The Flash: 06:00 – 06:50
7.0°C > 15.0°C : Cloudless. Calm / very light SW breeze. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 04:58 BST
Priorslee Lake:
(92nd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- No sign of either Gadwall
- A pair of Tufted Duck early. Not seen later.
- One pair of Coots seem to have lost all their brood. Another very new brood – just one juvenile visible in the reeds so far.
- The (near) adult Lesser Black-backed Gull spent some minutes on one of the lamps in Castle Farm Way. Normally the prerogative of the Black-headed Gulls, especially in winter. Will be four weeks or so before these return.
- Juvenile Blackcaps and Chaffinches noted.
Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 13 Canada Geese (three groups inbound)
- 4 Cormorants: single and trio
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull: ages not determined
- 1 Stock Dove yet again
- 11 Wood Pigeons
- 35 Jackdaws
- 8 Rooks
Birds noted on the ‘football’ field [Wood Pigeons and Magpies excluded]:
- 1 Canada Goose
- 6 Starlings
one of the Starlings was a juvenile
Birds noted on the academy playing field [Wood Pigeons and Magpies excluded here too]:
None
Count of hirundines etc logged:
- >13 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow
- House Martins heard – not visible against clear sky
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 14 (10) Chiffchaffs
- 17 (14) Blackcaps
- 4 (4) Garden Warblers
- 4 (3) Common Whitethroats
- 10 (7) Reed Warblers
Neither the Lesser Whitethroat nor the Sedge Warbler recorded yesterday was heard.
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- [no Gadwall]
- 11 (9♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck: departed
- 6 Great Crested Grebes
- 4 Moorhens
- 21 + 9 (4 broods) Coots
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: (near) adult
On / around the street lights:
- 2 Common Stretch-spiders (Tetragnatha extensa)
Insects / other things etc noted later:
Damselflies
- Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
Butterflies / moths
None
- **** butterflies seem very scarce this year – even Speckled Wood which I expect to find on any fine day
Bees
- Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
*** not seeing any Honey Bees: worrying.
Hoverflies
- unidentified Cheilosia sp.
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Tapered Drone-fly (Eristalis pertinax)
- The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)
- Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
- unidentified Parhelophilus sp
Other things:
- 1 Grey Squirrel
- A large bat sp. early
- Red-and-Black Froghoppers (Cercopis vulnerata)
- Scorpion Fly (Panorpa communis)
- Kidney-spot Ladybird (Chilocorus renipustulatus)
- Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis): two forms – succinea, spectabilis.
- Common Stretch-spider (Tetragnatha extensa)
- 100's of non-biting (I hope) midges.
Additional plant species recorded for the year at this site:
- Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara)
The clear start to the day. A pair of Tufted Duck mar the calm water.
Yummy! Daddy Whitethroat arrives with a beak load.
It was clear the nest was very close to where I was standing (on a path) so I retreated.
Looking alert with crest raised. A very white throat when puffed up.
We haven’t had one of these for a while – a Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea).
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash:
(79th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- Not sure what has happened to the Canada Geese goslings. They may have been taken deeper in to the estate area. There was a fisherman with a bull-terrier type dog close by. While the dog seemed well-behaved and not aggressive it would likely want to chase things. The cob Mute Swan was still ‘on the case’.
- No Mallard ducklings found.
- So where have all the Tufted Duck gone? One pair on the water; another pair asleep on the island.
- A Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen flying to and fro (well, actually fro and to) between the Ricoh area, across Priorslee Avenue and in to trees near The Priorslee pub. This species does not seem to be nesting in the squirrel alley area this year.
- Pied Wagtail seen again, today on the E side grass.
- The Reed Warbler was not seen or heard. While I was looking for it a male Reed Bunting flew from the same area (alongside Derwent Drive). A bird was heard calling here later. Also a Reed Bunting was singing, briefly, along the E side. Same?
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
None
Hirundines etc logged:
- >20 Swifts
- House Martins heard – not visible against clear sky
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 3 (2) Chiffchaffs again
- 6 (5) Blackcaps
- [no Reed Warbler]
Counts from the water:
- 3 + 8 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 21 Canada Geese
- 27 (21♂) Mallard
- 4 (2♂) Tufted Duck only
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 5 Moorhens
- 14 + >6 (>2 broods) Coots
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: (near) adult
Also noted:
- A tiny plumed midge sp. of the Chironomidae – non-biting midges
- 1 Grey Squirrel
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
Noteworthy
- adult Moorhens seen at both pools again
- 1 Blackcap singing at the lower pool.
- Chaffinch singing – unusual just here.
(Ed Wilson)
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On this day..........
2019Priorslee 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
Today's Sightings Here
2012
Nedge Hill
2 Ravens mobbing Kestrel.
(John Isherwood)
2010
Priorslee Lake
Ringed Plover
(Ed Wilson)
2009
Priorslee Lake
Red Kite
(Ed Wilson)