4 Jun 20

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

7.0°C > 10.0°C: A few clear patches early otherwise increasing and lowering cloud with a few spots as I departed. Light NW wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:48 BST

Priorslee Lake: 04:25 – 05:50 // 06:50 – 08:56

(101st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The Gadwall were not seen at 04:30 but had emerged by 05:15. What was presumably the same pair were at The Flash by 06:30. I did not see any on my return to the lake c.07:00. At 07:30 a pair briefly appeared in the NE corner of the lake and then apparently almost immediately departed – I did not notice them fly in or out.
- Good to see a brood of Mallard ducklings here. Eight!
- At least 16 Swifts flew through early as singles / small gruops. Whether any of these birds were among the c.20 birds over later is impossible to say.
- Two single Barn Swallows flew through unusually early – before 04:45. As with Swifts some were over the water later.
- A tight group of at least 30 House Martins was overhead the football field area at 05:30 but soon dispersed. More (?) were over the lake later.
- A Great Spotted Woodpecker was drumming from the Ricoh copse. I assume this means that a second brood will be attempted. I cannot recall hearing drumming in June before.
- A rather mystifying sight of a Kingfisher flying down Teece Drive as I walked along the footpath toward the underpass. It seemed to be carrying food (or a faecal sac?) and then veered toward the Wesley Brook. Now where could that have been coming from / going to?

Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 1 Canada Goose: outbound
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck: pair flew low W
- 2 Cormorants: together
- 2 Black-headed Gulls: one adult; the age not determined on the other bird.
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: all immatures
- 2 Feral Pigeons
- 5 Wood Pigeons
- 12 Jackdaws
- 6 Rooks

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

Birds noted on the academy playing field [Wood Pigeons and Magpies excluded here too]:
None
The ‘Homing Pigeon’ was on the roof of the academy early but not seen later.

Count of hirundines etc logged:
- >30 Swifts (see notes)
- >5 Barn Swallows
- >30 House Martins

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 15 (12) Chiffchaffs
- 13 (11) Blackcaps
- 1 (1) Garden Warblers
- 1 (1) Lesser Whitethroat
- 2 (2) Common Whitethroats
- 8 (8) Reed Warblers

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall: departed (to The Flash?); briefly returned?
- 11 (9♂) + 8 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 Grey Heron: flew off 04:45
- 6 Great Crested Grebes only
- 4 Moorhens
- 21 + 11 (5 broods) Coots
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: near adult, briefly
- [1 Kingfisher – see notes]

On / around the street lights pre-sunrise again:
Nothing

Insects / other things etc noted later:
The cool overcast conditions meant very few insects
- Ichneumon wasp - Itoplectis maculator
- Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
- Mystacides longicornis (caddis fly)
- ‘Cuckoo spit’ from Common Froghopper larvae (Philaenus spumarius)
- possible 10 Spot Ladybird (Adalia decempunctata)

Additional plant species recorded in flower for the year at this site:
- Crane’s-bill sp. - garden escape?
- Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens)
- White Campion (Silene latifolia)

The amazing sunrise caught me by surprise as I was not near the lake when I first noticed it.

By the time I scampered down to the water’s edge some of the most colourful part was hidden and it was beginning to fade.

The tight group of Mallard ducklings bobbing about was even harder to count in real life than in this ‘still’. Eight.

Some sense of order was evident as they moved off. The nasty cob Mute Swan objected to them being near his cygnets and hissed them away.

A juvenile Robin. They lack the red breast of adults for a very obvious reason. Robins are very territorial and it is the colour of the red breast that causes them to defend their territory. You do not really want to kill your off-spring. (No-one has ever explained to me how male and female Robins pair up and get along while nesting! In winter the females hold a separate territory when they also sing in its defence).

Two for the price of one! I was trying to get a decent shot of the preening Lesser Black-backed Gull when a House Martin whizzed by.

Is that a dark marked feather in the tail or staining? The bill has a hint of black and does not seem to have a very prominent red spot. I suspect this bird is not quite an adult. However with the breeding season about over they will be losing this feature anyway. Juvenile gulls are programmed to peck at the red spot to trigger the adults to regurgitate food for them (you are not eating while reading this are you?).

This is an Ichneumon wasp. With the obvious red thighs it would seem to be Itoplectis maculator.

This is a Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria). Not a very good photo but I thought it cute(?) how it was using its hind legs to clean its wings.

How can such a distinctive ladybird not be identifiable? I tried to move it in order to see the face marks. That might have helped, but it fell off the nettle and disappeared. None of the ‘regular’ white-spotted ladybirds would show such a bright red elytra. My best guess would be some usual form of the very variable (in colour and number of spots) 10 Spot Ladybird (Adalia decempunctata). Suggestions welcomed.

This is ‘cuckoo spit’ – a frothy mass of bubbles produced by the larvae of, usually, the Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius). It helps the larvae avoid being eaten. This year there seems to have been rather less than usual. Usually once I see any cuckoo spit many plants and grass stems are affected within days. I first noticed it over ten days ago and there is still very little. Here on Cleavers (Galium aparine).

These flowers are growing along the bank of the Wesley Brook. I had always assumed they were a garden escape – and indeed I still think they are. Having seen Meadow Crane’s-bill in Woodhouse Lane which looked like a very mauve version of these flowers I thought I ought to check. They do not seem to be Wood Crane’s-bill as this too is mauve tinged and the leaves are too broad and thick-looking. The flower colour is a better match for Marsh Crane’s-bill though that lacks the obvious venation on the petals. So a garden escape it stays.

Growing on the side of the ‘football’ field I found this Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) plant. It has been flowering for some weeks alongside the concrete road leading to Woodhouse Lane. This is my first record in my recording area around the lake. All species of Forget-me-not also have five blue petals. However the blue is never so intense, and the flower-centre is yellow. Also the plants are never so hairy.

In the same place was this White Campion (Silene latifolia). Contractors mow this area regularly so whether these plants will have time to set seed remains to be seen. It is less than ten days since the bank was last cut.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:55 – 06:45

(87th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- I presume the Canada Geese are moving back in ahead of their annual flightless period as they mould their flight feathers.
- The pair of Gadwall refugees again from the lake?
- One Coot nest seems to have been abandoned. At another site an unknown number of young were still being brooded.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: immature

Hirundines etc logged:
- 5 Swifts
- 7 House Martins

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

Counts from the water:
- 3 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 2 Greylag Geese: one of these departed
- 4 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 88 + 3 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 2 (1♂) Gadwall
- 25 (18♂) + 5 (1 brood) Mallard
- 4 (2♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 + 2? (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes again
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 16 + 8 (4 broods) Coots

Otherwise of note
- 1 Grey Squirrel.
None of the terrapins that have been seen for many years has been reported as yet this year.

A much better photo of mummy Mallard and her five offspring.

One of the Nuthatches peers around ‘its’ tree.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

Noteworthy
- Moorhens heard at both pools
- 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers
- 1 Chiffchaff singing at the lower pool: probably moved across from Ricoh copse
also
- Mottled Pug (Eupithecia exiguata), different location on the roof of the Priorslee Avenue underpass

I am not sure whether this is the same Mottled Pug (Eupithecia exiguata) on the roof of the Priorslee Avenue underpass. Someone has taken a bite out of one wing.

(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

2012
Holmer Lake
Black Swan
(Marilyn Morton)