10 Aug 20

Priorslee Lake and The Flash: 

16.0°C > 19.0°C: Low overcast start. Cleared to broken hazy medium cloud. Patches of low cloud returned from time to time. Light N breeze. Good visibility.

Sunrise : 05:44 BST

* = a photo today.

Priorslee Lake: 04:21 – 06:25 // 07:30 – 09:49

(161st visit of the year)

Bird notes:

- One of the outbound groups of Greylag Geese was a trio of rather squeaky-sounding birds. I wondered whether they might be the Greylag x Canada Geese. The light was not good at the time: however they seemed to be just 'squeaky-Greylags'.
- An unusual record of an immature Pochard hiding amongst the Coots at c.09:00. No idea how long it had been present. Might be my first-ever August record of this species here.
- Two Grey Herons early. Only one by 08:00. Another arrived c.08:45 and they spent a while chasing each other and being chased by the Black-headed Gulls. Eventually peace was declared and both stayed. Was this a third bird?
- One of the adult Great Crested Grebes seen taking food in to the SW area. If there is a bird sitting there then there should be 15 adults present. Four nest sites?
- After yesterday's unexplained low number of Coots recorded a bumper count today. Equally unexplained.
- Two of the immature Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the water were probably juveniles (2020 born). In flight their wings showed no sign of active moult.
- As usual many of the Wood Pigeons were in a single loose group, this time of c.120 birds at 08:25 all heading W. Earlier there had been just six noted outbound.
- A few House Martins heard overhead c.05:35 but difficult to see against the low overcast. Later just four seen over the estate.
- Chiffchaffs everywhere. At least five in with large tit party: none of these birds was calling.

Birds noted flying over / near here:

- 202 Greylag Geese (86 in several straggling groups; 116 in one large group inbound)
- 6 Canada Geese (one group outbound)
- 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 4 Feral Pigeons: together
- c.169 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Jackdaw
- 2 Rooks
- 3 Pied Wagtails

Hirundines etc. logged:

- 2 Barn Swallows
- 4 House Martins seen: more heard?

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):

- 19 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 5 (0) Blackcaps
- 5 (0) Reed Warblers

Counts from the lake area:

- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 14 (?♂) Mallard
- *1 duck Pochard
- no Cormorants
- 2 or 3 Grey Herons
- Little Grebe still only heard
- *14 + 4 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 5 Moorhens
- 76 adult and immature Coots
- >114 Black-headed Gulls: at least 12 juveniles
- 13 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: four immatures; others (near) adults

On / around the street lights etc. pre-sunrise:

Moths:
- Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- *Nut-bud Moth (Epinotia tenerana): a new species for me.
- *Small Phoenix (Ecliptopera silaceata): my first in 2020.

Other things:

- *1 presumed sawfly sp.
- 3 orb-web spiders, presumed Larinioides sclopetarius
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus-type (harvestman) remains
- 1 Leiobunum rotundum-type (harvestman) remains

Insects / other things etc. noted later:

A better day even with the low cloud.

The full list of things noted:

Butterflies:

- Large White (Pieris brassicae)
- Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)

Moths:

- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- Pale Straw Pearl (Udea lutealis)

Bees / wasps:

- *unidentified Andrena mining bee
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- *Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

Damsel-/Dragon-flies:

- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)

Hoverflies:

- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- *Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
- Syrphus sp.

Mammals

- 4 Pipistrelle-type bats
- 2 Grey Squirrels

Other things:

- *Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.)
- *A white crab-spider, likely Misumena vatia

Additional flowering plant species recorded for the year at this site.....
None but...

- *Hairy Tare (Vicia hirsuta) positively identified for the first time.

Well half a sunrise this morning!

That's better.

A most unusual date for a Pochard to appear. I rather assumed it would be a juvenile. Checking with 'the books' - not so. A post-breeding duck. A juvenile would be browner and lack the white line running behind the eye and show less of a 'smile'. A Coot with it of course.

The first brood of Great Crested Grebes are growing well. Still calling incessantly to be fed.

One of the parents heads off on the hunt for more fish.

An adult and a juvenile from the second brood. Junior seems rather large to still be hitching a ride. Its sibling was happy in the water.

A Grey Heron likes to perch on buoys but this particular small buoy presented too much of a challenge....

And it missed and then fell in the water.

A new moth for me in Shropshire is this Nut-bud Moth (Epinotia tenerana). A common-enough species, probably overlooked as most micro-moths are small. The caterpillars feed on both catkins and buds of Alder and Hazel. Plenty of these around the lake.

My first Small Phoenix moth (Ecliptopera silaceata) this year. A common species that I recorded in May in both 2018 and 2019. This must therefore be a second generation specimen.

One of those pesky Andrena mining bees. One day... but not today!

I was struck by how yellow the collar and midriff bands were on this bumblebee. Apparently typical of a male Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). Here feeding on Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris). Most Common Hawkweed (Hieracium vulgatum) had now finished flowering and set seed.

I am fairy confident this, on a lamp-pole pre-dawn, is a sawfly. A trawl of sites on the web has failed to match the rather distinctive shape to the antennae.

A Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea).

This is a male Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.). I have not seen these for several weeks. A new generation?

This small crab spider mistakenly thought it was well camouflaged on the Common St. John's-wort flowers (Hypericum perforatum). It also didn't want its photo taken. It is most likely Misumena vatia. One web site names it as Goldenrod Crab Spider. At least the colour of the flower is correct.

I found this plant several days (weeks?) ago. At that time my photo was not good enough to ID it and I clean forgot to look until I noticed it again today. It is Hairy Tare (Vicia hirsuta), a member of the vetch family.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:30 – 07:25

(147th visit of the year)

Bird notes:

- The cob Mute Swan still chasing the 2018 cygnet.
- For the second day only one of the juvenile Great Crested Grebes located. Possibly fledged and left, though I saw none do anything more than wing-flapping.
- All the juvenile Moorhens were together today. No real way of telling whether these three were from the same brood or not. All the first-brood juveniles are full-size and are probably exploring.
- A different *Racing Pigeon on the ground today!

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:

- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 8 Feral Pigeons: two groups
- 1 Stock Dove
- 3 Wood Pigeons

Hirundines etc. logged:

- 6 House Martins

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):

- 4 (0) Chiffchaff
- 1 (0) Blackcap

Counts from the water:

- 3 + 7 Mute Swans
- 1 Greylag Goose: arrived
- 29 Canada Geese: including bird with deformed wings
- 28 (?♂) Mallard
- 27 (9?♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes again
- 2 + 3 (1? brood) Moorhens
- 40 adult and juvenile Coots
- 19 Black-headed Gulls: one juvenile
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult, departed

On various lamp poles:

Moths:

None

And

- *what seemed to be the shed case of a Common European Earwig (Forficula auricularia)
- 2 Dicranopalpus ramosus-type (harvestmen)
- 6 Leiobunum rotundum-type (harvestmen)

Otherwise

- 2 Grey Squirrels again

A very different Racing Pigeon today. A blue-phase bird.

The other side. If I ring 07889 798295 and tell them where GB20 X26385 will I get a reward? Or will the pigeon fly home anyway? From the web I see that GB20 means that it was bred this year so being lost I guess means that it will not become the hoped-for competition winner. I was surprised to see on RPRA web site that pigeon racing is a world-wide hobby with details of races in Albania, Australia, Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia and South Korea amongst other places.

This seems to be the shed case of a female Common European Earwig (Forficula auricularia). The male claspers are more curved.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

Of note

- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus-type (harvestman) on a lamp pole

Otherwise

- 1 Grey Squirrel yet again

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day..........
2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2017
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2012
Priorslee Lake
6 Little Egrets
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Egret
(Ed Wilson)

Nedge Hill
Location
Redstart
(John Isherwood)

2005
Priorslee Lake
5 Arctic Terns
(Ed Wilson)