12 Jul 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

13.0°C > 17.0°C: Very mixed again: started mainly cloudy; then some mist to the E before light rain for a while after 06:15; cleared with some sun after 08:15 with puffy clouds soon developing. Light SW breeze. Mainly good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:00 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:15 – 05:40 // 06:40 – 09:55

(144th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- One well-grown Mallard duckling again.
- Four Swifts from 05:05 until 05:20: none seen later.
- A Peregrine shot low across the football field at 05:30 scattering Wood Pigeons.
- The first significant number of post-breeding Black-headed Gulls: 25 arrived at 04:50, apparently all adults. Of these 15 did a quick 180° and returned to the W. Thereafter variable numbers coming and going, including at least one juvenile. Eight, probably from these, were on the academy playing field at 05:25.
- The recently arrived Sedge Warbler sang very intermittently before 05:15. Nothing seen or heard later.

Overhead:
- 45 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: age not determined
- 19 Cormorants: three; 13 and three
- 1 Peregrine
- no Jackdaws
- 3 Rooks only

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 4 Swifts
- 4 Barn Swallow
- 2 House Martins

Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 12 (11) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler again
- 7 (6) Reed Warblers
- 9 (7) Blackcaps
- 4 (3) Garden Warblers
- 3 (2) Common Whitethroats

Count from the lake area
- 2 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 6 (5♂) + 1 (1 brood) Mallard
- 3 Moorhens
- 31 + 10 (6 broods) Coots
- *>26 Black-headed Gulls: at least one juvenile
- 10 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron: departed

On / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 1 female Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli form humuli): the third of the year, all females and each in the clutches of a spider.
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- 1 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)
- 2 Common Plumes (Emmelina monodactyla)
- *1 Large Emerald (Geometra papilionaria): moth species #51 here this year
- 1 Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata)
- 1 Blue-bordered Carpet (Plemyria rubiginata)

And
- 1 Cranefly sp.
- 2 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides cornutus)
- 2 Stretch spiders (Tetragnatha sp.)

In the sailing club shelter pre-dawn:
Nothing found

Other things seen later:

Butterflies:
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- *Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

Moths:
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- *Pale Straw Pearl (Udea lutealis): moth species #52 here this year
- *Shaded Broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata)

Bees / Wasps:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- *Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *Wall Mason Wasp (Ancistrocerus parietinus): a new species for me

Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
- Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens) [Pied Plumehorn]

Damselflies
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
-Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

Other flies:
- Black Snipefly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- Semaphore fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus)

Beetles:
- *Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis): adult, larva and pupae
- *Rough-haired Lagria Beetle (Lagria hirta)
- *Common Red Soldier Beetle aka Hogweed Bonking-beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
- *A ground beetle, perhaps Leistus fulvibarbis

Bugs:
- Red Bug (Deraeocoris ruber)
- *Campyloneura virgula: a Mirid plant bug

Spiders:
Thanks to Nigel, the Shropshire Spider Recorder for this information
- Wolf spider Pardosa sp., carrying an egg-sac
- Mesh-web spiders Dictyna sp., probably D. arundinacea

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Mammals:
- 1 Grey Squirrel

Flowers new for the year:
- *Bistort (now Polygonum bistorta was Persicaria bistorta)

One of the 25+ Black-headed Gulls present, still showing breeding plumage of the chocolate hood, but...

 ..showing clear sign of starting its wing-moult. Note too the hitherto blood-red bill is now rather dull.

Some colour on a mainly cloudy morning – a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae).

Star moth on the lamp poles pre-dawn was this Large Emerald (Geometra papilionaria): moth species #51 here this year. Last recorded by me on 6th July 2019.

Later another new moth for the year: a Pale Straw Pearl (Udea lutealis). Upside down is not at a very helpful angle but note the antennae typically held back over the body and the distinctive wing-pattern. Should be frequently flushed from the grassy areas for the next two weeks or so.

This Shaded Broad-bar moth (Scotopteryx chenopodiata) shows the shading more clearly than the broad-bar. The bar is often quite strongly mauve-tinged but not always.

This bumblebee has been rooting about in the convolvulus flowers and is covered in pollen, hiding most of the markings. Some Garden Bumblebees (Bombus hortorum) show only white bands on an otherwise dark abdomen and I suspect this is what it is. Any thoughts Neil?

Find of the morning was my first-ever Wall Mason Wasp (Ancistrocerus parietinus), I think a female. The nests can be in wall cavities but this species will also use hollow stems and twigs. On Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris) here.

It deserves another view.

My first adult Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) of the year. There were many larvae and pupae around but this was the only adult I found. This form with 19 spots is succinea.

The photo is not quite sharp but it shows that this Rough-haired Lagria Beetle (Lagria hirta) is indeed rather hairy.

Another pair of Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva), here on the seed head of grass. Should I read anything in to the fact that the females antennae are sticking straight up and the males are drooping?

I found this beetle caught in a spider's web. Not the result I wanted: the beetle was dead anyway and I probably deprived the spider of its meal. There seems to be many species of black ground beetle.. It may be Leistus fulvibarbis: then again ...

This very small plant bug seems to be Campyloneura virgula (no vernacular name). The long antennae and the bright cuneus (the triangle at the top of the abdomen) all match the illustrations on the web. The brown marks vary in intensity.

This is a female wolf spider Pardosa sp., carrying her egg-sac. Once I got too close she scuttled to the underside of the leaf, taking her egg-sac with her. It cannot be identified to species-level.

This tiny spider is one of the mesh-web spiders Dictyna sp., probably D. arundinacea.

This is Bistort (Polygonum bistorta). My first sighting this year. It will soon become abundant around the lake, especially along the damp areas along the S side.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- 1 Blackcap briefly sang by the lower pool as I walked back.

(Ed Wilson)

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On the roof of the Priorslee Avenue tunnel

- 1 Single-dotted Wave moth (Idaea dimidiata)
- 1 Riband Wave moth (Idaea aversata)
- 1 Crane fly sp.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:45 – 06:35

(129th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- A single Mallard duckling with parents. Not a very new duckling so probably one of the brood of three seen last Thursday.
- The only juvenile Moorhen seen was from a hitherto unseen brood at the top end. The usual location for these was swamped by geese tempted to bread. The Moorhens had likely retreated to cover.
- A new brood of at least two juvenile Coots along the E side.
- The Great Crested Grebe has gone AWOL again.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 5 Wood Pigeons

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 12 Swifts
- 2 House Martins

Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 4 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (3) Blackcaps again

On /around the water:
- *120 Canada Geese
- *40 Greylag Geese
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 19 (12♂) + 1 (1 brood) Mallard
- 25 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 11 juvenile Coots (6 broods)
- no Great Crested Grebe

Also noted, moths on different lamp posts:
- *1 Engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia)
- *1 Uncertain/Rustic aggregate. (Hoplodrina sp.), probably Uncertain (H. octogenaria)

And
- 1 Grouse Wing (Mystacides longicornis) [caddis fly] on a lamp pole
- 1 Grey Squirrel

I have not noticed this Canada Goose with a white mark under its eye previously.

Two Greylag Geese with most of their flight feathers still to be regrown. The lower bird shows three flight feathers but I cannot tell whether these are old ones yet to fall out or new ones growing. I suspect the former.

This Canada Goose has no regrown flight feathers yet.

Well camouflaged on a lichen-covered lamp pole is this Engrailed moth (Ectropis crepuscularia). A rather better angle than the previous 'top of the tallest lamp pole through trees' example.

Did someone mention 'top of the tallest lamp pole'? I think this moth is one of the difficult to separate Uncertain/Rustic aggregate. (Hoplodrina sp.). The colouration points towards Uncertain (H. octogenaria). A better view is necessary to clinch the ID.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day
2020
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2016
Local Area
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2011
Priorslee Lake
Ruddy Duck
Common Sandpiper
(John Isherwood)