Priorslee Lake and The Flash
13.0°C > 15.0°C: Very mixed. A spell of heavy rain gave way to overcast conditions. Then a spell of soaking drizzle. Then odd spots of rain with a few bright, even sunny spells with more rain to end. Moderate SE wind. Very good visibility but moderate during drizzle.
Sunrise: 04:48 BST again
Priorslee Lake: 04:08 – 06:25 // 07:15 – 09:15
(122nd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- One Cormorant flew in c.09:00. My first log of a bird in the water here since 23 March.
- A pair of Great Crested Grebes seen to land. Whether they flew in or had been on a local fly-about is hard to say.
- A trio of two adult and one immature Black-headed Gulls flew through – my first juvenile this season.
- The roost dispersal of Jackdaws and Rooks started late – not surprising in the dull and wet conditions. It then went on, and on, and on: with large totals – Jackdaws almost as numerous as Rooks.
- I made several visits to the relevant area but could not hear or see the Sedge Warbler. This bird stayed longer than any of the previous four I had logged this year.
Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 3 Black-headed Gulls: including juvenile
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull yet again
- 2 Stock Doves: singles
- 44 Wood Pigeons
- 273 Jackdaws
- 316 Rooks
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 4 Swifts
- 10 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 12 (9) Chiffchaffs
- 11 (8) Blackcaps
- 2 (1) Garden Warblers
- 4 (3) Common Whitethroats
- [no Sedge Warbler]
- 7 (7) Reed Warblers
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 12 (11♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Tufted Duck: flew off 04:35
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron
- 10 Great Crested Grebes again
- 3 Moorhens
- 32 + 13 (7 broods) Coots
NB: a prefix * means there is a photo today.
On / around the street lights etc. pre-sunrise: - raining hard
Nothing
On the wall of the academy beside a security light
- Three grass moths, likely all Garden Grass-veneers (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
Insects / other things etc. noted later:
Butterflies:
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
Moths:
- *Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
Bees / wasps:
None
Damsel-/Dragon-flies:
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *Eupeodes corollae
- *Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
Bats
None
Other things:
- *Mirid bug Closterotomus norwegicus
- Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis): both larvae and pupae noted
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)
- *Black Snipe fly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- *'long-legged fly' of genus Dolichopus – either D. plumipes or D. wahlbergi
- Semaphore fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus)
- *Orb-web spider Larinioides sericatus
- *Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
Additional plant species recorded in flower for the year at this site:
- *Common (or Perforate) St. John's-wort (Hypericum perforatum)
Also
- a correction: the froghopper I photographed on 04 June was not Philaenus spumarius but an Aphrophora sp., likely A. alni - photograph and comments below.
- and an update following feedback from a local bee-keeper Simon Emms: the bee that I assumed had to be an Andrena mining bee because it lacked any orange segments on it abdomen was likely a Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) after all. Re-reading my field guide some honey bees do lack orange segments. A photo sent by Simon showed several such specimens at a hive. Absolute proof either way would need more experience - the abdomen on honey bees is more cylindrical than on Andrena sps.!
Do you ever get the feeling you are being watched? An unusual angle on a suspicious-looking Garden Grass-veneer moth (Chrysoteuchia culmella).
And it can watch you with both eyes at once!
On the basis of the two black spots at the front of the thorax I think this is the Mirid bug Closterotomus norwegicus, here on Common (or Black; or Lesser) Knapweed (Centaurea nigra).I assume that to its right and behind is a nymph of the same species.
This is a female Black Snipe fly (Chrysopilus cristatus). They look very different from males, for a start they are not black. Males, as with many flies, have eyes that meet and this gives them a very different head shape. The black cloud in the wing is common to the sexes.
Two tiny, tiny flies. The one on the left is a male 'long-legged fly' of the genus Dolichopus – either D. plumipes or D. wahlbergi: the only way to separate the species is on wing venation which seems unlikely here with the wings held vertically. The adornments on the legs are supposed to impress the females (how do they know?). I surmise it is a female on the right – she does not have the leg adornments.
An orb-web spider matching pictures of Larinioides sericatus on the web. There it is noted as favouring man-made structures near water. This was on the sailing club's shelter which ticks the boxes.
There were dozens more Common Frogs (Rana temporaria). They were in Teece Drive and struggling to cope with the overhang on the kerbing between the roadway and the Wesley Brook.
This is Common (or Perforate) St. John's-wort (Hypericum perforatum). The black spots on the petals and sepals distinguish it from other St. John's-worts, though no other species is likely here.
And update from June 04
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 06:30 – 07:10
(108th visit of the year)
Notes:
- The 2018 immature Mute Swan not noted but....
-... very few geese located. I rather assume they were sheltering inside the island, though if so they were well-hidden and unusually quiet.
- All 23 Canada Geese (with the two goslings) were in the gardens of Derwent Drive / Wordsworth Way.
- Just three medium-sized Mallard ducklings noted clambering around the island.
- Both adult and both juvenile Great Crested Grebes seen.
- Several Coots still brooding their young again.
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 4 Jackdaws
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 3 Swifts
- 14 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 2 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (2) Blackcaps again
Counts from the water:
- 2 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 8 Greylag Geese
- 23 + 2 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 12 (8♂) + 3? (1 brood) Mallard
- 5 (3♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Moorhens
- 14 + >13 (6? broods) Coots
Otherwise nothing of note:
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
Of note
- A Field Mushroom (Agaricus campestris) near the Priorslee Avenue tunnel (the management cannot be responsible....)
(Ed Wilson)
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On this day..........
2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
(Ed Wilson)
2012
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)
2009
Priorslee Lake
2 Redshank
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)