29 Sep 21

Priorslee Lake

8.0°C > 11.0°C: Shower clouds in the area but stayed dry and often sunny. Moderate W wind. Excellent visibility.

Sunrise: 07:07 BST

* = a photo today

With workmen coming no time to visit The Flash today.

Priorslee Lake: 05:30 – 08:55

(215th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Only four Great Crested Grebes, all adults, found. Two of these were displaying – a bit late for that guys! Another, with a fish, was disturbed from underneath the Wesley Brook footbridge.
- Black-headed Gulls were unusually late arriving, with the first some 25 minutes after the large gulls started to arrive.
- The large gulls were a particular challenge this morning with arrival over a protracted period. With the W wind birds were circling around to land in to the wind. It was not easy to decide which birds were flying on and which were landing. Also late arrivals were mingling with the early departures (to say nothing of the passing Jackdaws and Rooks on the same line). I am confident there were c.400 birds involved and that most settled on the water at least briefly.
- A Grey Heron flew low W at 06:40 – probably en route to The Flash.
- Three Jays were seen in loose formation flying high W at 08:40. As previously noted there is an invasion of this species in to the UK this Autumn. The usual birds were seen around the lake area.
- Five Skylarks seen overhead, also heading W – as they do every Autumn (there is never the return movement in Spring). They were hard to spot against the often clear blue skies and there were probably more birds involved.

Overhead:
- 1 Stock Dove
- 162 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- ? large gulls: see notes
- 1 Grey Heron
- 1 Common Buzzard again
- *3 Jays
- 109 Jackdaws
- 124 Rooks
- 5 Skylarks
- 7 Pied Wagtails
- 2 Meadow Pipits
[A cut and paste problem: please ignore yesterday's Meadow Pipit and Linnet totals!]

Warblers noted:
- 7 Chiffchaffs: one in song briefly
Several of these were in different locations to any of those seen or heard during the last week or so. Perhaps these were moving through?

Count from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 10 (6♂) Mallard only
- *1 (1♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 51 Coots
- 4 Great Crested Grebes: all adults
- c.300 Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Herring Gulls
- 28 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- c.400? 'large gulls': see notes
- 1 Cormorant: briefly
- 1 Grey Heron

At / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Notch-wing Button (Acleris emargana)

Other things:
- *1 cranefly sp.
- *1 Plumed midge (Chironomus plumosus)
- *1 Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperia carnea)
- *1 House Spider-type: Eratigena sp.
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- *1 Walnut Orb Weaver (Nuctenea umbratica)
- 1 Stretch spider (Tetragnatha sp.)
- 2 Dicranopalpus sp. harvestmen

Otherwise noted later:
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- *Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

One of the near-by showers prevented any decent sunrise. Later I captured this 'burning bush'.

The flanks of this Tufted Duck are just starting to go white indicating it is a drake. There is the merest hint of a tuft lying flat against the nape. The eye certainly looks golden but a real Goldeneye duck is even brighter (as well as having a very different head-shape).

Just a record shot of one of the trio of high-flying passing Jays. The very rounded wing-shape shows well (not much else!).

This year is providing a bumper number of Notch-wing Button moths (Acleris emargana) sightings. Its distinctive outline makes it one of the easier micro-moths to identify. The other markings are all detritus on the lamp pole.

Compare and contrast time. The shape only works with the males of the species – the females are very similarly shaped. This is a Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax). Note the yellow on the legs. [sorry about the reflection off the leaf]

And a Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax). No yellow on the legs, just pale hairs catching the sun. The leg colour distinction applies to both sexes

Would you believe a Plumed midge (Chironomus plumosus)? This specimen / species has remarkably bushy antennae.

A clear eye-level view of a Common Green Lacewing (Chrysoperia carnea).

A rather unusual outline from this resting cranefly. It is covered in dew so there is no chance of seeing any diagnostic marks. Cranefly sp. it stays.

One of the House Spider-type Eratigena sp. That reminds me: the Shropshire recorder tells me that the possible 'money spider' from Friday 24th was in fact a spiderling from this group. Also that I have previously mistyped the scientific name as Eritigena (I didn't do 'classics' at school!).

This is a Walnut Orb Weaver spider (Nuctenea umbratica). I see this species whenever I look in the sailing club shelter pre-dawn but I cannot recall having seen one on the lamps, as here.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn:

Moths:

None

With:
- 1 Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)
- 1 White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- plus various midges and the usual other unidentified spiders

(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

2010
Priorslee Lake
3 Pochard
2 Sparrowhawks
24 Swallows
Peregrine Falcon
(Ed Wilson)

2008
Priorslee Lake
Redwing
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
Siskin
105 Greenfinches
Swallow
House Martin
3 Chiffchaffs
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)