17 May 20

Priorslee Lake: 05:01 – 06:10 // 07:05 – 08:55
The Flash: 06:15 – 07:00

8.0°C > 12.0°C: Variable broken medium / high cloud. Very light SW wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:08 BST

Priorslee Lake:

(84th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Correction: the Mute Swans have six cygnets. I assume one was still on mum’s back yesterday.
- The drake Gadwall present throughout.
- Two pairs of Tufted Duck ‘appeared’. They were being harried by very territorial Coots. The Coots seem to know better than to chase the Great Crested Grebes.
- The rather moth-eaten Feral / Racing Pigeon had homed in on the academy roof again. Perhaps it uses parts of the roof I cannot see on other days.
- Yesterday’s ‘new’ Reed Warbler in the small patch of reeds near the sluice was not heard.

Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 1 Greylag Goose (outbound)
- ? Canada Geese (three groups, heard only, outbound)
- 5 (3♂) Tufted Ducks
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 1 Cormorant
- 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: ages not determined
- 1 Herring Gull: second year
- 1 Feral Pigeon again
- 5 Wood Pigeons
- 9 Jackdaws
- 4 Rooks

Birds noted on the ‘football’ field [Wood Pigeons and Magpies excluded]:
- 16 Starlings

Birds noted on the academy playing field [Wood Pigeons and Magpies excluded here too]:
- 2 Pheasants: pair again

Count of hirundines etc logged:
- 8 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 4 House Martins
The House Martins were noted over the estate for the first time this year.

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 12 (11) Chiffchaffs
- 19 (18) Blackcaps
- 2 (2) Garden Warblers
- 4 (4) Common Whitethroats
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler again
- 9 (9) Reed Warblers

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 6 (1 brood) Mute Swans (see notes)
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall
- 5 (4♂) Mallard again
- 4 (2♂) Tufted Ducks: arrived / emerged
- 2 Grey Herons, briefly
- 6 Great Crested Grebes again
- 7 Moorhens
- 19 + 0 (no broods seen) Coots
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one second year; 1 (near) adult, both briefly

On / around the street lights:
- Pale Pinion moth (Lithophane socia)

Insects / other things etc noted later:

Butterflies / moths:
- Meadow Long-horn moth (Cauchas rufimitrella)
- Common Nettle-tap moth (Anthophila fabriciana)

Bees:
- Andrena sp (Mining Bee)

Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Damselflies:
- Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

Other flies:
- Dagger fly sp. Empis tessellata
- Scorpion Fly (Panorpa communis)

Other things:
- Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata)
- Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) of the variety succinea

Additional plant species recorded for the year at this site:
- Perennial Cornflower (Centaurea montana)
- Common Hawkweed (Hieracium vulgatum)
- Curled Dock (Rumex crispus)
- Goat's-beard or Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon (Tragopogon pratensis)

A mainly cloudy start. The sun broke through briefly to provide this almost Autumn-like scene looking SW from the dam.

The Mute Swan family all together. I either cannot count or one of the cygnets was hiding on its mother’s back yesterday. I thought I counted five cygnets several times then – there are six here.

One of the three pairs of Great Crested Grebe did a short display. Not too enthusiastically and one soon lost interest. I managed a short video.

My first Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) of the year. This male is at least blue unlike some of my previous sightings of ‘blue’ damselflies this year. Males can be separated from the rather similar Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) by the ‘U’-shaped mark on the first (top) segment.

A tiny moth with long antennae. It is a Meadow Long-horn (Cauchas rufimitrella). My books say it likes Speedwells. Perhaps it cannot count as these are Forget-me-not flowers with five petals – I cannot tell which species without seeing the leaves.

This is a pretty little moth – about the size of my little finger-nail. It is (Common) Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana). Easily flushed during daylight, but easily overlooked.

Here it is again.

This moth on a lamp pole seems to be quite a find. Pale Pinion (Lithophane socia) flies in Autumn, over winters as an adult and then flies again in Spring. This is a very late date. Also its range typically extends only as far north as the South Midlands – global warming? A new moth species for me.

This the dagger fly Empis tessellata.

And here is why they are called dagger-flies! A closely-related species shows rufous thighs. These flies prey on other insects, often insects much larger than they are. Males give the female the ‘present’ of a catch prior to mating.

This is a female Scorpion Fly (Panorpa communis) – she lacks scorpion-like genitalia.

Another puzzle. On this view the bee appears to have extensive pale hairs between the tergites (body segments) suggesting one of the (many) mining bees.

Here, at a different angle, the pale hairs have all but disappeared suggesting a different one of the (many) mining bees. Andrena sp. for the moment.

Plan view of Perennial Cornflower (Centaurea montana). I am sure this has to be a garden-escape. Related to Knapweeds and indeed thistles, this relationship perhaps more obvious ....

 ... from the side-elevation.

This is most likely Common Hawkweed (Hieracium vulgatum). Separation of the species of hawkweed is for experts only – indeed I have trouble separating hawkbits and hawkweeds. Common Hawkweed is, as its name suggest, much the commonest of these multi-headed yellow flowers.

Yesterday I found Broad-leaved Dock (Rumex obtusifolius). This is Curled Dock (Rumex crispus) with narrower leaves curling under.

This ‘yellow thing’ is easier. It has a distinct shape and obvious black marks. It has various names – Goat's-beard or Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon. The former from the very distinctive globular seed-head (‘clock’). The latter because the flowers close in the afternoon. Scientific name Tragopogon pratensis.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:

(71st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- One pair of Canada Geese with three goslings. Being kept away from the water by the cob Mute Swan.
- I suppose they are Mallard ducklings: they were again tucked right up against the tree roots on the island. Neither yesterday nor today were any adults in evidence and today the only birds nearby were three Tufted Duck inside the island. What do Tufted Ducklings look like – I seem to recall them being dark?
- A Buzzard was being chased out of squirrel alley by crows and Magpies. Cannot recall ever having seen one in the trees here.
- Yesterday’s new brood of Coots numbers at least four – two were on the water and apparently two more in the nest.
- The Reed Warbler singing rather intermittently.
- Two Song Thrushes singing after several quiet days. Neither of them was near where I have heard them recently.
- The Reed Bunting also heard: just one burst of song. Still no real idea where he is. Ten days since I last heard one here.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: (near) adult
- 1 Stock Dove
- 2 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc logged:
- 4 Swifts

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 3 (3) Chiffchaffs
- 6 (6) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Reed Warbler again

Counts from the water:
- 3 + 9 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 15 + 3 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 24 (20♂) + 5? (1 brood) Mallard (see notes)
- 17 (11♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Moorhens
- 16 + 6 (2 broods) Coots

Otherwise of note:
- Yellow Flag (Iris pseudacorus): same date as my first record in 2019.

The Mute Swan family all together here as well.

A trio of Canada Geese goslings with their parent. The cob Mute Swan was in close attendance. Reports are that he has drowned all the earlier goslings, such is nature. Saves the council contractors rendering the eggs infertile.

Off they go exploring.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

Noteworthy
- 1 drake Mallard on the lower pool
- 1 adult Moorhen seen on the lower pool yet again
- 1 adult Moorhen seen on the upper pool
- 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker again around the upper pool
- 1 Blackcap singing at the lower pool
- 1 Blackcap singing above the upper pool
also
- 1 Grey Squirrel

(Ed Wilson)

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

2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2012
Priorslee Lake
Yellow Wagtail
Grasshopper Warbler
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Wheatear
1 Ruddy Duck
(Malcolm Thompson/Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Cuckoo
2 Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson)