16 Aug 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

13.0°C > 15.0°C: Mostly cloudy with a few brighter spells. Moderate WNW wind. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:53 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:25 – 06:15 // 07:10 – 09:30

(177th visit of the year)

One that got away. At 05:20 a medium / large bird flew silently over my head and in to the trees at the W end of the football field, Too quiet to be a Wood Pigeon and I think I would have heard the wings of a Carrion Crow. I wondered about Tawny Owl. Talking to one of the locals later they reported hearing a Tawny Owl calling the previous evening – the first for over a year. So was that what I saw?

Bird notes:
- The inbound geese arrived while I was at The Flash so none noted over here.
- Four Mute Swan cygnets again, though one was usually on its own. For part of the time the pen was with it while the cob and the other cygnets were elsewhere.
- At least 250 Wood Pigeons were put up from fields way the N and E of the lake. These were not the source of and are not included in the count of over-flying birds.
- The 'spare' adult Great Crested Grebe was still present. One parent with the third brood of juveniles was keeping in the reeds and I only had poor views, but could locate only a single juvenile.
- A trio of terns was calling high overhead at 07:55. They descended to the lake and stayed flying around for about five minutes – always at the far end for me. They then joined one of the many groups of passing Lesser Black-backed Gulls and seemed to leave high to the S. However what were presumably the same trio reappeared a few minutes later, still a long way off. They had departed before I could leg it to the other end. Separation of Common and Arctic Terns always requires good views and while the calls are different I do not have enough experience of Arctic Terns to separate them on call. Luckily the 'magic camera' was able to provide enough detail to confirm them as Common Terns.

Overhead:
- 93 Canada Geese: 92 outbound in 17 groups; solo inbound
- 35 Greylag Geese: all outbound in four groups
- 1 Feral Pigeon yet again
- 1 Stock Dove
- 129 Wood Pigeons: see also notes
- 1 Black-headed Gull again
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 112 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- no Jackdaws
- 1 Rook only

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 22 House Martins: high over c.06:10 only. Were these birds leaving? They all seem to have left the Newport area very early this year.

Warblers noted:
- 10 Chiffchaffs
- 2 Sedge Warblers
- 5 Reed Warblers
- 1 Blackcap again

Count from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 15 (?♂) Mallard
- 2 Moorhens
- 49 Coots: adults and immatures
- 7 + 4? (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes again
- 112 Black-headed Gulls: at least one juvenile
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: all (near) adults
- *3 Common Terns: see notes
- 2 Cormorants: arrived and departed separately
- 1 Grey Heron again

On / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Cinerous Neb (Bryotropha terrella)
- *4 Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- *2 Small Phoenix (Ecliptopera silaceata)

and
- 2 Plumed midges (Chironomus plumosus)
- 1 presumed Common or European Earwig (Forficula dentata): instar
- *2 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- 5 Dicranopalpus sp. harvestmen.
- 4 Leiobunum rotundum harvestmen

In the sailing club shelter pre-dawn:

Spiders:
- *1 Clubiona sp. - possibly C. brevipes or C. reclusa
- *1 Large House Spider-type: Eritigena group from E. duellica, E. atrica and E. saeva
- many Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- 1 Noble False Widow (Steatoda nobilis)

Other things:
- *1 Grouse Wing (Mystacides longicornis) [caddis fly]

Things seen later in dull conditions:

Moths:
- *Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner (Cameraria ohridella)

Bees / Wasps etc.:
- Bumblebee sp. in flight only
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *ichneumon-type

Hoverflies:
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)

Other flies:
- Owl midge (Psychodidae sp.)

Bugs:
- *probable Common Flower Bug (Anthocoris nemorum)
- Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina): instar
- At least one other species of plant bug

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Mammals:
- 7 Pipistrelle-type bats
- 1 Grey Squirrel again

At extreme range and enlarged as much as I dare it is possible to ID this as a Common Tern from the dark-tipped orange bill. An Arctic Tern would have a red bill even if post-breeding the tip were darker.

I'll keep trying and one day I will get a really good photo of this species – a Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner (Cameraria ohridella). It is less than 5mm long (very small in old money) and while my camera has a macro facility that provides nowhere near the depth of focus that a close-up lens would give.

The good thing today was that it was cloudy and the moths were not particularly active. The downside was that there was not much light.

 Last try today.

Not too many features to help ID this moth. I think it is a Cinerous Neb (Bryotropha terrella).

Probably my best photo of a Common Grass-veneer moth (Agriphila tristella) showing the dark outline above and below the white streak with that splitting in to fingers.

It has been a good year for Small Phoenix moths (Ecliptopera silaceata). It is only the males that rest with the tip of the abdomen curved up as shown here.

An ichneumon-type of wasp on Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris). This plant is just about the most abundant flower at the moment but only this particular one seems to be attracting insects.

If I get re-incarnated as an ichneumon I want long drooping antennae like this! No idea about species I am afraid. This is a male: a female with ovipositor may have provided more clues

In the sailing club shelter this Grouse Wing caddis fly (Mystacides longicornis) had managed to avoid all the spiders. About the only caddis fly I can identify.

Probably a Common Flower Bug (Anthocoris nemorum) though this species cannot be reliably separated from other Anthocoris species from photos.

This does not look quite right for an adult Common or European Earwig (Forficula dentata) so I think it must be an instar.

One of the Clubonia group of spiders.

A nice(?) plan view of a Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius).

Trying to hide away and making a reasonable job of it is this Large House Spider-type. To specifically ID it would require detailed examination - a job for someone else! One of the Eritigena group either E. duellica, E. atrica or E. saeva.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

Nothing of note

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

Nothing apart from a few spiders: the wind was blowing straight through

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:20 – 07:05 again

(162nd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- A group of at least 150 Canada Geese and 72 Greylag Geese arrived together at 06:55. As many were outbound c.06:00 they either did not feed for long or were different birds.
- *A Racing Pigeon, complete with rings, was wandering around the road at the Derwent Drive / Wordsworth Way junction

Birds noted flying over here:
- 6 Wood Pigeons again
- 1 Starling again

Hirundines etc., noted:

None

Warblers noted:
- 6 Chiffchaffs

On /around the water:
- c.167 Canada Geese
- 74 Greylag Geese
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 33 (?♂) Mallard
- *43 (?♂) + 4 (1 brood) Tufted Duck
- 4 + 3 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 8 juvenile Coots (4 broods)
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes still
- 16 Black-headed Gulls only: one juvenile

On various lamp poles:

No moths again
- 1 Caddis fly sp.
- 2 Dicranopalpus sp. harvestmen.

Two of the Tufted Ducklings enjoy a joke.

And then get down to the serious business of preening. The bird in the foreground illustrates that the wings are now developing well.

Meanwhile mum will not be teaching them to fly for a while – she needs to regrow her flight feathers.

Too dull to 'freeze the action' so I could read the rings. A lost Racing Pigeon. The number on the right legs seemed to end '..82264'; the left leg perhaps 'L 32...'?

(Ed Wilson)

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