15 Nov 20

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

10.0°C > 8.0°C: Mixed! Started with light rain. Then broken cloud for a while. A short, very heavy and squally shower c.08:30. Then fine. Moderate SE wind, veering fresh SW in squall. Very good visibility except during squall.

Sunrise: 07:33 GMT

* = a photo today.

Priorslee Lake: 06:13 – 08:50

(251st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- All the Mute Swan were on the SW grass for an extended period.
- A larger surplus of drake Gadwall.
- Some of yesterday's Pochard and Tufted Ducks moved away.

Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 5 Canada Geese: single outbound; quartet inbound
- 5 (2?♂) Goosanders
- >34 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 82 Wood Pigeons: 47 of these in two migrant(?) groups flying N
- c.700 Jackdaws
- 6 Rooks again
- 2 Fieldfare: singles
- 2 Pied Wagtails

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake:
- 1 Starling: left W end reeds
- 3 Redwings
- 6 Reed Buntings again

Counts from the lake area:
Some of these totals were 'best effort' during the height of the squall
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 9 (6♂) Gadwall
- 7 (5♂) Mallard
- 1 (0♂) Pochard
- 26 (18♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Cormorants: arrived and departed separately
- no Grey Heron
- 2 Little Grebes again
- 10 Great Crested Grebes
- 11 Moorhens
- 182 Coots
- >300 Black-headed Gulls
- c.95 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: c.75 pre-sunrise: 20 more later.
- *1 Yellow-legged Gull-type: second winter

On / around the street lights etc. pre-sunrise:
- *1 Scarce Umber moth (Agriopis aurantiaria): moth species #106 for me here in 2020
- 1 Mottled Umber moth (Erranis defoliaria)
- *1 possible Muscid fly Phaonia pallida
- *1 tiny tiny bug

Noted later:
Nothing

"On your marks: preen". A pair of Gadwall show their white speculum as they do so. This is a very obvious feature in flight.

"You are losing marks for not being in perfect sync."

Job done.

Not good conditions for identifying tricky gulls. Taken just as the squall was about to hit. A second-winter Herring-type gull with an obvious white head.

Difficult to get any other positive characteristics but very reminiscent of a bird identified as a Yellow-legged Gull on the Belvide blog. Will have to remain a tentative ID.

Not sure about this orange fly. It looks somewhat like the Muscid fly Phaonia pallida. However the dark wing edges do not tie up. At the time I did not notice the tiny, tiny bug to its left. How small is that?

I am pleased I took the photos of this moth. I thought it a better marked specimen of a Mottled Umber moth. Only when I looked at it on the PC did I realise it was in fact a Scarce Umber moth (Agriopis aurantiaria). The prominent dotted border was what I noted first (there is a similar Dotted Border moth!). Then I noted the inner cross line was almost straight and much further along the wing than the wavy cross line of Mottled Umber. Despite its name I see this species most years. Its flight season extends in to the New Year. As with many moth species that appear in winter only the males can fly, the females having vestigial wings.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash: 08:54 – 10:08

(235th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Two Great Crested Grebes again. I probably overlooked one yesterday.
- The 'water-logged' adult Lesser Black-backed Gull still in more or less the same place and still looking around seemingly alert.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: adults
- 1 Herring Gull: immature
- 53 Jackdaws

Counts from the water:
- 3 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 20 Canada Geese
- 42 (25♂) Mallard
- 6 (5♂) Pochard
- *52 (>20♂) Tufted Duck
- *20 (>5♂) Goosanders
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 12 Moorhens
- 39 Coots
- 63 Black-headed Gulls
- *1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult

On a lamp pole in squirrel alley:
- *1 November Moth-type (Epirrita sp.)

Around the Ivy
- 2 Common Wasps (Vespula vulgaris)
- 1 'fly sp.'
The Ivy flowers are now almost over. Will probably be very few more insects this year.

Elsewhere:
Nothing of interest

A duck Tufted Duck. I think she is keeping a close eye on me!

Well: I hadn't quite expected this when I framed a different duck Tufted Duck - one still showing a lot of white around the bill-base. However it turned out to be a good illustration of the white underwing.

Today's brownhead Goosander.

Is the adult winter Lesser Black-backed Gull sinking even lower?

This well illustrates the problem in identifying gulls - a change in the angle of light can make them look completely different.

This may well be the last November Moth-type (Epirrita sp.) I see this year. The smaller Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata) will now become the dominant poorly-marked moth.

(Ed Wilson)

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

2017
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2016
Local Area
Today's Sightings Here

2014
Local Area
Today's Sightings Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe 
1 Wigeon 
5 Gadwall 
2 Teal 
77 Tufted Duck 
230 Coots 
c.650 Black-headed Gulls
c.450 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
21 Herring Gulls
36 Fieldfare
2 Redwings
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Wigeon
1 Shoveler 
3 Pochard 
11 Tufted Ducks 
c.35 Redwings
c.175 Jackdaws
36 Rooks
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
4 Yellow-legged Gulls
(John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebes
30 Pochard
75 Tufted Ducks
50 Coots
>550 Black-headed Gulls
1329 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
7 Herring Gulls
1 Yellow-legged Gull
242 Wood Pigeons
36 Robins
22 Blackbirds
72 Fieldfares
22 Redwings
1 Redpoll
3 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)