12 Jan 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

1.0°C > 4.0°C: A few areas of medium/high cloud, otherwise clear. Frosty. Light and variable wind. Mainly very good visibility with some haze.

Sunrise: 08:17 GMT again

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 06:55 – 09:25

(11th visit of the year)

Another quiet morning.

Bird notes:
- Now two drake Gadwall.
- One of the erstwhile drake Tufted Ducks showed some features of a drake (Greater) Scaup: see photos. I am undecided.
- The Black-headed Gulls started arriving at 07:20 on this much lighter morning. They seemed reluctant to settle and went around and around. Just as some were starting to settle at 07:35 two blue-light ambulances in quick succession ensured they did not, most leaving soon after. c.200 returned(?) some 20 minutes later.
- 64 large gulls put in appearance overhead while the Black-headed Gulls were circling. These soon decided to press on. I was unable to ID them.
- Later a passage of gulls both SE and N with, today, rather few Herring Gulls. With almost no gulls on the water very few dropped in for a bathe.
- Continuing low number of Jackdaws and absence of Rooks. Have they found a different feeding location? Or has the groundwork across the way altered their post-roost flightpath?
- Presumably the same Cetti's Warbler was giving a few quiet calls from the W end.
- *At least 40 Siskins in the Alders at the W end.

Overhead:
- 39 Wood Pigeons
- 2 Collared Doves: together
- 10 Black-headed Gulls
- 19 Herring Gulls
- 119 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 64 large gulls: see notes
- 1 Cormorant
- 48 Jackdaws only: see notes
- 1 Starling

Birds seen leaving roosts around the lake:
- 6 Redwings

Counts from the lake area:
- 3 Canada Geese: departed together
- 2 + 3 (1) Mute Swans
- *2 (2♂) Gadwall
- 8 (6♂) Mallard
- *25 (13♂) Tufted Duck: see notes and photo
- 1 Moorhen only: frosted grass!
- 42 Coots
- *>350 Black-headed Gulls
- 7 Herring Gulls
- 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls also
- 1 Cormorant: arrived as usual
- no Grey Heron

On / around the street lamps:

Moths:
- 1 Mottled Umber (Erranis defoliaria)
- 1 Early Moth (Theria primaria)
Both on same lamps as yesterday but shuffled in to more protected positions. I doubt the LED lamps give out much, if any, heat.

Spiders:
- 1 Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider: exactly the same place for the third day
Most of the lamp poles were covered in thick frost.

Later:
Nothing noted

Additions to my 2022 bird log for here:
None

Year to date: 57 bird species

Early dawn.

Better later!

Last year's reeds awaiting the Reed Warblers. Four months to go!

 My favourite: a drake Gadwall.

Better have another.

A puzzling duck that I am still not 100% sure about. It appears to have some white blotching on its back which would suggest a moulting drake (Greater) Scaup. Also there is no sign and any sort of tuft on the rounded head with the highest point well forward on the crown, supporting that identification. However.... The tip of the bill has too larger a black area; and the bill pattern has a white area between the black and the rest of the bill; these point to it being a drake Tufted Duck.

This differently lit view does not really help. There seems to be some pale at the base of the bill and also the hint of white on the ear both of which are, unhelpfully, features of first-winter duck Scaup. With white on the flanks and back this is clearly a drake. Since Scaup and Tufted Duck freely hybridise perhaps that is the most logical explanation.

The problem with the Black-headed Gulls: a small part of the group. Count them!

At last a sunny day with the Siskins in the Alders. A female tucking in. They seem happy to feed upside down but I guess they have little choice if they want to get at the seeds in the cones.

 A male checking me out

Another male. Not that easy to see its black cap at this angle.

And another.

There did seem to be preponderance of males. After I took this shot something spooked them and they all shot off before I could locate another female.

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:30 – 10:20

(11th visit of the year)

c.20% thin ice.

Bird notes:
- The pair of Teal were hiding at the top end today.
- A / the drake Pochard re-appeared.
- At least 12 Carrion Crows were making a lot of noise above and around the small hill to the SE. The general rule is that two 'crows' are Carrion Crows and larger groups are Rooks. This rule seems to break down at this time of year and I wonder whether it is similar behaviour to that reported from Magpies whereby gatherings precede individuals 'changing families', perhaps to mix the gene pool.

Birds noted flying over here:
- 1 Collared Dove
- 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Cormorant
- 2 Jackdaws

On /around the water:
- 11 Canada Geese
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 31 (19♂) Mallard
- 1 (1♂) all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- 2 (1♂) Teal
- 1 (1♂) Pochard
- 51 (26♂) Tufted Duck
- *1 (0♂) Goosander
- 11 Moorhens
- 24 Coots
- 2 Great Crested Grebes
- *31 Black-headed Gulls
- *4 Herring Gulls: all(?) immatures; arrived separately
- *1 Lesser Black-backed Gull: adult
- 2 Grey Herons

On one of the street lamps:
- *1 male Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)

Elsewhere:
- 1 Grey Squirrel

On / around the Ivy:
Nothing

Addition to my 2022 bird log for here:
None

Year to date: 44 bird species

The only Goosander I could find today was this duck. A strange horizontal pale stripe across her head must, I think, be a reflection from the water.

 It is not evident here.

 This first-winter Black-headed Gull has its own iceberg!

Not my best but they were a long way away when these Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls came together to illustrate the difference in back (mantle) tone. The Lesser Black-back seems to lack any black in the bill and is likely a full adult (year 4 onwards). The extensive black on the bill of the Herring Gull means it is an immature though the wing pattern suggests otherwise. Both gulls shows pale horizontal lines across them: also reflections?

Equally distant are three immature Herring Gulls showing how the angle of the light can vary the perception of the back tone. The bird in the middle is a second winter with extensive brown feathers in the folded wing. The bird on the right is a third winter with just a hint of retained (and rather faded) brown feathers in the folded wing. The left-hand bird is the same adult-looking bird shown with the Lesser Black-backed Gull. In this view I could be persuaded there is some red on the bill.

A male Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata). The 'shoulders' are too rounded and the wings too broad for an Early Moth.

On its way from New York's JFK airport to Milan is the Emirates A380 Super Jumbo painted in special Dubai Expo livery. It is 41000 feet up!

(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

2014
Priorslee Lake
1 drake Scaup
2 female Scaup
(Mike Stokes)