Priorslee Lake: and The Flash
13.0°C > 18.0°C: Clear to E with areas of persistent medium-low cloud arriving from the S & W. Light / moderate SE breeze. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 04:46 BST
Other commitment have left me short of time to identify some of the moths and insects seen. I also have yet to sort out the photographs. I will update this as and when.
Priorslee Lake: 04:10 – 05:45 // 06:50 – 09:31
(118th visit of the year)
Today's highlight was an addition to my 2020 lake list:
#90 Great White Egret
A very fortuitous sighting. At c.08:25 I was buried in the undergrowth attempting to photograph as as yet unidentified beetle when a passing couple walking their dog (on a lead - thank you) asked me what I had found. As I was showing one of them the photo the other exclaimed 'Heron'. As I spun around I was immediately struck by how long the legs were. Against the light it was impossible to see the markings - not least because there weren't any, as was apparent as the bird flew away and was less 'just a silhouette'. No time for a record shot with the camera in macro mode for the beetle. Thanks to the dog-walkers indeed. I have noted this as a fly-over but it could well have dropped in for a few minutes
Other bird notes:
- A pair of Tufted Ducks present at the W end when I arrived. A lone bird flew E soon after. Later a pair (the same?) appeared to pitch in to the NE corner but none was seen again.
- A group of 24 Cormorants was impressive - unless you are a fish.
- Fewer Jackdaws and, especially, Rooks . Still an impressive count.
- After two Starlings in the trees around the lower pool en route to The Flash seven birds flew from the estate area to the academy playing fields. The calls suggested there were juveniles and I suspect these were from replacement broods.
- Two Mistle Thrushes flew high E over the dam. I have not heard the local birds sing or call since the June 01.
- The Sedge Warbler still often in full cry at the W end. Always flying from deep in the vegetation to another equally invisible spot.
Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 1 Canada Geese (inbound)
- 1 Tufted Duck (sex?)
- 24 Cormorants (one big group)
- 1 Great White Egret
- 1 Black-headed Gull
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls again
- 3 Stock Doves
- 9 Wood Pigeons
- 54 Jackdaws
- 197 Rooks
- 2 Mistle Thrushes
- 1 Pied Wagtail
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 12 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows again
- 5 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 12 (10) Chiffchaffs
- 16 (14) Blackcaps
- no Garden Warblers
- 7 (3) Common Whitethroats
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler
- 9 (7) Reed Warblers
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 12 (9♂) Mallard
- 4 (2♂) Tufted Ducks (see notes)
- 1 Grey Heron
- 7 Great Crested Grebes again
- 3 Moorhens
- 33 + 12 (9 broods) Coots
- 1 Black-headed Gull: adult, briefly
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, briefly
NB: a prefix * means there is a photo today.
On / around the street lights etc. pre-sunrise:
- 1 Common Marbled Carpet moth (Dysstroma truncata)
Insects / other things etc. noted later:
Butterflies:
- Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)
- *Small White (Pieris rapae)
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- caterpillars of Peacock (Aglais io)
Moths:
- Garden Grass-veneers (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
Bees / wasps:
- *Mining bee (Andrena sp.)
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris)
- Common Wasp (Vespula (Paravespula) vulgaris)
Damselflies:
- Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)
- *Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
Hoverflies
- *Cheilosia illustrata
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Common Drone-fly (Eristalis tenax)
- The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)
- *Volucella bombylans var. plumata
- Pellucid (Hover)Fly (Volucella pellucens)
Bats
None
Other things:
- *Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina): second instar nymph
- Cranefly sp..
- Black Snipe flies (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- 7 Spot Ladybirds (Coccinella 7-punctata)
- Harlequin Ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis): only larvae noted
- *unidentified beetle sp.
- Grey Squirrel
Additional plant species recorded in flower for the year at this site:
None
Not a sight I have seen to often – a group of 24 Cormorants (before 05:00, hence the lack of detail!).
On this individual the white outer tail feathers of this species are just about discernible.
This is a Small White butterfly (Pieris rapae). There is not enough of the underwing showing to tell whether it also has a black spot. If it does it is a female. Otherwise ....
Oops. Its my age! Trying to hold the camera steady and get the Ringlet butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus) in the centre of the frame. Now you know why it is called a Ringlet.
Common Marbled Carpet moths (Dysstroma truncata) come in many different forms and some are hard to separate from other species of carpet moth. This form with a brown wash across the wings is unique.
Not all sure about this. The lower damselfly is the green form of the female Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum). One might assume that the upper one is a male but why is only two-thirds here size? Those are his claspers around her neck so where is his head? I suspect his head has been bitten off by something and the clasper-muscles are still clenched. Gruesome.
Initially I thought this was a Honey Bee. It lacks brown on the upper abdomen and the marks across the abdomen (between the tergites) are too white and it is too hairy. I suspect one of Andrena mining bees which probably cannot be identified from this angle. Whatever it is carrying an impressive load of pollen.
Seem to have seen a lot of these recently. There are not too many 'furry' hoverflies: this is one. It is Cheilosia illustrata which comes in several different forms, sometimes without the red tail and often with a much wider and white band at the top of the abdomen.
Another hairy hoverfly is this Volucella bombylans. It comes in two forms, this white-tailed form noted as plumata. The other, red-tailed, form is otherwise all black.
The brown beetle is most likely one of the 40-odd soldier beetles known in the UK. I cannot make an exact match. All the illustrated species show some difference in colour or tone between the thorax and the elytra – this does not. At the time I had not seen the much smaller insect below and to the right. That is second instar nymph of a Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina).
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 05:50 – 06:45
(104th visit of the year)
Notes:
A very strange morning:
- The Mute Swans were tucked up on the island and I could only confirm one adult and 'some' cygnets.
- I obtained a closer look at what I thought was a duck Mallard and six well-grown ducklings. I suspect this is in fact a pair of adults with five ducklings. Looking at the bills of these ducklings there would seem to be four boys and one girl.
- Only four Tufted Duck located and these all drakes.
- Only one adult Great Crested Grebe with one juvenile seen
Otherwise:
- What sounded like a Garden Warbler calling where a bird sang for several days at the end of April. I am none too confident about these calls, especially as there are many juvenile birds making unusual noises. I was unable to locate the source so it stays as a 'possible'.
- After noting yesterday that the Reed Warbler seemed to have gone it was singing intermittently again. I'm pleased about that: it seemed a shame that it had flown all the way back from sub-Saharan Africa and then failed in its mission
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Jackdaw again
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 1 Swift
- 1 House Martin again
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 4 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 6 (5) Blackcaps
- 1 possible Garden Warbler
- 1 (1) Reed Warbler
Counts from the water:
- 1+? (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 18 Greylag Geese
- 82 + 2 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 15 (11♂) + 5 (1 brood) Mallard
- 4 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Moorhens
- 14 + 14 (? broods) Coots
Otherwise of note:
- 1 Garden Grass-veneers (Chrysoteuchia culmella) on a lamp pole
- 1 Common Marbled Carpet moth (Dysstroma truncata) on a different lamp pole
Well whose hole is it? Two Blue Tits debate with the Great Tit.
"It's mine". Actually it is a different hole in the same tree to which the Nuthatch is laying claim.
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
Nothing of note
(Ed Wilson)
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On this day..........
2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
(Ed Wilson)
2016
Priorslee Flash
Today's News Here
2012
Priorslee Lake
Plover sp.
(Ed Wilson)
2008
Priorslee Lake
Marsh Warbler
Unlikely as it seems I am pretty convinced about this on the basis of the song alone
I was walking along the W end path at c.06:15 when a strange song caught my attention: there had been young Reed Warblers flitting about the area away from the reeds and it sound 'Acro-like'. But it was far too fast and I then assumed it was a Sedge Warbler (especially after my bird in the town centre last week). But the sound was all wrong with what seemed more like Garden Warbler tones, though with the characteristic Acro dynamics.
The bird was singing from a small patch of bushes growing in the fence at the W end of the yacht compound and I had the choice of a close view directly in to the bright sun; or going the 'other side' and trying to see between the yachts at some distance. I decided to stay where I was and in response to gentle phishing I got a good-enough glimpse to confirm it was a Reed / Marsh and not Sedge Warbler and certainly an Acro.
The song continued to puzzle and included all manner of oddities, sounding at times like juvenile Great Tit begging, all while singing at full volume.
I decided that the best thing would be to try and record the bird so I dashed back to the car for my digital tape recorder. When I returned the bird was not singing and phishing produced only a Wren and a pair of Bullfinches!
Revisited the area twice more for some 15 minutes on each occasion without success: was not too surprised as it was a small and rather unlikely spot for the bird to stay in.
Worth rechecking - but I went all around the lake twice without hearing anything untoward.
Only my second-ever UK Marsh Warbler - the last was as long ago as when they bred in Worcestershire! But familiar with the birds abroad as recently as May in Poland where I heard maybe 20.
I really cannot see what else it might have been: I am not that confident to say it WAS a Marsh Warbler song, only that I have no idea what else it could have been and it fits the general pattern of song.(Ed Wilson)
2007
Priorslee Village
A pair of Siskins
(Martin Adlam)
2006
Priorslee Lake
Common Tern
(Ed Wilson)