18 Jul 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

16.0°C > 21.0°C: Clear skies. Light 'W' breeze. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:08 BST

* = a photo today. I am still some way behind. There are no 'catch-up' photos from Friday and Saturday included – still working on them.

Priorslee Lake: 04:15 – 05:35 // 06:40 – 08:50

(150th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Best of the day here was confirmed breeding by one of the pair of Great Crested Grebes with at least two juveniles noted.
- For the third day a Linnet was heard in flight and probably not merely a fly-over – nesting locally I would think. But where?

Overhead:
- 1 Stock Dove
- 21 Wood Pigeons
- 9 Jackdaws
- 43 Rooks

Hirundines etc., noted:
- no Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 3 House Martins, including a juvenile

Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 8 (7) Chiffchaffs
- 9 (4) Reed Warblers
- *11 (7) Blackcaps
- 2 (2) Garden Warblers
- 4 (3) Common Whitethroats

Count from the lake area
- 2 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 10 (9♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard again
- 2 Moorhens again
- 35 + 19 (10 broods) Coots: a new brood of three
- 4 Common Sandpipers
- >31 Black-headed Gulls: two juveniles
- *7 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
- 1 Grey Heron departed

On / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- 1 White Plume (Pterophorus pentadactyla)
- 1 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis
- *2 Round-winged Muslin (Thumatha senex)
- *1 Common Footman (Eilema lurideola)
- *1 Blue-bordered Carpet (Plemyria rubiginata)

And
- *1 Ophion sp. ichneumon
- 2 Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva): a mating pair.
- 1 Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)
- 1 Stretch spider (Tetragnatha sp.)
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides cornutus)
- *1 Dicranopalpus ramosus agg. [harvestman]

In the sailing club shelter pre-dawn:
Spiders:
- *1 Clubiona sp
- *1 Orb-web spider Metellina sp., likely M. mengei
- *1 Noble False Widow (Steatoda nobilis)
- 1 Stretch spider (Tetragnatha sp.)

Also
- *1 caddis fly sp.

Other things seen later:
Note: I sort of gave up early – too hot!.

Butterflies:
- Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
- Large White (Pieris brassicae)
- Small White (Pieris rapae)
- *Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)

Moths:
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- Pale Straw Pearl (Udea lutealis)
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
- Shaded Broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata)

Bees / Wasps:
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *ichneumon sp., possibly Amblyteles armatorius

Hoverflies:
- *Bumblebee Cheilosia (Cheilosia illustrata)
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- Common Twist-tail (Sphaerophoria scripta) [was Long Hoverfly]
- Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens) [Pied Plumehorn]

Dragon/Damsel-flies
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
- Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)
- Hawker sp. in flight only

Other flies:
- Black Snipefly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- *Nephrotoma quadrifaria cranefly

Beetles:
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata): adult
- *Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis): adult and pupa
- Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
- *Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Mammals:
- Grey Squirrel

Not able to get too close to this Great Crested Grebe with two juveniles just about visible on the back – one stripey-head at the very back and another with the top of its head just visible in the middle of the back.

The other adult arrived with a small morsel of food for one of the youngsters. I assume the young are o the female's back though I cannot trace any confirmation on the web.

One of two juvenile Blackcaps close together and likely from the same family. All juveniles have brown heads though males are reported as being darker brown.

What I assume is a sibling looking belligerent (or morose).

 Mrs. Bullfinch looking belligerent.

And now getting on with the business of food – eating Alder catkins here. Mr. Bullfinch was close-by but camera shy.

A fresh-looking specimen of a Green-veined White butterfly (Pieris napi). Although most butterflies only fly in the day and many moths only fly at night the distinction between the groups is that butterflies have clubbed antennae – as shown here.

Two for the price of one: on the left another Blue-bordered Carpet moth (Plemyria rubiginata) - it has been a good year for this species; on the right my first Common Footman moth (Eilema lurideola) of the year.

This is a Round-winged Muslin moth (Thumatha senex). It was a new species for me last year, also on 18 July!

This ichneumon is likely on of the Amblyteles species. It may be A. armatorius though males of that species have a yellow-tipped abdomen. I cannot find any photos of females or of any other species in the genus.

This is almost certainly one of the Ophion group of ichneumon wasps. To determine the species would require the wings to be visible and even then it might not be possible. So Ophion sp. A handsome creature though.

A Bumblebee Cheilosia (Cheilosia illustrata) with its tongue stuck in to feeding in the umbellifer flowers.

This is almost certainly a Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare) though I cannot be sure as the abdomen markings are not visible. What struck me was how slim the body is. You do not see this from above. This individual is resting on a grass seed which gives some scale to the delicate insects.

I cannot begin to identify caddis flies. Most of those I see are way up on lamp poles and hard to photograph to show them well. This one was in the sailing club shelter where I could get close to show a typical individual – if there is such a thing among the 200 or so British species.

This cranefly went and hid but there is enough here to identify it as Nephrotoma quadrifaria. The most distinctive feature is that the wings have a cloud – shaded area – as well as a dark stigma along the edge. As far as I can tell it is also the only species of cranefly with a black band along the side of the abdomen though that is not mentioned on the web sites I use.

It is almost four weeks since I saw my previous Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis). I guess this one is part of a new generation?

There are three recognised forms of Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis). Even so within each form there is considerable variation. This is of the form succinea with 17 spots: they are usually bright red but they can be orange, as here.

As usual I am indebted to Nigel, the Shropshire spider recorder, identified three spiders in the sailing club shelter. This can only be identified as a Clubiona sp. There are many species in this genus and all have very variable markings.

Me and my shadow: This one is the best find - it is a Noble False Widow (Steatoda nobilis) and likely an adult female. He tells me this species is not often reliably recorded in Shropshire because of mid-identification, not help by press stories in 2013 that accused this spider of causing wounds that were nothing to do with it.

A ventral view of a small orb-web spider, Metellina sp., either M. mengei or M. segmentata, more likely the former at this time of year

One of the more distinctive harvestman but still not possible to specifically identify from photos – one of the Dicranopalpus ramosus agg. The long and forked pedipalps and the way the rather clustered legs stick out almost horizontally to the body identify this group.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:
- 1 Chiffchaff calling by the upper pool.
- 1 Blackcap in song by the lower pool.

and
- 1 Common Grey (Scoparia ambigualis) on a lamp pole

(Ed Wilson)

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On the roof of the Priorslee Avenue tunnel

Moths:
- 1 Small Fan-footed Wave (Idaea biselata)

Others:
- 2 Nephrotoma flavipalpis craneflies
- 1 caddis fly
- >20 gnats

I thought I was on to a new moth here. Turns out it one form of Small Fan-footed Wave (Idaea biselata). Rather smart.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:40 – 06:35

(135th visit of the year)

Definite highlight was the brood of five Tufted Duck ducklings. Several years since I last saw these ducklings here though I suspect they breed most years but, like the Mallard ducklings, are predated. It must be 10 years since any fledged from here.

Other bird notes:
- Despite the fine weather fewer juvenile Coots were out of their nests.
- Just one Great Crested Grebe seen.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 4 Feral Pigeons

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 6 Swifts
- House Martins heard only: too clear to see them

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

On /around the water:
- 113 Canada Geese
- 45 Greylag Geese
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 15 (?♂) Mallard
- 31 (?♂) + 5 (1 brood) Tufted Duck
- 5 + 2 (1 broods) Moorhens
- 8 juvenile Coots (5 broods)
- 1 Black-headed Gull
- 1 Great Crested Grebe

On lamp poles
- 1 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)
- 1 Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis): pupa
- 1 Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)
- 1 Clubiona sp. spider
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus agg. [harvestman]

Plus elsewhere
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

A duck Tufted Duck with one of her five fuzzy ducklings.

And here are all five ducklings with Mum. As noted it is several years since I last saw Tufty ducklings here.

A Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata). My third here this year.

What is it about this year? I seem to be finding spiders everywhere and it is not yet Autumn – hopefully. This at head-height on a lamp pole for a decent photo. Another Clubiona sp. and may or may not be the same species as the one at he lake despite the different markings.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day
2020
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2018
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here

2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here