18 Sep 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

13.0°C > 14.0°C: Initially a few patches of medium-level cloud; once again mist developed and then lifted in to low cloud, only clearing after 09:15. Calm again. Mostly good visibility, moderate for a while.

Sunrise: 06:48 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 05:15 – 09:05

(207th visit of the year)

Highlight was certainly one and possibly two Tawny Owls in the Ricoh Copse alongside Teece Drive opposite the academy. Today both the 'kvick' and 'whoooo' calls were heard, apparently from slightly different locations though it was not possible to be certain from my position. There is considerable disagreement in the literature over which sex makes which call. It now seems accepted that both sexes can make both calls.

Bird notes:
- I noted c.15 large ducks flying low over the fields to the E at 06:30. They were probably Mallard but were not the birds I have logged as at the lake: these stayed throughout.
- 'Best effort' with the Black-headed Gulls. I could count 52 on the football field: there were c.150 on the academy playing field in the mist and there could have been more.
- I counted 282 large gulls flying from the NW after 06:25. I would judge c.140 of these stopped for a wash and brush up.

Overhead:
- 6 Canada Geese: four outbound together; two inbound together
- 2 Greylag Geese: two singles outbound
- c.15 Mallard: see notes
- 4 (?) Tufted Duck: flew W together
- 2 Feral Pigeons: together
- 106 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Cormorant
- c.140 large gulls: see notes
- 5 Jackdaws

Warblers noted:
- 10 Chiffchaffs: three in song – as yesterday
- 1 Blackcap

Count from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 14 (10♂) Mallard
- 3 (?) Tufted Duck: departed
- 9 Moorhens
- 75 Coots
- 2 Little Grebes
- 8 + 5 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- >200 Black-headed Gulls
- 3 Herring Gulls: two (near) adults; one first-winter
- 20 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: various ages
- c.140 'large gulls': see notes
- 1 Grey Heron: departed
- 1 Cormorant: arrived and quickly departed

At / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

After yesterday's bumper haul on what seemed a similar night there was nothing much.

Moths:
- 1 Snout (Hypena proboscidalis)
!! four other moths 'got away', frightened off by either the torch or the camera's focus-assist beam. This happens very rarely: four on one morning ....!

Other things:
- 2 Plumed midges (Chironomus plumosus)
- 1 cranefly Limonia nubeculosa
- many White-lipped Snails (Cepaea hortensis)
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- 1 Dicranopalpus sp. harvestman

Very little noted later in dull conditions:
- Alder Leaf Beetles (Agelastica alni)
- Stretch spider (Tetragnatha sp.)
- many more White-lipped Snails (Cepaea hortensis)
- 3 Grey Squirrels

You might conclude this is a picture of Saturn with its ring. But it is Mars that is the red planet! Despite the mist and low cloud the sun peeked under the cloud as it rose.

And a few minutes later

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn:

Moths:

None again:

with:
- 1 Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- 1 presumed Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperia carnea)
- 1 caddis fly sp.
- 1 Garden Spider (Arameus diadematus)
- 3 Leiobunum rotundum/blackwalli harvestman
- plus the usual other unidentified spiders as usual

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:10 – 09:55

(187th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Notable increase in Tufted Duck numbers
- There seemed to be a third adult Great Crested Grebe – always hard to keep track of these submarines

Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Collared Doves
- 1 Jackdaw

Warblers noted:
- 6 Chiffchaffs: no song

On /around the water:
- 21 Canada Geese
- 20 Greylag Geese
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 27 (19♂) Mallard only
- *54 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 10 Moorhens
- 24 Coots
- 3 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Black-headed Gull again
- no Grey Heron

On the same lamp pole:
- 3 Dicranopalpus sp. harvestman

Elsewhere in brightening conditions:
- *Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)
- 7 Spot Ladybird (Coccinella 7-punctata)
- *Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
- 2 Grey Squirrels

Feedback on Wednesday's unidentified micro-moth courtesy of the Shropshire moth recorder is that it was probably Bryotropha terrella. The Norfolk Moths site names this as Cinerous Neb (NB: they spell it as shown and not 'cinereous'). As previously noted most macro moths do not have widely accepted vernacular names. I use those on the Norfolk site for convenience though always place the scientific name in brackets.

There were many more Tufted Ducks here this morning, almost all of them in one spread out group. Here are 17 of the 54 present. A few are obvious drakes with white flanks though most are rather drab and could be either sex still moulting.

A Speckled Wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria) sitting in an unusual posture and showing the hindwing, revealing 'Ringlet-like' circles.

A female Common Darter dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum). Males are red-bodied and even as immatures would show some reddish tones. As far as I can tell this is only my second record at this site after one in October 2019.

There have been several Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina) nymphs recently: here is an adult showing no sign of acquiring its brown winter colours. The brown wing-tips are always present.

(Ed Wilson)

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

Sightings from previous years without links are below

2007
Priorslee Lake
Common Gull
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)