22 Jul 21

Priorslee Lake, Woodhouse Lane and The Flash

17.0°C > 23.0°C: Clear and again rather hazy. Calm. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:13 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:15 – 05:40 // 06:45 – 09:25

(154th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- One or more Swifts heard screaming overhead but not seen in clear hazy sky. Later a single bird low over.
- A small number of House Martins heard calling high overhead at 05:15 but also not visible against the hazy sky
- No Blackbird song heard.

Overhead:
- 2 Greylag Geese: inbound together
- c.75 Racing Pigeons: one group
- 34 Wood Pigeons
- no Jackdaws
- 3 Rooks

Hirundines etc., noted:
- >1 Swift
- 1 Barn Swallow again
- House Martins heard only

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

Count from the lake area
- 2 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 5 (5♂) Mallard only
- 2 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 42 + 18 (10 broods) Coots
- 7 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 17 Black-headed Gulls: 2 juveniles
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull; adult briefly
- 2 Grey Herons: one chased off again

On / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- 2 White Plume (Pterophorus pentadactyla)
- 1 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)
- 1 Round-winged Muslin (Thumatha senex)

and
- 1 Rough-haired Lagria Beetle (Lagria hirta)
- 1 Cucumber Green Orb Spider sp. (Araniella cucurbitina?)
- 2 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- 1 Stretch spider (Tetragnatha sp.)
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus agg. [harvestman]

In the sailing club shelter pre-dawn:

Moth:
- 1 unidentifiable moth being wrapped by one of the spiders

Spiders:
- 3 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)

Other things seen later:

Butterflies:
- Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
- Large White (Pieris brassicae)
- Small White (Pieris rapae)
- Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)
- Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)
For some reason other large butterflies like Red Admiral, Peacock and Comma remain very scarce.

Moths:
- many grass moths, not identified
- Common Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)
- Shaded Broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata)

Bees / Wasps:
- Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
- Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies:
- Stripe-backed Dasysyrphus (Dasysyrphus albostriatus)
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- presumed Stripe-faced Dronefly (Eristalis nemorum)
- Dronefly (Eristalis sp.): not specifically identified
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) [Batman Hoverfly]
- Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)
- Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens) [Pied Plumehorn]

Dragon/Damsel-flies
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
- Hawker sp.

Other flies:
- Dagger fly Empis livida

Bugs:
- Red Bug (Deraeocoris ruber)

Beetles:
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata): adult
- Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis): larvae
- Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Spiders:
- Parasteatoda simulant, one of the Comb-footed Spiders

Fungus
- as yet unidentified, perhaps one of the Mycena (Bonnet) group

Another hazy sunrise.

The Great Crested Grebes with young seem to be keeping well away from any viewpoints at the moment. An enlarged shot shows two juvenile heads sticking out the back of an adult. It is possible there are more on the adult's back. The partner was fishing so certainly there were none on its back.

The Common Buzzard sitting on its preferred lamp post in Teece Drive. Seems to have some of its breakfast in its talon and in its bill.

You do not want to mess with that bill.

Still looking at all the Small Skipper butterflies (Thymelicus sylvestris) in the hope of finding one with completely black antennae tips which would signify an Essex Skipper. Not this one I fear.

This is a Small White butterfly (Pieris rapae). Identify by the inner edge of the black wing-tip: almost straight in this species and curved in Large White with the black extending much further down the trailing edge. Note how this fresh individual shows yellow tones on the underwing.

I had hopes that this very pale-looking grass moth might be something different. On the photo it is just possible to make out an angled cross-line toward the wing tip which means that it is just a worn-looking Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

This attractive hoverfly is my first Stripe-backed Dasysyrphus (Dasysyrphus albostriatus) of this year. In front of it I note there is a small, unidentified, plant bug.

A reminder about a 'normal-looking' Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), though even this one is not as 'marmalade' orange in some segments as the best and brightest.

Another 'different-looking' specimen with rather thicker black bands (or narrower yellow bands?).

Without being able to see the face of this hoverfly it is not possible to be absolutely certain: however I think this is a Stripe-faced Dronefly (Eristalis nemorum). Note the long tongue feeding in the Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium).

A mating pair of Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum). The female (the lower individual) was seen to be trying to raise her abdomen to collect sperm from underneath the male's abdomen.

Difficult to judge the colour as this is an LED torch-light photo; but on the basis of its fuzzy appearance I think a Rough-haired Lagria Beetle (Lagria hirta).

A small red spider that I found in between verticals on a building-site boundary fence. Nigel tells me it is Parasteatoda simulans, one of the Comb-footed Spiders. Better yet it is only the third record for Shropshire!

Not been able to ID this. I suspect it is one of the Mycena (Bonnet) group and, if it lasts in its rather exposed position on the football field, it may become clearer as to which species it might be as it ages. Rather strangely it appears to have a rough stem – or is that dew?

Any ideas? As it has six legs I assume it is not a larva / caterpillar but an insect. I have no idea what it could be.

(Ed Wilson)

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Birds in Woodhouse Lane: 07:45 – 08:00

I only paid a quick visit to get a better photos of yesterday's unidentified umbellifer and to see whether there was a Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly about – there wasn't. The only bird of note:
- 1 Common Buzzard flushed from the sluice outlet where I assume it had been drinking.

Newly noted flowers for the year (along Woodhouse Lane)
- possibly Burnet Saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga)

A close-up of yesterday's identified umbellifer.

And an upper leaf. I could not find my way through a whole nest of stems to see what the basal leaves looked like. I'm still not happy with a positive identification but am leaning towards Burnet Saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga), albeit the leaves look slightly too deeply notched.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- no warblers seen or heard

(Ed Wilson)

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On the roof of the Priorslee Avenue tunnel

- 1 Tawny Speckled Pug (Eupithecia icterata)
- 1 cranefly
- 1 caddis fly

I think this is a Tawny Speckled Pug (Eupithecia icterata). Many are not especially 'tawny' and there is a hint of that colour in the middle of its right wing. The black dot in each forewing is a features shared with several other pug moths.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:45 – 06:40 again

(139th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Definitely still four Tufted Ducklings though they are hard to count as they are constantly diving and moving around and are never all together on the surface. They certainly are hyperactive children!.
- Otherwise a notable arrival of Tufted Ducks (unless they had been hiding inside the island recently).
- Two of the juvenile Moorhens were from a new second brood not seen previously.
- The pesky Great Crested Grebe had gone AWOL again.

Birds noted flying over here:
None

Hirundines etc., noted:
None

Warblers noted:
None

On /around the water:
- 101 Canada Geese
- 39 Greylag Geese
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose again
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 22 (?♂) Mallard
- 38 (?♂) + 4 (1 brood) Tufted Duck
- 5 + 4 (3 broods) Moorhens
- 4 juvenile Coots (3 broods)
- 33 Black-headed Gulls: 1 juvenile

On various lamp poles
- 1 possible Grey Ermine (Yponomeuta sedella)
- 1 Grouse Wing (Mystacides longicornis) [caddis fly]

Proud mum Tufted Duck with two of her four surviving ducklings. These hyperactive bundles of fluff were continually diving and racing about and it seemed quite impossible to get four on the water together.

I am sure this is one of the Ermine moths of the Yponomeuta group. Identification to species level is hard and sometime not even possible with examination of the genitalia. There are several features here that point to it being a Grey Ermine (Y. sedella): the two lines of spots on each wing; and that these end well-before the wing tip which is rather smudgy. It does not look very 'grey' but that may be an effect of the flash I needed to reach this moth at least 12 feet up a lamp pole. It certainly does not look 'white' as do others in this group. It was its rather different hue that alerted me that it might not be a grass moth as I first assumed.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day
2020
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here

2016
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here

2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Report Here

2011
Priorslee Lake
1 Kingfisher
Female Ruddy Duck
(John Isherwood)

2009
Priorslee Lake
1 Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
A drake Ruddy Duck
(Ed Wilson)