20 Oct 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C: Heavy rain 06:45 – 09:00. Moderate S wind. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:44 BST

*= a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 06:10 – 09:20

(235th visit of the year)

I just had time to finish checking the lamp poles along the footpath at the W end when the rain started. Almost all the time was then spent in the sailing club shelter. My view from here was somewhat restricted and the noise from the rain on the corrugated roof made hearing birds difficult. I did not walk around and so some totals are necessarily likely to be understated.

Bird notes:
- The two Canada Geese were asleep with the Mute Swans early. The swans ignored them when they awoke and the Canada Geese flew off of their own volition
- Just two pairs of Gadwall seen.
- Two Teal flew in from the W at 08:20 during the rain and pitched in at the far end. Not sexed.
- 13 brownhead Goosanders flew in from the W at 08:05 made half a low circuit and left to the W.
- As the weather cleared many singles / small groups of Wood Pigeons appeared moving E / SE. They stayed low and did not form up in to larger groups suggesting they might be setting off on a journey.
- The first few large gulls started to arrive at 07:20: none of these settled on the water. Of course they did not need to bathe or drink – they were being power-showered and had only to open their bills to take a drink.
- Six Starlings apparently flew out of a N side roost.
- The four Redwings were birds heard in the dark. Possibly members of groups rather than singles?
- Two Siskins seen flying out of a W end Alder.
- Again as the weather cleared seven Reed Buntings flew out of the W end lake-side scrub.

Overhead:
- 17 Greylag Geese: outbound together
- 13 Goosanders: all brownheads
- 143 Wood Pigeons: see notes
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 49 unidentified large gulls: see notes
- 2 Cormorant: singles
- 293 Jackdaws
- no Rooks
- 4 Redwings: see notes
- 3 Pied Wagtails

Warbler noted:
- 1 Chiffchaff: calling intermittently again

Count from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese: departed
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 4 (2♂) Gadwall
- 6 (4♂) Mallard
- 1 (?♂) Teal: arrived
- 20 (>5♂) Tufted Duck: 2 of these flew in
- 5 Moorhens
- Coots not counted
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- >130 Black-headed Gulls
- 8 Herring Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull: first winter
- 39 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

At / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Common Plume (Emmelina monodactyla)
- 3 November Moth agg. (Epirrita sp.).
- *1 Snout (Hypena proboscidalis)
with:
- *several winter midges
- 2 Common Green Lacewings (Chrysoperia carnea)
- *1 Larinioides cornutus Orb-web spider
- 2 Bridge Orb-web Spiders (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- *1 spider to be identified
- *1 female Leiobunum rotundum harvestman
- 1 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman

Noted later:
- *1 Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)
- Grey Squirrel

A Common Plume moth (Emmelina monodactyla). As with all plume moths it sits with its wings tightly rolled up. An unusual 'winter' moth with a flight period between September and May, with some individuals also seen in mid-Summer.

Yet another Snout moth (Hypena proboscidalis). My previous sighting on the 7th October was a rather battered specimen and I assumed that meant the flight season was more or less over. This one looks quite fresh. My Field Guide suggests that from the Midlands northwards this species is single-brooded from June to August and only to the South is it multi-brooded, the second brood flying from mid-August to mid-October. Perhaps Global Warming is making this species multi-brooded further north.

I found myself sharing the sailing club shelter with this Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis). This is one of the form succinea, with 17 spots. It seems to be the most common form. I noted many larvae and pupae of this species during the early summer but have seen rather few adults. That said I have had several trying to find their way in to my house over the last few days.

A winter midge living dangerously as a Larinioides cornutus Orb-web spider approaches.

A spider that was running away from me and the rain. One for Nigel, the recorder, to help me with.

The almost rectangular dark area on the abdomen of this harvestman identifies it as female Leiobunum rotundum harvestman. A female L. blackwalli has a more T-shaped dark mark on the abdomen. The males are much harder to separate – it is the oculum (ring around the eye) that separates them. On L. rotundum it is black. On L. blackwalli the eyes look as if they are wearing white-wall tyres.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:25 – 10:10

(212th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The Teal had perhaps decamped to the lake (q.v.).
- A Little Grebe new in. As usual lurking in overhanging vegetation around the island.
- I only located two of the juvenile Great Crested Grebes. As seems to be the current way of things these two were with one of the adults; whilst the other two adults are usually together. If this adult is one of their parents then the other has perhaps found a new consort.
- Siskins heard: not sure whether they were flying over or were in the trees on the island again.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 6 Jackdaws

Warblers note:
- 1 Chiffchaff: calls heard

On /around the water:
- 21 Canada Geese
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 39 (24♂) Mallard
- no Teal
- 40 (15+♂) Tufted Duck
- 24 (0♂) Goosander
- 12 Moorhens
- 26 Coots
- 1 Little Grebe
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 13 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

On different lamp poles (despite all the rain):
- 2 November Moth agg. (Epirrita sp.).

Noted elsewhere:
- a few Common Wasps (Paravespula vulgaris) on the Ivy flowers.
- 4 more Shaggy Inkcap or Lawyer's Wig fungus (Coprinus comatus)

(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
Water Rail heard
>500 Black-headed Gulls
>530 migrating Wood Pigeons
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
65 Mute Swans
7 Wigeon
7 Herring Gulls
1 Yellow-legged Gull
47 Greylag Geese
56 Canada Geese
9 Pochard
19 Tufted Ducks
1 Water Rail
236 Coots
4 Buzzards
Chiffchaff
27 Starlings
(Ed Wilson)

2007
Priorslee Lake
Water Rail
Goldeneye
100 Fieldfare
(John Isherwood)