20 Sep 20

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 15.0°C: Cloud layer higher with more breaks than recently. Clearer after 09:00. Light / moderate NE wind. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 06:53 BST

* = a photo today.

Priorslee Lake: 05:29 – 09:19

(197th visit of the year)

Bird notes:

- The cygnets are trying hard to fly – a few more days yet I would judge.

- Yesterday's outbound group of geese contained eight Canadas with a Greylag lurking with them, quite obviously smaller and also calling. Today all nine were Canada Geese.

- A drake Gadwall heard at both ends of the lake pre-dawn. Likely the same bird. Not seen later. The first of Winter (did I really just write that?)

- The Little Grebe seen today was an adult.

- A number of the 'spare' adult Great Crested Grebes seem to have moved on. Two birds noted displaying.

- The Grey Heron got its own back on a Cormorant, usurping it from its buoy.

- Moorhens everywhere. Also at The Flash.

- Seems to be a small build-up of Coots. Historically we have had totals close to 300 some Autumns.

- Rather fewer Black-headed Gulls both at the lake and on the academy fields. c.275 on the water in the NE part of the lake was the largest total.

- 229 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew SE between 06:32 and 07:05. Just 15 of these visited the lake with most passing to the N. After 08:00 at least 210 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and five Herring Gulls were on the water. Some left to the E and probably the same few drifted back – manure was being spread on the fields to the E and the birds were going there.

- House Martins again heard high over these estate area 07:00 but not seen. Ten were over the lake at 08:25, moving off S.

- Song Thrush heard scolding at dawn. My first record of this species here for a month despite up to 10 birds singing during the breeding season.

- All 32 Pied Wagtails were leaving a roost and flying N over a protracted period. Assuming not all the roost leave the same way the roost could be quite large. The last two Autumns up to 100 birds have fed on the football field post-roost. Not seen any there as yet this year.

Birds noted flying over / near here:

- 9 Canada Geese (outbound in one group)
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 218 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 31 Wood Pigeons
- 14 Jackdaws
- 7 Starlings (one group)
- 32 Pied Wagtails
- 4 Meadow Pipits
- 1 Siskin
- 2 Lesser Redpolls

Hirundines etc. logged:

- >10 House Martins (see notes)

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):

- 8 (2) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (0) Blackcap

Counts from the lake area:

- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall: departed
- 17 (10♂) Mallard
- 5 (2♂) Tufted Duck
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron: arrived
- 1 Little Grebe: adult
- 11 + 6 (5 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 15 adult and juvenile Moorhens
- 98 adult and juvenile Coots
- >275 Black-headed Gulls
- >225 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- >5 Herring Gulls

Birds on academy playing fields c.07:10:

[Wood Pigeons and Magpies excluded]

- >80 Black-headed Gulls

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

Moths:

- 1 Snout (Hypena proboscidalis)

Other things:

- 1 Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) again
- 3 Orb-web spiders, presumed Larinioides sclopetarius

Insects / other things etc. noted later:

Hoverflies only:

- Common Drone-fly (Eristalis tenax)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)

Mammals

- 1 Pipistrelle-type bat again
- 2 Grey Squirrels again

Today's gull lesson (the only one). From the top. A second-winter Herring Gull showing pale inner primaries; hard to tell from a first-winter, though that would show an all-dark bill. Below it an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull with yellow bill and red spot and yellow legs; the outer primary is still regrowing. Then nearest the camera a third-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull with dark on the bill and black on the wing-tips extending on to the coverts and lacking any white. Lastly a first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull with very dark secondaries, slightly less dark secondary coverts with the rest of the wing and the back very even toned.

A pleasant habitat shot of a Chiffchaff in an Alder tree looking for insects.

And then briefly popped out on top. The dark legs instantly means no confusion with Willow Warbler, though most of those are long-gone to sub-Saharan Africa.

A lucky find. This moth was flying around one of the street lamps along the W end. It then briefly settled on surrounding vegetation the 'right way up' for me to grab this shot. It is a Snout (Hypena proboscidalis). The 'snout' is obvious, the markings less so on this faded specimen. It is about the end of the flight period of the second brood of this moth, found commonly wherever nettles are growing. I recorded a first generation individual on 15th June.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:21 – 10:25

(181st visit of the year)

Bird notes:

- The duck Common Teal first found on Thursday not seen.

- As at the lake Moorhens everywhere. 13 is perhaps my highest total here. Many of them juveniles so seems they had a good breeding season.

- A Skylark over was my first of the year here. Species #74. Always easier on Autumn passage – rarely seen in Spring.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:

- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Feral Pigeons (singles)
- 1 Jackdaw
- 1 Skylark
- 1 Meadow Pipit

Hirundines etc. logged:

None

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):

- 3 (1) Chiffchaffs

Counts from the water:

- 3 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 14 Greylag Geese
- 38 Canada Geese
- 40 (22♂) Mallard only
- 64 (>15♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 13 adult and juvenile Moorhens
- 65 adult and juvenile Coots
- 20 Black-headed Gulls

On various lamp poles:

- 3 Common Wasps (Vespula vulgaris)
- 2 Dicranopalpus ramosus-type harvestmen

Elsewhere:

Moths

- >5 Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner (Cameraria ohridella)

Bees / wasps:

- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Hoverflies:

- Common Drone-fly (Eristalis tenax): new for the year for me
- Migrant Hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae): my first record of this species here

Fungus – as yesterday:

- Shaggy Inkcap (Coprinus comatus) - aka Lawyer's Wig

Amphibian:

- Terrapin sp. (Yellow-bellied Slider): my first log of this species this year and noted in a new location, hauled out on the island.

A Migrant Hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae). My first record of this species here. Not all the individuals will be migrants as they do breed in the UK. Numbers are swelled each year by individuals from the Continent.

The Terrapins, presumed Yellow-bellied Sliders, have not reported to me much this year. This is my first in a new location on the island.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day

2019

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2018

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2017

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2015

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2011

Priorslee Lake

Common Sandpiper

(Ed Wilson)

2010

Priorslee Lake

Scaup

(Richard Vernon)

The Flash

Scaup

(Stuart Edmunds)

2008

Priorslee Lake

Tawny Owl

(Ed Wilson)

2005

Priorslee Lake

Kingfisher

(Ed Wilson)