10 Feb 22

Priorslee Lake and The Flash

4.0°C > 6.0°C: Medium-high cloud moving away to the E leaving clearer skies after 09:00. Keen WSW breeze. Excellent visibility.

Sunrise: 07:37 GMT

* = a photo today

Priorslee Lake: 06:25 – 09:35

(37th visit of the year)

Thanks to regular reader Tom Lowe two notes about earlier blogs:

- My suspicion that the immature gull I photographed on Tuesday might be a Yellow-legged Gull was well-founded. So with the obvious adult that was already in the log that makes two present that day.

- There is a vagrant Pied Crow known to be in the general area so it is likely that it is what I saw last Wednesday (2nd). I read: "Records north of the Sahara, including those in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, are generally considered to be either the result of escapes from captivity, or due to birds hitching a ride on a passing ship". I am not too sure who might keep a crow in captivity: they are hardly visually attractive: neither do they have melodic songs!

Today's bird notes:
- An extra Mute Swan cygnet was on the lake at 07:30. It was soon dispatched to the E. A few minutes later what I assume was the same bird returned but espying the resident cob take to the air it decided against touching down and continued on its way. A much browner individual than any of the residents but clearly a strong flyer.
- Just five Tufted Duck back.
- From the dam end I noted a Great Crested Grebe at far end. I never saw it again though when I was at the W end I did hear calls. Perhaps they have paired and are busy building a nest inside the reeds?
- c.100 Black-headed Gulls arrived at 06:55 with the number building quickly to c.400. They continued to fly around and around and I have no idea how many settled, if any. I never saw more than 20 on the water. Among these for a while were 22 large gulls: these remained unidentified and departed without stopping.
- I only heard Cetti's Warbler calls this morning: from the usual area. It was then seen in flight again.
- *Colder weather meant fewer Song Thrushes singing: just seven today. No Blackbird heard singing.
- *At least 40 Siskins at the W end.
- *Now two Reed Buntings singing: another calling

Birds noted flying over here:
- 2 Canada Geese: outbound together
- 1 Stock Dove
- 37 Wood Pigeons: 16 of these flew N together just after dawn
- 2 Collared Doves: together
- 37 Black-headed Gulls
- 25 Herring Gulls
- 159 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 22 large gulls: see notes
- 1 Cormorant
- 1 Common Buzzard
- 122 Jackdaws

Counts from the lake area:
- 2 Canada Geese: throughout
- 2 + 4 (2 broods) Mute Swans: a short-term visiting cygnet
- 8 (5♂) Mallard
- 5 (3♂) Tufted Duck
- 2 Moorhens
- *36 Coots
- 1 Little Grebe
- 1 Great Crested Grebe: see notes
- c.400 Black-headed Gulls
- *5 Herring Gulls
- 20 Lesser Black-backed Gull
- 1 Cormorant: arrived

On and around the street lamps.
- *1 Dotted Border moth (Agriopis marginaria)
- 1 small fly
- 1 plumed midge
- 1 'winter cranefly'
- 1 Tetragnatha sp. stretch spider

Well it was early! The visiting Mute Swan cygnet. A lot more dark in the wings than is shown by 'our' cygnets. It seemed to fly strongly.

The Coot on the left has a pale belly. I am not aware of any scum around the lake that could have caused this. Juvenile Coots have pale bellies around fledging time but this has usually moulted out by late Autumn.

In case there was any doubt that adult Herring Gulls have pink legs....

This Song Thrush had been singing away until I stopped to look at it. It seems to be looking suspiciously at me.

It decided I was harmless and carried on singing.

Guess what: another male Siskin.

And another. There were at least 40 Siskins in the trees. Where are the females?

Not this male!

 Or this one.

Or this one either.

Yet another male.

This is not even a Siskin! A Goldfinch of course.

I cannot sex Goldfinches: the shape of the red behind the eye is supposed to help. Not here it doesn't!

Hooray! A female Siskin.

A second female.

Still with a twig in the way! A clearer shot of a male Reed Bunting yet to acquire full breeding plumage.

A Dotted Border moth (Agriopis marginaria).

(Ed Wilson)

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The Flash: 09:40 – 10:40

(35th visit of the year)

Bird notes:
- I seem to have been mistaken that the drake Teal was all alone: there was a pair together.
- The Tufted Ducks were very mobile and hard to keep track of: numbers may be under-recorded.
- Now three Great Crested Grebes. A pair were displaying: the other bird was a first-year without head plumes.

Birds noted flying over here:

None

On /around the water:
- 29 Canada Geese: two of these arrived
- 3 + 2 (1 brood) Mute Swans
- 37 (23♂) Mallard
- 1 all-white duck (Aylesbury Duck)
- *2 (1♂) Teal
- *5 (5♂) Pochard
- 67 (37♂) Tufted Duck
- 17 Moorhens
- 24 Coots
- *3 Great Crested Grebes
- 41 Black-headed Gulls
- *6 Herring Gulls
- 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
- 2 Grey Herons

On /around street lamp poles:

Nothing

Undercarriage down as this Canada Goose arrives.

A duck Teal appeared today. Here she is.

The drake in close company. Note how the breeding plumage makes it look as if he has a mane. Fabulous vermiculations along the flanks.

The two together.

The five drake Pochard were reasonably close this morning and moving between shade and sun. I tried about twenty different shots in different lighting conditions in an attempt to show their vermiculations on the back and flanks, more extensive and delicate than the drake Teal. This was the best I could manage even after using my limited photo-editing skills.

One of the adult Great Crested Grebes with head plumes.

What I assume is a first-winter bird yet to acquire plumes.

There were two adults and here they are doing their head-shaking display.

And here is a short video of them doing just that.

One of the first winter Herring Gulls. The extensive smudgy tail band and well-marked upper-tail are clearly seen at this angle. For reason I cannot explain it looks grey-toned rather than the brown tones it shows in real life...

As it does here from below. I have no idea what it was carrying: perhaps a mussel as I saw it later with its jaw stretched wide-open around what was clearly something very hard.

There were Siskins here as well. Guess what: a male!

Today's aircraft sightings: a WestJet Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner descending in to Gatwick after a flight from Calgary.

Two today. This is a United Airlines Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner en route from Newark, New Jersey to Tel Aviv. A 10 hour non-stop flight.

(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

1st-winter female Velvet Scoter

(Tom Lowe)

2013

Priorslee Lake

27 Wigeon

4 Gadwall

11 Pochard

48 Tufted Duck

118 Coot

(Tony Beckett)

2012

Priorslee Lake

1 Glaucous Gull

2 Iceland Gull

1 Yellow-legged Gull

1 Great Black-backed Gull

1 Common Gull

1 Peregrine

(John Isherwood, Martin Grant and Roger Clay )

Telford

1 Waxwing

(Mike Shurmer)  

2009

Priorslee Lake

1 Goosander

1 Snipe

10 Pochard

39 Tufted Duck

1 Water Rail

1500+ Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls

2 Yellow-legged Gulls

2 Great Black-backed Gulls

25+ Siskins

(Ed Wilson and Martin Adlam)

2006

Priorslee Lake

2 Gadwall

5 Pochard

36 Tufted Ducks

148 Coots

2 Water Rails

c.1000 Black-headed Gulls

6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls

8 Herring Gulls

385 Wood Pigeon

473 Jackdaws

394 Rooks

12 Robins

18 Blackbirds

2 Willow Tits

13 Greenfinches

53 Siskin

5 Redpolls

14 Reed Buntings

(Ed Wilson)