6 Nov 20

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

4.0°C > 7.0°C: Misty / foggy start. Cleared to hazy sun with patches of low cloud at times. Calm start with very light E wind later. Poor visibility to start; moderate later.

Sunrise: 07:17 GMT

* = a photo today.

Priorslee Lake: 06:02 – 09:16

(242nd visit of the year)

Almost no Wood Pigeon passage seen today. Initially visibility would have been too poor. However only very small groups seen overhead / later so I suspect there was no passage. Whether they have all gone or the mist and fog delayed them is a moot point.

Other bird notes:
- A drake Shoveler was the highlight among the ducks.
- Black-headed Gulls were heard in the area by 06:25 and a few with a very few Lesser Black-backed Gulls were seen leaving to the E. Any early arriving gulls had mostly departed by the time it was possible to see were they would have been. A small later arrival.
- Two more late Skylarks. These were unusually flying N. Autumn passage is normally E -> W.

Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 12 Canada Geese: inbound together
- 1 Cormorant
- 26 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Stock Doves: singles
- 88 Wood Pigeons: 39 of these in three migrant parties S / SW
- c.225 Jackdaws
- 13 Rooks
- 2 Skylarks
- 2 Starlings
- 8 Fieldfare: three groups
- 12 Redwings: mainly singles
- 5 Pied Wagtails
- 1 Chaffinch
- 2 Greenfinches
- 1 Linnet
- 3 Lesser Redpolls

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake:
Due to the mist I was unable to see many of the expected departures
- no Starlings
- 4 Redwings
- 6 Reed Buntings

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 1 Mute Swans
- 6 (4♂) Gadwall
- 9 (5♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Shoveler
- 2 (1♂) Pochard
- 32 (25♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Cormorants: two singles and a quartet arrived
- *1 Grey Heron
- 2 Little Grebes again
- *12 Great Crested Grebes again
- 10 Moorhens
- 135 Coots
- c.50 Black-headed Gulls
- 21 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Herring Gulls: first-winter birds again
- *1 Yellow-legged Gull: adult

On / around the street lights etc. pre-sunrise:
- 1 November Moth type (Epirrita sp.)
- *1 Feathered Thorn moth (Colotois pennaria): moth species #105 here this year
- 1 Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperia carnea)
- 1 winter gnat (Trichocera sp)
- 2 Tetragnatha stretch spider sp.
- 1 other spider: unidentified species
- 2 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestmen

Noted later:

Nothing

With mist and fog over the lake I spent about an hour in Woodhouse Lane hoping to be above the mist. That worked to some degree though it was very quiet and I saw nothing of what was going on around the lake. It did provide some Autumn mists shots as here...

 ...and here.

Just as the sun was rising some colour in the sky.

"My buoy and don't get any ideas". A Grey Heron takes possession from the gull that had been there.

A Great Crested Grebe begins a struggle with its breakfast.

That does look rather large.

As I noted last time this happened: quart in a pint pot.

No trouble at all!

Whose a clever boy / girl then?

Today's gull puzzle #1. The darkish mantle and clean white head point to a Yellow-legged Gull. The dark mark on the mandibles and the lack of white spots in the folded wing-tips suggest this is a third-winter bird. The puzzle is that this is a rather gentle-looking bird with a small and rounded head which is not typical. Perhaps a smaller female?

And gull puzzle #2. This is clearly a second-winter Herring Gull-type but ... The angle of light on the head makes it difficult to see any markings or how pale it is. However the eye is darker and the tertials much blacker than a typical Herring Gull of this age. What a nasty-looking hook at the tip of the bill. Sadly it flew off before I could try for a different angle.

A male Feathered Thorn moth (Colotois pennaria) - only the males have the wide feathery antennae. Unlike all the other species of thorn moth it rests with wings held flat. I do not see this species every year. The dates when I have logged it have been remarkably consistent: 8th November 2015; 3rd November 2016; 21st October 2018. My first this year and species #105.

(Ed Wilson)

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

The Flash: 09:10 – 10:34

(226th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The Tufted Duck were very jumpy this morning, perhaps due to the arrival of several fishermen to partake of their permitted recreation. 51 birds flew off from the top end and I am not really sure how many of these repositioned and how many might have flown off. My count only comprises those that remained. Then as I was leaving at least 50 birds were flying around, mostly leaving. Because the sex of some birds is still hard to determine I have not recorded the number of drakes recently. My impression this morning was that there was an unusual preponderance of duck-types.
- Strangely the normally rather shy Goosanders just moved around the water to a quieter spot and continued to loaf around.
- Unusual to see four Lesser Black-backed Gulls here these days. When the Granville Tip was operational there could be dozens here washing and resting up after feeding. Days long-gone.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
- 1 Herring Gull: first-winter
- 2 Feral Pigeons
- 19 Wood Pigeons: two groups
- 7 Starlings

Counts from the water:
- 3 + 7 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 21 Canada Geese again
- 36 (21♂) Mallard
- 6 (6♂) Pochard again
- *115? (?♂) Tufted Duck (see notes)
- *24 (4?♂) Goosanders
- 1 Grey Heron again
- 2 Great Crested Grebes again
- 12 Moorhens
- 30 Coots
- 82 Black-headed Gulls
- *4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: all (near) adults
- 1 Kingfisher

On various lamp poles:
- 1 November Moth type (Epirrita sp.)
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus-type harvestman

On / around the Ivy:
- c.25 Common Wasps (Vespula vulgaris): many fewer
- many 'flies'

Of interest elsewhere:
- a few Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) still active at their nest site.
- *Turkeytail fungus (Trametes versicolor)
- 1 Grey Squirrel

Here are 44 Tufted Duck in flight, most of a large group. Whether they were flying off or had been spooked and would return I could not determine.

A brownhead Goosander - an immature with white between the bill and the eye

And here is a drake.

This is a Lesser Black-backed Gull. I suspect a third-winter as there are almost no white spots in the folded wing-tips and the legs are hardly yellow, though not quite so pink as the feet. The red spot on the lower mandible is not typical for a bird of this age. Indeed the bill is rather unusually marked anyway.

This seems to be the fungus known as Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor). Not as well-marked as many specimens but does not match any other species.

(Ed Wilson)

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

On this day

2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2018

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2015

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2014

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2013

Priorslee Lake

4 Wigeon 

4 Gadwall 

1 Teal 

1 Pochard 

64 Tufted Duck 

21 Moorhens 

235 Coots

5 Song Thrush 

19 Fieldfare

18 Redwings 

439 Jackdaws

89 Rooks 

1 Redpoll

(Ed Wilson)

2012

Priorslee Lake

c.110 Greylag Geese

2 Gadwall 

7 Pochard 

32 Tufted Ducks 

4 Moorhens 

145 Coots 

1 Great Black-backed Gull

c.1650 Wood Pigeons

51 Redwings

302 Fieldfares 

c.375 Jackdaws

c.100 Rooks

(Ed Wilson)

2010

Priorslee Lake

5 Pochard

40 Tufted Duck 

18 Stock Doves

3800+ Wood Pigeons

6 Sky Larks

1 Meadow Pipit

238 Fieldfare

19 Redwings

91 Starlings

3 Siskins

11 Linnets

1 Redpoll

(Ed Wilson)

2009

Priorslee Lake

2 Yellow Legged Gull

2 Wigeon

(John Isherwood)

The Flash

1 Yellow Legged Gull

2 Goosander

(John Isherwood)

2008

Priorslee Lake

26 Greylag Geese

Gadwall

5 Shoveler

3 Pochard

79 Tufted Duck

1 Lapwing

Snipe

2 Herring Gulls

1 Yellow-legged Gull

16 Redwings

3 Fieldfares

9 Siskins

(Ed Wilson)

Trench Lock Pool

4 Cormorants

3 Shoveler

3 Pochard

27 Tufted Duck

149 Coot 

1 Yellow-legged Gull

(Ed Wilson)

2006

Priorslee Lake

1 Little Grebe

30 Pochard

111 Tufted Ducks

1 drake Ruddy Duck

47 Coots

c.562 Black-headed Gulls

63 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

89 Wood Pigeons

22 Pied Wagtails

20 Wrens

12 Dunnocks

27 Robins

31 Blackbirds

5 Song Thrushes

22 Redwings

16 Magpies

111 Jackdaws

68 Rooks

86 Greenfinches

7 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)