Priorslee Lake, The Flash, Trench Lock Pool and Trench Middle Pool
170°C > 20.0°C: Clear to far E / SE otherwise mainly cloudy with spots of light rain again. Began to clear after 08:45 with a few sunny spells after 09:30. Moderate / fresh SSW breeze. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 05:36 BST
* = a photo today.
A long overdue return to Trench Lock and Trench Middle Pools. I last visited these on 23rd March.
Priorslee Lake: 04:13 – 06:30 // 07:25 – 09:17
(156th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- One Grey Heron flew out E at 05:30. It, or another, flew in from the E at 05:40 and stayed until 07:40.
- Another pair of Great Crested Grebes noted
- A Hobby flew fast W at 08:15
- Of the c.394 Wood Pigeons logged flying over I noted just 32, mainly outbound, before 06:30. After 07:45 I totalled c.321, mainly inbound. Of these c.250 were in a very large and scattered group at c.08:10; the other 71 were individually recorded.
- For the first time since March no Reed Buntings were singing. Until a few days ago one of three songsters gave the first notes of the morning. Recently it has only sung after 06:00. Today not at all.
Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 55 Greylag Geese (50 in seven groups outbound; 5 in two groups inbound)
- 69 Canada Geese (69 in five groups outbound; none inbound)
- 6 Cormorants (two groups)
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 1 Hobby
- 17 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- c.33 Racing Pigeons: groups of c.20 and 13
- c.394 Wood Pigeons (see notes)
- 1 Jackdaw again
Hirundines etc. logged:
- c.20 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 7 (1) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (0) Blackcaps
- 1 (0) Common Whitethroat
- 2 (0) Reed Warblers
Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 21 (?♂) Mallard again
- 2 Cormorant: present separately
- 1 or 2 Grey Herons
- 14 + 4 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Moorhens
- 61 Coots
- >18 Black-headed Gulls: no juveniles
- 1 probable Yellow-legged Gull: first-year briefly
- 1 Kingfisher
Gulls on the football or academy playing fields:
None
On / around the street lights etc. pre-sunrise:
Moths: (another poor night with a bright moon)
- 1 Tortrix sp. (Acleris laterana/comariana agg.): moth species #80 here in 2020
- 1 Dingy Dowd (Blastobasis adustella): moth species #79 here in 2020
Other things:
- 2 green-bodied midges: a species seen previously but not ID-ed
- 3 orb-web spiders
- 3 Dicranopalpus ramosus-type harvestmen
On the wall of the Holy Trinity Academy beside a security light
- 1 Small Fan-footed Wave (Idaea biselata)
Insects / other things etc. noted later:
Mainly dull, though mild.
New for me for the year
- Stripe-backed Dasysyrphus hoverfly (Dasysyrphus albostriatus)
The full list of things noted:
Butterflies:
- Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
Moths:
- Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- Mother of Pearl (Pleuroptya ruralis)
Bees / wasps:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris): nest found (gulp!)
Damsel-/Dragon-flies:
None
Hoverflies:
- Cheilosia illustrata
- Stripe-backed Dasysyrphus (Dasysyrphus albostriatus)
Mammals
- 7 Pipistrelle-type bats again
- 1 Grey Squirrel
Other things:
- a possible Tarnished Plant Bug (Lygus rugulipennis)
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)
No additional flowering plant species recorded for the year at this site:
None
As good as it got this morning. Clear to the far east with light rain approaching for me.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 06:35 – 07:20 yet again: in a rut!
(142nd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- Six of the Mute Swan cygnets were together. Their parents were chasing the 2018 immature again and that managed to escape for a while and then set about trying to drown the seventh cygnet before the cob arrived to chase it away. I was told that last year this immature drowned the three surviving cygnets that the parents seemed very disinterested in. It was also reported that these three cygnets were females, the males having been taken in to care because the cob was trying to drown them. If the immature is indeed a female then may be she is jealous of female cygnets (though one is not supposed to anthropomorphise, is one). It is a tough life being a swan.
- One of the Great Crested Grebe juveniles not seen, though both seem capable of feeding themselves and it may well have been lurking somewhere.
- Two Common Buzzards, one a begging juvenile, were heard calling from the copse on the W side of the top end.
- The latest brood of Coots was visible: seem to be just two juveniles. There is another adult still sitting.
Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: both (near) adults, singly
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 5 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 6 (1) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Willow Warbler
Counts from the water:
- 3 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- no Greylag Geese
- 16 Canada Geese
- 32 (?♂) Mallard
- 18 (6?♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 5 + 3 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 39 adult and juvenile Coots
- 52 Black-headed Gulls: one juvenile
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: (near) adult
On various lamp poles:
Moths
None
and
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus-type (harvestman)
- 3 Leiobunum rotundum-type (harvestmen)
Otherwise
- 1 Grey Squirrel
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
Nothing of note
(Ed Wilson)
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Trench Lock Pool: 09:25 – 09:50 // 10:25 – 10:35
(20th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- Two immature Lesser Black-backed Gulls present when I arrived but they flew off. Two again when I returned from Middle Pool assumed to be different birds. One (near) adult arrived. Another immature flew over.
- Seems only one pair of Great Crested Grebes has bred this year.
Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: immature
- 1 Starling
Hirundines etc. logged:
- 5 Swifts
- 6 House Martins
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 1 (0) Chiffchaff
- 1 (0) Blackcap
Counts from the water:
- 2 + 6 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 3 Canada Geese
- no Mallard
- no Tufted Duck
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 0 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhen
- 12 adult and juvenile Coots
- 59 Black-headed Gulls: no juveniles
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one (near) adult; four immatures
Otherwise
Butterflies:
- Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
and
- 1 Grey Squirrel
(Ed Wilson)
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Trench Middle Pool: 09:55 – 10:20
(20th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- Seems the Mute Swans did not breed again?
- Only one adult Great Crested Grebe. Was heading towards the area of the island where the nest is traditionally hidden. Perhaps another bird is sitting on a late or replacement clutch?
Birds noted flying over / near here:
None
Hirundines etc. logged:
None
Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):
- 2 (0) Chiffchaffs
Counts from the water:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 11 Greylag Geese
- 45 Canada Geese
- 1 all-white feral goose
- 17 (?♂) Mallard
- 10 (8?♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 + 2 (2 broods) Moorhen
- 20 adult and juvenile Coots
- 9 Black-headed Gulls: no juveniles
Otherwise
On various lamp poles:
- 4 Swallow Prominents (Pheosia tremula)
As far as I can recall since my last visit the lamps atop the poles have been replaced by a new LED-design. Elsewhere this design seems to attract fewer moths so I was surprised to see anything.
My logs show that I have only previously recorded the very similar Lesser Swallow Prominent moth (Pheosia gnoma) here (28th August 2019). I wonder if I was mistaken?
(Ed Wilson)
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On this day..........
2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here