11 Aug 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 17.0°C: Mostly overcast until a clearance for a while after 08:30; cloud again by 09:15. Another calm start with light SE wind developing. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:44 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:30 – 06:05 // 07:00 – 09:45

(172nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Now down to three Mute Swan cygnets. I assume it is the wanderer that has gone missing.
- One adult and the young from the third pair of Great Crested Grebes did not make it out of the reeds while I was in eye-shot. The other adult was assiduously taking small fish in to the reeds.
- No Song Thrushes were tempted to sing today, leaving the dawn chorus in the hands of one Reed Bunting – and he was in a slightly different location this morning.

Overhead:
- 94 Canada Geese: 93 outbound in nine groups; singleton inbound.
- 49 Greylag Geese: 15 outbound as singles and three groups; 25 inbound in two groups
- 5 Feral Pigeons: single and quartet
- 3 Stock Doves: single and duo
- 71 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull: immature
- 17 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- no Jackdaws or Rooks again
- 3 Starlings: together

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 1 Barn Swallow: flew S

Warblers noted:
- 13 Chiffchaffs
- no Sedge Warblers
- 6 Reed Warbler
- 4 Blackcaps
- *3 Common Whitethroats

Count from the lake area:
- *2 + 3 only (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 13 (?♂) Mallard again: one departed
- 1 (♂) Tufted Duck: departed
- 4 Moorhen
- 53 Coots: adults and immatures
- 6 + >3 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- *123 Black-headed Gulls again: two juveniles
- 2 Cormorants: arrived separately; one departed
- *1 Grey Heron: departed

On / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 2 Common Grass-veneers (Agriphila tristella)
- 1 Small Fan-footed Wave (Idaea biselata)
- 1 Small Golden-rod Plume (Hellinsia osteadactylus)
NB: The Shropshire micro-moth recorder suggests that the plume moths that I provisionally identified as Hemp-Agrimony Plume (Adaina microdactyla) are Small Golden-rod Plume. Re-reading the literature this species is not entirely dependent upon Golden-rod (which I have not seen around the lake): it also used Common Ragwort which is plentiful.

and
- 1 Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- 1 mayfly sp. yet again
- 2 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- 2 Dicranopalpus sp. harvestmen.
- 2 Leiobunum rotundum harvestmen

In the sailing club shelter pre-dawn:
- *1 Marbled Piercer moth (Cydia splendana)
- 2 Leiobunum rotundum harvestmen
and the usual array of spiders, mainly Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)

Things seen later:

Butterflies:
- Large White (Pieris brassicae)
- Small White (Pieris rapae)
- *Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui): my first of the year here (or anywhere come to that)
- Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus)

Moths:
- *Straw Grass-veneer (Agriphila straminella)
- Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- *Pale Straw Pearl (Udea lutealis)

Bees / Wasps etc.:
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- *Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies:
- *Plain-faced Dronefly (Eristalis arbustorum)
- Stripe-faced Dronefly (Eristalis nemorum)
- Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
-* Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
- *Marsh Tiger (Helophilus hybridus)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) [Batman Hoverfly]
- *Lesser Hornet Hoverfly (Volucella inanis) [Wasp Plumehorn]
- Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens) [Pied Plumehorn]

Dragonfly:
- *Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea)

Other flies:
- Semaphore fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus)

Beetles:
- *A small black weevil just possibly Pirapion immune

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snails (Cepaea hortensis)

Mammals:
- 10 Pipistrelle-type bats
- 1 Grey Squirrel

Not a sunrise you would take much notice of!

The cob Mute Swan – this is he – spent some while away from the pen and the three surviving cygnets almost as if he were looking for the one that has gone missing since yesterday. I was no more successful than he was in determining what might have happened.

The Common Buzzard takes a break from sitting on lamp-posts in Teece Drive and takes to a roof. At least it cannot fall down the chimney.

 Leaving so soon? The Grey Heron has taken to flying off early for some reason.

A moulting Black-headed Gull. Very obvious in the wings but note too the head where the white winter plumage is growing and there is only a ring of black breeding plumage remaining.

May be about the last time I get to photograph Common Whitethroats here this year.

So we had better have another.

And another. A perky little bird.

This Green-veined White butterfly (Pieris napi) has seen better days. A female – black spots in both pairs of wings.

 In the sailing club shelter I found my second Marbled Piercer moth (Cydia splendana) of the year.

The best to date: a Pale Straw Pearl moth (Udea lutealis). This shows the unique wing markings better than any previous shot I have taken this year.

I think this is a Straw Grass-veneer (Agriphila straminella). The longitudinal marks are rather weaker than in Common Grass-veneer (A. tristella) where the pale streak is usually bordered by darker shading. Also the line of black dots at the wing-tip ahead of the metallic-looking fringe is a pointer to this species.

A delightfully scruffy Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum).

This bumblebee struck me as both rather small and 'thin on top' for a Common Carder Bee. The pale bands on the abdomen rule out Tree Bumblebee (B. hypnorum) and the long antennae rule out any thoughts of a bumblebee-type hoverfly. It has to be a rather worn worker Common Carder Bee. Another insect that has been feeding on the style of a Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)

Another wasp that I suspect might be a Dolichovespula sp., possibly a Saxon Wasp (D. saxonica). I was immediately struck by the narrow yellow bands and then by how 'hairy' it looked. Neither of these features seem to be a reliable separation from the Common Wasp. It seems the Saxon Wasp has a 'long face' - which is not totally useful as I do not make a habit of looking closely at wasps' faces.

Is this a long face? All I can say is that its behaviour, allowing a close approach and seemingly content to feed, does not chime with my experience of Common Wasps. I doubt I would have approached one of those so closely.

This rather tapered-looking hoverfly looked too small for a Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax), though small individuals do occur. In fact it is a Plain-faced Dronefly (E. arbustorum). The camera can capture the dark mark (stigma) where the wing veins meet close to the edge. A Tapered Dronefly has a wing 'cloud' - an ill-defined darker area.

Head-on to a male Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax). With just the centre portion of the front legs pale there is no possibility this is a Tapered Dronefly (E. pertinax).

I do not see this hoverfly too often: it is a Marsh Tiger (Helophilus hybridus). It looks 'more extensively yellow' than the more familiar Tiger Hoverfly (H. pendulus) yet the bottom tergite (segment) is grey rather than yellow.

I know I showed this species only yesterday but it is a great-looking hoverfly – a Lesser Hornet Hoverfly (Volucella inanis) or Wasp Plumehorn

I heard the wings of this Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea) as it flushed out of the vegetation and was able to see where it landed.

Just about fits in the photo – one wing-tip just clipped.

Yes well! This small weevil is shown here with just the centre of a Ragwort flower giving some idea how small it is. There are about 30 black weevils shown on the eakringbirds beetle gallery and no indication of what to look for to narrow down the choice. This species seems to have rather swollen femurs on all its legs and that might mean it is Pirapion immune. Then again..

(Ed Wilson

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- 1 Chiffchaff calling by the upper pool
- 1 Blackcap calling by the lower pool again

On lamp posts:
- 1 Common Grass-veneer moth (Agriphila tristella)
- 1 Dicranopalpus sp. harvestman.

(Ed Wilson

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- 1 Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)
A meagre haul!

(Ed Wilson

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The Flash: 06:10 – 07:00

(157th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Two duck Mallards each with a single duckling.
- I mentioned seeing relatively new juvenile Great Tits at the lake a little while ago: today there were two similarly rather yellow juvenile-plumaged birds here.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 9 Feral Pigeons: together
- 22 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc., noted:

None

Warblers noted:
- 2 Willow Warblers: neither singing
- 9 Chiffchaffs again with one in sporadic song

On /around the water:
- 6 Canada Geese
- 1 Greylag Geese
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 48 (?♂) + 2 (2 broods) Mallard
- 37 (?♂) + 4 (1 brood) Tufted Duck
- 3 + 4 (3 broods) Moorhens
- *9 juvenile Coots (5 broods)
- 2 + ? (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 3 Black-headed Gulls: no juveniles

On various lamp poles:
- 1 Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- 1 Grouse Wing (Mystacides longicornis) [caddis fly]
- 3 Dicranopalpus sp. harvestmen.

Also:
- 1 Grey Squirrel again – eating the Hazel nuts

Teenagers: you can never get them out of bed in the mornings. Two juvenile Coots that are well-able to swim about and have been doing so for over a week begging for breakfast in bed. All the other adult Coots that I have seen sitting on nests in the last week or so seem to have given up.

(Ed Wilson)

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On this day can be found via the links in the right-hand column.

Sightings without links can be found below

2011

Priorslee Lake

Green Sandpiper

Tree Pipit

(Ed Wilson)

2008

Priorslee Lake

Wheatear

(Ed Wilson)

2007

Priorslee Lake

Possible Wood Sandpiper

A female Peregrine

(Ed Wilson)