8 Jan 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

1.0°C: Cloudy with occasional light rain, sleet and snow. Calm. Moderate visibility.

[Sunrise: 08:19 GMT]

* = a photo today

A visit to The Flash for my permitted exercise walk (slither) and then a visit to the lake for a coffee and a quick check.

Priorslee Lake: 11:58 – 12:30

(6th visit of the year)

>80% ice with two open patches of water holding most birds other than many of the gulls that seemed happy-enough to stand around on the ice.

Birds noted flying over / near here:
- c.20 large gulls
c.8 Tufted Ducks were seen flying W: I think these were birds I had counted that were spooked off by a dog-walker that got close to the open water.

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 5 Mute Swans
- 5 (3♂) Mallard
- 3 (3♂) Pochard still
- 46 (26♂) Tufted Duck
- no Moorhens again
- 126 Coots
- 3 Little Grebes
- 4 Great Crested Grebes: one of these an immature
all gull numbers approximate:
- c.350 Black-headed Gulls
- c.30 Herring Gulls
- c.175 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
plus
- 1 Grey Heron

My 2021 bird species list for here remains at 51

It is all gull photos today, mostly cropped from long-range. Starting with the easy ones. Here are four adult winter Herring Gulls.

And here five adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls 'clearly' showing their yellow legs(!). Well more yellow than the pink feet of the bird that is scratching. Note the variability in the head-streaking - the second from the left almost looks like a summer plumage bird. Also, especially noticeable 'in the flesh' was how dark on the back these birds were; as indeed were almost all the adult Lesser Blacks present, suggesting that these are Scandinavian birds of the race intermedius.

Now it gets harder! Three immatures. Back left a second-winter Herring Gull. In front of it a first-winter Herring Gull. The third bird is probably a first-winter Lesser Black-backed though the angle is not good. The bill appears all dark and the tertials more solidly dark.

An adult Herring-type with a darker than usual back inviting identification as a Yellow-legged Gull. Although much of the head is hidden it is far too streaked for the usually white-headed Yellow-legged Gull. Likely also a Scandinavian bird, here of the race argentatus.

Some puzzles here. From the left: adult Black-headed Gull beginning to acquire the black hood; a sleeping adult Lesser Black-backed Gull; a second-winter Herring Gull; an adult winter Herring Gull; another adult winter Lesser Black-backed Gull with plenty of head-streaking; a mystery (see later); and a first-winter Herring Gull. The mystery bird seems too dark on the back for a Herring Gull and too pale for a Lesser Black-backed Gull. It has very obviously pink legs - even more obviously pink than the adult Herring Gull. Most of the head and neck are hidden but from what can be seen there is some streaking. So I am really not sure.

Not the same mystery bird but a puzzle anyway. On the left a Herring Gull - a rather small bird, probably a female. On the right a Lesser Black-backed Gull. In the middle another 'intermediate' bird. I find it is easiest to resolve these from the wing-tip pattern in flight. In the gloom flight shots would have been difficult. The birds did not fly anyway!

 Does your neck ache just looking at the bird in the middle?

Good: its neck didn't fall off! A standard set of gulls with (bits of) six Black-headed Gulls, one Herring
Gull and (bits of) three Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Here the Herring Gull looks obviously larger than any of the Lesser Blacks, which this species typically is.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 11:21 – 11:52

(6th visit of the year)

- >90% ice

Very little open water where most of the birds were congregated.

Birds noted flying over / near The Flash:
None

Counts from the water:
- 11 Canada Geese
- 3 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 38 (21♂) Mallard
- 14 (5♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 30 Coots
- 89 Black-headed Gulls

The only non-regular record was of a calling Redwing. I could not determine whether it was calling from trees or flying over.

My 2021 bird species list for here remains at 40

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day

2020

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2019

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2017

Local area

Today's Sightings Here

2013

Priorslee Lake

Drake Scaup

Goldeneye

(Martin Grant)

Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site

Caspian Gull

2 Yellow-legged Gulls

(Observer Unknown)

2012

Priorslee Lake

Caspian Gull

41 Great Black-backed Gulls

11 Bullfinches

(Ed Wilson)

2010

Priorslee Lake

1 Little Grebe

29 Swans

4 Gadwall

c.22 Pochard

c.66 Tufted Duck 

c.280 Coots 

c.1500 Black-headed Gulls

c.500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

c.60 Herring Gulls

Caspian Gull

2 Buzzards 

1 Siskin over

(Ed Wilson/Unknown Observer)

2009

Priorslee Lake

Iceland Gull

(Paul King)

2008

Priorslee Lake

1 Yellow-legged Gull

500+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls

23 Herring Gulls

(Martin Adlam)

2007

Priorslee Lake

2 Great Crested Grebes

3 Pochard

28 Tufted Ducks

>1050 Black-headed Gulls

51 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

34 Herring Gulls

10 Great Black-backed Gulls

31 Robins

13 Blackbirds

32 Fieldfares

34 Redwings

5 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)

2006

Priorslee Lake

2 Gadwall

1 Little Grebe

1 Kingfisher

1500 Black-headed Gulls

1 Common Gull

c.84 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

8 Herring Gulls

1 Great Black-backed Gull

22 Pochard

54 Tufted Duck

210 Coot

2 Water Rail

1 Reed Bunting

21 Robins

20 Blackbirds

10 Greenfinches

(Ed Wilson)