Priorslee Lake and The Flash:
13.0°C > 15.0°C: Broken cloud to start; later medium overcast with some occasional light rain. Calm start; light SW breeze later. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 05:03 BST
NB: * means there is a photo today.
Priorslee Lake: 04:15 – 05:55 // 06:55 – 09:26
(136th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- An initial trio of Tufted Ducks (one drake). c.05:30 another duck flew in but did not join the others. All gone by 07:10.
- This will be my last report to split Coots in to adults and juveniles. Several of the older juveniles are now virtually indistinguishable from adults.
- One of the arriving Lesser Black-backed Gulls did an amazing drinking act, flying along with its bill dipped in the water just like a Skimmer. Camera of course not handy as I watched open-mouthed.
- The Jackdaws and Rooks on roost-dispersal started to pass earlier than normal and while I was still checking for moths on the street lights.
- The Ravens tried to confuse me: they used the same line as the dispersing Rooks and did not give their characteristic calls.
- For the first morning since mid-February there were no Chaffinches singing.
- A party of 14 Siskins flew low W c.08:25. An unusual date for groups (well, singles even) to be seen here.
And
- As a footnote to my unseasonal Crossbill fly-over on 7th July I see one was heard flying over nearby Belvide reservoir yesterday (12th).
Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 2 Cormorants (duo)
- 4 Black-headed Gulls
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull again
- 85 Wood Pigeons
- 20 Jackdaws
- 15 Rooks
- 4 Ravens
- 1 Greenfinch
- 14 Siskins
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 11 Swifts
- 1 Barn Swallow
- 21 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 8 (3) Chiffchaffs again
- 5 (3) Blackcaps
- 9 (1) *Common Whitethroats
- 8 (6) Reed Warblers
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 18 (?♂) Mallard
- 4 (1♂) Tufted Duck (see notes)
- 1 *Grey Heron: arrived 07:15 – late
- 8 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Moorhens
- 33 + 11 (? broods) Coots
- 17 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: both adults
- 1 Kingfisher again
On / around the street lights etc. pre-sunrise:
- 1 *Orange Crest (Helcystogramma rufescens)
- 1 Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata)
- 1 *Large Twin-spot Carpet moth (Xanthorhoe quadrifasiata).
- 1 caddis fly sp.
On the wall of the academy beside the security lights:
- only unidentifiable (at that distance) grass moths
Insects / other things etc. noted later:
Not much on an overcast morning
The full list of things noted:
Butterflies:
- Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
Moths:
- *Pale Straw Pearl moth (Udea lutealis)
Bees / wasps:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- Common Wasp (Vespula (Paravespula) vulgaris)
- *An unidentified tiny parasitic wasp sp.
Damsel-/Dragon-flies:
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
Bats:
- 2 Noctule-types
Other things:
- Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis): adult succinea; also pupa
- *The Cranefly Tipula oleracea
- *Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
- An orb-web spider, likely Larinioides cornutus
Additional flowering plant species recorded for the year at this site:
None
Not a promising start....
Before complete cloud-cover a brief sunrise (a Black-headed Gull wanted to get in on the action).
A Grey Heron allowed unusually close approach today.
Stepping out.
The result of a fishing expedition – a tiddler in its bill. Not something for the fishermen to worry about.
A Common Whitethroat in danger of doing the splits. A morsel in its bill though all the birds in the area seemed to be capable of feeding themselves.
"What's that I see?"
This Pale Straw Pearl moth (Udea lutealis) would not cooperate and land where it was easy to photograph – usually under a leaf. Here it perched underside toward me. That was in fact an advantage as the markings show better from underneath. From above the 'pearl' tends to gloss-away the detail.
A Large Twin-spot Carpet moth (Xanthorhoe quadrifasiata). My first for many years here, though a generally common species.
A Orange Crest (Helcystogramma rufescens)
This morning's unidentified find – a tiny parasitic wasp sp.
The rather bland-looking cranefly is Tipula oleracea – probably the most abundant of its group and active from early Spring and then in big numbers in Autumn. Note how it is hanging on by the very tips of its legs that must be stronger than they look.
A Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva) and not for once can it be called a Hogweed Bonking beetle. It is on its own and it is on Yarrow (Achillea millefolium).
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Flash: 06:00 – 06:50
(122nd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- Mallard gradually reappearing from wherever they went.
- One of the duck Tufted Ducks flew in – perhaps one seen earlier (but not later) at the lake.
- Best today was the Green Woodpecker heard calling from the island.
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Herring Gull
- 1 Jackdaw
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 1 Swift
- 1 House Martin
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 1 (1) Chiffchaff
- 3 (3) Blackcaps
Counts from the water:
- 3 + ? (1 brood) Mute Swans: cygnets asleep on island and impossible to count.
- 48 Greylag Geese
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 98 + *2 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 20 (?♂) Mallard
- 19 (12♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Grey Heron
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes again
- 5 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 16 + 9 (? broods) Coots
Moths on the lamp poles:
- 1 Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- 1 Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix (Pandemis corylana)
- 1 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)
with
- 1 stretch spider sp. (Tetragnatha sp.)
Otherwise
- 1 Grey Squirrel
(Ed Wilson)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Between the lake and The Flash:
Of note
- A Blackcap calling by the lower pool – first here for a while.
(Ed Wilson)