5 Jul 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 15.0°C: Cloudy with light rain showers. Clearing occasionally and more so after 08:45. Calm start with light /moderate SW wind developing. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 04:53 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:15 – 05:30 // 06:35 – 09:45

(137th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Only the duck Mallard with the brood of two located.
- The first Swift was in the rain at 04:45 soon increasing to seven. Small numbers throughout, maximum 10.
- A few of the juvenile Coots from early broods are almost indistinguishable from adults and may be incorrectly ascribed in the log.
- My fourth Hobby of the year here flew S over the football field at 09:40 causing much alarm amongst the Barn Swallows.
- The second, very noisy Sedge Warbler was singing away again. Two others were glimpsed in the original location: no song was heard from these.
- A very strange date for a fly-over Siskin but I recall there was one in July last year.

Overhead:
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 2 Stock Doves
- 37 Wood Pigeons
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: ages not all determined
- 6 Cormorants: duo and quartet
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 1 Hobby
- 6 Jackdaws again
- 12 Rooks
- 6 Starlings
- 1 Siskin

Hirundines etc., noted:
- >10 Swifts
- 6 Barn Swallows
- 1 House Martin

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

Count from the lake area
- 2 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 12 (11♂) + 2 (1 brood) Mallard
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck: departed
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 39 + 9 (5 broods) Coots
- 8 Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Grey Heron

On / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *2 Poplar Cosmet (Batrachedra praeangusta)
- *1 Plum Tortrix (Hedya pruniana)
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

Other things:
- 1 unidentified caddis fly
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides cornutus)
- *2 Stretch spider (Tetragnatha sp.)
- 1 Opilio canestrinii harvestman

Noted later today: I was struggling to find anything until the sun briefly came out at c.08:45.

Butterflies:
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
- *Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina): first of year here

Moths:
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- Shaded Broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata)

Bees:
-*Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum).
- *Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- *Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- Tiger Hoverfly (Helophilus pendulus)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- *Large Narcissus Fly (Merodon equestris)
- *Bumblebee Plume-horned Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans)
- *Pellucid Fly / Pied Plumehorn (Volucella pellucens)

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

Beetles:
- *Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) pupa

Other Flies:
- Black Snipefly (Chrysopilus cristatus)
- *Semaphore fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus)
- *probable Dolichopus popularis
- *probable Phaonia pallida

Spiders:
- *Cucumber Green Orb Spider sp. (Araniella cucurbitina?)
- *spider sp.

Flowers new for the year:
- *Common Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)

My first Meadow Brown butterfly (Maniola jurtina) of the year. This one warming up as the sun came out. Later this month the slightly smaller and not dissimilar Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) will be flying. One way to be sure of a correct identification is to look at the white inside the black circle on the forewing. Meadow Brown has one white spot, the Gatekeeper two.

Not a moth I have seen before. It seems to be a Poplar Cosmet (Batrachedra praeangusta) though I will get my identification checked. Noted in my Field Guide as common wherever Poplars grow and there are certainly plenty in the area. I saw one of these moths on a lamp pole pre-dawn and this is a much better photo of one of two seen on a different lamp pole later. My moth species #42 in 2021 at this site.

A somewhat easier micro moth to identify – and indeed my second this year. It is a Plum Tortrix (Hedya pruniana).

A Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum).

Meanwhile this is a Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)

A thin buff line between the black abdomen and the white tail means this is a Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris).

No mistaking this as a Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax). Only the males have this obviously tapered appearance. Note the hairy eyes, present in many hoverflies but not easy to see.

This is one of several hoverflies that resemble bumblebees. This is a Large Narcissus Fly (Merodon equestris), a very variable species with a number of forms.

Another species – this is a Bumblebee Plume-horned Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans). Not quite enough resolution to see plumed antennae.

And another – Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens), also known as Pied Plumehorn.

This is a female Semaphore fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus) and therefore lacks the white wing-tips shown by the males. This is the first time I have seen 'under the wings' to note a banded abdomen. It is surrounded by grass seeds.

A very similar-looking fly but note the bristles on the middle leg. I think that makes it Dolichopus popularis.

This is most likely a Phaonia pallida fly – as ever there are other species that are very similar.

It's a jungle out there! A Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) meets an early end with the spider (to be identified).

A slightly better(?) view of the spider!

This critter is a pupa of a Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis). The usual grubby fingernail of yours truly is a bonus.

The underside view of one of the two Cucumber Green Orb Spiders (possibly Araniella cucurbitina). Separation is best from above as both have the red spot on the underside. The spider has spun a web just above the leaf and is sitting waiting for prey. A few strands of the web are visible if you look hard.

Rarely seen in the open like this is a Stretch spider (Tetragnatha sp.). It was on the lamp pole pre-dawn and stayed until after the sun came out.

 And here enlarged as much as I dare to show the eight eyes.

I recorded Common Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) along Woodhouse Lane some six weeks ago but this is the first time I have seen it in my lake recording area. Whether it survives depends upon whether the area on the Ricoh-side of Priorslee Avenue stays un-mown. I am not sure whether the Council or Ricoh are responsible for it. It was last mown when all the Dandelions were out in early May. Long may it stay un-mown.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- A Chiffchaff back singing intermittently by the lower pool.

On a lamp post:
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer moth (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 05:35 – 06:30

(122nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Yesterday's brood of eight Mallard ducklings was probably the group of just five noted this morning. Another brood of just two ducklings elsewhere. Otherwise I struggled to find anything like the usual number of adult Mallard.
- Most of the Moorhens seemed to be hiding as well.
- The well-grown juvenile Coot was still by the nest next to one of the bridges; the well-grown juvenile was by the island; a more recent juvenile was also by the island.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 8 Feral Pigeons: three groups

Hirundines etc., noted:
- c.16 Swifts

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

On /around the water:
- 128 Canada Geese
- 46 Greylag Geese
- 1 Greylag x Canada Goose
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 20 (14♂) + 7 (2 broods) Mallard: broods of five and two
- 10 (9♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Moorhens
- 3 juvenile Coots (3 broods): see notes

Also noted, all on various lamp posts:
- 1 Common Nettle-tap moth (Anthophila fabriciana): my first here and first-ever on a lamp pole.
- *1 Cnephasia sp. micro moth
- 1 Grouse Wing (Mystacides longicornis) [caddis fly]
- 1 Owl-midge sp.
- 1 Stretch spider (Tetragnatha sp.)

Another micro moth I am not familiar with. As far as I can tell this is in the genus Cnephasia. If so then the specific identity requires examination of the genitalia and the knowledge of what to look for. I didn't and I haven't!

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day
2019
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2015
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2014
Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2012
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
Grasshopper Warbler singing
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
2 Green Sandpipers seen flying from the lake towards Priorslee Flash: these were my first here for c.10 years 
1 Common Sandpiper
House Sparrow unusual here
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Possible Crossbills close-by
(Ed Wilson)