13 Jul 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

15.0°C > 18.0°C: Very mixed once more: some early breaks in the low cloud soon filled in with drizzle for a while after 05:00; dried out after 06:00 staying cloudy until after 08:30 when a few sunny spells developed. Light NNW breeze. Mainly moderate visibility, becoming good later.

Sunrise: 05:01 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:15 – 05:35 // 06:30 – 09:15

(145th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Both extant families of well-grown Mallard ducklings seen.
- Three Swifts from 05:00 until 05:15: none seen later.
- At most five Black-headed Gulls concurrently on the water. 23, probably including these, and with one Lesser Black-backed Gull (all adults) on the academy playing field at 05:20. Five birds (three adults and two juveniles) flew W at 06:55; one adult flew high S 07:20.
- The recently arrived Sedge Warbler was not heard to sing at all but was on his song perch at 08:30.

Overhead:
- 49 Wood Pigeons
- 6 Black-headed Gulls: 2 juveniles
- 2 Cormorants: a trio with one peeling off to visit the lake,
- no Jackdaws or Rooks

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 3 Swifts
- 2 House Martins again

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

Count from the lake area
- 2 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 12 (10♂) + 3 (2 broods) Mallard
- 3 Moorhens again
- 37 + 12 (7 broods) Coots
- >23 Black-headed Gulls: no juveniles
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult
- 8 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Cormorant: arrived again
- 1 Grey Heron: departed again

On / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 female Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli form humuli): still present, dead in the web.
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- *1 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis)
- *1 White Plume (Pterophorus pentadactyla): the records of Common Plume for the previous two days should be ascribed to this species.
- 1 Blue-bordered Carpet (Plemyria rubiginata)
- *1 Engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia): first of the year at this site - #54 after adding the misidentified White Plume.

And
- 3 unidentified Caddis flies
- 1 Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)
- *1 White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- 3 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides cornutus)
- 1 Stretch spider (Tetragnatha sp.)

In the sailing club shelter pre-dawn:
- *1 Nephrotoma quadrifaria crane fly
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides cornutus)

Other things seen later:

Butterflies:
- *Large White (Pieris brassicae)
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- *Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- *Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

Moths:
- Timothy Tortrix (Zelotherses paleana)
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- *Shaded Broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata)

Bees / Wasps:
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- *Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies:
- *Gossamer Hoverfly (Baccha elongata): my first for two years
- *Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *Furry Dronefly (Eristalis intricarius)
- *Stripe-faced Dronefly (Eristalis nemorum)
- Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
- Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- *Possible Meliscaeva sp.
- *Common Twist-tail (Sphaerophoria scripta) [was Long Hoverfly]
- *Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)
- Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens) [aka Pied Plumehorn]

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

Other flies:
- Black Snipefly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.): first for several weeks

Beetles:
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata): adults and larva
- Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis): pupae only
- *Rough-haired Lagria Beetle (Lagria hirta)
- Common Red Soldier Beetle aka Hogweed Bonking-beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)

Bugs:
- *1 instar

Spiders:
- to be advised

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Mammals:
- 1 Noctule-type bat

Amphibians:
- Common Frog (Rana temporaria)

Flowers new for the year:
- *Rosebay Willowherb or Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)

This bird, not fully-fledged, was scurrying up he concrete ramp ahead of me. This was the best shot I could get before it disappeared in to the long grass. Although it has a white throat then looking at the bill I think this a juvenile Reed Warbler. Juvenile birds can be tricky to identify.

The wing-edge markings on the white butterfly are less obvious than usual but I am sure this is a Large White (Pieris brassicae) on size alone.

Oops: chopped the tips of the antennae off of this female Meadow Brown butterfly! Only females have a paler area in the wing. Both sexes have the single white spot in the black wing-dot.

Not always easy to identify some species of butterfly when they close their wings. When open it is easy to name this as...

...a Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae).

I didn't show this yesterday as I / the camera messed up the shot. This is the third female Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli), all of the yellow form humuli, that I have seen this year. It is being examined by a female Candy-stripe Spider (Enoplognatha sp., probably E. ovata). Yesterday it was a Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides cornutus) that had it in its grip yesterday.

A Common Grey moth (Scoparia ambigualis). There are several very similar moths but the 'X' mark in the middle of the forewing is a good clue to it being this species.

Not the best photo of a White Plume moth (Pterophorus pentadactyla) that flushed from a lamp pole to land almost upside down in the vegetation pre-dawn. I have included it because it shows the way the wings are segmented – at rest they are normally overlapped and look like a single very narrow wing. Note too the spurs on the legs, present in all 'plume' species.

Yesterday's Shaded Broad-bar moth (Scotopteryx chenopodiata) was all shaded and no broad bar: on this specimen there is a strong broad bar and also strong shading and it is hard to see where one ends and the other starts.

My first Engrailed moth (Ectropis crepuscularia) at the lake this year – species #54 after adding the misidentified White Plume.

I was pleased to see this Gossamer Hoverfly (Baccha elongata) - my first for two years. A very small and thin dark hoverfly that can just 'disappear'. I have rather 'boosted' the photo to make it easier to look through the wings at the narrow-waisted body.

A classic view of a perched Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus). A very few have slightly different markings. This tiny species is a resident species bolstered by immigrants numbering millions each year, eating their way through trillions of aphids.

This took some working out but I am reasonably sure this is a Furry Dronefly (Eristalis intricarius) - there are many variations of this species with both white or red tails and rufous or black thoraxes, My first this year. Not a bee as it has short antennae.

This seems to be a Stripe-faced Dronefly (Eristalis nemorum) though I would have to see the face to be 100% sure. It was noticeably smaller than either Common or Tapered Droneflies (though runts do occur) and the obvious banding (pale edges to the tergites) are more prevalent in E. nemorum. On the same patch of Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)

Also on the same Common Ragwort is this male Common Twist-tail (Sphaerophoria scripta). I used to record these as Long Hoverflies: it is only the males that are 'long'.

Why do I only clear shots of the hind thorax of male Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)? Only females are separable from photos.

I initially thought this was another Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare) but it seemed slightly different with, in flight, paler markings. From the photo that identification is ruled out by the contrastingly paler scutellum. My expert Leon has confirmed my thought that it is one of the Meliscaeva sp., and specifically M. auricollis. Helpfully also known as Spotted Meliscaeva!

Using a torch and getting close has allowed me to positively identify the craneflies that are in the sailing club shelter when I visit pre-dawn. This is Nephrotoma quadrifaria. No-one seems to have given this a vernacular name.

I am almost getting the hang of the camera and this is the sharpest yet of a Rough-haired Lagria Beetle (Lagria hirta).

I think a nymph of plant bug but which? I know a man who might know...

A White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger) on a lamp pole. Some years I see a lot; this is only my second this year.

I must have overlooked this Rosebay Willowherb or Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) amongst all the Great(er) Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum). It clearly has been in flower for some while. On the bottom left flower is a Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus).

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- 1 Blackcap n somewhat spluttering song by the lower pool.

(Ed Wilson)

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On the roof of the Priorslee Avenue tunnel

- *1 Small Fan-footed Wave moth (Idaea biselata)
- 1 Owl Midge sp.
- 1 Spider sp.

Probably the best specimen of a Small Fan-footed Wave moth (Idaea biselata) to date. The four spots and wavy band toward the outer edge of the forewing identify.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:40 – 06:25

(130th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Another new brood of Coots, heard only, calling from a different location alongside Derwent Drive. Several others still being brooded in the damp conditions.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 8 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 10 Swifts

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

On /around the water:
- 128 Canada Geese
- 42 Greylag Geese
- no Greylag x Canada Goose located
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 15 (11♂) Mallard
- 23 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 + 2 (1 brood) Moorhens
- >7 juvenile Coots (5 broods)
- *1 Black-headed Gull
- 1 Great Crested Grebe: back again!

Of note:
No moths found and nothing else.

Standing up straight and looking alert: an adult Black-headed Gull. One of the first returning birds to here after the breeding season.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day
2020
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2007
Priorslee Lake
Hobby
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
3 drake Ruddy Ducks
(Ed Wilson)