4 Nov 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

4.0°C > 7.0°C: A few patches of cloud but mainly clear. Frost where sheltered from the moderate NW wind. Excellent visibility.

Sunrise: 07:11 GMT

* = a photo today

Another busy Autumn morning with more than 3400 Wood Pigeons over the lake. Passage had stopped by the time I left. Small movement of Redwings W, with eventually the first significant number of Fieldfare this Autumn over The Flash. The absence of this species to date has been the subject of much discussion on line. Seems they are now here!

Priorslee Lake: 05:45 – 09:30

(250th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- No Mute Swans.
- Now two Great Crested Grebes: the new arrival is a first-winter bird.
- Black-headed Gulls did their early arrival and 30 minutes of circling. Only about 150 involved. No larger number seen later though it is likely more birds were involved.
- I was probably not positioned in the best place to see any Starling roost departure. I would have expected to have heard their wings as they left and did not.
- The Cetti's Warbler was much more vocal today giving several bursts of song early and occasional calls and songs later.
- A large number of Pied Wagtails heard leaving a roost to the W / SW of the area. Most not seen and 'best effort' on flight calls. Likely many more.

Overhead:
- 7 Feral Pigeons: single and sextet
- 5 Stock Doves: trio; also two singles noted amongst the Wood Pigeons
- c.3500 Wood Pigeons: c.3425 of these in 63 migrant group
- 5 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull
- 51 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Sparrowhawk
- 2 Common Buzzards
- 198 Jackdaws
- 8 Rooks
- 1 Raven
- 3 Skylarks
- 81 Starlings: five groups
- 24 Fieldfare: together
- 74 Redwings: seven groups
- >35 Pied Wagtails
- 4 Chaffinches
- 2 Greenfinches
- 7 Siskins

Birds noted leaving roosts around the lake:

None

Warblers noted:
- 1 Cetti's Warbler again

Count from the lake area:
- no Mute Swans
- 7 (5♂) Mallard
- 5 (3♂) Gadwall: of these two pairs flew in together
- 21 (13♂) Tufted Duck
- 6 Moorhens
- 61 Coots
- no Little Grebes
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- c.150 Black-headed Gulls
- 5 Herring Gulls
- 39 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 11 unidentified large gulls
A note about yesterday's photo of a second winter Herring-type Gull. Thanks to Steve Nutall – Mr. Belvide – for his expertise from years of studying gulls in the roost there. He has confirmed my suspicion that it was a Yellow-legged Gull.

At / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- *1 Tortrix moth
with:
- 1 Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale)
- *lots of unknown tiny buglings?
- *1 Larinioides cornutus Orb-web spider
- *1 Neriene montana spider
- 1 Tetragnatha sp. Stretch spider
- 3 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestmen
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus/caudatus harvestman

Yesterday's froghopper has been confirmed as a Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius). The literature suggests that this species is not seen after September. Keith, the Shropshire recorder, suggests the absence of significant frosts has allowed it to survive thus far.

Noted later:
- 2 Grey Squirrels

 Not much cloud around this morning. What there was rather spoilt the sunrise.

With bright sunshine I hoped to get better photos of Siskins. Initially all I could find on the Alders was this hiding Goldfinch.

I then managed a sunny Goldfinch.

Eventually a Siskin turned up – upside down as usual. A female here.

 And a male with shadow across its head.

A late tortrix micro moth. I am getting its identity confirmed. If you look to the right there are many tiny buglings?

And here is the full set of the buglings. What they are I am unsure at the moment.

 You WILL learn to like spiders. This is Larinioides cornutus.

And this is Neriene montana. Note the black up the centre of the thorax and brown diagonal lines.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:35 – 10:35

(227th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- Number of Mallard down again. Where do they go?
- The first drake Pochard of the season.
- Fieldfare and Redwing overhead as highlighted.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Skylark again
- c.130 Fieldfare: one group
- 37 Redwing: two groups
- 1 Siskin

On /around the water:
- 21 Canada Geese yet again
- 1 Greylag Goose: arrived again
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swan
- 19 (12♂) Mallard only
- *1 (1♂) Pochard
- 20 (8♂) Tufted Duck
- *4 (0♂) Goosander
- 12 Moorhens
- 23 Coots
- 3 Great Crested Grebes again
- 23 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: first winter
- 2 Grey Herons

On the lamp poles:

Nothing on any of them

On the Ivy:
Very busy around the Ivy despite the ambient temperature being below 10°C. The Ivy was in full sun and sheltered from the wind:
- *2 Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
- >2 Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
- *>5 Tapered Drone Flies (Eristalis pertinax)
- *>30 Common Drone Flies (Eristalis tenax)
- 1 Syrphus sp. (S. ribesii / S. vitripennis)
- *Very many Common Wasps (Paravespula vulgaris)
- Even more flies.

The first drake Pochard of the season. Amazing red eye on drakes of this species.

And here having a preen.

How could I resist a sunny brownhead Goosander?

The local Common Buzzard circling overhead.

It is not infrequent to find Red Admiral butterflies (Vanessa atalanta) on the wing on fine days in late Autumn. Here is one.

A different individual – note the more extensive blue at the base of the right wing and the damage to the left wing.

A female Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax). Females do not have the obvious taper to the abdomen so to separate from Common Drone Fly (E. tenax) examine the legs, especially the front pair. Extensive yellow identifies it as a Tapered Drone Fly.

A side view of a different Tapered Drone Fly.

Not too easy to see but the legs are dark on this female hoverfly so it is a Common Drone Fly (E. tenax).

 There were many of these Common Wasps (Paravespula vulgaris), this one after the Ivy nectar.

(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

2011

Priorslee Lake

Yellow legged Gull

(John Isherwood)

2010

Priorslee Lake

16 Pochard

43 Tufted Duck

Yellow-legged Gull

Kingfisher

400+ Jackdaws

17 Fieldfare

7 Redwings

Siskins

(Ed Wilson)

The Flash

24 Pochard

81 Tufted Ducks

c.180 large gulls

5 Redwings here

(Ed Wilson)

Trench Lock Pool

Yellow-legged Gull

(Martin Grant)

2009

Priorslee Lake

17 Pochard

4 Wigeon

8 Tufted

42 Mute Swan

400+ Lesser Black-backed Gull

Yellow Legged Gull

(Mike Cooper)

Wrekin

Firecrest

2 Brambling

(Dave Barrow / Andy Latham)

2006

Priorslee Lake

23 Pochard

48 Tufted Ducks

1 Ruddy Duck

650+ Black-headed Gulls

1 Common Gull

134 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

450 Wood Pigeons

15 Pied Wagtails

18 Wrens

13 Dunnocks

25 Robins

18 Blackbirds

155 Fieldfares

5 Song Thrushes

85 Redwings

1 Mistle Thrush

14 Greenfinches

2 Siskins

4 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)