23 Oct 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

8.0°C > 11.0°C: Cloudy with occasional breaks. Very light S wind, increasing moderate, even fresh later. Excellent visibility.

Sunrise: 07:49 BST

*= a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 06:10 – 09:25

(238th visit of the year)

A sighting that got away. At 09:10 a very large group (>150) of birds was seen a long, long way to the E. Some of these were forming in to 'V-shaped' lines suggesting Golden Plovers. Sadly rather too many were not. It could have been just a very distant group of Wood Pigeons. Otherwise there were fewer passage Wood Pigeons with only 355 noted. These were mainly in small groups until 08:50 when three large groups (>50 in each) flew over.

Other bird notes:
- At first light there were just two Mute Swan cygnets asleep with the adults. I later noted these as the cygnet with ring 7JVJ and the unringed bird. At 08:25 another cygnet flew in and after the adults set off with wings held in a threat pose they soon relaxed and I assume it was the missing cygnet returning from its adventure. I was unable to read its ring (which should have been 7JVI).
- Just a single drake Gadwall.
- All the early unidentified large gulls flew on after a few had circled and decided not to stop.
- A Cetti's Warbler was persistently calling from the base of the small copse at the S end of the dam at c.08:00. Later a single burst of song came from the S side reeds. I assume both these records come from the same bird that I noted on the previous two days.
- A Song Thrush was making a passable attempt at a song.

Overhead:
- 390+ Wood Pigeons: at least 355 of these in 12 groups heading S
- 47 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 29 unidentified large gulls
- 232 Jackdaws
- 3 Rooks only
- 5 Skylarks: together
- 20 Starlings: single and one group again
- 4 Redwings: two of these heard only pre-dawn
- 14 Pied Wagtails
- 7 Meadow Pipits
- 1 Chaffinch
- 1 Linnet
- 2 Siskins

Warblers noted:
- 1 Cetti's Warbler: see notes

Count from the lake area:
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Mute Swans: see notes
- 1 (1♂) Gadwall
- 11 (7♂) Mallard
- *54 (>20♂) Tufted Duck
- 8 Moorhens
- 49 Coots
- 1 Little Grebe
- 1 Great Crested Grebe
- >150 Black-headed Gulls
- *3 Herring Gulls
- *1 Yellow-legged Gull
- 36 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron: arrived and departed

At / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 3 November Moth agg. (Epirrita sp.).
- *1 Mottled Umber (Erranis defoliaria)
with:
- *1 Owl Midge Psychodidae sp.
- 1 Common European Earwig (Forficula dentata)
- 1 Clubiona species of spider
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus-type harvestman
- *1 male Leiobunum blackwalli harvestman
- 5 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestmen

Nothing noted later:

Thanks as ever to Nigel I can provide some updates to recent spider sightings:

- Back on 7th October I photographed a small spider trying to disappear down a mounting bolt hole on one of the street lights. The angle of the photo was not the best. Nigel suspects a Zygiella sp. of orb web spider but cannot be more specific.

- From yesterday he confirmed my provisional IDs as one Clubiona sp. and two Metellina sp., with no specific identification possible from photos. The other was almost certainly a larger, well-patterned member of the money spider group, most likely Neriene clathrata. This species is very common at this date. It makes a sheet web

Obviously a Tufted Duck but what age / sex? Some white feathers appearing in the flanks suggest this is a drake. The bill has no black on the tip so it is likely a first-winter.

A perky-looking drake Tufted Duck. This individual has much whiter flanks and an obvious black tip to its bill. For some reason it has almost no crest. My suggestion would be that this is also a first-winter bird, just one that is in some respects more advanced in becoming an adult drake.

I took a photo of what I thought were two first-winter Herring Gulls to show the variability. When I looked at the photo I realised that the variability is because they are different species. The bird on the left with the much whiter head and somewhat darker back is a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull. The bill is not long-enough to think about Caspian Gull.

A Mottled Umber moth (Erranis defoliaria). This is a male – the flightless females only have vestigial wings. The males are very variable in tone and markings, the ground-colour ranging from off-white to orange-brown. Most forms have a filled area between two wavy outer cross-lines. These forms usually show a black dot just ahead of that area. There are forms that lack any markings.

A reasonably good photo of yet another Owl Midge Psychodidae sp. A very poor photo of the spider, though I think the midge has nothing to worry about as the 'spider' looks like an exoskeleton of a spider that has burst out of its skin some while back.

This is a male Leiobunum blackwalli harvestman. While females of this genus are separable by the shape of the dark saddle on the abdomen this is not true of the unmarked males. These are separable by looking at the oculum surround (the eyes raised on the back). On male L. blackwalli harvestmen, as here, there is a pale surround – a 'white-wall tyre' effect.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:30 – 10:35

(215th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- A possible Chiffchaff seen flitting about, including perching momentarily on a guard rail alongside Derwent Drive before disappearing in to the island. Views too brief to be certain and no calls heard.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Wood Pigeon
- 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Siskins

Warblers noted? 
None. See notes

On /around the water:
- *27 Canada Geese
- 2 Greylag Geese
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- *23 (14♂) Mallard
- no Teal located
- 27 (7+♂) Tufted Duck
- *32 (1♂) Goosander
- 6 Moorhens again
- 24 Coots
- 2 + 3 (1 brood) Great Crested Grebes
- 61 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Grey Herons

On a lamp pole:
- *1 Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)
- 1 beetle sp. The photo I took of this from a great distance does not help identify it.
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus-type harvestman

Noted elsewhere:
- many Common Wasps (Paravespula vulgaris) on the Ivy flowers.
- Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

One word for it: startling! A drake Mallard in breeding finery catches the light.

If this is the same Goosander as yesterday moulting in to drake plumage then it is progressing very quickly. I suspect it is a different individual.

While several brownheads share a joke.

A size comparison between a Canada Goose and a Goosander. Apart from Common Shelduck (which is not really a duck anyway) only Eider ducks are larger than Goosanders. Eiders are most unlikely to be seen inland.

A somewhat unexpected find on one of the lamp poles was this Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius).

(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
9 Meadow Pipits
143 Fieldfare
8 Redwings
(Ed Wilson)

2009
Priorslee Lake
1 Yellow-legged Gull
2 Common Gull
6 Wigeon
(John Isherwood)

2006
Priorslee Lake
Female Blackcap
(John Isherwood)