12.0°C > 14.0°C: Mainly cloudy at medium level. Clearer to W but never approached here. Light / moderate NNW breeze. Very good visibility.
Sunrise: 04:45 BST once more
* = a picture today
Priorslee Lake: 04:20 – 05:30 // 06:20 – 09:10
(122nd visit of the year)
On an otherwise quiet morning the highlight was a Little Egret flushed off the N side at 08:20.
Bird notes:
- The Canada Geese have lost another of their goslings. The cob Mute Swan again?
- One Swift at 04:50. Again occasional singles until three after 07:45.
- No Starlings on either the football or academy playing fields.
Overhead:
- 5 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 1 Black-headed Gull: first-year
- 1 Herring Gull: immature
- 5 Jackdaws
- 4 Rooks
Hirundines etc., noted:
- >3 Swifts
- 4 House Martins
Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 14 (12) Chiffchaffs again
- 9 (7) Reed Warblers
- 10 (10) Blackcaps
- 4 (4) Garden Warblers
- 3 (2) Common Whitethroats
Count from the lake area
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Canada Geese
- 2 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 3 (3♂) Mallard
- 3 Moorhens
- 25 + 13 (8 broods) Coots
- 8 Great Crested Grebes
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one (near) adult and five immatures, all briefly
- 1 Little Egret, briefly
On / around the street lamps pre-dawn:
- 1 Unidentified spider sp.
Noted later:
Butterflies:
None
Moths:
- *Plain Gold (Micropterix calthella)
- Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)
- *Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis)
-*Unidentified caterpillar
- *Plain Gold (Micropterix calthella)
- Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)
- *Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis)
-*Unidentified caterpillar
Bees / Wasps:
- *Yellow-legged Mining Bee (Andrena flavipes)
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)
- *Yellow-legged Mining Bee (Andrena flavipes)
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)
Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *possible Orange-belted Leafwalker (Xylota segnis)
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *possible Orange-belted Leafwalker (Xylota segnis)
Damsel-/Dragon-flies:
None
Other Flies:
- Black Snipe fly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- Mystacides longicornis (Caddis Fly)
- *Cranefly Tipula oleracea
- *Cranefly Nephrotoma quadrifaria
- Black Snipe fly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- Mystacides longicornis (Caddis Fly)
- *Cranefly Tipula oleracea
- *Cranefly Nephrotoma quadrifaria
Bugs:
None
Beetles:
- *possible Hawthorn Leaf Beetle (Lochmaea crataegi)
- Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus)
- *possible Hawthorn Leaf Beetle (Lochmaea crataegi)
- Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus)
Spiders:
- Stretch spider sp (Tetragnatha sp.)
- *Unidentified rufous-looking spider sp.
- Stretch spider sp (Tetragnatha sp.)
- *Unidentified rufous-looking spider sp.
Newly identified flowers for the year:
- *Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)
This small straw-coloured moth with the dark spot in each forewing is, unsurprisingly, a Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis). I fouled up the photo of my previous sighting this year as it was just after dawn and the necessary flash completely over-exposed it. When I checked this photo I noted what seems to be a caterpillar behind it ...
- *Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)
I'm always curious about what is lurking in buttercups. This is 'just another Plain Gold moth (Micropterix calthella)' but I have never noticed this species has a yellowish head. I did wonder whether it was just pollen from the buttercup but my Field Guide to Micro Moths tells me the head is indeed yellowish.
... this caterpillar. No idea of its identity.
Hardly flowers ... this is all you get with Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa), a member of the Dock family.
(Ed Wilson)
Between the lake and The Flash:
- A Blackcap on singing duty by the lower pool.
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
- A Blackcap on singing duty by the lower pool.
Also noted
- 1 Grey Squirrel
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash: 05:35 – 06:15
- 1 Grey Squirrel
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 05:35 – 06:15
(107th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- So where were all the Mallard this morning?
- The fly-over Collared Dove seemed to be unrelated to the two known breeding territories in the area.
- Only two of the normal brood of three Moorhens seen: likely the third was hiding somewhere.
- Two now independent juvenile Coots – just the start of the white shield visible on each bird. Also the single small juvenile with its parent by the island.
- No sign of any Great Crested Grebe today.
Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Stock Dove
- 1 Collared Dove
- 2 Jackdaws
- 1 Starling
Hirundines etc., noted:
- 3 Swifts
- no House Martins
Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 3 (3) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Blackcap
On /around the water:
- 120 Canada Geese exactly
- 12 Greylag Geese
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose again
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 16 (11♂) Mallard
- 8 (5♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 3 juvenile Coots
- 1 Black-headed Gull: adult, briefly
- no Great Crested Grebes
Also noted
- nothing: all the moths gone.
(Ed Wilson)
Bird notes:
- So where were all the Mallard this morning?
- The fly-over Collared Dove seemed to be unrelated to the two known breeding territories in the area.
- Only two of the normal brood of three Moorhens seen: likely the third was hiding somewhere.
- Two now independent juvenile Coots – just the start of the white shield visible on each bird. Also the single small juvenile with its parent by the island.
- No sign of any Great Crested Grebe today.
Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Stock Dove
- 1 Collared Dove
- 2 Jackdaws
- 1 Starling
Hirundines etc., noted:
- 3 Swifts
- no House Martins
Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 3 (3) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Blackcap
On /around the water:
- 120 Canada Geese exactly
- 12 Greylag Geese
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose again
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 16 (11♂) Mallard
- 8 (5♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 3 juvenile Coots
- 1 Black-headed Gull: adult, briefly
- no Great Crested Grebes
Also noted
- nothing: all the moths gone.
(Ed Wilson)
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On this day