16 Oct 20

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

6.0°C > 9.0°C: Mostly cloudy with few breaks. Light NNW wind. Moderate visibility.

Sunrise: 07:38 BST

* = a photo today.

Priorslee Lake: 06:01 – 09:54

(222nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:

- More Pochard and Tufted Duck have arrived.

- I noted a Grey Heron flying off on three occasions and there was still one present when I left. Never saw more than two together. Did they keep returning?

- There was a strange Coot 'panic' at 07:00 with dozens rushing out of their reed-bed roosting site. Not at all sure what caused this. Seems it was not a predator as there were Starlings in the same reeds and these stayed quiet until much later. Many more Coots today.

- I logged 198 Lesser Black-backed Gulls arriving from the N / NW between 07:05 and 07:20. With the wind behind them they were flying high and spiralling down to the water. Difficult to judge how many of these flew on over. At least 25 flew over later.

- Thereafter 61 Lesser Black-backs and seven Herring Gulls arrived, all from the E. There were more immature Lesser Black-backs today – at least 12.

- My first migrant parties of high-flying Wood Pigeons. 165 counted in four groups moving S. This seems a week or so earlier than usual. There were more birds making local flights as well.

- One of the Skylarks was heard overhead at 06:55. Strange as this species is normally a diurnal migrant.

- Cetti's Warbler heard again very briefly from the W end scrub / reeds.

- I am sure I read that the pre-dispersal noise in Starling roosts is given by birds exchanging information about good feeding sites. Did not seem that way this morning. When c.300 burst out of the NW reeds they split in to at least nine groups and headed to most points of the compass.

- In addition to the fly-over Redwings there were at least 15 feasting on Hawthorn berries in the W end hedge. At least 8 Blackbirds and 25 Goldfinches were with them

- There were five Siskins in Alders in the NE area briefly (in addition to the fly-over)

Birds noted flying over / near here:

- 6 Greylag Geese (one group inbound)
- 14 Canada Geese (nine in one group outbound (others heard); five in one group inbound)
- 1 Common Buzzard again
- >25 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (see notes)
- 1 Herring Gull
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 305 Wood Pigeons (see notes)
- c.250 Jackdaws
- 4 Rooks
- >4 Skylarks
- 23 Starlings (two groups)
- 82 Fieldfares (two groups)
- 69 Redwings (seven groups)
- >9 Pied Wagtails
- 1 Siskin

Count of warblers logged (singing birds in brackets):

- 1 (0) Cetti's Warbler

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake

- >300 Starlings
- 5 Redwings
- 2 Reed Buntings

Counts from the lake area:

- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 3 (2♂) Gadwall again
- 11 (?♂) Mallard: most departed pre-dawn.
- 4 (2♂) Pochard
- 32 (15♂) Tufted Duck
- 2+ Grey Herons
- no Little Grebe(s)
- 14 Great Crested Grebes
- 12 Moorhens
- 158 Coots
- >100 Black-headed Gulls
- c.250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls again (see notes)
- 7 Herring Gulls: five immatures and two (near) adults

Birds on playing fields c.07:40:

[Wood Pigeons and Magpies excluded]

- c.120 Black-headed Gulls on the academy playing field (something spooked them as I was 90% of the way through my count).
- 104 Black-headed Gulls on the football field

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

- probably seven November Moth-type (Epirrita sp.). Five on lamp poles with two of these flying off. Two more, presumed this species, flying around.
- 2 winter gnats (Trichocera sp)
- 3 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestmen

Noted later:

- 3 Grey Squirrels

A Herring Gull moulting from first-summer to second-winter plumage with an admixture of grey and retained brown feathers on the mantle. This individual shows no pale at the base of the bill but it does have a paler tip.

Redwings are rather shy birds. This Hawthorn was full of them and also Blackbirds. The Blackbirds would sit on the edge and munch away happily. The Redwings dived in to the bush, ate a couple of berries and flew off. For a long while this was the best I could manage.

A rather fortuitous shot and sadly slightly blurred but there is no mistaking how Redwings go their name, even if it is really the 'arm-pit' that is red.

By dint of standing stock-still for over five minutes I eventually managed a feeding shot. The creamy eye-brow shows well. The 'red wing' does not!

This does not add much to the November Moth-type views, nor does it help to identify the specific species. One of the moths that flushed from a lamp pole briefly settled on surrounding vegetation where I snapped it before it flew again.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:57 – 11:10

(207th visit of the year)

Undoubted highlight was a Red Kite that flew S overhead at 11:05. With thanks to some of my regular readers who had delayed me in order to catch up on what I had found today. Otherwise I would have already departed. My computerised logs for here only go back six years but as far as I can recall this is my first here. Birds species #75 here this year. I now need to see one at the main lake to add to this year's total there.

Bird notes:

- Two drake Pochard new here for the season for me. One of the fishermen said they had been on and off for a while.

- One of the Coots seen carrying nesting material – not spring yet!

- I have had complaints that I don't mention Jays. These often shy, yet often noisy, birds nest in the area. They have been particularly obvious for the last month or so as they ferry acorns and bury them in the woods. They are reputed to have very good spatial awareness and to be able to remember where they buried them – unlike Grey Squirrels that reputedly dig at random to find their cache.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:

- 1 Red Kite
- 1 Wood Pigeon
- 16 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook
- 6 Redwings
- 1 Pied Wagtail
- 4 Siskins

Counts from the water:

- 3 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 22 Canada Geese
- 35 (21♂) Mallard
- 2 (2♂) Pochard
- 78 (>27♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 brownhead Goosanders: one flew in
- 2 Great Crested Grebes again
- 10 Moorhens
- 35 Coots
- 41 Black-headed Gulls

On various lamp poles:

- 1 November Moth-type (Epirrita sp.)
- 3 Common Wasps (Vespula vulgaris)
- 1 plumed midge (Chironomus plumosus)

On / around the Ivy:

- Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
rather few wasps in dull conditions.

Nothing else noted: too dull for the Honey Bees to emerge.

Goosanders are often difficult to photograph. They are usually rather shy and always manage to be 'at the other end' of the water without ever seeming to panic. Perhaps it was because this brownhead was on its own it allowed a closer approach. The white between the bill and the eye suggests this is an immature.

With its serrated bill it presumably has to be careful preening so as not to shred its feathers.

Here compared with a Tufted Duck. The amount of white in the Goosander's wing suggests it will be a drake when it moults. Meanwhile the Tufted Duck is also clearly a drake with a long 'tuft' - more of a crest on a duck. The flanks are still moulting with not all the grey eclipse feathers yet replaced by the white breeding condition feathers.

One last look before....

A different brownhead Goosander had flown in and was almost as 'tame'. Note rather less white between the bill and the eye.

Not quick-enough to get the camera on this Red Kite for more than a record shot. The light was pretty awful to get any colour or feather detail. No mistaking that forked tail. The wings are narrower than those of a Buzzard and they are slightly longer which gives the bird a different outline It also flies with rather elastic wing-beats whereas a Buzzard is more likely to soar. I was well-pleased with this, my first-ever at The Flash.

Splosh! An adult Black-headed Gull lands head-first.

Noisy, quarrelsome feeding time.

A good view of the upper wing pattern of a first-winter Black-headed Gull. Note the legs are orange – red on adults.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day

2017

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2015

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2014

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2011

Priorslee Lake

14 Redwing

(Ed Wilson)

2010

Priorslee Lake

Common Gull, though it could have been Mew/Ring-billed Gull!

Yellow Legged Gull

(Mike Cooper/Ed Wilson)

2007

Priorslee Lake

2 Ruddy Ducks 

42 Redwing

(Ed Wilson)

2006

Priorslee Lake

4 Wigeon

1 Shoveler 

8 Pochard

64 Tufted Ducks

30 Robins

(Ed Wilson)