31 May 20

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 16.0°C: Cloudless. Light E breeze increasing moderate. Very good visibility if rather hazy.

Sunrise: 04:52 BST

Priorslee Lake: 04:23 – 05:45 // 07:00 – 09:17

(97th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- A noisy Pheasant calling to the N somewhere. Not on the academy fields. First time I have heard one for two weeks.
- All ten Great Crested Grebes seen in pairs much of the time: come on guys and gals – breeding time!
- No idea why so few Coots.
- One of the Reed Warblers was seen fly catching from a bushy Wayfaring-tree (Viburnum lantana), albeit alongside reeds.
- New juvenile Pied Wagtails on the dam.

Also: not formally logged as the view was too brief. As I walked back from The Flash two ducks were leaving the lake. On a split-second view they looked more like Shoveler than Mallard. Whether I would have thought of that without having just seen the pair at The Flash (q.v.) is a moot point.

Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 12 Canada Geese (a pair and a group inbound)
- 4 (2♂) Tufted Duck: two separate pair flew W
- 1 Grey Heron: high E to N
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: three first years; others not determined.
- 11 Wood Pigeons
- 14 Jackdaws
- 17 Rooks

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

Birds noted on the academy playing field [Wood Pigeons and Magpies excluded here too]:
None
The ‘Homing Pigeon’ was again on the roof of the academy

Count of hirundines etc logged:
- >15 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow again
- 3 House Martins again

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 14 (11) Chiffchaffs
- 19 (16) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler only
- 1 (0) Lesser Whitethroat
- 2 (2) Common Whitethroats
- 9 (7) Reed Warblers

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 9 (8♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Tufted Duck: arrived: later flew off E
- 10 Great Crested Grebes
- 4 Moorhens again
- 12 + 3 (2 broods) Coots: why so few
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: two (near) adults; one first year, all briefly
- 1 Herring Gull: first-year, briefly with the first-year Lesser Black-backed Gull
- [1 Kingfisher: apparently flew past while my back was turned talking to a fisherman!]

On / around the street lights:
- Common Marbled Carpet moth (Dysstroma truncata)
- Silver-ground Carpet moth (Xanthorhoe montanata): same orientation, different lamp pole

Insects / other things etc noted later:

Butterflies:
- Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

Other moths:
None

Bees / wasps:
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
- unidentified sawfly sp.

Damselflies:
- Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)
- Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas)
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

Hoverflies
- Criorhina sp probably C. floccosa
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)
- Parhelophilus sp.
- Syrphus vitripennis

Other things:
- Harlequin Ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis): form succinea only noted
- Oedemera nobilis (Thick-legged Flower Beetle or Swollen-thighed Beetle)
and
- 1 Grey Squirrel

Additional plant species recorded for the year at this site:
None
However worth noting is that many Blackthorn bushes and some of the willow scrub is looking very sad with many missing and many curled leaves. An impact of the dry weather? Or a parasite?

Another clear fine start to the day.

Another Lesser Black-backed Gull perched on the sluice entrance. It is a full adult? There is a very small amount of black toward the tip of the upper mandible and the legs don’t really look yellow.

Its baby Blue Tit time. All say ah! “Feed me!”

More like ‘yellow tit’ at this age.

Plumage rather scruffy. A different bird from the same brood.

This one is apparently puzzling about what’s on the end of its bill! (Or staring vacantly ...?)

They sit up so rarely I take every opportunity to photo Reed Warblers. One of several that had been chasing about. It seems in need of a good preen.

Courtesy of one of the fishermen who noticed the nest. Here is a baby Wren peering out at the world and wondering whether I am going to feed it. Answer: no! All yellow gape and fluffy down.

Slightly better than yesterday. This Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) just opened its wings before it flew away.

At the very top of a lamp pole and only pre-dawn so stretching the camera’s capability somewhat. This is my first Common Marbled Carpet moth (Dysstroma truncata) of the year. A very common but also very variable moth.

Not the best angle for this Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas). Just possible to see the eyes are indeed red.

This almost all-black bumblebee with just a small orange collar and orange tail seems to be a Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum). I tried to re-orientate the leaf so that it was better lit but the bee flew off.

I thought I had these very attractive and rather scruffy-looking bees sorted but I keep changing my mind! This is I think a worker Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum).

A different specimen. Same species?

With short antennae this is a hoverfly. It is a Criorhina sp probably C. floccosa.

It is not just the angle though that helps. This is a rather unusual-looking Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus). With alternate wide and narrow black bands it cannot be anything else. Never noted it with a ‘box’ pattern.

A lucky catch of this Syrphus vitripennis hoverfly. Only females can be separated from Syrphus ribesii and then only by the top of the hind femur being black – as shown amazingly well here. Normally they have to be logged as Syrphus sp.

Another snail sp. A glass snail I suspect. Which species I have no idea.

A look at the just-opening huge flower of Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) before they chop it down – if they need too: it is well off the path growing alongside the Wesley Brook. 

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:50 – 06:55

(83rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- I seemed to have been correct yesterday: one cygnet missing this morning.
- However I was not correct about the Canada Geese and their goslings. Back in the usual place today.
- A pair of Shoveler most unexpected at this date. After the almost equally unseasonal drake on 8th May might they just have been lurking on the island all the while?
- No idea why the Tufted Duck numbers continue to vary. There may even have been more as birds were flying around continually and often going behind the island from any vantage point. The number presented is my highest ‘spot’ count.
- One Great Crested Grebe noted. I again failed to confirm whether the nest was occupied.
- One (near) adult Lesser Black-backed Gull flew off. It or another pitched in later with another (near) adult flying on over. Both incurred the wrath of the local Carrion Crows.
- The Stock Dove was calling again: today from the trees by Priorslee Academy.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 4 Greylag Geese
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult
- 2 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc logged:
- >40 Swifts
- 2 House Martins again

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 5 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (2) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Reed Warbler again

Counts from the water:
- 3 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 33 + 3 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 19 (15♂) + 5 (1 brood) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Shoveler
- 23 (13♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- 5 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 16 + 7 (4 broods) Coots: one nest still being brooded
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adults – see notes

Also of note
- 1 Mottled Pug moth (Eupithecia exiguata) on a lamp pole in squirrel alley
- 1 Grey Squirrel

I would not gnaw that if I were you. The residents might complain about the loss of power. This Grey Squirrel up an electricity pole.

These Mallard drakes still look quite smart, at least on the head. Not quite so pristine on the body. Note on the left-hand bird the colour is beginning to go from the around the base of the bill.

Well: I did not expect this at the end of May – a drake Shoveler. His plumage is no longer pristine as he starts a post-breeding (or not) moult.

And a Mrs. Shoveler as well. The markings on her flanks are much coarser than on a Mallard duck. Hard to miss that ‘big hooter’ though.

And the pair paddle serenely away.

This juvenile Moorhen has clearly been in the now rather mucky water at the edges of the pool. All the fluff from the tree pollen has collected on the water and with no rain to flush it away the edges are quite manky.

At last: a half-way decent photo of the Reed Warbler here. Taken early. With the bird in the shade it has given what is a “little brown job” a distinctly grey tone.

On a lamp pole in squirrel alley I found this Mottled Pug moth (Eupithecia exiguata). 

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

Noteworthy
- Moorhen on grass at lower pool
- Great Spotted Woodpecker over
- 1 Blackcap singing at the upper pool today
and
- 1 Common Pug moth (Eupithecia vulgata) on the wall of Priorslee Avenue underpass.

On the wall of the Priorslee Avenue underpass another pug moth. This time a Common Pug moth (Eupithecia vulgata)

(Ed Wilson)

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

2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2018
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
Long Lane, Wellington
13 Ringed Plover
2 Dunlin
(JW Reeves)

30 May 20

Priorslee Lake, The Flash and Woodhouse Lane:

After a ‘down day’ recharging batteries the complete set of Priorslee Lake, The Flash and Woodhouse Lane

9.0°C > 17.0°C: Cloudless. Light SE breeze after calm start. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:51 BST

Priorslee Lake: 04:18 – 05:45 // 06:45 – 07:20 // 08:20 – 09:43

(96th visit of the year)

No progress since Wednesday on removing the Giant Hogweed (or the cut-down plants)

Bird notes:
- Four first year Black-headed Gulls were on buoys when I arrived. Been here all night? An early return for this species – usually reckon c.10 June.
- The seven Cormorants passed over in echelon. All seemed to be immatures and perhaps all juveniles- much white below.
- One Common Buzzard seen hovering where the Kestrel was seen doing the same thing earlier. Soon chased away by Magpies.
- Three broods of Coots with but a single juvenile noted. Last year was a particularly successful breeding season. Not so far this year but they will mostly have second broods yet.
- Numbers of Swifts hard to determine. Unusually just two raced through early. Thereafter sometime as many at 20; then again none; later up to 20 again – same?
- The Rooks have begun their annual flying ‘to and fro’ which I always assume is birds on feeding forays. The strange thing is that their crops are usually full on what I would presume is the ‘outbound’ leg.
- Several family parties of Blue Tits seen. Great Tit families presumed – only heard.
- The group of eleven Starlings on the football field only briefly. At least three juveniles.

Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 1 Black-headed Gull: adult
- 7 Cormorants
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: three first years; two second years; others not determined.
- 5 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 19 Jackdaws
- 47 Rooks

Birds noted on the ‘football’ field [Wood Pigeons and Magpies excluded]:
None

Birds noted on the academy playing field [Wood Pigeons and Magpies excluded here too]:
- 11 Starlings
The ‘Homing Pigeon’ had homed in on the roof of the academy once more

Count of hirundines etc logged:
- >20 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow
- 3 House Martins

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 14 (12) Chiffchaffs
- 14 (13) Blackcaps
- 3 (3) Garden Warblers
- 3 (3) Common Whitethroats
- 7 (6) Reed Warblers
No sign of any Lesser Whitethroats.

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 7 (5♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck: flew in from E 04:45
- 7 Great Crested Grebes still
- 4 Moorhens
- 18 + 3 (3 broods) Coots
- 5 Black-headed Gulls: one adult; four first year birds
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: second year, briefly

On / around the street lights:
- Silver-ground Carpet moth (Xanthorhoe montanata)
At last: a moth on the lamps. Not new for the year but at least a start!

Insects / other things etc noted:

Butterflies:
- Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
- Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

Moths:
- Timothy Tortrix (Zelotherses paleana)
- Common Purple & Gold (Pyrausta purpuralis)

Bees / wasps
- Mining Bee sp. (Andrena sp.)
- Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
- Ichneumon xanthorius

Damselflies:
- Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

Hoverflies
- Cheilosia sp.
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Tapered Drone-fly (Eristalis pertinax)

Other things:
- Plant bug Miris striatus (sometimes called Fine Streaked Bugkin)
- Red-and-Black Froghoppers (Cercopis vulnerata)
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)
- Harlequin Ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis): forms spectabilis and succinea noted
- Oedemera nobilis (Thick-legged Flower Beetle or Swollen-thighed Beetle)
- Common Stretch-spiders (Tetragnatha extensa)
- Small green spider Nigma walckenaeri

Additional plant species recorded for the year at this site:
None

Fine and clear weather does not make for stunning sunrises.

Not a good photo but they were a long way away. A Magpie seeing off a Common Buzzard.

These two fighting Wood Pigeons were lucky it was before 05:00 during Covid restrictions. Otherwise the middle of Castle Farm Way is not a good place to be.

In contrast a sunny and placid Wood Pigeon

“I can see you”. A Chiffchaff peers out.

A bird that gives beginners some confusion. Always look at the bill for a clue. This is a juvenile Starling without spots at this age.

As it turned around the ‘bandit mask’ is somewhat more obvious. The problem gets worse in a few weeks when the odd adult feather produces a very mottled effect. Remember the bandit mask.

A fine male Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) – its is the scent gland (dark line) in the centre of the fore-wing that identifies it as a male.

Best of the day for me. A delightful Common Purple & Gold moth (Pyrausta purpuralis). There are two similar species and all three can be relatively easily seen in daytime.

Not such a pretty moth. This is a Timothy Tortrix (Zelotherses paleana). A typical tortrix shape, almost unmarked and with a brown / yellow suffusion around the head and base of the wings. Very commonly disturbed but ‘goes to ground’ and can be hard to see well.

This is a Mining Bee sp. (Andrena sp.). These differ from Honey Bees in having no pollen basket on the hind leg. I cannot really be more specific – there are 40 to choose from and while many do not occur in this part of the country too many do!

This is the wasp Ichneumon xanthorius. With only one folded-back antenna ....?

No: both present and correct. Cleaning its face with its front leg here. Only the male has long. black antennae. On the female they are shorter with the basal part yellow-toned. She also has yellow on the last tergite whereas it is black on the male.

My best yet of the bug Miris striatus (Fine Streaked Bugkin). This is the first year I have recorded this species and at the moment I am seeing it daily.

I am slightly mystified by this ladybird. I keep seeing individuals like this. The red ‘comma’ mark on the front of the elytra is wrongly orientated for a Pine Ladybird and I think it is too large. I am rather bemused by the red ‘tail’ and cannot find a good match. I suspect a variation of the spectabilis form of the Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)

Another male Oedemera nobilis (Thick-legged Flower Beetle or Swollen-thighed Beetle). Will I ever see a female without the swollen thighs?

This small green spider likes being underneath its web.

Trying to persuade the camera to focus on a small green spider amongst green vegetation not easy. The best I could do. The spider is Nigma walckenaeri, distinguished by the red tip to its abdomen.

The rather dense umbels of Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium). Note the outer petals are larger than all the others. Now the Cow Parsley is more or less over this is the dominant umbellifer.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash:  05:50 – 06:40

(82nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- I think we are about to lose another cygnet. Seven were with the pen; one rather lethargic-looking cygnet was being looked after by the cob. He moved away and the pen came back to look at it. After a short while she too left to join the others and it was left all alone and (almost) motionless.
- I could not find either of the Great Crested Grebes. The nest is hard to find – you need to stand in exactly the right places to be able to make out the sitting bird.
- A Stock Dove calling from the trees near The Priorslee. Not common here.
- The Reed Warbler, or another, is back. Perhaps it never went away.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 2 Wood Pigeons.
- 2 Collared Doves – ‘express trains’ over
- 2 Starlings

Hirundines etc logged:
- >35 Swifts
- 2 House Martins

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

Counts from the water:
- 3 + 8 (1 brood) Mute Swans: see notes
- 1 Greylag Goose: arrived
- 10 Canada Geese
- 24 (18♂) Mallard
- 7 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- [Great Crested Grebes not located]
- 3 Moorhens
- 14 + 13 (5 broods) Coots

Nothing else of note

The adult Mute Swans with seven of their cygnets. The cob now seems minded to take part in family business. I assume it managed to get at and kill the goslings as they were nowhere to be seen again.

The rather forlorn eighth cygnet. Both parents had tried to gee it along with the others to no avail. I fear ....

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

Noteworthy
The upper pool is fast drying out.
- Moorhens heard only at both pools
- Great Spotted Woodpecker over
- 1 Blackcap singing at the lower pool

(Ed Wilson)

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Woodhouse Lane area: 07:20 – 08:20

(7th visit of the year)

Notes from here:
- No sight or sound of the Yellow Wagtail.
- At least 4 Linnets: flying to and fro all the while.
- Singing Reed Bunting was the first for several visits: they often nest in crops here.

Notable species counts (singing birds in brackets):
- 1 Common Buzzard: being hounded by Carrion Crows
- Stock Dove heard in wooded area by sluice exit.
- 3 (2) Skylarks
- 2 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Willow Warbler
- 3 (3) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warbler
- 6 (5) Common Whitethroats
- 1 (1) Song Thrush
- 5 (5) Chaffinches
- 1 (0) Greenfinch
- 4 (0) Goldfinches
- 4 Linnets at least
- 4 (1) Yellowhammers
- 1 (1) Reed Bunting

Insects noted:

- Butterflies
Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
Brown sp., probably Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
Vanessid sp., probably Peacock (Aglais io)
- Hoverflies:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Additional plant species recorded for the year at this site:
- Meadow Cranesbill (Geranium pratense)
- Scentless Mayweed (Matricaria perforata was Tripleurospermum inodorum)

After all the ‘bits of Common Whitethroats’ as they bring food to nest here is a portrait of a male. They grey head indicates a male

This is a Meadow Cranesbill flower (Geranium pratense). I seem not to have recorded this before – perhaps I assumed it was a garden escape?

I am pretty sure this is Scentless Mayweed (Matricaria perforata was Tripleurospermum inodorum). It certainly seemed ‘inodorum’ when I crushed the leaves. So why change the name? Don’t you just love taxonomists. Crushing the leaves is the only way I know of separating this from Scented Mayweed (Matricaria chamomilla).

(Ed Wilson)

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

2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2017
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2013
Long Lane, Wellington
13 Ringed Plover
2 Dunlin
(JW Reeves)