5.0°C: Low cloud; occasional light drizzle. Light E wind. Moderate visibility.
Sunrise: 08:23 GMT
* = a photo today
I did not bother to try and visit yesterday with mist all day. No mist this morning. Just very low cloud and again dull – well it is almost the shortest day.
Priorslee Lake: 06:45 – 09:15
(293rd visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- Mute Swans gone again
- At least 300 gulls, almost all Black-headed Gulls, were already present at 07:15 – perhaps they roosted here? No more Black-headed Gulls arrived. The usual passage of large gulls over with some stopping off for a drink and bathe.
- Three Song Thrushes singing, though all doing so rather quietly.
- No Pied Wagtails heard on roost dispersal. The usual two birds around Paul's 'Classic Catering' van looking for scraps.
Overhead:
With very low cloud and mist only birds passing directly overhead could be seen.
- 1 Feral Pigeon again
- 12 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Herring Gull
- 78 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- c.180 Jackdaws
- no Pied Wagtails heard
- 1 Chaffinch
Birds leaving roost sites around the lake:
- 18 Redwings
Warblers noted:
None
Counts from the lake area:
- no Mute Swan
- 3 (2♂) Gadwall
- 9 (6♂) Mallard
- 46 (26♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens again
- 51 Coots
- 1 Little Grebe: heard only – perhaps more?
- c.300 Black-headed Gulls
- 21 Herring Gulls
- 51 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
Around the street lamps pre-dawn in cool and damp conditions:
Moths:
- 2 male and 1 female Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)
- 1 male Mottled Umber (Erranis defoliaria) still
Counts from the lake area:
- no Mute Swan
- 3 (2♂) Gadwall
- 9 (6♂) Mallard
- 46 (26♂) Tufted Duck
- 3 Moorhens again
- 51 Coots
- 1 Little Grebe: heard only – perhaps more?
- c.300 Black-headed Gulls
- 21 Herring Gulls
- 51 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Cormorant: arrived
Around the street lamps pre-dawn in cool and damp conditions:
Moths:
- 2 male and 1 female Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)
- 1 male Mottled Umber (Erranis defoliaria) still
Also:
- *1 probable 'fungus gnat'
- 2 'winter gnats / midges'
- *2 presumed aphids
Spiders and harvestmen:
- *1 unidentifiable 'money spider'
- 1 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman
Noted later:
It is all insects today – too dull for anything else. Another chance to see a female Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata) and note her tiny vestigial wings. She has the smallest remnant wings of any of the 'winter-occurring' moth species. The males were all several lamp poles away!
- *1 probable 'fungus gnat'
- 2 'winter gnats / midges'
- *2 presumed aphids
Spiders and harvestmen:
- *1 unidentifiable 'money spider'
- 1 Paroligolophus agrestis harvestman
Noted later:
Nothing
This is a different specimen of what might, or might not, be the same species of what might, or might not, be an aphid. Most cameras are not suitable for taking pictures of such small insects. Such insects need capture and taking to a fixed microscope / camera set-up with a proper lighting rig to reveal the details.
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash: 09:20 – 10:05
(Ed Wilson)
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The Flash: 09:20 – 10:05
(268th visit of the year)
Bird notes:
- The / a drake Teal was lurking underneath overhanging tree roots.
- Drake Pochard again: I assume I overlooked it on Saturday.
- The Song Thrush was singing again with perhaps a different bird seen.
- At least one Siskin in Alders along the E side.
Birds noted flying over here:
None
On /around the water:
All numbers again potentially affected by light levels
- 9 Canada Geese again
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 41 (26♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Teal
- 1 (1♂) Pochard
- 41 (18♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 (3♂) Goosander
- 10 Moorhens
- 22 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 32 Black-headed Gulls
- no Grey Herons
On / around different street lamps:
- 1 male Mottled Umber moth (Erranis defoliaria)
- *1 presumed aphid sp.
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus-type harvestman
Around the Ivy or elsewhere:
- 9 Canada Geese again
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 41 (26♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) Teal
- 1 (1♂) Pochard
- 41 (18♂) Tufted Duck
- 9 (3♂) Goosander
- 10 Moorhens
- 22 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 32 Black-headed Gulls
- no Grey Herons
On / around different street lamps:
- 1 male Mottled Umber moth (Erranis defoliaria)
- *1 presumed aphid sp.
- 1 Dicranopalpus ramosus-type harvestman
Around the Ivy or elsewhere:
Nothing
Yet another probable aphid. Several aphid species have what look like tubes or hairs protruding from the rear of the abdomen. It was daylight when I took this photo which is probably part of the reason this specimen looks different from the two I noted at the lake.
(Ed Wilson)
(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
5 Gadwall
2 Teal
6 Pochard
94 Tufted Ducks
10 Goosander
1 Water Rail
229 Coots
2 Fieldfare
85 Redwings
(Ed Wilson)
The Flash
1 Little Grebe
151 Tufted Ducks
1 Greater Scaup
2 Goosanders
(Ed Wilson)
Trench Lock Pool
1 Little Grebe
1 Shoveler
1 Pochard
95 Tufted Duck
133 Coots
54 Black-headed Gulls
4 Lesser Black-backed Gull
1 Yellow-legged Gull
7 Herring Gulls
(Ed Wilson)
Horsehay Pool
Iceland Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
(Tom Lowe)
2010
Priorslee Lake
1 Mallard x Pintail
c.200 Black-headed Gulls
1 Common Gull
110 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
6 Herring Gulls
1 Redwing
4 Fieldfare
5 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)
2009
Priorslee Lake
Little Grebe
Black-necked Grebe
Water Rail
>3000 Black-headed Gulls
28 Swans
2 Gadwall
52 Pochard
112 Tufted Ducks
287 Coots
10 Redwings
199 Jackdaws
6 Siskins
(Ed Wilson)
2006
Priorslee Lake
31 Pochard
33 Tufted Ducks
c.400 Black-headed Gulls
c.2800 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
31 Herring Gulls
1 Yellow-legged Gull
18 Pied Wagtails
2 Redpolls
7 Reed Buntings
(Martin Adlam)