Priorslee Lake and The Flash:
12.0°C > 15.0°C: Areas of cloud to N and E gave way to a short brighter period before clouds rapidly built again. Light SW breeze, veering WNW. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 05:31 BST
* = a photo today.
Priorslee Lake: 04:16 – 06:10 // 07:25 – 09:25
(153rd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- Low number of geese logged. More heard. Since yesterday they have changed their feeding location and most flew off S, far to the E, obscured by vegetation from my usual vantage point.
- A juvenile Common Buzzard made a brief flight around the Ricoh copse, still managing to call for food as it did so.
- The Common Sandpiper either survived the Saturday disturbance or is yet another.
- Just two Swifts and then very briefly. They will be off to Africa any day now.
Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 56 Greylag Geese (eight in three groups outbound; 48 in eight groups inbound)
- 8 Canada Geese (three duos outbound; duo inbound)
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 121 Wood Pigeons
- no Jackdaws
- 18 Rooks
- 2 Pied Wagtails
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 2 Swifts, briefly
- c.10 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 8 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (0) Blackcaps
- no Common Whitethroats
- 3 (0) Reed Warblers
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 18 (?♂) Mallard
- 2 Cormorants: arrived together
- *2 Grey Herons: one arrived; one departed
- 1 Little Grebe heard again
- *13 + 4 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Moorhens
- [Coots not counted]
- 1 Common Sandpiper again
- *>29 Black-headed Gulls: no juveniles
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: both adults, separately and briefly
- 1 Kingfisher
Gulls on the football and academy playing field c.05:50:
- 29 Black-headed Gulls (all on the academy field)
On / around the street lights etc. pre-sunrise:
Moths: (a poor night with a bright moon)
- 1 Small Fan-footed Wave (Idaea biselata)
- *1 apparent carpet moth with wings closed preventing ID at the moment.
Other things:
- 1 Chironomus plumosus (plumed midge)
- 1 orb-web spider
- 2 other unidentified spiders
Note:
- The micro-moth noted on Friday (31st) was a Common Roller (Ancylis badiana)
On the wall of the Holy Trinity Academy beside a security light
- 1 Lime-speck Pug (Eupithecia centaureata)
Insects / other things etc. noted later:
New species for the year in often cloudy conditions.
None
The full list of things noted:
Butterflies:
None
Moths: (as yesterday)
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- Shaded Broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata)
Bees / wasps:
- *Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
Damsel-/Dragon-flies:
None
Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- *Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)
Mammals
- 7 Pipistrelle-type bats
- 1 'medium-size' bat
- 2 Grey Squirrels
Other things:
- *shieldbug instar, probably a Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)
- Mystacides longicornis (caddis flies)
Additional flowering plant species recorded for the year at this site:
None
This was the clearest the skies got this morning.
A Cormorant (or Black Death as the fishermen call them) poses regally.
"I'm the king of this buoy. You can kiss my feet if you like"
This Grey Heron makes a study in concentration.
The newer of the broods of Great Crested Grebe. One of the adults arrives with breakfast for the youngsters.
One juvenile reaches to grab the offering
And the adult watches as the small fish disappears.
An adult Common Buzzard ignores a disgruntled Magpie.
Almost too close. Never noted the wing-tips of a Black-headed Gull curl up like this.
This resting Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) was posing well.
Long Hoverflies (Sphaerophoria scripta) are really small – compare with the Ragwort flower for size.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 06:15 – 07:20
(139th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- After two days with missing resident Great Crested Grebes I logged an additional adult.
- A new brood of Coots seen – just two peering out from under the parent's belly. Perhaps more being brooded.
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: two, at least, adults
- 5 Feral Pigeons (one group)
- 2 Stock Doves
- 7 Wood Pigeons
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 4 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 4 (0) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Blackcap
Counts from the water:
- *3 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 1 Greylag Goose
- 18 Canada Geese: one departed
- 14 (?♂) Mallard
- 27 (9?♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 + 2 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 31 adult and juvenile Coots
- 5 Black-headed Gulls: flew in
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: (near) adult, briefly
- *1 Kingfisher
On different lamp poles:
Moths
- None: the Swallow Prominents (Pheosia tremula) have moved on (or been eaten!)
and
- 1 unidentified caddis fly sp.
- 2 Common Wasps (Vespula vulgaris)
- 2 Dicranopalpus ramosus (harvestmen)
- *2 Leiobunum rotundum (harvestmen)
Otherwise
- 1 Grey Squirrel.
Two Leiobunum rotundum harvestmen. At least I think they are – there is another less common and very similar species. Need to see the colour of the eye surrounds to be sure – 15 feet up a lamp pole that is unlikely.
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
Nothing of note
(Ed Wilson)
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On this day..........