29 Jan 20

Priorslee Lake and The Flash (not in that order)

Priorslee Lake:  10:55 – 11:40
The Flash:  09:50 – 10:45

6.0°C:  Scattered cloud. Moderate WSW wind. Very good visibility.
[Sunrise: 07:58 GMT]

Priorslee Lake:  10:55 – 11:40

(19th visit of the year)

Another short visit to check on water birds only. The model boat club was active at the W end without any obvious impact on many of the birds though the Tufted Ducks did fly between there and the NE area.

Other bird notes:
- Just as I arrived most of the large gulls arrived. Many drifted away before I left.

Counts from the lake area only:
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- [no Mallard]
- 20 (10♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Cormorants
- 1 Little Grebe again
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Moorhen
- 49 Coots
- 64 Black-headed Gulls
- 171 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: almost all adults
- 49 Herring Gulls: about 60% first winters
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull

No other sightings

About 200 large gulls dropped in just as I arrived. Here are 18 Lesser Black-backed Gulls – all adults, with no obvious head-streaking; and four Herring Gulls – two adults and two first-winters. Guess which way the wind is blowing? One of the first-winter Herring Gulls is not sure.

Two first-winter Herring Gulls. Pink legs are almost universal in immature large gulls. It is the paler inner primaries that are the most obvious feature here.

Another first-winter Herring Gull, this one diving in to the water to wash.

This is an adult Herring Gull powering in to the air. You can almost experience the effort as it stretches its wings...

... and achieves left-off.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  09:50 – 10:45

(18th visit of the year)

Bird notes from here:
- More Pochard today: direction of wind was discouraging them from hiding under over-hanging vegetation.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Jackdaw

Counts from the water:
- 3 Mute Swans
- 8 Canada Geese
- 30 (17♂) Mallard
- 12 (12♂) Pochard
- 45 (27♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 (2♂) Goosander
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron
- 2 Great Crested Grebes again
- 3 Moorhens
- 15 Coots
- 107 Black-headed Gulls
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gull: one adult; two second-winters; one first-winter
- 2 Herring Gull: 1 near adult; two first-winters

Other sightings:
- a single Muscid fly was briefly on the Ivy. Nothing else was tempted by the sun.

This Tufted Duck caught my eye. At first sight the brown tones suggest it is a duck though it has an unusually prominent tuft. I suspect that it is a late-moulting first winter drake – the white feathers just showing hint at this.

One of the resident Great Crested Grebes now sporting extensive breeding plumes. These seem to have been acquired very quickly: I assume it is the same pair and they have not been usurped.

Two things to note here. The Cormorant shows no white head-plumes but a rather fuzzy white thigh patch. The rather worn Lesser Black-backed Gull is a second-winter bird – the mantle is mostly adult-toned. Note the almost all-black bill with a pale tip.

With a death-wish is this first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. Note the very neat and contrasting black tail – quite different from first-winter Herring Gull. (this bird was carrying something it its bill to height before dropping it and trying to catch it before it hit the water).

Yet another ‘interesting’ gull. A rather ‘snouty’ looking Herring-type gull. But is it? The clean head might suggest a Caspian Gull – it is too pale to be a Yellow-legged Gull. However very early in the New Year some adult gulls rapidly lose all the head-streaking. But look: the rather extensive black on the bill separates a tip that is paler than the base of the bill. Also there is some brown in the folded wings and there is very little white showing in the folded primaries.

Here it is alongside an adult winter Lesser Black-backed Gull still with head-streaking. Several winter Black-headed Gulls in view as well.

And again. Looking along the bill, as here, there seems to be a pronounced gonydeal angle – the bulge under the lower mandible at the red spot, and this would seem to rule out Caspian Gull.

Now we see it in flight and it certainly does not look like an adult. It most closely resembles a third-winter bird though the dark secondaries are unusual at this age.

A friendly Robin allowed one photo before flying off.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2014
Priorslee Lake
14 Pochard
71 Tufted Duck
3 Greater Scaup
1 Velvet Scoter
103 Coots
1 Yellow-legged Gull
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
141 Redwings
502 Jackdaws
383 Rooks
2 Ravens
(Ed Wilson, Gary Crowder)

The Flash 
89 Tufted Ducks
2 Goosander
(Ed Wilson)

2013
Priorslee Lake
Drake Scaup
26 Wigeon 
12 Gadwall 
12 Pochard 
60 Tufted Ducks 
181 Coots
c.400 Black-headed Gulls
246 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
34 Herring Gulls
2 Great Black-backed Gulls
21 Redwings
147 Jackdaws
c.30 Siskins
(Ed Wilson, Unknown Observer)

Trench Lock Pool
18 Swans
8 Pochard 
45 Tufted Duck 
1 Goosander 
99 Coots counted
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
5 Great Crested Grebes
21 Pochard
51 Tufted Duck
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
c.2000 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
109 Herring Gulls
1 Yellow-legged Gull
1 Great Black-backed Gull
c.250 Black-headed Gulls.
1 Buzzard
1 Merlin
(Martin Adlam)

2007 
Priorslee Lake
1 Goldeneye
(Ed Wilson)