5 Aug 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 15.0°C: Started calm with broken medium level cloud. After 06:30 low cloud arrived with the SSE breeze eventually increasing moderate. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 05:35 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:20 – 06:05 // 07:05 – 09:30

(166th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- A different vantage point failed to enable me to see more Canada Geese – just more Greylag Geese.
- One of the passing Wood Pigeons was a strange almost melanistic bird: more or less a uniform dark grey with just a shadow of the white marks in the wing.
- With a bit more wind than recently a larger number of gulls passed through and overhead.
- Seven House Martins were over the E end of the lake c.08:15. I logged 10 over the W end at 09:15 – birds from the earlier group?
- I have previously noted the recent dearth of Long-tailed Tits: today I broke a 10-day duck with, most unusually, what seemed to be a single bird on its own.
- The last singing Reed Bunting decided to sing again today.

Overhead:
- >6 Canada Geese: 5 outbound together; one inbound; more heard
- 46 Greylag Geese: 21 outbound in four groups; 25 inbound in two groups
- 2 Stock Doves: duo
- 72 Wood Pigeons
- 6 Black-headed Gulls
- 36 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Jackdaw again
- 3 Rooks
- 2 Ravens: together

Hirundines etc., noted:
- >10 House Martins

Warblers noted:
- 9 Chiffchaffs
- 1 Sedge Warbler
- 5 Reed Warblers
- 7 Blackcaps
- 1 Common Whitethroat

Count from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 8 (?♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Tufted Duck: arrived and departed
- 1 + 1 (1 brood) Moorhen
- 48 Coots: adults and immatures again
- 6 + 3 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes again
- 62 Black-headed Gulls: at least one juvenile
- *2 Herring Gulls: adult and juvenile: 'gas and go'
- *18 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: mixed ages: mainly 'gas and go'
- 2 Cormorants: arrived and departed separately
- 2 Grey Herons: one chased the other away
- 1 Kingfisher

On / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Cinereous Neb (Bryotropha terrella)
- *1 Notch-wing Button (Acleris emargana)
- *4 Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella)
- *1 Little Grey (Eudonia lacustrata)
- *1 Mother of Pearl (Pleuroptya ruralis)
- 1 White Plume (Pterophorus pentadactyla)
- 1 Small Fan-footed Wave (Idaea biselata)
- 1 Single-dotted Wave (Idaea dimidiata)

and
- 2 Common Wasps (Paravespula vulgaris)
- 1 Cucumber Green Orb Spider sp. (Araniella cucurbitina?)
- 2 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- 1 female Leiobunum rotundum harvestman
- 1 harvestman

In the sailing club shelter pre-dawn:

Spiders:
- 1 Eritigena sp. spider: (E. duellica / E. atrica / E. saeva)
- *usual Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)

Other things seen later: not much in dull and windy conditions

Butterflies:
- Small White (Pieris rapae)

Moths:
- many grass moths, some *Straw Grass-veneers (Agriphila straminella)
- Common Marble (Celypha lacunana)

Bees / Wasps etc.:
- *Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies:
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- Dronefly sp (Eristalis). not specifically identified
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens) [Pied Plumehorn]

Other flies:
- *unidentified mayfly sp.
- *Phaonia pallida (rufous fly)

Bugs:
- *possible Common Flower Bug (Anthocoris nemorum)
- *tiny unidentified bug
- Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina): instar

Harvestman:
- *female Leiobunum rotundum harvestman

Molluscs:
- White-lipped Snails (Cepaea hortensis) as ever

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

 Red sky in the morning and all that. We got some wind later but none of the forecast heavy rain.

Goodie: gull time! Sadly rather distant but let us get stuck in. Centre-stage an obvious adult Herring Gull. In front of it an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull, perhaps a juvenile, looking quite dark. Behind the Herring Gull a juvenile Herring Gull, noticeably paler than the immature Lesser Black-backed Gull. The fourth gull is mostly hidden but the white-looking head and the dark back just visible suggest a second winter Lesser Black-backed Gull.

An immature Herring Gull in flight. Note that only the secondaries are dark (not the secondary coverts); and the inner primaries are paler. The rump above the dark tail band is spotted: this area would appear much whiter on a Lesser Black-backed Gull.

An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull with the seven outer-most primaries awaiting replacement with the inner primaries short as they re-grow.

A very scruffy immature Lesser Black-backed Gull with missing / re-growing primaries and secondaries. Note the wing appears all dark – not just the secondaries but also the coverts. Note too that some of the secondary coverts have been moulted exposing the white bases to the secondaries themselves.

A few weeks ago I remarked on seeing a Jay bouncing around a front garden in Teece Drive: this one, perhaps the same individual, was exploring the gutter in Teece Drive at 06:00.

Not a very exciting micro-moth: a Cinereous Neb (Bryotropha terrella).

Ignore the damaged left wing and concentrate on the shape of the outer edge of the right-hand wing. This is most likely a Notch-wing Button (Acleris emargana) though a very similar species has recently been identified amongst 'northern populations' with the separation characteristics (other than genitalia) yet to be thoroughly determined. I see this moth most years. The black background area is part of the figure '3', one digit in the lamp post's identification so it is small!

With a strong pale streak and only apparently two 'fingers' as it splits near the wing tip I had hopes this might not be a Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella). Not so: Pale-streak Grass-veneer (Agriphila selasella) would have the dark border to the streak below and not above as shown by this example. They are confusing!

And another Common Grass-veneer (Agriphila tristella). One feature more clearly visible here is that the pale streak characteristically narrows about one third the way along the wing.

Later on I was flushing dozens of pale-looking grass moths. Here is one. I think a Straw Grass-veneer (Agriphila straminella). I have ruled out Satin Grass-veneer (Crambus perlella) as that should have pale palps. Also this has the faint brown speckling often present on Straw G-v.

Another of those 'grey' moths, in this instance I think a rather worn Little Grey (Eudonia lacustrata).

At last: a Mother of Pearl moth (Pleuroptya ruralis) sitting in the open where I can photograph it!

Good to see one Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) despite the dull conditions.

This is proving a bumper year for mayflies. Pity I cannot identify them!

You can tell I was struggling this morning, resorting to taking photos of flies. This Phaonia pallida is reasonably distinctive.

I think this is likely to be a Common Flower Bug (Anthocoris nemorum), though all the web sites I use stress that identification of this group is difficult from photos. If you look carefully at its tail you will see..

... an even smaller bug – very tiny, now exposed as the bigger bug rapidly moves away. I thought at the time it was frass from the bug! No idea what it might be.

 I think this is a ventral view of a Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius).

This harvestman awaits identification.

An unusual find sitting horizontally on a leaf is this female Leiobunum rotundum harvestman. Almost all my harvestman sightings are of specimens of lamp poles.

(Ed Wilson

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Between the lake and The Flash:

I am occasionally hearing Moorhens from both pools. Unusually I have seen none on the grass beside either pool for many weeks.

On the lamps
- 1 Common Carpet moth (Epirrhoe alternata)

(Ed Wilson

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel:

- 1 very scruffy and probably unidentifiable pug moth

Spiders

Not recorded

(Ed Wilson

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The Flash: 06:10 – 07:00

(151st visit of the year)

I was shown a photo of three Terrapin sp. (Yellow-bellied Slider types) hauled out one recent afternoon. As last year one of them was significantly smaller than the other two. The literature says that while this species can survive well enough in the UK it is too cold for them to breed. This suggests that the smaller individual was released in to the water at a separate time from the long-standing duo.

Bird notes:
- I noted a Mallard with ducklings but they were too far away to count. When I arrived at the area where I had seen them many of the Mallard had moved to the island and I could not see any juveniles.
- The Tufted Duck with young was only seen paddling rapidly alongside and then behind the island. I only noted three ducklings in the brief view.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 4 Wood Pigeons

Hirundines etc., noted:

None

Warblers noted:
- 9 Chiffchaffs
- 1 Blackcap again

On /around the water:
- 17 Canada Geese
- 4 Greylag Geese again
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 46 (?♂) + ? (1 brood) Mallard: see notes
- 37 (?♂) + 3? (1 brood) Tufted Duck
- 2 + 2 (2 broods) Moorhens
- 10 juvenile Coots (5 broods)
- 1 Great Crested Grebe: the usual
- 11 Black-headed Gulls: no juveniles
- 1 Grey Heron

On various lamp poles:
- *2 Swallow Prominent moths (Pheosia emulate)
- *3 Dicranopalpus ramosus agg. harvestmen again
- 1 female Leiobunum rotundum harvestman

Also
- 1 Grey Squirrel

Two for the price of one. The harvestman is one of the Dicranopalpus ramosus agg. I was very pleased to see the Swallow Prominent moth (Pheosia tremula). This species is double-brooded. I did not see any of the first brood in late May this year. Late July is the usual date I see any second brood individuals. I only ever see this species on the two lamp poles in the wooded part of the NW area where there are plenty of the larval food-pants – poplars. There is a similar species Lesser Swallow Prominent (Pheosia gnoma) that is almost the same size and is best distinguished by it only having a single thick pale streak towards the wing-tip. As its larvae feed on birch I guess that is why I have never seen it.

And like #11 buses you wait ages and two come along together. This one was on the other lamp pole. It is not sitting at the best of angles but I have marked the way the closed wings come together to create the 'prominent'.

(Ed Wilson

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On this day

2020

Priorslee Lake
Today's Sightings Here

2019

Priorslee Lake

Today's Report Here

2017

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2015

Priorslee Lake

Today's Sightings Here

2012

Priorslee Lake

Common Sandpiper

(Ed Wilson)

2010

Priorslee Lake

A female Teal

(John Isherwood)

2009

Priorslee Lake

30 House Martins

(Ed Wilson)

2008

Priorslee Lake

Little Grebe

Common Sandpiper

(Ed Wilson)