17 Nov 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

7.0°C > 8.0°C: Patchy clouds at multiple levels. Often bright but no sun. Light SSW wind. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 07:35 GMT

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 06:05 – 09:05

(263rd visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Seven quite small geese flew N far to the E at 07:05 – more Greylag-sized than Canada-sized, perhaps even smaller. Could they have been a more interesting species?
- The four Goosanders few, unusually, N.
- An adult winter Great Crested Grebe suddenly 'appeared' in the middle of the water. When I looked again it had gone! I did not see it fly in or out.
- The Cetti's Warbler sang once in the NE area.
- One over-flying Fieldfare gave me a problem until it called – it was tailless.
- A Mistle Thrush heard in full song from several different locations in the Ricoh copse.
- Many fewer roosting Starlings. The largest group of c.150 birds left from the small copse along the S side of the water.
- After yesterday's bumper number of Reed Buntings just three heard and none seen.

Overhead:
- 4 Canada Geese: inbound together
- 4 Greylag Geese: outbound together
- 7 geese N to E together
- 4 Goosanders: at least one drake
- 1 Stock Dove: in with a group of Wood Pigeons
- 226 Wood Pigeons: 189 of these in six groups heading high 'N'
- 4 Black-headed Gulls
- 67 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 6 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 86 Jackdaws
- 7 Starlings: two groups
- 12 Fieldfare: three groups
- 23 Redwings: four groups
- >30 Pied Wagtails heard only again
- 1 Lesser Redpoll
- 4 Siskins

Birds noted leaving roosts around the lake:
- c.220 Starlings: see notes

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

Counts from the lake area:
- 5 (3♂) Gadwall
- 14 (10♂) Mallard
- 35 (17♂) Tufted Duck
- 8 Moorhens
- 45 Coots
- >110 Black-headed Gulls
- 6 Herring Gulls
- 1 Yellow-legged Gull: adult
- 31 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 6 unidentified large gulls
- 1 Little Grebe
- 1 Great Crested Grebe: see notes

At / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 2 Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata). After a cross-check this is was moth species #122 here in 2021 when I noted the first example yesterday.

Spiders and Harvestman:
- 1 Neriene montana
- 4 Tetragnatha sp. Stretch spiders
- 1 Leiobunum rotundum/blackwalli harvestman
- 4 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestmen

Later
Nothing of note

The start of the sunrise.

Colouring up.

Reaching maximum colour.

A moulting immature Lesser Black-backed Gull. At all ages this species has a much more strongly marked underwing than Herring Gull.

One of the four Tetragnatha sp. stretch spiders on the lamps poles this morning. This example shows an almost speckled abdomen but this is perhaps dew? The top row of four eyes is clearly visible.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:10 – 09:55

(238th visit of the year)

Other things to do today so it was a quick canter round.

Bird notes:
- A second pair of Teal noted.
- Bumper number of Moorhens with 15 logged. Have some perhaps moved in from the pools between here and the main lake?
- I could only find two Great Crested Grebes. They both looked like first-year birds.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 3 Redwings

On /around the water:
- 32 Canada Geese
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 25 (15♂) Mallard
- 4 (2♂) Teal
- 43 (16♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 (0♂) Goosander
- 15 Moorhens
- 25 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 24 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 2 Grey Herons again

On various lamp poles:
- 1 Scarce Umber (Agriopis aurantiaria)
- 2 Mottled Umber moths (Erranis defoliaria): in the same places as yesterday.

On / around the Ivy:
- At least 2 Common Wasps (Paravespula vulgaris) again

Nothing else of note.

Two poor photos all the way across to the island showing the two pairs of Teal. In this photo from the left are duck, drake, duck and the other drake behind the adult winter Black-headed Gull.

Here from the left are the two ducks and then the two drakes. I could not persuade the Black-headed Gulls to move out of the way.

A very smart-looking adult winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. There is no hint of black on the bill. The extent of the dark streaking on the head is less than seen on many. A few seem never to show any streaking. I can find no explanation for the variability – age, sex, race etc.

I found this Scarce Umber (Agriopis aurantiaria) moth on one of the lamps. After cross-checking all this years moth records for The Flash this becomes species #49 for me. Hands up time. I showed a photo from the lake on 10 November which I noted as a Feathered Thorn – suggesting it was a female because the antennae were not feathered. It was in fact a Scarce Umber which does not have feathered antennae in either sex. Separation should have been easy-enough. On Scarce Umber there is a very horizontal cross-line showing at rest and the outer cross-line is kinked like its close-relation the Mottled Umber.

(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
1 Wigeon 
2 Gadwall 
2 Teal 
62 Tufted Duck 
214 Coots 
9 Lapwings over 
c.210 Black-headed Gulls
c.250 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
2 Herring Gulls
7 Fieldfare
10 Redwings 
2 Siskins
1 Redpoll
(Ed Wilson)

2011
Priorslee Lake
Caspian Gull
(Andy Latham)

2006
Priorslee Lake
1 Little Grebe
37 Pochard
55 Tufted Ducks
 >625 Black-headed Gulls
2245 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
2 Herring Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
424 Wood Pigeons
23 Blackbirds
374 Fieldfares
58 Redwings
379 Jackdaws
151 Rooks
4 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)