11 Oct 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

9.0°C > 11.0°C: Early broken medium-level cloud gave way to a mainly high overcast. Light / moderate W wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:28 BST

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 05:45 – 09:20

(227th visit of the year)

A very strange day. The large gulls were more than 10 minutes late arriving: there were no large parties of Jackdaws and Rooks and they passed in small numbers over a protracted period: and there was a small but significant passage of Wood Pigeons heading S. I usually expect the Wood Pigeon passage at the end of October and the first week of November. Checking last year's records I see I had over 150 birds on the 16 October as the start of Autumn passage (and then no more for six days).

Other bird notes:
- c.175 Black-headed Gulls were on the football field at 07:25 with another c.250 on the academy playing fields at the same time. The question arises: what do the gulls feed on? I cannot see anything when I look later.
- I counted 159 large gulls arriving later than normal with some arriving from the E as well as the usual N / NW arrivals.

Overhead:
- 2 Canada Geese: flew N together
- 1 (1♂) Mallard
- *319+ Wood Pigeons: 263+ of these in 13 passage groups passing S
- 3 Collared Doves: single and duo
- 2 Herring Gulls
- 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 8 Cormorant: group of six and a duo
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 142 Jackdaws
- 28 Rooks
- 1 Starling
- 1 Redwing
- 13 Pied Wagtails again: mostly roost dispersal
- 1 Greenfinch

Warblers noted:
None

Count from the lake area:
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans [an error in the total for yesterday: should have read 2 + 3(1) - same as today]
- 1 Greylag Goose: throughout
- 6 (4♂) Mallard
- 9 (>6♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- 76 Coots
- 1 Little Grebe
- *3 Great Crested Grebes
- c.425 Black-headed Gulls
- 6 Herring Gulls
- 15 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- c.160 large gulls only
- *1 Grey Heron

At / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 3 November Moth agg. (Epirrita sp.)
with:
- *1 Meta sp., orb-weaver spider, probably Metellina segmentata
- 1 Walnut Orb Weaver (Nuctenea umbratica)
- 1 Stretch spider (Tetragnatha sp.)
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestman
- 1 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman

Noted later:
- *glass snails mating.

A postscript to the reported Assassin bug of genus Coranus from last Tuesday. Keith, the recorder, has been worrying about how this flightless heath-loving bug could be up a lamp pole here and has tentatively re-identified it as the Tree Damsel Bug (Himacerus apterus).

As the medium-level cloud cleared away the sun tried to break through the high cloud – without much success.

A rather soggy-looking adult Great Crested Grebe.

Not very elegant. A Grey Heron prepares to land.

This group of c.100 Wood Pigeons passed (My count is 96). The biggest and also the highest group today.

Some while since I have seen one of these spiders – a Meta sp., orb-weaver spider, probably Metellina segmentata.

Two snails mating. Snails are hermaphrodites: that is they are both male and female. So any snail can mate with any other snail of the same species. Mating is a slow process – can take many hours (don't go there!). These are one of the glass snail species, though I am not able to say which,

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the Priorslee Avenue tunnel pre-dawn:

- nothing other than the usual midges and unidentified spiders

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Flash: 09:25 – 10:25

(205th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- I could not locate any Teal.
- I double, treble, and quadruple checked: there were only 16 Goosanders today. For the last two days there has been 17.
- Two Jays flew high SW.

Birds noted flying over here:
- *1 Common Buzzard
- 2 Jays
- 4 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook
- 1 Skylark
- 1 Pied Wagtail

Warblers noted:
- 1 Chiffchaff: no song

On /around the water:
- 27 Canada Geese
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 39 (23♂) Mallard
- *21 (6+♂) Tufted Duck
- 16 (0♂) Goosander
- 5 Moorhens
- 23 Coots
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 26 Black-headed Gulls
- *1 Herring Gull
- 1 Grey Heron

On the lamp poles:
Nothing at all on any of them

Noted elsewhere:
- *Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
- Common Wasp (Paravespula vulgaris)
- *White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

A drake Tufted Duck. A few white feathers beginning to appear in the flanks and the 'tuft' starting to grow.

At rather long range and up against the island was this third-winter Herring Gull – both black and red on the lower mandible and some brown feathers in the wing. Just about visible behind it is the Canada Goose with the deformed wings – so-called angel wing. The contrast between the pale back of the gull and the shady recess of the island prevented me showing it more clearly.

It's tough being a Common Buzzard. All the crow family want you out of their territory. A Magpie gives chase.

And calls up reinforcements.

Still a few of these Common Carder Bees (Bombus pascuorum) around on fine days. Not many flowers around for them, this one is at a White Dead-Nettle (Lamium album).

A very smart White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis). They may have three (as here), two, one or no spiral lines.

(Ed Wilson)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
14 Redwing
(Ed Wilson)

2010
Priorslee Lake
Common Gull, though it could have been Mew/Ring-billed Gull!
Yellow Legged Gull
(Mike Cooper/Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
2 Ruddy Ducks 
42 Redwing
(Ed Wilson)

2006
Priorslee Lake
4 Wigeon
1 Shoveler 
8 Pochard
64 Tufted Ducks
30 Robins
(Ed Wilson)