12.0°C: Cloudy with spells of rain. Moderate WSW wind. Good visibility, moderate at times.
[Sunrise: 04:54 BST]
* = a photo today
Priorslee Lake: 05:35 – 05:50 // 06:35 – 09:10
(138th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- A duck Mallard with the brood of three located: presumably this is the duck recently seen with five ducklings. No other duck Mallard seen.
- A drake Tufted Duck was asleep with the raft of post-breeding adult Coots.
- One very new brood of two juvenile Coots.
- At least five Common Sandpipers. It is possible that some of these arrived (from The Flash?) as I initially saw one, then two; then three and finally five in flight low across the water. The vegetation along the edge of the dam reduces the number of places this species can use and means they are more scattered: it also makes it more difficult to see them before they flush.
- Two adult and one juvenile Black-headed Gull were on the football field at 05:40; a juvenile was on the academy playing field at 06:45; an adult was briefly at the lake at 07:15.
- The second, very noisy Sedge Warbler was still singing away. None of he other birds was seen or heard but access through the soaking vegetation was limited (what a wimp!).
Overhead:
- 2 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 19 Wood Pigeons
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: ages not all determined
- no Jackdaws or Rooks
Hirundines etc., noted:
- >4 Swifts
- 2 Barn Swallows
- 3 House Martin
Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
Numbers affected by both my later arrival and the wet weather
- 8 (7) Chiffchaffs
- 1 (1) Sedge Warblers
- 5 (3) Reed Warblers
- 6 (5) Blackcaps
- no Garden Warblers
- 2 (2) Common Whitethroats again
Count from the lake area
- 2 + 5 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 11 (10♂) + 3 (1 brood) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Moorhens
- 34 + 11 (6 broods) Coots
- 6 Great Crested Grebes
- 5+ Common Sandpipers
- 5 Black-headed Gulls: three adults; two juveniles
- 1 Cormorant: briefly
On / around the street lamps: NB: post-dawn:
Moths:
- 2 Garden Grass-veneers (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- 2 Garden Grass-veneers (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
Other things:
- 2 unidentified caddis fly
- 1 unidentified mayfly sp.
Noted later:
Moths:
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- Barred Yellow (Cidaria fulvata)
- 2 unidentified caddis fly
- 1 unidentified mayfly sp.
Noted later:
Moths:
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)
- Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
- Barred Yellow (Cidaria fulvata)
Other things:
- unidentified pupa
Low light-levels do not make for good photos! The plumage of recently fledged juvenile Black-headed Gulls looks very strange, here alongside a Wood Pigeon. Apart from the black spot behind the eye much of the head and neck colour will quickly be lost as it moults. Both birds appear to be 'in clover'.
- unidentified pupa
The duck Mallard with her three surviving ducklings.
My third Mayfly of this year. Again no real idea what species it might be.
A pupa of something or other. Anyone?
(Ed Wilson)
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Between the lake and The Flash:
- An adult Moorhen with a juvenile glimpsed in the lower pool.
- No warblers seen or heard.
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 05:55 – 06:30
(123rd visit of the year)
A rather quick walk around in the rain but it is still a puzzle as to where many of the geese were. Surely there is not enough room for them to hide inside the island; and anyway I would have expected to hear any, usually noisy, Greylag Geese. If they have all finished their wing moult I usually see them trying out their new wings with short hops and I have not seen any of that this year.
Highlight was at least 12, perhaps 13 and possibly more Common Sandpipers. Not entirely unprecedented and I noted seven on 14th July last year. That was unprecedented.
Bird notes:
- All three adult Mute Swans were asleep inside the island and I could not see where the cygnets were.
- No Mallard ducklings seen and a low count of adult Mallard.
- The juvenile Moorhen seemed seemed to be from a different and older brood to that seen recently.
- I could not find the well-grown juvenile Coot next to one of the bridges; the well-grown juvenile was by the island; and three juveniles were asleep in the nest alongside Derwent Drive.
Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Jackdaw
Hirundines etc., noted:
None
Warblers noted (the number in brackets is singing birds):
- 4 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (3) Blackcaps
On /around the water:
- 59 Canada Geese
- 4 Greylag Geese
- no Greylag x Canada Goose
- 3 + ? (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 16 (11♂) Mallard
- 14 (10♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 4 juvenile Coots (2 broods): see notes
- 12+ Common Sandpipers
Also noted, all on various lamp posts:
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer moth (Chrysoteuchia culmella). My first around The Flash and species #14 this year.
- 4 (4) Chiffchaffs
- 3 (3) Blackcaps
On /around the water:
- 59 Canada Geese
- 4 Greylag Geese
- no Greylag x Canada Goose
- 3 + ? (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 16 (11♂) Mallard
- 14 (10♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhens
- 4 juvenile Coots (2 broods): see notes
- 12+ Common Sandpipers
Also noted, all on various lamp posts:
- 1 Garden Grass-veneer moth (Chrysoteuchia culmella). My first around The Flash and species #14 this year.
(Ed Wilson)
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On this day
2020