30 Dec 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

12.0°C > 13.0°C: Very mild. Mostly low cloud with early light drizzle. A few brighter spells to the E for a while. Calm start with light SE wind developing. Good visibility.

Sunrise: 08:22 GMT again

* = a photo today

A Parish Notice:

For those of you who read this on the internet at: http://friendsofpriorsleelake.blogspot.com/ you will

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Another very quiet morning. Very mild – warmer than on most of my early visits in June / July!

Priorslee Lake: 06:55 – 09:15

(301st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- 'Our' Mute Swans are back, complete with cygnets. I was told they were not seen yesterday morning at least. I saw them asleep at 07:10.
- Very low number of Tufted Ducks and seven of these seen flying off. Perhaps all the rain has washed mud in to the lake and covered the underwater vegetation upon which this species feeds?
- A pair of Goosanders flew E at 08:55 – an unusual direction for this species.
- The first 100+ Black-headed Gulls arrived at 07:40 taking a long while to settle which they eventually did, unusually in the extreme SW area near the concrete ramp and the boat piers. Numbers built up and up in a dense group which I think was at least 1000 strong.
- Only one Herring Gull joined the throng and there were no other large gulls on the water later with very few flying over – just like mid-summer!
- Three Song Thrushes were tempted in to song by the mild weather. Another heard calling at dawn.

Overhead:
- 2 (1♂) Goosanders
- 13 Wood Pigeons
- 1 Collared Dove
- 4 Herring Gulls
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 186 Jackdaws
- 1 Pied Wagtail
- 3 Siskins

Birds seen leaving roost sites around the lake:

None

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 + 3 (1) Mute Swans
- 8 (6♂) Mallard
- no Pochard
- 21 (?♂) > 14 (8♂) Tufted Duck: seven flew off
- 3 Moorhens
- 46 Coots
- >1000 Black-headed Gulls
- 1 Herring Gull
- no Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Around the lamps

A big haul in damp but mild weather:

Moths:
- 1 presumed male Northern Winter Moth (Operophtera fagata) [on size]
- 3 male Winter Moths (O. brumata)

Also:
- 2 different leafhoppers, perhaps Eupteryx urticae and *Ribautiana tenerrima
- 1 cranefly
- *1 plumed midge
- *several different small flies
- 1 barkfly
- *1 'green larvae'?
- *1 weevil sp., just possibly Trichosirocalus troglodytes

Spiders:
- 1 Bridge Orb-web Spider (Larinioides sclopetarius)
- *1 Xysticus cristatus crab spider
- 1 money spider sp.

A plumed midge but which species? The abdomen looks thinner than most specimens I see. Also the wings extend beyond the abdomen which is unusual. It will have to stay unidentified.

One of those tiny flies that walks about waving its wings. Here it is taking a break and waving its antennae.

If the last fly was tiny then this was less than half its size.

And another but this one with bulging red eyes.

This leafhopper may well be Ribautiana tenerrima which is associated with Bramble (Rubus fruticosus agg.) which is abundant in the area. There are many species of mainly green leafhopper and many are not always separable from photos.

A weevil sp. with its snout (rostrum) held bent.

A side-on view showing the antennae emerging from near the tip of the snout and with a 90° bend. There are many brown weevils and identification is not straightforward. One I have found on the web, Trichosirocalus troglodytes, overwinters as an adult and is associated with Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) which certainly grows in the area. But...

I am stumped with this. I suppose it has legs as it was several feet up a lamp pole, though it could just be a slime trail angling away from its rear end. Are they wings I can see perhaps developing in a translucent green larva. But a larva of what?

A spider I can identify without Nigel's help! This is a Xysticus cristatus crab spider.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:20 – 10:15

(277th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- The Tufted Duck number is 'best effort': they were moving about all the time.
- So where were all the Moorhens?
- Three Song Thrush noted singing and another non-singing bird seen.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Jackdaws

On /around the water:
- 7 Canada Geese
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 45 (28♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- no Teal
- 74 (34♂) Tufted Duck
- 4 (0♂) Goosander
- 4 Moorhens only
- 24 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 23 Black-headed Gulls again
- no Grey Heron

On the street lamps:

Nothing on any of them

Also noted:
- *Yellow Brain fungus (Tremella mesenterica).

I think this fungus I found growing on a dead branch is Yellow Brain (Tremella mesenterica). I am not too sure my brain looks like this.

A different fungus growing on an adjacent dead branch. I am unclear as to whether the accompanying green growth is lichen or one of the lichenous fungi.

(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

2 female Scaup

1 Yellow-legged Gull

3 Great Black-backed Gulls

7 Gadwall

(John Isherwood/Dawn Balmer)

The Flash

5 Goosander

(John Isherwood)

Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site

Yellow-legged Gull

(Dawn Balmer)

Horsehay Pool

12 Goosander

(Dawn Balmer)

2012

Priorslee Lake

4 Yellow-legged Gulls

(Jim Almond/Chris Ballance)

2011

Priorslee Lake

1 adult Yellow-legged Gull

9 Great Black-backed Gulls

Water Rail

(John Isherwood)

2010

Priorslee Lake

Yellow-legged Gull

Redpoll

(Ed Wilson)

2009

Priorslee Lake

Caspian Gull

(Jason)

2006

Priorslee lake

2 Great Crested Grebes

19 Pochard

34 Tufted Ducks

>300 Black-headed Gulls

>298 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

12 Herring Gull

33 Robins

13 Blackbirds

10 Fieldfares

45 Redwings

3 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)

2005

Priorslee lake

2 Little Grebes 

11 Great Crested Grebes 

1 Cormorant 

2 Mute Swans 

35 Pochard

84 Tufted Duck

243 Coot

c.250 Black-headed Gulls 

c.700 Lesser Black-backed Gulls 

1 Yellow-legged Gull 

32 Herring Gulls

(Ed Wilson)