefly. Once again (almost) all the Lesser Black-backs were adults whilst the Herring Gulls were all first-winter birds.
- 61 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Herring Gulls

On lamp poles pre dawn: [* = new species for the year]
- 1 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata): same place as yesterday.
There was also a female ‘winter’ moth – one of the several species where the females have only vestigial wings. While I was getting my act together with the camera it seemed to ‘drop off’ the lamp – it could not have flown away.

No other sightings:

Additional bird species for 2020 recorded here this morning (in order logged)
57      Kingfisher

The face-pattern identifies this thrush as a Redwing – the rufous flanks are hardly visible from this angle. Note the bill is quite finely pointed, more so than other thrushes.

My most exciting fly-over this morning was this Lufthansa Airbus A380 Super Jumbo. For any complete anoraks it is in their new livery (the dark undertail). It was flying flight LH457 from Los Angeles to Frankfurt. For reasons best known to the authorities aircraft registered in Germany are not required to carry their identity on the underside of their wings.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  09:45 – 10:20

(9th visit of the year)

Bird notes from here:
- The missing Pochard from the lake (and more) seem to be here.
- The pair of Goosanders look well settled, spending much of the time hauled out on the island. Could they be thinking of nesting here? They require trees with holes to make their nest but do use lakes as well as rivers.
- Five of the six Moorhens were squabbling beside Derwent Drive.
- Two Song Thrushes singing here.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls again

Counts from the water:
- 3 Mute Swans
- 7 Canada Geese
- 36 (22♂) Mallard
- 16 (16♂) Pochard
- 54 (26♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 (1♂) Goosander
- 1 Cormorant again
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 6 Moorhens
- 13 Coots again
- 47 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one adult; one first-winter

No other sightings:

New bird species for my 2020 bird list at this site.
None

(Ed Wilson)

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

2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2017
Local area
Today's Sightings Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
Drake Scaup
(Kris Webb)

Trench Lock Pool
Yellow-legged Gull
(Kris Webb)

Horsehay Pool
Ring-billed x Lesser Black-backed Gull hybrid
Glaucous x Great Black-backed Gull hybrid
1500+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls
20+ Greater Black-backed Gulls
400 Herring Gulls
Yellow-legged Gull
(Kris Webb)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Peregrine
5 Great Crested Grebes
14 Pochard
24 Tufted Duck
c.1200 Black-headed Gulls
c.900 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
c.300 Herring Gulls
3 Yellow-legged Gulls
44 Great Black-backed Gulls
5 Song Thrushes 
18 Redwings
Tawny Owl
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Pool
204 Canada Geese
3 Pochard
83 Tufted Duck
104 Coot
110 Black-headed Gulls
34 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
17 Herring Gulls
3 Great Black-backed Gulls
Chiffchaff
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
33 Swans
4 Gadwall
6 Wigeon
15 Pochard
70 Tufted Duck 
2 Water Rail
2 Snipe
c.200 Black-headed Gulls
c.200 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
5 Herring Gulls
2 Yellow legged Gull
3 Adult Great Black-backed Gulls
2 Willow Tits
13 Siskins
(Ed Wilson, Jim Almond, John Isherwood)

2007
Priorslee Lake
18 Greylag Geese
12 Pochard
39 Tufted Ducks
6 Goosanders
c.80 Golden Plover
>1000 Black-headed Gulls
c.250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
5 Great Black-backed Gulls
3 Yellow-legged Gulls
Caspian Gull
9 Herring Gulls
22 Robins
14 Blackbirds
41 Redwings
3 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson, Jason)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Gadwall
13 Pochard
51 Tufted Duck
227 Coots
Glaucous Gull
c.1100 Black-headed Gulls
c.170 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
4 Yellow-legged Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
c.120 Herring Gulls
302 Jackdaws
385 Rooks
2 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)