Priorslee Lake and The Flash:
14.0°C > 22.0°C: Fine and clear. Calm with very light E breeze later. Good visibility but hazy later.
Sunrise: 04:47 BST
Priorslee Lake: 04:05 – 05:45 // 06:45 – 09:32
(119th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- Two separate Tufted Ducks flew E very early. By the time I returned from The Flash three drakes had appeared.
- After yesterday's bumper group of 24 Cormorants overhead none was seen today.
- Two first year Black-headed Gulls present when I arrived. A third flew in. All gone by 06:50.
- Jackdaws and Rooks were passing as early as 04:20 and my count may be incomplete.
Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 2 Tufted Ducks (singles; not sexed)
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Stock Dove
- 16 Wood Pigeons
- 40 Jackdaws
- 236 Rooks
- 1 Starling
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 4 Swifts: likely more as they were coming and going all the while.
- 4 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 14 (11) Chiffchaffs
- 15 (13) Blackcaps
- 2 (1) Garden Warblers
- 8 (4) Common Whitethroats
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler again
- 11 (8) Reed Warblers
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 13 (11♂) Mallard
- 3 (3♂) Tufted Ducks: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 8 Great Crested Grebes
- 5 Moorhens
- 30 + 12 (7? broods) Coots
- 3 Black-headed Gull: first-year birds
NB: a prefix * means there is a photo today.
On / around the street lights etc. pre-sunrise:
- 1 unidentified caddis fly sp.
- 3 spiders of different species.
NB: there were three Garden Grass-veneer moths (Chrysoteuchia culmella), on the wall of the academy beside a security light.
Insects / other things etc. noted later:
Generally a disappointing result, especially for hoverflies – perhaps too warm? Again all the adult ladybirds were 7 Spots. My first Comma butterfly of the year.
Butterflies:
- *Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
- *Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)
- *Small White (Pieris rapae)
- *Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- *caterpillars of Peacock (Aglais io) again
- Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)
- *Comma (Polygonia c-album)
Moths:
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
Bees / wasps:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Damselflies:
- Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
Hoverflies
- *Cheilosia illustrata
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Pellucid (Hover)Fly (Volucella pellucens)
Bats
- 3 Noctule-type bats
Other things:
- *Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus)
- Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.)
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)
- Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis): only larvae noted again
- *Spotted Longhorn beetle (Rutpela maculata)
- 2 Grey Squirrels
- Brown-lipped Snail (Cepaea demoralise)
Additional plant species recorded in flower for the year at this site:
None
An attempted 'arty' sunrise – Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) against the dawn.
This male Common Whitethroat seems to have finished parenting duties with a recent brood and was performing his territorial display flights again.
This Pied Wagtail has breakfast for her hungry chicks.
This is a Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) with a very 'clean' edge to the wing. This is a male with the scent gland as a dark mark in the middle of the wing.
As is this. There is a very similar species – the Essex Skipper - that does occur in this area and has jet-black tips to the antennae. Compare and contrast time with ...
... Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus) which shows dark shading around the wing tips. Was not able to get close to this specimen so it looks smaller. There is no noticeable size difference between the species.
A female Small White butterfly (Pieris rapae). A female because it has black spots in both wings. The size difference between this and Large White is not always obvious but on Small White, as here, the inner edge to the black on the wing tip is almost straight. In large white it is curved with the result that black goes much further along the trailing wing-edge.
Perhaps I did this the other day but a fine plan view of a Ringlet butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus), with just a hint of one ring on each hindwing on the upper side.
Voracious would seem to apply to these caterpillars of the Peacock butterfly (Aglais io) as they devour the nettles. Nobody seems to be eating them.
My first Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album) of the year only stayed long-enough for this rather 'grab' shot – but the reason for both the vernacular and scientific epithets is evident.
One of the few Cheilosia hoverflies that is not all or mainly black and is relatively easy to identify. It is C. illustrata.
This hoverfly is either Syrphus ribesii or S. vitripennis. Females can be separated by the colour of the top segment of the hind leg and when I saw this cleaning its wings I thought I might have a chance. Dashed on two counts – firstly it is using its middle leg to clean its wing; secondly it is a male anyway (the eyes meet). Note the wear and tear (literally) on the wings.
A pair (one assumes!) of Dock Bugs (Coreus marginatus) mating with one looking on. Perhaps it is the angle but the insect on the left seems to have more pronounced 'power shoulders'. As far as I know the sexes look identical.
These ought to be antelope beetles with horns like that. A pair (?!) of Spotted Longhorn beetle (Rutpela maculata) - a recent change of genus for this species from Strangalia. I see this species most years.
One of the three different spiders on lamp poles this morning. This one looked 'different' but ran off, probably spooked by the focus-beam on my camera.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 05:50 – 06:40
(105th visit of the year)
Notes:
A very strange morning:
- The 2018 vintage immature Mute Swan not seen.
- Probably more geese, especially Greylags, than I counted. When I was along the E side and could see partly inside the island I first noted the Greylag x Canadas. They were with other geese that I may or may not have logged.
- Many adult Mallard seemed to be in hiding. A very new brood of perhaps nine ducklings seen around the island.
- The Tufted Duck were climbing on and off the island and wandering off inside out of view. Likely more.
- Only one adult Great Crested Grebe with both juveniles seen. The juveniles seemed to be left alone amongst the geese while the adult went off to fish.
- A Garden Warbler briefly seen at the top end where I heard unconfirmed calls yesterday.
- Reed Warbler quiet again.
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Wood Pigeon
- 6 Jackdaws
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 4 Swifts
- 3 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 5 (5) Chiffchaffs
- 4 (4) Blackcaps
- 1 (0) Garden Warbler
Counts from the water:
- 2 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 19 Greylag Geese
- 3 Greylag x Canada Geese
- 94 + 2 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 9 (6♂) + 9? (1 brood) Mallard
- 5 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Moorhens
- 14 + 15 (6? broods) Coots
Otherwise of note:
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer moth (Chrysoteuchia culmella) on the same lamp pole as yesterday but in a different position
- 1 Grey Squirrel
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash
Of note
- Perch, Roach and possibly Chub in the Wesley Brook just as it disappears under the Priorslee Avenue tunnel
(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
2011
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper - First returning
(Ed Wilson)
2008
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper - First returning
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
1 drake Ruddy Duck
1 Snipe
1 Common Sandpiper - First returning
At least 38 Swifts
(Ed Wilson)