10 May 20

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

11.0°C: Broken medium/high cloud with some clear spells soon gave way to lower level overcast. Light N breeze gradually became a moderate, even fresh, NE wind. Good visibility, improved somewhat.

Sunrise: 05:19 BST

Priorslee Lake:

(77th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The pen Mute Swan stayed brooding on the nest. Don’t blame her in the dull weather with a chilly wind.
- The drake Gadwall a surprise. Could it me that the long-term pair did not depart but are nesting in the undergrowth somewhere?
- A drake Tufted Duck flew in. Likely the bird that flew over me as I walked back up Teece Drive.
- Very low count of Coots even allowing for half of those present being unseen on nests hidden in the reeds.
- A Green Woodpecker flew along Teece Drive. Only occasionally heard and seen this year I doubted this species would breed here this year – last bred 2018.
- Another Common Whitethroat singing from the building works area. A different location from the bird I heard a week or so ago.
- The singing Reed Warbler that I photographed at the extreme NE corner the last two days was not seen or heard this morning. Two additional birds were singing along the N side. One songster was missing at the W end.

Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 4 Greylag Geese (single outbound; trio inbound)
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: both (near) adults.
- 4 Stock Doves
- 7 Wood Pigeons
- 7 Jackdaws
- no Rooks

Birds noted on the academy playing field:
- 1 male Pheasant
- 1 Jackdaw
- 1 Mistle Thrush
For clarity I do not record the Wood Pigeon, Magpies and Blackbirds that are a permanent fixture.
The Starlings (15 of them today) were on the ‘football’ field

Count of hirundines etc logged:
- 4 Swifts
- 1 Sand Martin: flew through
- >8 Barn Swallows
- >10 House Martins

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 12 (12) Chiffchaffs
- 23 (19) Blackcaps
- 5 (3) Garden Warblers
- 5 (5) Common Whitethroats
- 7 (7) Reed Warblers

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall
- 7 (6♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Tufted Duck: briefly
- 4 Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Moorhens
- 7 Coots only
- 1 Common Sandpiper.

On / around the street lights:
- 2 spiders of two species: one a Tetragnatha stretch spider sp.
- >10 flies (see notes for The Flash)

No other insects etc noted on a dull windy morning

No new flower species recorded for the year at this site:

Could not catch this month’s supermoon in all its glory on 7th May. The fourth supermoon of the year, though there is no scientific definition of what constitutes a ‘supermoon’. The moon had been at its closest to the earth in 2020 just two days earlier. This photo of the waning moon will have to do. Called the ‘Flower Moon’ because it appears “as the April showers bring forth May flowers”.

The rather belated appearance of the sun was not quite as forecast. It did not last long, being replaced by lowering cloud.

The drake Gadwall that reappeared today.

One of the Tetragnatha stretch spiders. Either T. extensa or T. montana. The internet describes them as difficult to separate but provides no further guidance.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Between the lake and The Flash:

- 1 drake Mallard on the lower pool
- 1 + 2 (1 brood) Moorhen(s) on the lower pool again
- Moorhen(s) heard on the upper pool
- 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker calling at the lower pool: probably from the Ricoh copse.
- Fledgling juvenile Starlings still calling from one of the estate roofs
also
- Common (or Black; or Lesser) Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)

My first head of Common (or Black; or Lesser) Knapweed (Centaurea nigra). I assume the rather fuzzy-looking ‘bugs’ in the picture are in fact buds of developing flowers.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash:

(64th visit of the year)

Two new species for my 2020 Flash list (in sighting order):
#66 Rook
This species is surprisingly uncommon, certainly at the time I am here. On both the last two years by ‘first dates’ have been in May – and 2019 was on 10th May as well! Always fly-overs.
#67 Common Sandpiper
After last year’s bumper numbers I was beginning to think I might miss this year. But in both 2017 and 2018 my ‘first dates’ here were in May.

Other bird notes:
- The cygnets were still being brooded again.
- Both broods of Mallard were right against the island and hard to count. Seemed to be eight and one. Very low count of Mallard otherwise.
- Two broods of Coots, singles in each. Were both still being brooded.
- A Nuthatch seen taking food in to its nest site.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 2 Sparrowhawks
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull: one (near) adult; one first summer
- 1 Feral Pigeon again
- 2 Stock Doves
- 4 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Rook

Hirundines etc logged:
- 4 Swifts
- 4 House Martins

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 6 (6) Chiffchaffs
- 6 (6) Blackcaps

Counts from the water:
- 3 + ? (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 17 Canada Geese
- 12 (8♂) + 9? (2 broods) Mallard
- 6 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 6 Moorhens
- 15 + >2 (2 broods) Coots
- 1 Common Sandpiper
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: one (near) adult, briefly

Also noted
- Several Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) were thrashing about again/
- A lamp post had an Alder Fly (Sialis lutaria) on it.
- The lamp posts also had at least 25 small flies resting. An unusually large number and apparently the same species (and as at the lake earlier). But what species ....? Dagger flies of genus Empis I think.

Not bad in the dull conditions. This Sparrowhawk was doing its ‘slow flap’ display flight. No hint of rufous to the barring on the breast so this is a female. Had it been a male I would have expected the white undertail coverts to be fluffed up.

Also not in the best light a Nuthatch arrives at its nest with food. I have never noticed the white tips to the folded primaries before. It always used to be said that the male plastered the entrance hole to prevent the female leaving while she was brooding – and presumably to stop access by any other males. Bird books now suggest that ‘plastering’ is done to make the entrance the right size to keep out larger species.

An Alder Fly (Sialis lutaria).

This is one of the many flies seen on the lamp poles, both here and at the lake.

From this angle it shows a ‘beak’ that gives rise to the name ‘dagger fly’. Likely of the genus Empis. I cannot find an exact match as my photos show all-black legs whereas species identified on the web show legs with orange or yellow segments.

(Ed Wilson)

--------------------------------------------------

And many thanks to Glenda Cruickshank for sending in these beautiful photos of the Mute Swan and  cygnets at The Flash.

(Glenda Cruickshank )

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are on your daily exercise and keeping a safe distance from others, we would love to see any photos or sightings you have, from Priorslee Lake and The Flash, by emailing them to us at priorsleelake@hotmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you.😊

(Martin Adlam and Ed Wilson)

Note:
Here are a few Garden Sightings from Ed Wilson Here on our Readers Corner from the past few days

And

A few of Martin Adlam's Sightings from the Isle of Portland Here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2017
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
Great White Egret
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson)