Priorslee Lake and The Flash:
9.0°C > 17.0°C: Clear start. Some thin high cloud making for hazy sunshine later. Calm start; moderate S breeze later. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 04:46 BST: - mornings drawing in – all downhill until early January 2021!
Priorslee Lake: 04:11 – 05:35 // 06:35 – 09:53
(117th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- First post-moult group of Canada Geese over.
- A Little Grebe on the water at the W end at 04:20. Not seen or heard thereafter. Could they have been hidden away breeding all this while?
- One new brood of two Coots; one brood not seen (had apparently declined from two to one on Saturday); another brood of two had been of three until this morning.
- A Collared Dove flew W over and was followed by one that stopped in the trees in the SE area. This species in trees around the lake is new this year.
- Amazing count of Rooks seen outbound. Passage lasted well over 30 minutes. Fewer Jackdaws: still more than for many weeks.
- The Sedge Warbler often in full cry at the W end. Not whenever I was close-enough with the camera.
Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 7 Canada Geese (outbound group)
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one at least an immature
- 2 Feral Pigeons
- 2 Stock Doves
- 19 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 63 Jackdaws
- 323 Rooks (gulp!)
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 10 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 4 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 18 (12) Chiffchaffs
- 20 (14) Blackcaps
- 5 (2) Garden Warblers
- 6 (3) Common Whitethroats
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler still
- 7 (6) Reed Warblers
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 11 (10♂) Mallard
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Little Grebe
- 7 Great Crested Grebes
- 4 Moorhens
- 32 + 13 (8 broods) Coots
NB: a prefix * means there is a photo today.
On / around the street lights etc. pre-sunrise:
- *Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata)
- *Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)
Insects / other things etc. noted later:
Butterflies:
- Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
- *Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- *Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)
Moths:
- Garden Grass-veneers (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
- *Blackneck (Lygephila pastinum)
Bees / wasps:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- *Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris)
- Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)
- Common Wasps (Vespula (Paravespula) vulgaris)
Damselflies:
- Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)
- *Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
Hoverflies
-*Cheilosia illustrata
- *Chrysotoxum sp., likely C. verralli
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Common Drone-fly (Eristalis tenax)
- The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)
- *Leucozona laternaria
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- *Parhelophilus sp.
- *Pellucid (Hover)Fly (Volucella pellucens)
- *Xylota sylvarum
Bats
- 2 Pipistrelle-type bat
Other things:
- nymph of a Tortoise Bug (Eurygaster testudinaria)
- Nephrotoma cranefly sp..
- Caddis flies (Mystacides longicornis)
- Black Snipe flies (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- *Thick-headed Fly (Sicus ferrugineus)
- 7 Spot Ladybirds (Coccinella 7-punctata)
- Harlequin Ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis): forms succinea only noted; also larvae
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
- *Terrapin sp. (Yellow-bellied Slider?)
Additional plant species recorded in flower for the year at this site:
None
Here the brown wings are the clue to a juvenile Common Whitethroat
Here being fed.
The only shot I could get to record my first Ringlet butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus) of the year. The rings that give this species its name are more obvious and numerous on the underside of the hindwing
A fresh-looking Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae).
I had high hopes that this would be a Broken-barred Carpet but sadly not 'broken' enough. Just a worn Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata).
An easy moth for a change on the lamp poles along the footpath. This is a Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata). Often, though not always, sits with wings partially open.
For me the find of the day. This moth is a Blackneck (Lygephila pastinum). Noted as 'local' in the Midlands and a new species for me. Moth species #38 here this year – creeping up but still c.20 fewer than this date last year.
This is a female Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum). Some females stay this green colour, going brown rather than blue as they mature. At the time I was struck by how pale the legs were and was hoping for my first White-legged Damselfly. Not to be, though I cannot explain why the legs are so pale.
I will not be able to ID this bee. I don't think I've ever seen the underside of one, certainly not one that is yellow. Or is it just pollen?
A delightfully scruffy Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum).
There are some amazing- and some revolting- looking flies out there and this ticks both the boxes. It seems to be Sicus ferrugineus, a species of Thick-headed Fly.
This hoverfly is of the genus Chrysotoxum and is likely C. verralli. It is noted as a 'wasp mimic' and momentarily had me fooled. The most notable feature of this group are their unusually long (for flies) antennae. The two short lines on the thorax are not shared with many other species either.
As if to prove me wrong I found another small hoverfly which also has two lines on the thorax. This is Lucozona laternaria.
My first of these for a while and they were abundant today – Pellucid (Hover)Fly (Volucella pellucens).
At first glance the same. But it has a buff tip to the tail and white at the sides of the thorax. It is the bumblebee mimic Cheilosia illustrata.
This black and yellow insect was running around the leaves and I assumed it was an ichneumon wasp. Very hard to photo but when I got this almost-in-focus shot I noted that it did not have long antennae. It is yet another hoverfly – Xylota sylvarum I think from the leg pattern. The wings hide the body pattern for 100% ID.
Yet another hoverfly. Reminiscent of the The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus) but more orange-toned. This is one of the Parhelophilus group, three species needing genitalia examination to separate.
The pattern on the thorax of this cranefly indicates it is one of the Nephrotoma craneflies. Without a clear view of the abdomen it is not possible to be more specific.
This seems to be a nymph of a Tortoise Bug (Eurygaster testudinaria). Closely related to, but with a rather more protruding head than, the typical shieldbug.
Thanks to feedback from Joshua Price I was able to get this species on my lake list. They are terrapins, likely Yellow-bellied Sliders, though I did read that some of those sold in pet shops in the UK are hybrids. Terrapins have been surviving for many years at The Flash and both Trench Pools.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 05:45 – 06:30
(103rd visit of the year)
Notes:
- The cob Mute Swan was back from his short stay at Cuan to have fishing line untangled from his leg. He was in full cry after the 2018 cygnet. I was told that in his absence yesterday the pen was chasing the 2018 cygnet with her 7 cygnets scurrying along after her.
- There were some uncounted geese calling from inside the island: that would not account for the rapid decline in numbers. With a group of seven Canada Geese over the lake seems many now have new wings.
- The group of six well-grown Mallard ducklings again.
- A third adult Great Crested Grebe for certain – all three adults seen at the same time.
- Some of the juvenile Coots are wandering so far from their nest sites that ascribing them to particular broods is no longer possible.
- I think we must assume the Reed Warbler has gone.
- Pied Wagtail on roof in Derwent Drive today.
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Jackdaw
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 1 House Martin
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 2 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (3) Blackcap yet again
Counts from the water:
- 3 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 15 Greylag Geese
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 44 + 2 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 19 (14♂) + 6 (1 brood) Mallard
- 10 (7♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 16 + 13 (? broods) Coots
Nothing else of note:
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
Of note
- At least two Starlings in the trees around the lower pool. Once the juveniles fledged all the birds left the estate area so this was unexpected.
(Ed Wilson)
Note: Click Here for Ed Wilson's visit to Prees Heat on Saturday, 20 Jun 2020
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On this day..........
2012
Priorslee Lake
Common Tern
(Ed Wilson)
2009
Priorslee Lake
Pochard
Nuthatch
Swarm of bees
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
Drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)