23 Sep 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

14.0°C > 15.0°C: Early partly broken clouds gave way to yet more low level cloud cover. c.08:45 an unexpected spell of light drizzle then gave way to short-lived clear skies before more cloud developed. Moderate SW breeze. Very good visibility except during drizzle.

Sunrise: 06:57 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 05:20 – 09:10

(209th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Four of the Mallard were a puzzle. They had all-pale bills suggesting they were drakes but showed almost no sign of drake-like plumage. My photo suggests they are first year birds still to moult in to adult plumage.
- There seemed to both adult and juvenile Great Crested Grebes 'missing'. They can be hard to count, staying under water for long periods and moving some distance as they do. There always seemed to be very few.
- All the gulls were very 'jumpy' first thing, coming and going and flying about. It was hard to get a handle on how many, especially the Black-headed Gulls
- I noted c.190 large gulls flying from the NE/N/NW after 06:40. c.150 of these stopped for a wash and brush up.
- My first significant post-roost passage of Rooks. Still rather few Jackdaws.
- Two Reed Buntings left the W end roost site c.07:30 with another seen flying off c.08:40.

Overhead:
- 2 Feral Pigeons: together
- 159 Wood Pigeons
- 3 Collared Doves: singles
- 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- c.40 large gulls again: see notes
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 25 Jackdaws
- 77 Rooks
- 8 Starlings: together
- 6 Pied Wagtails

Warblers noted:
- 7 Chiffchaffs: two in song

Count from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 14 (10♂) Mallard
- 5 Moorhens
- 69 Coots
- 2 Little Grebes
- 5 + 3 (2 broods) Great Crested Grebes only
- c.275 Black-headed Gulls again
- 10 Herring Gulls: immatures
- *1 Yellow-legged Gull
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls: various ages
- c.150 'large gulls': see notes
- 1 Cormorant: arrived but stayed less than five minutes
- 1 Grey Heron: departed
- 1 Kingfisher

At / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 1 Common Plume (Emmelina monodactyla)
- *1 Red-green Carpet (Chloroclysta siterata)

Other things:
- 1 Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- 1 Plumed midge (Chironomus plumosus)
- 1 Garden Spider (Arameus diadematus)
- *1 spider, probably Metellina segmentata
- 1 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman

Noted later:

In dull and drizzly conditions:

- *Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
- 1 Pipistrelle-type bat – I searched all the usual places and saw just the one.
- 1 Grey Squirrel

The Harvest Moon just past full moon and a bit lopsided. When I arrived there were a few good breaks in the cloud that allowed this shot.

By the time the sun was scheduled to put in an appearance the cloud had spread almost all across the sky.

A trio of first-winter gulls. The bird in the middle shows an obvious whiter head and neck and is thus almost certainly a Yellow-legged Gull. I would like to have seen it in flight to be certain. The bird on the left is too dark to be anything other than a Lesser Black-backed Gull. I suspect the bird on the right is too, though the angle in unhelpful.

At the time I wrote 'Common Marbled Carpet (Dysstroma truncata)' in my log. Looking at the photo I noted that the reddish tones seemed to be in an unusual place and less extensive than on the rufous form of this species. Checking against photos on the web it is clear this is a Red-green Carpet (Chloroclysta siterata). Most of the colour, especially the green, had faded / worn away. The feature that clinched the ID for me was the white line running to the edge of the wing. On Common Marbled Carpet this would be more horizontal and intersect the wing edge closer to the wing-tip.

It stayed dull throughout my time at the lake and even began to drizzle. This Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) was about all I noted later and it was clinging grimly to the Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris).

This spider is probably Metellina segmentata. Even if I were prepared to examine its genitalia to make sure I would not know what to look for.

On the grass outside the academy I found this Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig fungus (Coprinus comatus)

More development! I looked at the map on the council's planning site and it seems these building are at the back of Holy Trinity Academy i.e. behind the academy as you stand at the entrance gate in Teece Drive and are built where the cycle sheds and one of the football pitches is situated. The link to the application is Here.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Beautiful Plume (Amblyptilia acanthadactyla)

with:
- *2 Garden Spiders (Arameus diadematus)
- 1 Leiobunum rotundum/blackwalli harvestman
- plus various midges and the usual other unidentified spiders as usual

This is a Beautiful Plume moth (Amblyptilia acanthadactyla). My first-ever!

The usual Garden Spider (Arameus diadematus) I see in the tunnel is much larger than this and I did not recognise it as such until I looked at the photo and saw the diagnostic white cross on the abdomen. This spider is especially common in Autumn, not least because as with all spiders they grow throughout their lives and as a result are now much more obvious.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:15 – 10:05

(189th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- A duck Teal tucked up by the island was my first here this year. Species #76 here this year for me.

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

Warblers noted:
- 4 Chiffchaffs: no song

On /around the water:
- 60 Canada Geese
- 3 Greylag Geese
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 33 (20♂) Mallard
- 22 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 10 Moorhens
- 26 Coots
- 3 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes still
- 4 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

On the lamp poles:

Nothing found on any of them

Elsewhere:
- *Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
- Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig fungus (Coprinus comatus)
- Grey Squirrel

These garden escape flowers opposite Priorslee Academy were attracting what few insects there were around. Buried in the left hand one (though you cannot tell) was a Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum). More obvious in the centre flower is a Honey Bee (Apis mellifera). This year there was no bees nest in any of the holes in the topped dead Ash tree that has been used by Nuthatches for several years.

(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

2013

Priorslee Lake

2 Whinchat

3 Snipe

1 Wigeon

(John Isherwood)

2011

Priorslee Lake

Common Sandpiper

(Ed Wilson)

2008

Priorslee Lake

Water Rail

(Ed Wilson)

2007

Priorslee Lake

Ruddy Duck

Kingfisher

696 Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martin

55 Meadow Pipit

(Ed Wilson)