6 Sep 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

15.0°C > 18.0°C: Patchy low cloud gave way to broken mainly high cloud. Calm. Very hazy with moderate visibility.

Sunrise: 06:28 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:45 – 09:05

(197th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- For a short while all four Mute Swan cygnets were together with their parents. Later what I assume to be 'the fourth' was again on its own.
- Another Common Sandpiper record. Am I overlooking it on those days between sighting?
- Many fewer gulls than yesterday. The early roost dispersal saw four Herring and 64 Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the water with 97 unidentified 'large gulls' flying over. It is possible that some of the gulls that flew over turned back and were also part of the early arrival.
- The later large gull arrival was just four Herring and 17 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Overhead:
- no geese, unusually
- 2 (1♂) Mallard
- 275 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 9 Black-headed Gulls
- 19 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 97 large gulls
- 3 Cormorants: together
- 1 Jackdaw
- 2 Rooks
- 12 Starlings: together

Hirundines etc., noted:
- 1 Barn Swallow circled the water at c.07:45

Warblers noted:
- 11 Chiffchaffs: three in song
- 3 Blackcaps

Count from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 12 (9♂) Mallard
- 2 (2♂) Tufted Duck: one arrived and both left together
- 6 Moorhens again
- 59 Coots
- 1 Little Grebe
- 10 + 5 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes
- 1 Common Sandpiper
- 47 Black-headed Gulls
- 8 Herring Gulls
- *81 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

Moths at the lamps pre-dawn:
- *1 probable Grey Poplar Bell (Epinotia nisella)
- 1 Blood-vein (Timandra comae)
- 1 Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)
- 1 Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria)
- 1 Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis)

Other things
- 4 presumed Common Green Lacewings (Chrysoperla carnea)
- 3 Plumed midges (Chironomus plumosus)
- 1 Garden Spider (Arameus diadematus)
- 2 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- *1 Tetragnatha sp. 'stretch spider'
- *1 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman

In the sailing club shelter pre-dawn:

Spiders:
- Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- Walnut Orb Weaver (Nuctenea umbratica)
- *Noble False Widow (Steatoda nobilis)

also
- probable White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger) and probably dead!

Noted later: not too much
- Green-veined White butterfly (Pieris napi)
- Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
- Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
- White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

An identification view of a juvenile / first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. The only pale on the primaries and secondaries is the inner webs of the spread inner primaries. On Yellow-legged and Herring Gulls the inner primaries are all paler. Also the coverts to the primaries and secondaries are all dark resulting in two rows of obvious dark feathers which the other two species never show. The tail is solidly dark apart from small white tips (that will soon wear off) and the outer edge of the outer tail feather. The upper tail tends to look barred on this species and blotchy on a similarly-aged Herring Gull.

Here is a second-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. While the back is adult-toned note the flight-feathers are grey-looking and the folded wing-tips are solidly black and lacking the white spots of older-aged birds. The bill lacks any yellow. The amount of streaking on the hind-neck acquired in winter plumages is very variable on this species. From the size of the bill I would think this is a male - they average larger than females. [The head of an adult winter Black-headed Gull is in the bottom right. Only adults have the black-tipped bill otherwise red-toned. On first-winters it is pinkish-orange]

Always smart and alert-looking. A Grey Wagtail. The tail of this species is longer than that of any other UK wagtail.

Not too sure what is going on here. The spider is a Noble False Widow (Steatoda nobilis). In its jaws is I think a White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger). Several days ago I saw an 'empty coiled cylinder' in the same area and I now suspect that too was a millipede that the spider had eaten in innards of.

One of the Tetragnatha sp. 'stretch spiders' characterised by the very long front pair of legs.

Here rapidly sidling up to a micro-moth that wisely flew off though that prevented me getting a better photo of the it. I think it is a Grey Poplar Bell (Epinotia nisella) though it is at least ten years since I saw one. I will try and get it confirmed.

A seven-legged Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman: not so easy to see that leg pairs two and four are much longer.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata)
- 1 Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata)
- *1 Small Phoenix (Ecliptopera silaceata)
- 1 Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria)
- 2 Square-spot Rustics (Xestia xanthographa)

and:
- 5 Common Green Lacewings (Chrysoperia carnea)
- 3 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- 1 Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)
- 1 Garden Spider (Arameus diadematus)
- various other unidentified spiders
- 2 Leiobunum rotundum harvestman

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel was yet another Flame Carpet moth (Xanthorhoe designata). Until this year I had logged this species only intermittently. I have yet to tally the numbers for 2021 but I must be in to double figures.

And yet another Small Phoenix moth (Ecliptopera silaceata). This is perhaps a female as it is not resting with the tip of its abdomen raised. There is a slightly larger Phoenix moth (Eulithis prunata) which is somewhat similar and best separated by the dark central area of the wing being proportionally much narrower.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:10 – 10:00

(177th visit of the year)

Another 'winter season' later time visit.

Bird notes:
- I was not in a position to make an accurate count of the geese as they flew back and many of them soon disappeared inside the island.
- Not sure where all the Mallard were this morning. A group was underneath overhanging trees at the top end. They flew out when bread appeared. Other than this just two visible asleep inside the island.
- Two Grey Wagtails seen.

Birds noted flying over here:

None

Hirundines etc., noted:

None

Warblers noted:
- 4 Chiffchaffs: one in song

On /around the water:
- >130 Canada Geese: >110 of these arrived
- >9 Greylag Geese: four? of these arrived
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 2 (1♂) Shoveler
- 13 (?♂) Mallard only
- 33 (?♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens only
- 26 Coots
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 28 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

On various lamp poles:

Moths:

None

and

- 1 Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)

- 2 Dicranopalpus sp. harvestmen

Other things:
- 2 Speckled Wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria)
- 1 Grey Squirrel

(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

2011

Priorslee Lake

Common Sandpiper

(John Isherwood)

Nedge Hill

2 Yellow Wagtails

(John Isherwood)

2006

Priorslee Lake

Spotted Flycatcher

(Ed Wilson)