Priorslee Lake and The Flash
6.0°C > 15.0°C: Mainly clear; just a few thin high clouds. Calm start with mist over water. Light S breeze later. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 05:01 BST
Priorslee Lake: 04:18 – 05:55 // 06:40 – 09:38
(135th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- A pair of Canada Geese flew in c.09:00 – the first I have seen in flight since moult. They did not stay long but I was not positioned to see whether the Mute Swan was responsible for their departure.
- The duck Tufted Duck was very noisy, calling continually. I did not see her after 05:00.
- Substantial number of Jackdaws and Rooks on roost-dispersal. I may have missed some as they were unusually high and inaudible.
- All around the area there was a Coal Tit singing. Was it just one bird following me?
- A screaming group of eight Swifts passed through at 04:50. I am not used to screaming parties at this date – getting ready to leave?
- No Blackcap song heard here – a few birds seen and some calls. Birds singing at The Flash though.
- Seemed to be Common Whitethroats everywhere.
Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 5 Greylag Geese (groups of two and three outbound)
- 1 Cormorant
- 7 Black-headed Gulls
- 14 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull
- 11 Feral Pigeons (one group)
- 2 Stock Doves
- 42 Wood Pigeons
- 93 Jackdaws
- 156 Rooks
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 13 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 2 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
Today it was the Blackcaps' turn to declare it 'no-singing day'
- 10 (3) Chiffchaffs again
- 9 (0) Blackcaps
- 11 (3) Common Whitethroats
- 9 (4) Reed Warblers
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 2 Canada Geese: flew in; did not stay long
- 22 (?♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Tufted Duck: early only
- 2 Grey Herons at least part of the time
- 8 Great Crested Grebes still
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 32 + 16 (9 broods) Coots
- 16 Black-headed Gulls: mostly (all?) adults
- 1 Kingfisher
On / around the street lights etc. pre-sunrise:
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer moth (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- 2 Common Grey moths (Scoparia ambigualis)
- 1 tiny unidentified black beetle sp.
An addition from Friday now I have checked the photos
- Common Pug (Eupithecia vulgata)
On the wall of the academy beside the security lights:
- 1 Common Footman moth (Eilema lurideola)
Insects / other things etc. noted later:
- I am glad I found the Essex Skipper yesterday: there were so many 'skippers' around today I would not have wanted to check them all. As it was I found another easily but the pressure was off.
- 10 species of butterfly on one visit must be some sort of record?
- My first Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) for several weeks.
New for 2020 today are
- Gatekeeper butterfly (Pyronia tithonus): one day later than my earliest-ever record in 2018.
- Common Darter dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum): my second-earliest record.
- Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella): a different grass moth (though they all look much the same)
The full list of things noted:
Butterflies:
- Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola)
- Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
- Large White (Pieris brassicae)
- Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)
- Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
- Comma (Polygonia c-album)
Moths:
- Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- Mother of Pearl (Pleuroptya ruralis)
Bees / wasps:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- Common Wasp (Vespula (Paravespula) vulgaris)
Damsel-/Dragon-flies:
- Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
- Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)
Hoverflies:
- Cheilosia illustrata
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Tapered Drone-fly (Eristalis pertinax)
- Migrant Hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae)
- The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)
- Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
- Syrphus sp.
A correction from Friday (10th) if you are taking notes: for Leucozona lucorum read Cheilosia illustrata
Bats:
None
Other things:
- Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)
- Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis): single adult succinea; also pupae
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)
- Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
- Phaonia fly, perhaps P. errans?
- Mystacides longicornis (caddis)
Additional flowering plant species recorded for the year at this site:
None
The clear dawn with a touch of mist over the water.
A Jay warms up in the morning sun – was down to 6°C at dawn.
This Chiffchaff was jumping around and calling on the wire.
And turned around.
One of the very many Common Whitethroats around this morning.
Two juvenile Reed Warblers await the next food-run.
My first Gatekeeper butterfly (Pyronia tithonus) of the year. Smaller and brighter than a Meadow Brown but even when faded can easily be separated by the twin white spots in the black circle on the forewing. Meadow Brown has a single white spot.
Red Admiral butterflies (Vanessa atalanta) might be common but they are still great to look at.
Grass moths are all very similar. This is a Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella) with the longitudinal pale stripe expanding in to fingers and with the wing-tip lacking any cross lines.
I showed a side-elevation of a Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) a few days ago. Here is the plan view of one at rest.
A dramatic head-on view of The Footballer hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus).
My first Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) for a while. I am not quite sure what the person who gave this species its vernacular name was drinking (or...) but I cannot make the thorax pattern in to a 'dead head'. It is distinctive though.
This is a female Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum). This dragonfly is one of our smaller species and by far the most common, often being found far away from water. Males are red when mature, becoming almost black. Teneral males (newly emerged) are basically this colour but would have pink eyes.
Nothing special. The morning light through this thistle-head attracted me.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 06:00 – 06:35
(121st visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- Nothing needing special comment
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Cormorant
- 4 Feral Pigeon
Hirundines etc. logged:
None
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
- 57 Greylag Geese
- no Greylag x Canada Geese
- 114 + 2 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 13 (?♂) Mallard
- 15 (12♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 16 + 14 (? broods) Coots
- 2 Black-headed Gulls
On the lamp poles:
Nothing found on any of them
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
Of note.
- 1 first-brood juvenile Moorhen on the grass by the upper pool again, with second-brood juveniles heard from the pool.
and
- 1 Small Fan-footed Wave moth (Idaea biselata) on railings
- 1 Single-dotted Wave moth (Idaea dimidiata) on the wall of the Priorslee Avenue tunnel.
While this Single-dotted Wave moth (Idaea dimidiata) was on the wall of the Priorslee Avenue tunnel.
(Ed Wilson)