2 Jul 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

13.0°C > 16.0°C: Started with low overcast again. Cleared for a while with blue sky and sun after 06:45 but then mostly cloudy again from 07:30, albeit at not such low level. Very light wind mainly from W. Moderate / good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:51 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:15 – 05:30 // 06:25 – 09:40

(135th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The Mute Swans were again behaving rather strangely. I only saw them leave the nest once and then only briefly after which the cob took himself off to the slipway where he went to sleep.
- Both duck Mallards have lost a duckling in the last two days and there are now broods of two and four.
- One Swift at 05:10 with four soon afterwards. Not seen again until 07:30 when four were VERY high overhead – binoculars only.
- I noted five Black-headed Gulls disputing who were going to sit on the buoys at 04:30 (there are more than enough buoys to go round). Two of these were ginger-brown juveniles, my first of the year. Six birds left to the W at 05:10 – not sure where the sixth came from. A lone adult appeared briefly at 07:15.
- Two Grey Herons were sparring at 04:40 and then presumably the same two still flying around at 05:05. One bird present until 07:25 at least.
- Just as the warbler song is winding down the Song Thrushes seem to winding up again with nine singing today.
- House Sparrow seen by the water along the S side. They must be nesting here.

Overhead:
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 12 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: ages not all determined
- 6 Cormorants: single and quintet
- 3 Jackdaws
- 6 Rooks
- 1 Mistle Thrush

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

Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 10 (9) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Sedge Warbler
- 5 (5) Reed Warblers
- 13 (10) Blackcaps
- 2 (2) Garden Warblers
- 3 (2) Common Whitethroats

Count from the lake area
- 2 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- *11 (9♂) + 6 (2 broods) Mallard
- 4 Moorhens
- 39 + 13 (6 broods) Coots
- 7 Black-headed Gull: included two juveniles of this year
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: one adult and one immature, both briefly
- 9 Great Crested Grebes again
- 2 Grey Herons

On / around the street lamps pre-dawn:
- *1 Mottled Beauty moth (Alcis repandata)

Some feedback from a Shropshire fungus contact on the cluster I found and photographed last Saturday (26th). He noted: "a good candidate is Agrocybe pediades", admitting that it was a species he was not familiar with. Thanks to Les for this.

Noted later today:

Butterflies:
- Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
- *Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)
- *Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

Moths:
- Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)
- *Common Marble (Celypha lacunana): new hatch?
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- *Shaded Broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata)

Bees/Wasps etc.:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus)
- *Large Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus trivittatus)
- Parhelophilus sp.
- *Common Tubetail (Sphaerophoria scripta)

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

Other Flies:
- Black Snipefly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- Grouse Wing (Mystacides longicornis) [caddis fly]
- *Semaphore fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus)

Beetles:
- *7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata) larvae

Bugs:
- *Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata): new hatch?
- leafhopper sp.

Spiders:
- *Crab spider Philodromus sp.

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

The duck Mallard with her two ducklings.

And the other with her four ducklings.

A Large Skipper butterfly (Ochlodes sylvanus). This species shows dark shading on the wing ahead of the black edge.

They have only been flying a few days and already some are looking the worse for wear – a Ringlet butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus). The rings that give this species its name are more obvious on the underwing.

My usual sighting of a Common Marble moth (Celypha lacunana) it when I flush one and it disappears in to the middle distance. As a result I am forced to sue full zoom to get any sort of photo and then some of the detail is lost. Here is a much more co-operative individual. The wing pattern varies somewhat but the wing-edge markings are very consistent.

My first Shaded Broad-bar moth (Scotopteryx chenopodiata) of the year. This is a day-flying moth that can often be flushed from grassy areas.

The only moth on the lamp poles pre-dawn was this Mottled Beauty (Alcis repandata). This is also a very variable species and this a particularly well-marked specimen.

This is a Large Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus trivittatus). Slightly larger than the very common Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus) it is perhaps best identified by the larger areas of yellow on the abdomen.

This seems to be a female of the hoverfly Sphaerophoria scripta. I have previously known this as Long Hoverfly but I note that Steven Falk calls it Common Tubetail which seems to be a better name as only the male is conspicuously 'long'.

A very smart female Tiger Cranefly (Nephrotoma flavescens)

Another smart-looking cranefly is this female Nephrotoma flavipalpis.

 This is a male Semaphore fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus) with white tips to the wings.

These look to be two females – they lack the white wing-tips.

I think this fly is Phaonia subventa with a striped thorax and yellowish abdomen with a dark line down the centre. It is certainly a Phaonia species because of the bulge along the front of the wing.

This splendid little fellow was whirring about atop a leaf and rarely stayed still. It is one of the flies in the Psychodidae family which are referred to as moth-flies, owl-midges, drain-flies, filter-flies or sewage-flies. There are almost 100 species in the UK and none of them can be identified by wing pattern alone.

The larvae of a 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata).

My first Red-and-Black Froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata) for several weeks. Perhaps from a new hatch?

 I suspect this is a nymph of the Red Bug (Deraeocoris ruber).

I suspect this is another Crab spider Philodromus sp. Again I am not sure there is enough details for the Shropshire Recorder to provide a more specific identity.

The very distinctive seed head ('clock') of Goat's-beard or Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon (Tragopogon pratensis) in which each seed with its 'parachute' can be seen clearly.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- The Chiffchaff still singing alongside the lower pool.
- Also a Blackcap singing by the upper pool

On the wall of the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
- 1 unidentified cranefly sp.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:35 – 06:20

(120th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- No Mallard ducklings located.
- One of the duck Tufted Ducks flew in.
- Two juvenile Coot were seen in the nest alongside Derwent Drive; the well-grown juvenile was by the nest next to one of the bridges still. No others were noted

Birds noted flying over here:
None

Hirundines etc., noted:
None

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

On /around the water:
- 110 Canada Geese
- 42 Greylag Geese
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose again
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 27 (19♂) Mallard
- 24 (18♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 + 3 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 3 juvenile Coots (2 broods): see notes
- no Great Crested Grebes located

Also noted:
- Grouse Wing (Mystacides longicornis) caddis flies dancing over the water-side vegetation
- 1 Grey Squirrel

I again forgot to check the St John's Wort (Hypericum sp.) in squirrel alley.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day
2020
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here
(Ed Wilson)

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2013
Priorslee Lake
Hobby
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Redshank
Hobby
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)