Priorslee Lake: 06:35 – 08:55
The Flash: 09:00 – 09:45
4.0°C: Overhead and to the E scattered cloud under high overcast. Clear to the W. Light S wind. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 07:41 GMT
Priorslee Lake: 06:35 – 08:55
(27th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- Gadwall not seen.
- Over flying Mallard were too distant to sex as were ...
- ... the over flying Goosanders
- Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming: I had not heard it for over a week.
- Back to a more normal number of Jackdaws. This morning the flight path was well to the E of the lake.
Bird totals:
Birds noted flying over or flying near the lake:
- 44 Greylag Geese (6 groups outbound)
- 21 Canada Geese (4 groups outbound)
- 5 (♂?) Mallard
- 10 (♂?) Goosanders
- 2 Cormorants
- 2 Common Buzzards
- 111 Black-headed Gulls
- 25 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull
- 25 Wood Pigeons
- c.1050 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook
- 1 Pied Wagtail
Birds logged leaving roosts around the lake:
- 37 Magpies
- 6 Redwings
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 Mute Swans
- 2 Canada Geese: again throughout
- [no Gadwall]
- 5 (4♂) Mallard
- 5 (2♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 3 Great Crested Grebes still
- 10 Moorhens
- 51 Coots
Gulls:
Arrival:
- Six large gulls by 06:55, eventually 20, all identified before they departed. The first six Black-headed Gulls arrived at 07:13. Many Black-headed Gulls flew straight through to the SE though a slightly larger number visited the lake before they too flew off SE.
counts
- 137 Black-headed Gulls on the water
- 14 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: 12 adults
- 5 Herring Gulls: 1 adult
No gulls arrived after 07:45 other than Black-headed Gulls from the SE, assumed to be birds present and/or over flying earlier.
Other things:
- a single winter midge sp. flew off of one of the street lamps pre-dawn.
A male Bullfinch tucks in to another tasty bud.
And reaches for another.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 09:00 – 09:45
(26th visit of the year)
Bird notes from here:
- Number of Pochard fading away.
- A third Great Crested Grebe back again and keeping well away from the pair around the island.
- 10 of the over flying Wood Pigeons were so high they were only noted as I tried to identify a light aircraft overhead in my binoculars. Barely visible with my naked eye.
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 16 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 9 Feral Pigeons (2 groups)
- 11 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Jackdaw
Counts from the water:
- 3 Mute Swans as ever
- 8 Canada Geese
- 36 (22♂) Mallard
- 3 (3♂) Pochard
- 65 (38♂) Tufted Duck
- [no Goosanders]
- 2 Cormorants
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 3 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Moorhens
- 16 Coots
- 43 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult again
- 2 Herring Gulls: both first-winters
- 1 Kingfisher yet again
A not very cooperative Long-tailed Tit hides amongst the Alder cone.
Meanwhile a cooperative Long-tailed Tit sits amongst Hazel catkins.
VERY cooperative.
“Are you looking at me?”
(Ed Wilson)
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On this day..........
2019Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
2014
Priorslee Lake
Velvet Scoter
(Observer Unknown)
2013
Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site
1 Iceland Gull
(Tom Lowe)
2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Water Rail
c.1100 Black-headed Gulls
131 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
35 Herring Gulls
3 Great Black-backed Gulls
2 Gadwall
14 Pochard
42 Tufted Ducks
162 Coots
1 Water Rail
293 Jackdaw
105 Rook
c.120 Starling
27 Robins
18 Blackbirds
2 Willow Tits
8 Greenfinches
28 Siskins
2 Redpolls
19 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)