8.0°C > 10.0°C: Low cloud. Moderate SE breeze. Moderate visibility.
Sunrise: 04:53 BST
* = a photo today
Where did the sunshine go?
Priorslee Lake: 04:15 – 05:45 // 06:55 – 08:00
(108th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- More quiet roads allowed me to hear the distant Pheasant again.
- The Canada Geese have lost two of their goslings since yesterday. No obvious reason as they all looked healthy-enough yesterday.
- A lone Greylag Goose on the water at 04:30 was getting some grief from the Mute Swans and when five others flew inbound it decided to join them. Some 10 minutes later six flew outbound – the same?
- The pair of Tufted Duck had to run the gauntlet of several territorial Coots before they found somewhere quiet to rest.
- Now six Great Crested Grebes. I give up trying to keep track of them (there was also one back at The Flash today)
- Two Lesser Black-backed Gulls were heard at 04:40 and were presumably the two adults seen on the academy playing field at 05:10. Just one other bird over later.
- The volume and frequency of bird song is diminishing by the day and the lower count of warbler species is not an indication there are fewer birds present – in fact the opposite is likely with juveniles lurking largely unseen.
Overhead:
- 11 Greylag Geese: see notes
- 2 (1♂) Mallard
- 1 Stock Dove
- 7 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: (near) adult
- 52 Jackdaws
- 4 Rooks only
Hirundines etc., noted:
- 4 Swifts arrived 07:45
- 2 Barn Swallows briefly at 07:15
- 6 House Martins: four arrived at 07:35 and were soon joined by two more. All gone by 07:50
Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 9 (8) Chiffchaffs
- 9 (9) Reed Warblers
- 14 (14) Blackcaps
- 3 (3) Garden Warblers
- 2 (1) Common Whitethroats
Count from the lake area
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Goose: departed
- 2 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 2 (2♂) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck: arrived
- 3 Moorhen
- 17 Coots only
- *6 Great Crested Grebes
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: see notes
On / around the street lamps pre-dawn:
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides cornutus) again
Noted later:
Flies
- *plumed midge sp.
Snails:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
Spiders:
- *stretch spiders (Tetragnatha sp.)
- *Larinoides cornutus
Flowers: first sightings of the year
- *White Clover (Trifolium repens)
An update on the small spider seen on 29th. I can do no better than reproduce the Shropshire Spiders Recorder's comments: "I’m pretty sure it’s of the Gnaphosid family from the eyes that have caught the flash and the widespread spinnerets at the rear but can’t go further than that. It is a mature male but you need a close up of the left side of the left palp and I defy anyone to get such a shot from a fast moving spider"! So I will leave it as unidentified.
Also a few additional species from yesterday after spending more time on the photos.
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum): male and female.
- Tipula varipennis: a cranefly I have not noted previously
- A sawfly of the genus Tenthredo.
This pair of Great Crested Grebes looked like they may give a display so it was 'on with the video'.
But there is not a lot of interest being shown so I stopped the short clip.
Then almost as soon as I stopped the video one bird picked up some weed and it was 'on with the video' again.
Still not very interested!
This illustrates why they are called stretch spiders.
My first White Clover (Trifolium repens) flower of the year. I noted on the 11 May when I photographed my first Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) that these were usually about three weeks ahead of the white – 20 days this year.
"And now a few left-overs from yesterday"
This pug moth on a lamp at The Flash is most likely a Common Pug (Eupithecia vulgata). There are several similar but less common species and I am none too familiar with this difficult group.
"And now a few left-overs from yesterday"
I showed the head of this singing Reed Warbler yesterday. Here is most of it.
Another view of the scruffy (moulting?) adult Long-tailed Tit.
The flower of the Dog Rose (Rosa canina agg.) that I fouled up when I tried for a photo on Saturday.
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
- Three drake Mallards on the upper pool
- One adult Moorhen heard at the upper pool.
- Two adults and one well-grown juvenile Moorhen at the lower pool
- No warblers seen or heard
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 05:50 – 06:50
(93rd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- The cob Mute Swan seems not to like Greylag Geese and chased them away.
- Mallard numbers returned to form. So where had they been?
- I think that Swifts are not breeding in St Georges this year. I have diligently searched the skies for the last few visits without seeing any. They have been back over Newport for more than 10 days now.
Birds noted flying over here:
(93rd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- The cob Mute Swan seems not to like Greylag Geese and chased them away.
- Mallard numbers returned to form. So where had they been?
- I think that Swifts are not breeding in St Georges this year. I have diligently searched the skies for the last few visits without seeing any. They have been back over Newport for more than 10 days now.
Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Jackdaws
Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 2 (1) Chiffchaffs
- 4 (4) Blackcaps
On /around the water:
- 29 Canada Geese
- 2 Greylag Geese: departed
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 23 (18♂) Mallard
- 7 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 2 juvenile Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
Also noted:
- 1 Grey Squirrel
And an update on the spider I photographed here on the 29th again from the Shropshire Spiders Recorder: "[it] is Metellina merianae and is the even less common colour form M. merianae var. chelata. Thanks as ever to Nigel - the recorder. Better photos of the nominate form can be found Here
And an update on the pug moth on one of the lamps yesterday – most likely a Common Pug (Eupithecia vulgata).
(Ed Wilson)
Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 2 (1) Chiffchaffs
- 4 (4) Blackcaps
On /around the water:
- 29 Canada Geese
- 2 Greylag Geese: departed
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 23 (18♂) Mallard
- 7 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 2 juvenile Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
Also noted:
- 1 Grey Squirrel
And an update on the spider I photographed here on the 29th again from the Shropshire Spiders Recorder: "[it] is Metellina merianae and is the even less common colour form M. merianae var. chelata. Thanks as ever to Nigel - the recorder. Better photos of the nominate form can be found Here
And an update on the pug moth on one of the lamps yesterday – most likely a Common Pug (Eupithecia vulgata).
(Ed Wilson)