19 Feb 21

Priorslee Lake

6.0°C > 7.0°C: Cloudy and dull; some spits in the air; the forecast rain yet to arrive. Fresh S wind . Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:19 GMT

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 06:35 - 09:50

(10th visit of the year)

Highlight today was a male Stonechat working the dam-top and adjacent vegetation. A species I see here very rarely. A remarkably consistent date: my previous two records being on 27 February 2019 and before that 21 February 1994!

Notes:
- Probably too windy for any Little Grebe to venture out of the reeds. Now two Great Crested Grebes, together and close to a traditional nest site in the NW area.
- I only noted the adult Common Gull in flight as it apparently departed, but it must just have been a fly-over. My second record this year of a species that is far from 'common' in this part of Shropshire.
- All large gull fly-over numbers 'best effort'. Birds were swirling around as they battled the wind and in the dull conditions it was hard to get a positive ID on some of them. Likely a few more of them were really Herring Gulls than I have shown.
- The large gulls on the lake arrived in two 'shifts'. 18 at c.07:15 were all Lesser Black-backed Gulls that had gone by 07:30. Then 58 arrived after 08:15 with Herring, Caspian and Yellow-legged amongst the many Lesser Black-backs, only one of the latter being an obvious immature. Several of the Herring-types I was unable to positively ID and these are included as Herring Gulls in the total.
- I noted five Cormorants arriving and four leaving with two still present. Er?
- I have not managed any accurate count of the Magpie roost this winter. Birds are now busy rebuilding their nests: some of these may no longer be using the roost. There have certainly many fewer than the 80+ I recorded in 2016/2017 winter, before any house-building started. Today I logged only 26.
- First Blackbird song of the year here for me [they have been singing near my Newport home since before the turn of the year].
- c.10 Redwings seen flying around trees near the Teece Drive gate.

Birds noted flying over / near here:
- 4 Canada Geese: pair inbound and pair outbound much later
- 3 Greylag Geese: pair outbound; single flew S
- 1 immature Mute Swan circling - one of 'ours'?
- 2 Common Buzzards
- 17 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Herring Gulls (but see notes)
- 124 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants
- c.615 Jackdaws
- 24 Rooks
- 1 Siskin

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Mute Swans
- 7 (5♂) Mallard
- 3 (2♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 Moorhens
- 37 Coots
- no Little Grebes
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- c.215 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Common Gull
- 8 Herring Gulls
- 2 Caspian Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gulls
- 66 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 5? Cormorant: see notes
- 2 Grey Herons

My 2021 bird species list for here moves to 60 with the following addition today:
- Stonechat

On / around the street lights pre-dawn

Nothing - too windy?

I suspect this is one of 'our' 2020 Mute Swan cygnets inspecting its former home. The resident adults were having none of it and arched their back feathers in threat. After several circuits the cygnet (probably better described as an immature now) returned back to the east.

Two Great Crested Grebes on a 'bad hair' day.

One of the Cormorants - this one an immature - similarly affected by the wind ruffling its feathers.

I only noticed this gull when it had either departed or was flying by. The extensive white in the wing tip, the small bill and the darkish spotting on the collar identify this as a Common Gull. It is an adult - younger birds would show dark in the tail.

I remain far from confident about some Herring-type gulls. I think the bird flapping its wings is a Caspian Gull on the basis of the weak-looking bill, the extensive white in the outer primary tips and the dark-looking beady eye. I am less sure about the chunkier, thicker-billed bird behind it. It looks too dark on the back for a Herring Gull but perhaps too pale for a Yellow-legged Gull. Apart from the head of a Black-headed Gull all the other gulls are Lesser Black-backed Gulls : adults, apart from a lone first-winter in the centre foreground. The heads of these birds are growing out their winter streaking and now just look a bit dusky.

The difference in bill structure between the Caspian and the Herring-type gull shows more clearly here.

I paused over this second-winter Herring-type gull. The bill appeared all dark yet most Herring Gulls acquire a brown base by this age, whereas a typical Yellow-legged Gull doesn't. I have concluded it is a Herring Gull because the extent of the streaking on neck and the strong-looking bill with an obvious kink in the lower mandible - at the gonys. Tell me otherwise!

The first sighting of the male Stonechat that was working all along the dam. As noted in the text this is a typical date for this species to appear as they begin to return to more open moorland habitat to set up breeding territories. Our birds are not considered migrants as many stay within the UK, moving south and west to escape the worst of the weather and find a few insects to feed on.

Here he is again. The head is not yet 'jet black' as it will become, not by moulting but by the pale fringes to the new feathers acquired late last summer wearing away.

He moved around a lot and did not allow close approach.

One more: probably my only chance here this year. I left him alone after this.

A male Bullfinch doing what Bullfinches do at this time of year - eat buds. We still seem to get masses of blackthorn and hawthorn blossom so eating the buds doesn't seem to have any serious effect.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day

2020

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2019

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2016

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2015

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2014

Priorslee Lake

1 Little Grebe 

1 Cormorant 

7 Pochard 

24 Tufted Duck 

5 Greater Scaup 

92 Redwings

216 Jackdaws

163 Rooks

12 Siskins

1 Yellowhammer

2 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)

The Flash

1 Pochard 

169 Tufted Ducks 

2 Goosanders

(Ed Wilson)

Trench Lock Pool

4 Great Crested Grebes 

1 Pochard 

54 Tufted Duck 

1 Goosander 

(Ed Wilson)

Trench Middle Pool

6 Tufted Duck 

3 Buzzards

(Ed Wilson)

2013

Horsehay Pool

Iceland Gull

2 Yellow-legged Gulls

(Paul King)

2010

Priorslee Lake

4 Great Crested Grebes 

1 Heron 

2 Teal

4 Gadwall

48 Pochard

75 Tufted Ducks

1 Goosander

1 Sparrowhawk

>500 Black-headed Gulls

>350 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

27 Herring Gulls

126 Coots 

1 Lapwing

1 Oystercatcher

2 single Redwing

16 Fieldfare

15 Siskins

3 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)

2006

Priorslee Lake

2 Gadwall

12 Pochard

16 Tufted Ducks

107 Coots

2 Water Rails

425 Wood Pigeons

1 Sky Lark

20 Robins

12 Blackbirds

17 Greenfinches

45 Siskins

1 Redpoll

4 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)