6 Dec 21

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

Part one: 2.0°C: Cloudy with light rain from 07:20 and then sleet / heavier rain from 08:35. Mostly light SSE wind. Very good visibility ahead of the rain: moderate later

Abandoned after the end of the school run chaos and went back home to dry out.

Part two: 6.0C: Scattered cloud. Light W wind. Very good visibility.

Sunrise: 08:05 GMT

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 06:35 – 09:25

(281st visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- I noted the five Gadwall apparently flying in from the E at 07:20. Sometimes some of the Mallard do the same. I suppose they must roost somewhere else.
- Continuing dearth of Black-headed Gulls. The first arrived at 07:35 when they were well-outnumbered by concurrently arriving Lesser Black-backed Gulls. No more than 50 Black-heads seen.
- A Cetti's Warbler started its chattering call and 07:25, almost immediately followed by a single burst of song. I could not tell whether these were from the same bird. Nothing was seen or heard thereafter.

Overhead:
- 1 Feral Pigeon
- 5 Wood Pigeons only
- 10 Herring Gulls
- 38 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 3 Cormorants: together
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 68 Jackdaws
- 1 Rook
- 7 Pied Wagtails only heard
- 5 Siskins

Birds noted leaving roosts around the lake:
- >15 Redwings.

Warblers noted:
- 1? Cetti's Warbler: chattering calls and burst of song from perhaps the same bird

Counts from the lake area:
- 5 (3♂) Gadwall: arrived at 07:20
- 5 (2♂) Mallard
- no Pochard
- 28 (20♂) Tufted Duck
- 5 Moorhens
- [Coots not counted]
- c.50 Black-headed Gulls only
- 7 Herring Gulls
- 82 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 1 Grey Heron

At / around the street lamps pre-dawn:

Moths:
- 1 Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)

Also
- 1 beetle sp.?

Spiders or Harvestman:
- 1 Neriene montana
- 1 Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
- 1 Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider

Noted later:
- 1 soggy Grey Squirrel

A wet and very dull morning so just two photos from the lake, both from the lamp posts while it was still dry. And to start a puzzle. I cannot see any wings on this insect from which I deduce it is an instar. But will it become a bug or a beetle? The thick femurs on all three pairs of legs tends to point to a beetle.

Also braving the conditions was this Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis), one of the few spider species I can confidently identify.

An opportunity to catch up on some feedback from Nigel on two spiders seen on 30 November. This I thought might be a Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider though it seemed rather hunched up. Nigel identifies it as "a Neriene montana trying not to look like one."

The poor photo I sent Nigel of what I thought might be a type of money spider turns out to be a Missing Sector Orb-web Spider (Zygiella x-notata). A common spider often found around your house window-frames and active more or less throughout the year. As its vernacular name implies it forms a distinctive web with a missing sector. The apparent missing leg of this specimen is co-incidence. There is, of course, a possible confusion species Z atrica.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 14:10 – 14:55

(256th visit of the year)

A quick visit to check what was about. Nothing special to report.

Birds noted flying over here:
None

On /around the water:
- 4 Canada Geese
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 40 (25♂) Mallard
- no Teal
- 1 (1♂) Pochard
- 59 (24♂) Tufted Duck
- 17 (10♂) Goosander
- 14 Moorhens
- 24 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- 18 Black-headed Gulls
- 2 Grey Herons

On / around street lamps:
Nothing on any of them

Around the Ivy:
Nothing, it was by now in shade:

Otherwise:
- A Grey Squirrel on the island.

The low winter sun made photographing the Goosanders a challenge. Here is a duck – I think at this date any immature would show clear indication of its adult plumage. I also doubt that an immature would show the feathering on the nape as shown by this bird.

Drakes show even more contrast. Even with a bit of tweaking this was the best result I could achieve.

Dig that green gloss. Two drakes feeding right alongside the island.

(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
Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill Site
2 adult Caspian Gulls (one with a green ring suggesting a German/Polish border origin).
8 Yellow-legged Gulls
80+ Great Black-backed Gulls
c.1000 Herring Gulls
2000+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
1st w Viking Gull (hybrid Glaucous x Herring Gull)
2 ad hybrid Herring x Lesser Black-backed Gulls
(Tom Lowe)

2012
Priorslee Lake
3 Gadwall
9 Pochard
44 Tufted Ducks
176 Coots
c.200 Black-headed Gulls
c.650 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
c.20 Herring Gulls
2 Great Black-backed Gulls.
5 Redwings
2 Fieldfares
234 Jackdaws
(Ed Wilson)

Trench Lock Pool
1 Little Grebe
1 Cormorant
35 Mute Swans
2 Shoveler
48 Tufted Duck
3 Goosander 
162 Coots
228 Black-headed Gulls
(Ed Wilson)

Little Wenlock, Candles Landfill
Caspian Gull
7 Yellow-legged Gulls
3500 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
500 Herring Gulls
Common Gull. 
(Tom Lowe)

Buildwas
3 Yellow-legged Gulls
500 Lapwings
(Tom Lowe)

2006
Priorslee Lake
5 Pochard
52 Tufted Ducks
1 eclipse drake Ruddy Ducks
9 Golden Plover
>2000 Black-headed Gulls
>2526 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
3 Herring Gulls
1 Great Black-backed Gull
22 Robins
24 Blackbirds
c.45 Fieldfares
4 Song Thrushes
10 Redwings
348 Jackdaws
132 Rooks
(Ed Wilson)

2005
Priorslee Lake
2 Ravens
1 Cormorant
c.400 Black-headed Gulls
4 Pochard
39 Tufted Duck
1 Little Grebes
233 Coot
14 Redpolls
17 Siskins
24 Pied Wagtails
9 Redwings
12 Fieldfares
7 Reed Buntings
(Ed Wilson)