14 Jun 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

17.0°C > 19.0°C: Some early patches of medium cloud. Cleared to blue sky for a while. Then some thin high cloud ahead of more significant cloud as I was leaving. Very variable SW breeze, sometimes moderate and occasionally almost calm. Excellent visibility.

Sunrise: 04:45 BST

* = a picture today

Priorslee Lake: 04:10 – 05:40 // 06:30 – 09:10

(119th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Two Swifts by 04:30 with four by 04:40 but gone before 05:00. Thereafter occasional singles.
- Yesterday's new brood of five juvenile Coots along the S side down to four. A newly sighted brood of two along the N side – I had noted parents taking food out of sight for several days but seen nothing. Also a very new brood of just two in the NW area.
- Two first year Lesser Black-backed Gulls turned up early – probably from Ricoh as they have done on many days recently. What I assume were these birds departed and returned several times with at least two other first year birds and a (near) adult with them – adults tend to be very faded as they prepare to moult and about the only reliable ageing feature is whether they have a black tail band.
- Only one Cormorant flew over early: another much later was followed by two birds that settled – the first I have seen on the water since 30th March (the fishermen might disagree).
- Peace amongst the Great Crested Grebes with only six noted.
- *At least one of the 14 Starlings on the football field was a juvenile.

Overhead:
- 2 Canada Geese: duo outbound
- 4 Feral Pigeons: together
- 1 Stock Dove
- 20 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Black-headed Gull: adult again
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: (near) adult
- 2 Cormorants: singles
- 10 Jackdaws
- 6 Rooks

Hirundines etc., noted:
- >4 Swifts
- 1 House Martin

Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 12 (12) Chiffchaffs
- 12 (8) Reed Warblers
- 14 (12) Blackcaps
- 4 (3) Garden Warblers
- 3 (1) Common Whitethroats

Count from the lake area
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 2 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 5 (5♂) Mallard
- 2 Moorhens again
- 25 + 13 (6 broods) Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one (near) adult and four first years: see notes
- 2 Cormorants: arrived together
- 1 Grey Heron: departed early

On / around the street lamps pre-dawn:
- *1 ichneumon sp., possibly Netelia infractor
- *1 weevil sp., probably Liophloeus tessulatus

Noted later:

Butterflies:
- *Large White (Pieris brassicae): new for the year for me
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Moths:
- *Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)
- Timothy Tortrix (Zelotherses paleana)
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)

Bees / Wasps:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- *Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)

Hoverflies:
- Cheilosia albitarsus agg. - one of the two Buttercup Cheilosia but which?
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- Parhelophilus sp.
- Bumblebee Plume-horned Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans)

Damselflies:
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- *Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

Other Flies:
- *Black Snipe fly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.)

Beetles:
- *Malachius bipustulatus (green and red)
- *Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis var. succinea): new for the year for me

Spiders:
- *Cucumber Green Orb Spider (Araniella cucurbitina-type)

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Newly identified flowers for the year:
- *Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara)

Cloud clearing away for a while gave this sunrise. For once the trail was not Ethiopian Air Lines en route to Dublin. If you are interested it was a Longtail Aviation of Bermuda Jumbo operating a freight flight for El Al Israeli Airlines from Liege to New York JFK.

One for cloudscape fans.

Not an easy bird to photograph as they are often in fast-moving gangs. It is also a bird that beginners find a challenge. It is a juvenile Starling. At this age they are brown and without spots. As they start to acquire adult plumage they look even stranger with patches of dots scattered about.

I have been after a photo of this partly albino male Blackbird for a while. Many Blackbirds have the odd white feather but few have as much white as this. It also has pink rather than yellow legs. I first saw it about three weeks ago and it is always on the footpath at the west end of the football field. I only ever see it before 06:00 and it usually flies off when I get anywhere near. The best I could do in still-dawn light.

Another species that is rather flighty and not easy to photo is Goldfinch. This one seemed to have forgotten about me as I was examining insects.

A 'white' butterfly against the light: but which species? It lacks wing veins which rules out Green-veined White so it has to be a Large or a Small White. Size can be difficult to judge, especially from a photo. The easiest was to tell this is a Large White (Pieris brassicae) is to look at the black on the wing tip. The inner edge of the black is curved and the black extends some way down the trailing edge. On a Small White the inner edge of the black is almost straight and the black does not extend far along the trailing edge.

I wanted to double-check the moth on the right of this buttercup as although I suspected it was probably a Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana) there are similar species and it seemed a bit 'different'. It wasn't! I needed also to investigate what was on the left. I am still not sure but it wasn't an insect.

Almost as scruffy as the Carder Bumblebee is this Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum). I assume that it is the tongue that is visible under the antennae. Did I know that bees' tongues are that long? I do now.

A much better photo of an ichneumon wasp drawn to a street light and photographed pre-dawn. As before it is likely Netelia infractor.

If you get the light at the right angle it is amazing how fuzzy many hoverflies are. A drone fly with pale on the front legs is a Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax).

This is an immature female Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas). Just a hint of a red tinge to the eye.

I spent some while puzzling over this hoverfly before the penny dropped. It is a female Black Snipe fly (Chrysopilus cristatus) and not a hoverfly at all.

This quite large brown weevil found on a lamp pole pre-dawn is probably Liophloeus tessulatus.

This beetle seems to be Malachius bipustulatus – not a species that I have logged before but reportedly a 'common species of flower meadows'. The dirty fingernails are more easily recognised.

My first Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) of the year. This is of the form succinea with, usually, 20 spots.

The underside of a Cucumber Green Orb Spider (Araniella cucurbitina-type). There are two almost indistinguishable species though this is the most common. Its web is spread just above the surface of a leaf and part of it is visible to the top left.

Easy to ID even for a non-botanist like me – the flowers of Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara).

Don't you just love some of the Telford residents showing their appreciation for the tranquillity of the lake? The Asda shopping trolley is just out of sight (other supermarket trollies (trolleys?) are available). Amongst the litter there are several pairs of socks, a bra and some panties. I am delighted to say that a Priorslee Womble appeared with a bag and a litter-picker and cleared it all up – well done.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- The Blackcap was singing by the lower pool again.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:45 – 06:25

(104th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- So the geese have not yet become totally flightless – 137 yesterday; 56 today: there could not have been that many hiding inside the island.
- The pen Mute Swan was tucked away inside the island and I was unable to confirm that the two cygnets were with her.
- No Mallard ducklings seen today: indeed also fewer adults.
- Just the two previously known well-grown Coot juveniles seen. At least two others heard only from inside reeds, begging to be fed – a new brood.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 4 Feral Pigeons: single and trio
- 1 Jackdaw yet again

Hirundines etc., noted:
- c.15 Swifts
- 2 House Martins

Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 1 (1) Chiffchaffs
- 2 (2) Blackcaps

On /around the water:
- 56 Canada Geese
- 3 + ? (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 19 (13♂) Mallard
- 7 (4♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- >4 juvenile Coots (3 broods)
- 1 Great Crested Grebe again

Also noted
- 3 Figure of Eighty moths (Tethea ocularis): two on the lamp pole last used by the Pale Tussock moth; another on a lamp pole the other side of the water. My first-ever multiple sighting of this species.


(Ed Wilson)

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On this day
2020
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2017
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
Richardson's-type Canada Goose 
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
Sedge Warbler possibly breeding
Skylark nesting in Celestica grounds
(John Isherwood)