7 Sep 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

14.0°C > 19.0°C: Clear skies with local mist patches. Calm. Very hazy again with moderate visibility.

Sunrise: 06:30 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 04:50 – 06:45 // 07:40 – 09:25

(198th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The early roost dispersal saw four Herring and 101 Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the water with 89 unidentified 'large gulls' flying over.
- No significant later large gull arrival with an unusually high proportion of Herring Gulls among the rather few fly-overs.
- As I was walking away toward The Flash there was an unusual sighting of four Grey Herons flying around calling. I did not see any at the lake. Two of these were probably the birds later seen flying past The Flash.

Overhead:
- 12 Canada Geese: inbound together
- 61 Greylag Geese; 59 outbound in three concurrent groups; duo inbound
- 2 Stock Doves: together
- 116 Wood Pigeons
- 12 Herring Gulls
- 28 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 89 large gulls
- 4 Grey Herons: together
- 5 Cormorants: together
- 4 Jackdaws
- no Rooks

Hirundines etc., noted:
None

Warblers noted:
- 8 Chiffchaffs: two in song
- 3 Blackcaps again

Count from the lake area:
- 2 + 4 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 16 (10♂) Mallard
- 2 (?♂) Tufted Duck: flew off 06:25
- 6 Moorhens yet again
- 73 Coots
- 10 + 5 (3 broods) Great Crested Grebes still
- 48 Black-headed Gulls
- 7 Herring Gulls
- 109 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Moths at the lamps pre-dawn:
- 1 micro
- 1 Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria)

Other things
- 1 unidentified ichneumon sp.
- 1 Plumed midge (Chironomus plumosus)
- 1 'green midge'
- 1 presumed Grouse Wing caddis fly (Mystacides longicornis)
- 1 Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)
- 1 Common or European Earwig (Forficula dentata)
- 1 Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)
- 1 unidentified centipede – too fast to photo
- 3 Leiobunum rotundum harvestmen
- 1 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman

Noted later: not too much again though the weather was better. Definite feel of Autumn.

- 1 Small White (Pieris rapae)
- 3 Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
- 3 Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- >2 Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
- >10 Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax) (plus many other drone-flies of these two species)
- 2 Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
- very many craneflies, likely mostly Tipula paludosa
- 1 Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis)
- 1 Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)
- 1 Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
- many White-lipped Snails (Cepaea hortensis)
- 3 Grey Squirrels

An adult Great Crested Grebe carrying a fish and nicely reflected in the calm water.

I think it needs to improve the manners of its off-spring - "don't snatch!".

A quintet of Cormorants overhead. Only the fourth from the left seems to be black-enough on the belly to be a full adult.

A micro moth I have asked for help with. It looks not unlike a Dingy Dowd (Blastobasis adustella) but the pale 'V' mark at the top of the abdomen is the wrong way up.

I think this has to be a Grouse Wing caddis fly (Mystacides longicornis). It looks rather more ochre-coloured than usual and the marking are very faint. I think the antennae are long-enough for this species. I cannot track anything else it could be.

Not something I expected to find pre-dawn on a lamp-post. This is a Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) probably of the form conspicua though that does not normally show circular markings.

This seems to be a Leiobunum rotundum/blackwalli type harvestman though the markings on the abdomen don't quite fit either species too well. Nor can I explain the orange cast. I'll ask the spider-man.

(Ed Wilson)

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In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 1 Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata)
- 1 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)

and:
- 3 Common Green Lacewings (Chrysoperia carnea)
- 1 Plumed midge (Chironomus plumosus)
- >12 various unidentified gnats, midges and craneflies
- 1 grass bug, Stenodema laevigata
- 2 White-legged Snake Millipedes (Tachypodoiulus niger)
- 3 Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)
- 1 Garden Spider (Arameus diadematus)
- various other unidentified spiders
- 2 Leiobunum rotundum harvestman

Yes: another Flame Carpet moth (Xanthorhoe designata). This specimen has a wider 'flame' band which has two thin wavy black cross-lines.

One of many Plumed midges I am seeing at the moment. I am sure they cannot all be Chironomus plumosus even though that species is variable in colour and abdomen markings. This specimen seems too thin and elongated.

Another strange finding. The Shropshire bug man tells me it is Stenodema laevigata, one of the grass bugs. Quite what it was doing on a concrete wall is hard to say!

And a spider I do not recall seeing before.

(Ed Wilson)

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Between the lake and The Flash:

- 1 Blackcap calling from gardens near the upper pool.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 06:50 – 07:35

(178th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Higher number of Mallard but now the Tufted Duck have done a disappearing trick.
- The two Grey Herons overhead were likely two of the four seen over the lake a few minutes earlier.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 12 Wood Pigeons
- 11 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Grey Herons
- 2 Jackdaws

Hirundines etc., noted:
None

Warblers noted:
- 6 Chiffchaffs: two in song

On /around the water:
- 13 Canada Geese
- no Greylag Geese
- 2 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan: the other adult likely hiding inside the island
- 2 (1♂) Shoveler again
- 26 (?♂) Mallard
- 23 (?♂) Tufted Duck only
- 6 Moorhens
- 31 Coots
- 1 Great Crested Grebe only: others hiding?
- 38 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron again

On various lamp poles:
- 1 Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)
- 1 Dicranopalpus sp. harvestmen

(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
Little Grebe
3 Shoveler
Green Sandpiper
Tawny Owl
(Ed Wilson)

2012
Wrekin
Firecrest
(J Shutt)

2011
Priorslee Lake
Common Sandpiper
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Snipe
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Kingfisher
(Ed Wilson)